Two weeks ago, Elon Musk initiated the biggest Leeroy Jenkins move against a social media giant we have ever witnessed. 

That is a gaming reference, and this is a game that is being played out.  With his bid to take Twitter private and restore free speech, he provided a stage for the mainstream media and the progressive pundits to expose themselves as not only being in favor of censorship, but demanding that there be more of it. 

Musk's stunning gambit rumbled through the halls of Twitter and the newsrooms of CNN and MSNBC.  Their fear was palpable.  After years of saying, "If you don't like what we are doing to you, go build your own social media platform," they suddenly were faced with someone calling their bluff.

The progressives found themselves wallowing in their own hypocrisy on the matter.  When Facebook purchased Instagram, there was no outcry of "foul."  When Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post, there were cheers from the left.  But when Musk put his money where his mouth was and purchased 9% of Twitter, they immediately tried to toss a flag on the play.  They screamed warnings of dire consequences of people being able to express themselves.   

Their reaction was no surprise.  The man who single-handedly ushered in the return of electric cars was overnight painted as a social media pariah.  The progressive left staked out its lack of moral high ground as advocating that you have to have restrictions on free speech.  Some went so far as to say we needed even more restraints.  The leftist media advocated that allowing anyone to share their opinions is dangerous, racist, and un-American.  Their stark fears that Donald Trump might be given voice again were palpable.   

The right of free speech is fundamental to the American way of life.  Yes, social media have given utter morons a platform to spew hate, on both sides of the political spectrum, but it also gives us the ability to ignore those people.  Censorship in any manner is against a principle that this nation was built on.  Clearly, Elon Musk sees this and is willing to pay big bucks to set these matters right. 

The silent acceptance of social media platforms like Twitter using bots and mysterious, unnamed "fact-checkers" to determine what is the truth, blocking things that they deem inappropriate, is borderline madness.  Yet it is the world we have begrudgingly been forced to accept.     

Musk is facing his own Deep State at Twitter.  The day that his purchase was announced, there was a late-night purge of conservative accounts.  It was a hissy fit that was obvious and utterly predictable.  I attempted to get Twitter to confirm or deny that this happened, but reps there did not return my calls, emails, or messages on the matter.  This lack of transparency about its seeming arbitrary actions is part of the problem with Twitter.  Although they claim to be protecting their users from hate, it is clearly a one-way street.  

The fact that employees at Twitter were upset at the thought that the platform might return to one based on free speech says a great deal about their twisted internal corporate culture.  Some expressed their fears online, with a handful boasting they would resign if Musk got control of the company.  One must wonder what an unemployed fact-checker is qualified for.  Perhaps something in the fascinating world of fast food.  I hear Walmart is hiring.  Somehow, a bunch of leftists whose days are spent tormenting and blocking conservatives facing unemployment is enough to provide some small degree of satisfaction, if not glee.

The board at Twitter did not even put his offer, far in excess of the price of the stock, to the shareholders to decide.  Instead, they pursued a "poison pill" strategy.  In other words, they were unwilling to let their own shareholders have a voice in the future of the platform.  To protect their digital domain and continue to silence conservatives, they were willing to risk destroying the value of the stock.  This was the same organization that has allowed terrorists and radical left groups a platform to broadcast; while at the same time banning an American president, not for what he posted on Twitter, but for what he might post. 

Whether you like Elon Musk or not is irrelevant.  What he has done is nothing short of brilliant.  He has exposed the left for the censorship-supporting tyrants that they are.  He has allowed the media to once more demonstrate their hypocrisy and disdain for the American people.  More importantly, he has given a hint of hope that the online world might return to a state of fairness that we have not seen in a long time.

Blaine L. Pardoe is author of Blue Dawn: The most chilling "what-if" in history...the progressive overthrow of the United States.  Pardoe is an award winning New York Times bestselling author who lives in Virginia.  He is the author of numerous science fiction, military history, true crime, horror, and business leadership books.

Image: J.D. Lasica, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.