Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[garbon]

I think dismissing Musk's accomplishments is a bit of motivated reasoning, and I don't recall many people doing that until he started his sharp turn to the right.  We don't dismiss the importance of a general just because the soldiers do all the fighting, and it seems extra silly to me to dismiss the importance of the person in charge of a couple of highly successful engineering companies because it's the engineers who do all the engineering.

I recall there used to be more CEO cocksucking in general.

[Syt]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65536392

Tucker Carlson: Former Fox anchor to launch new show on Twitter

Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson has announced he is launching a new show on Twitter.

The announcement came in a video on the social media site two weeks after his sudden exit from Fox News.

Carlson said: "You can't have a free society if people aren't allowed to say what they think is true."

Elon Musk said Twitter had not signed a deal with the host, who would be subject to the same rules as other "content creators".

On Tuesday, Carlson said he would be bringing a "new version" of his show to Twitter soon in a message captioned "we're back".

"Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops," he says in the video.

"Twitter is not a partisan site, everybody's allowed here, and we think that's a good thing."

In April, Fox News announced in a brief statement that the network and Carlson had "agreed to part ways".

His last TV programme for the network had aired just days prior.

The 53-year-old was not just a popular presenter on Fox News - with more than three million viewers tuning in on an average night - but also a hugely influential one.

His shows frequently set the agenda for conservatives and, by extension, the Republican party.

Mr Musk retweeted Carlson's video on Tuesday evening, along with a statement saying: "On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever is said.

"I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators."

The ex-Fox News host's comments follow his first public remarks in late April after he was forced out of the network.

In those remarks, he lashed out at "liars trying to silence" honest people.

He ended his comments saying: "Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren't many places left, but there are some."

The sudden announcement of Carlson's departure came shortly after Fox News paid $787m (£631m) to settle a defamation suit brought by voting machine company Dominion.

In the suit, Dominion argued its business was harmed by Fox spreading false claims that its machines had been rigged against former President Donald Trump. The case prompted disclosures of text messages that publicly aired Carlson's private views about Mr Trump and his colleagues at Fox.

The Wall Street Journal - owned by News Corp, which also owns Fox News - reported last month that his contract was worth about $20m a year.

[HVC]

  

[Syt]

 

[Jacob]

It's nice that Tucker is beginning to be concerned with people saying true things. We can only hope that decides to do so himself.

[Valmy]

Blaming twitter for all the stupid people using it is like blaming the printing press for Mein Kampf.

To be clear I blame the format and features of Twitter for creating the discourse that resulted. Though that is based on my time there from 2010 to 2014. It seemed to me that the format prevented any actual discussion of anything and generally tended to radicalize people and make them more stupid over time. And Twitter's features eagerly dished endorphin rushes to reward that kind of behavior.

Now granted all that might be different now, almost ten years later, but it was fucking true at the time I was there and I saw it.

I do not think any of those observations are equivalent to the printing press. Especially since my criticisms of Twitter were very specific to Twitter, not all social media. Maybe if there was a specific type of printing press that resulted in specific negative behaviors that resulted in Mein Kampf that might be a fair comparison.

[Tamas]

OK that's fair Valmy.

[The Minsky Moment]

Tucker Carlson: Former Fox anchor to launch new show on Twitter
Carlson said: "You can't have a free society if people aren't allowed to say what they think is true."

Yes Tucker, that is so.

However, a free society can do just fine without people who say what they think is false (but pretend as if it's true) because they think that saying false things will help boost their company's stock price.

[The Minsky Moment]

It's nice that Tucker is beginning to be concerned with people saying true things. We can only hope that decides to do so himself.

He's only purporting to be concerned with people saying things they *think* to be true.

Still if he holds to that, it would be real progress; his prior target was people who don't think at all.

[Barrister]

It's nice that Tucker is beginning to be concerned with people saying true things. We can only hope that decides to do so himself.

He's only purporting to be concerned with people saying things they *think* to be true.

Still if he holds to that, it would be real progress; his prior target was people who don't think at all.

So I always used to have a soft spot in my heart for Tucker.  I remember watching him on CNN's Crossfire way back in the day.

Canada doesn't get Fox News (or at least not easily) so I've never watched his show, but I'm certainly aware of the racist shit he said on it.  It made me think less of him, but I chalked it up to "well I guess he's just saying what he thinks he needs to say".

But after the text messages from the Dominion law suit discovery - he really is just a racist piece of shit, isn't he.

[The Minsky Moment]

If you really want to get pissed off, see what he has to say about Ukraine.  His show is straight Russian propaganda, clips get played straight on Russian state TV.

[Syt]

[Valmy]

Not exactly a denial there Elon 

[Jacob]

Oh turns out Musk is a pussy who backs down in front of bullies rather than sticking to the principles of free speech he normally brays about at great volume?

What an utterly shocking surprise.

[The Minsky Moment]

Not exactly a denial there Elon 

It's not only an admission, but a truly damning one.

Because my answer would clearly be that it's better for twitter to be banned entirely than to have it available only for government sources with opposition sources throttled.