Journos Hate Free Speech, So Now They Hate Elon Musk
We're not their audience, we're their competition
A lot of people have convinced themselves that free speech only applies to them and people who agree with them. These people are known as liberals. And some of them call themselves journalists.
I mention this because Elon Musk bought Twitter yesterday — I know, right? — and a bunch of journos and other libs instantly went bonkers.
Here are a couple of regular-ass dummies, as an appetizer:
If this young man had ever picked up a book, he’d know that men have bet their entire lives on freedom of speech. It was called the American Revolution. Compared to that, a rich guy spending a lot of money ain’t that hard to fathom, kid.
Howard Dean may or may not have deleted his account by the time you read this, but I hope he stays, because he’s so dumb it’s fun:
Buh-bye!
Then there’s Meathead:
Remember when you watched All in the Family and assumed he was just playing a character?
Here’s another gem:
“Free speech is good, but hate speech is bad!” Sounds simple, right? Who could disagree with that?
Until you ask them who gets to decide which one is which, and how that decision is made. Then they get really quiet.
Okay, those were the between-meal snacks. And now, the main course of anti-free speech fascism, courtesy of MSNBC’s Ari Melber:
“If you own all of Twitter, or Facebook, or what have you, you don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t even have to be transparent. You could secretly ban one party’s candidate, or all of its candidates, all of its nominees. Or you could just secretly turn down the reach of their stuff, and turn up the reach of something else. And the rest of us might not even find out about it till after the election. Elon Musk says this is all to help people, because he is just a free speech, philosophically clear, open-minded helper.”
Of course, everything Melber describes here is what has been happening for the past decade. Twitter already turns down the reach of certain stuff and turns up the reach of certain other stuff. Those dials are fiddled with already, every minute of every day. (See Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop.)
I suspect Melber knows this. That’s the trick, condemning your enemy for the misdeeds you’re committing.
To journos, we’re not the audience. We’re the competition. They want us to shut up because we keep making their job harder. That job is to lie to us in service of the Democratic Party.
Once you understand that, it all makes sense. Of course self-described journalists are inveighing against free speech! They believe they’re the only ones who should be allowed to speak. They always have, but they used to be more subtle about it. Now it’s all out in the open.
Do you really think it’s a coincidence that CNN+ crashed and burned after one month? They actually believed we needed them. And even now, they’ve learned nothing:
What a way to announce to the world that you’ve never been invited to a party.
Or how about this nugget of doo-doo:
Look out, it’s a free speech absolutist! Hey, remember when the ACLU used to be in favor of civil liberties?
Okay, you get the idea. But just one last morsel of delicious schadenfreude:
Yes, that’s right, noted anti-futurist Elon Musk. He’ll get back to you when he’s done living in the past… by, um, building electric cars and mass-transit systems and rockets that send civilians into space.
“Equitable speech” is just a euphemism for censorship. They think it’s only “equitable” when they get to talk and you don’t. Fortunately for idiots like these two, the right to free speech includes the right to proclaim you’re the only ones who should decide what is and isn’t free speech.
You get to say it, and then I tell you to go to hell.
Journalists hate free speech because they don’t want the rest of us messing up their plans. They loathe and fear Elon Musk, because he promises not to punish us for noticing when they lie to us.
We’ll see if Musk makes good on that promise. I’m not holding out any great hopes. But watching these privileged, blinkered media morons scramble for clout is just delicious. Suddenly they’re looking at a game where they don’t own the refs anymore, and they’re panicking.
Tee-hee!
And what does Jack Dorsey think about all this? Well…
I won’t get into any Better Call Saul spoilers, but on a show with no real good guys, the closest thing to a hero is Nacho Varga. Él es un campeón.
This show is really pulling off a balancing act this year. As the timeline of this prequel series approaches the beginning of Breaking Bad 14 years(!) ago, longtime viewers already know what doesn’t happen. We know who doesn’t get killed… yet. So the writers need to wring drama out of what the audience doesn’t know. And they’re doing so masterfully.
Does that makes sense? If you’ve seen the episode, you know what I’m saying. If not, finish reading this newsletter and then watch this episode immediately.
Just think, this whole show came about because Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould put the names “Lalo” and “Ignacio” in Saul Goodman’s mouth, way back in the Obama era. I doubt they had all this mapped out beforehand, but they’ve done a hell of a job backfilling it.
Second-best show on TV.1
Voltaren Watch, Day 8: Knee doesn’t hurt anymore.
Well, mostly. I’d say it’s about a 90-95% reduction in pain. Still some twinges here and there, but not the constant grinding misery I’ve grown used to after 12 years.
I’ve tried every salve and cream under the sun, I’ve tried transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, I’ve tried everything. This is the first remedy that actually works. Even opioids only dulled the pain. This stuff eliminates it almost entirely.
It’s probably going to take me a while to process this emotionally, but right now I’m just trying to enjoy it.
If I had to nitpick, which is kinda my whole job, the one drawback is that you need to apply this goop to the affected area four times a day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bedtime. I’ve got a five-hour timer set on my phone to remind me.
Plus, it smells funny. But in my case, it’s probably an improvement.
The company isn’t paying me to say any of this, by the way! I’m not even using the brand name, but “Voltaren” is easier to remember than “generic diclofenac sodium gel.” Try it, don’t try it, do whatever you want. I’m just telling you what’s up with me right now. I feel so relieved, it’s almost a daze.
Que tengas un maravilloso martes! Y Dios bendiga a Nacho Varga.
Presione uno o más de estos botones, por favor.
The best show on TV is whichever one you think it is. I’m not gonna argue, so I’ll just pretend you’re right.
All these libs get to gnaw on their own lovable ol' chestnut of, "equality feels like oppression when you’re accustomed to privilege" for a change. Oh man, it's so great! One would hope for a little introspection on why they are so afraid of different ideas, but I don't expect it.
I was reading this AM on Ace how Elon is "wrong" on so many other issues of importance, such as so-called Global Warming.
Well, you can be wrong on everything, but if you are right on Free Speech then everything will work OK. I think I'm right on everything, I might not be, and there are certain things I believe I am certain others will find abhorrent. For example, I actually think SRAM is a better component company than Shimano AND Campagnolo. There, I said it. You don't want to fight a duck. Ever fight a duck? Didn't think so.
You can be right, and totally align with all the right ideas, but if you are wrong on Free Speech we're on the road to totalitarianism, but just the approved version of it. And I think that describes the current social/political situation.
Free Speech is the only element necessary for a functional democracy to flourish. That's why it's the First Damn Amendment. Boom. If you are wrong on everything, but are right on free speech, than we can talk about things and work it out and come to a consensus and meet somewhere in the middle.
I think the person the best exemplifies this attitude is Russell Brand. I used to think he was a nutty leftist, and for all I know he still is. But he is probably the most open minded person I have had the pleasure of watching on YouTube. He encourages dialog, he wants debate. He will freely admit he might be wrong, and has said that he has had his mind changed a few times.
We need more Russell's, fewer Joy's (Behar and Reid)
Lastly, that dude in Joy Reid's clip, Anand Giridharadas, spends way too much time on his hair. Also, I just looked at his Twitter. For someone who writes for the NYT, he has very low engagement. Huh. Ain't that something.
But what do I know? I'm just a stupid duck who like bread and bicycles.