Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[Zoupa]

Cool cool. I'm gonna back away slowly now.

[Razgovory]

It's funny, you keep attacking all Americans for Trump but it's "stop generalizing" when it comes to you.

[crazy canuck]

Musks actions that have benefitted China.  Gifted link

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/us/politics/elon-musk-doge-china.html?unlocked_article_code=1.504.x-jI.CZH6sBzNAbTY&smid=url-share

[Josquius]

Big protests in Turkey about the dear leaders illegal banning of the main opposition candidate from the coming election.

Twitter responds by banning the accounts of opposition groups.

[Sheilbh]

Big protests in Turkey about the dear leaders illegal banning of the main opposition candidate from the coming election.

Twitter responds by banning the accounts of opposition groups.

Two things on this. I've mentioned before that it's really striking how little Musk's Twitter pushes back on requests for information or access from law enforcement or other authorities. For all the talk about "free speech". Old Twitter would occasionally pushback and try to litigate or challenge these requests legally - Musk's Twitter just rolls over (this is not the first time it's happened in Turkey).

The other is these are legal requests from the Turkish authorities on grounds of "inciting hatred". The UK has recently passed legislation that provides its authorities with similarly sweeping powers to instruct social media companies to shut down accounts or identify people. The EU law being used to investigate Musk's Twitter contains similar powers for the "public authorities" of member states. In both cases, as here, there is no requirement to obtain a court order and the "authorities" able to use these powers include the police. The Turkish laws are broader and more illiberal but this is part of states regulating social media content more.

Part of the reason I've been dubious on these laws is that they are often quite broad and subjective and basically give a lot of power to "public authorities" with no need to get a court order. But also I think it is more difficult to have a principled objection to similar laws in other countries - the EU one could be used by Orban if there were opposition protests in Budapest. There are problems with it, but I think it is part of the attractiveness of a US style first amendment.

[Zoupa]

It's funny, you keep attacking all Americans for Trump but it's "stop generalizing" when it comes to you.

Wake me up when either Canada or France votes in leftists that attack Israel/Jews/Zionism.

[Razgovory]

That's already happened.  Several elected leaders in France have attacked Israel/Jews/Zionists.  But I thought we were talking about "Leftists" not Leftists voted into power Canada or France.  You are moving the goal posts.

[Zoupa]

I'm not sure why you're so obsessed with Israel and the "leftists are all antisemitic".

Both sides are horrible and both sides have valid grievances. Not sure why your whole shtick is rooting out the sneaky, secretly antisemitic left.

[mongers]

I'm not sure why you're so obsessed with Israel and the "leftists are all antisemitic".

Both sides are horrible and both sides have valid grievances. Not sure why your whole shtick is rooting out the sneaky, secretly antisemitic left.

It's preparing the ground for a drift into trump territory; 'the left are so bad and harbour horrible people, so I might as well join the MAGA crowd, as they can't have any worse people than that'

[Zoupa]

Yeah, it worked on Otto, supposedly a never Trumper.

[Sophie Scholl]

I think that drift has already happened. For one poster and going on a second. The number of Trump supporters we have here *should* be zero, and yet... 

[Razgovory]

I'm not sure why you're so obsessed with Israel and the "leftists are all antisemitic".

Both sides are horrible and both sides have valid grievances. Not sure why your whole shtick is rooting out the sneaky, secretly antisemitic left.

I didn't say all leftists.  But this is a very real problem on the left.  I'm concerned about it because I feel betrayed.  1200 people were slaughtered in a pogrom and I saw people cheering.  Not the Nazis, not the Klan but people who regarded themselves as humanitarians.  Fellow leftists.  I despise the hypocrisy of the movement and I despised those on the Left that wanted Trump to win because they were so wrapped up in their racial hatred that a Trump dictatorship was better than a Democratic party that wasn't aligned with Palestine.  Trump becoming dictator of the US, the US pulling out of Europe, more Ukrainians dying.  This was the desired result.  They wanted this to happen.

A decade ago the town I am now in was rocked with protests. A black guy was insulted by with racial slurs on or near the University of Missouri.  Some time prior someone smeared a swastika on a bathroom wall with shit in one of the doors.  Several years prior two students threw cotton balls on the ground.  This resulted in weeks of protests with people demanding an end to racism and the firing of the President of the University and some administrative staff.  We had a thread on this.  Anyway, the feeling was that students should protest if minority students don't feel safe and staff should be fired in the name of creating a safe environment.  Fast-forward 10 years and we see protests at elite schools where Jews are harassed and attacked.  This time, it's somehow different.  You can make people feel unsafe, and the people who were arguing for the importance of safety at MU are very positively inclined toward threatening people if they are Jewish.  The whole thing really shook me to my core.

[Razgovory]

I think that drift has already happened. For one poster and going on a second. The number of Trump supporters we have here *should* be zero, and yet... 

I remember your shift on Oct 7th.    And no, I'm not a Republican.

[Zoupa]

I do find it very weird how the university students reacted in the US. There's plenty of terrible shit going on in the world, but this is the one you care so much about, to the point of mass protesting etc etc.

The easy answer is "it's because Jews are involved and they hate jews". Ok, but why would a big percentage of Columbia students (for example) hate Jews? I don't get it, assuming that's the main driver of the protests.

[Razgovory]

I do find it very weird how the university students reacted in the US. There's plenty of terrible shit going on in the world, but this is the one you care so much about, to the point of mass protesting etc etc.

The easy answer is "it's because Jews are involved and they hate jews". Ok, but why would a big percentage of Columbia students (for example) hate Jews? I don't get it, assuming that's the main driver of the protests.

See, a long time ago Stalin's daughter fucked a Jew.  He didn't care for that, so antizionism became the required condition of all global liberation movements/Far left movements.  After Stalin died this was still the default for the Soviets.  They produced a vast amount of propaganda, that strongly influenced the third world and the West.  I remember reading the Foucault left the communist party over the antisemitism in the 1950's.  The anticolonial movements that later took power in Africa, Asia and South America made this part of their ideology, first to appease the Soviets and by the time the Soviets fell it was already part of the doctrine.  Student that came from these countries carried their beliefs with them.

That's obviously not all of the story, there is much more to it, but that is at least one aspect.  In fairness the Bolshevik's were antizionist before they came to power, as Zionism was considered competition in Tsarist Russia, but Stalin really didn't care for Jews. And made it Soviet foreign policy. There are other factors, such as the division of the entire world into oppressor/oppressed that seems popular now, Nation of Islam's effect on the Civil Rights movement (The founder was fan of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion),  and the rise of Settler Colonialist ideology.  (this is mostly an Anglo thing.  These idea's have not caught on much in the non-English speaking world)  I think this last one is really important.  The protestors are racked with guilt over being white oppressors living on stolen land, and while they don't want to do anything meaningful to address that (like giving the land back), they can live out fantasies of moral purity by advocating the destruction of another settler state.  They are vicariously destroying what they hate about themselves.  What they don't understand is that aren't this self destruction isn't actually vicarious.  When Israel falls it launch the Samson option.  The use of all of its nuclear weapons at their enemies in the Middle East and beyond.  200+ cities bathed in nuclear fire.  Jews have gone into the oven before, next time they invite the rest of the world in with them.  The antizionist movement is, at the end of the day, a suicidal one.