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November 14, 2022

D.C. bares its venomous fangs before Elon Musk

By Rajan Laad

Years after being founded, Twitter developed significant userbase, it also became the customary channel of communication for the powerful in Washington D.C. 

Many Democrats claimed Twitter's lack of regulations was a major factor behind Donald Trump's amazing victory in 2016. 

As part of a remedial action, Twitter began targeting conservatives.

All through the Trump presidency, there were allegations that Twitter was suppressing conservative voices.

Anti-Trump trends, which probably were the product of Democrat trolls, were promoted. Occasionally, the mainstream media reported these trends as if they were public opinion. The news would feed the trend and the cycle continued.

Disclaimers were added to many of Trump's and other GOP leaders' tweets, while Democrats could spread misinformation unchallenged.

Twitter had become a platform of disinformation and perception-building for the Democrats.

Twitter’s abuse of power reached its heights in October 2020 when the platform locked the account of the New York Post for tweeting their reports about Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings Biden and his 'laptop from hell.' Sharing of these reports was also prohibited.

Twitter had suppressed the most important story of the 2020 presidential elections and had meddled with the elections. A NewsBusters poll revealed that 16% of Biden voters would have voted differently had they known of Hunter’s shady businesses.

When Elon Musk clinched a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, he pledged to restore free speech on the platform.

This obviously incurred the wrath of self-righteous Democrats who are fanatic subscribers to the groupthink and presume only they should be allowed to express themselves freely.

The Democrats viewed it as an invasion of their territory.

Upon the purchase, Musk became the face of Twitter, his Twitter bio read ‘Chief Twit’  which was changed to "Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator."  

Musk trolled Hillary Clinton for claiming the attack on Paul Pelosi was due to the toxic MAGA rhetoric.

There were photos of Musk during the first day of the Twitter takeover and reports about a slew of firings and resignations.

Musk also called on independent voters to support Republicans during the midterms

The establishment never takes kindly to challenges. The power acuminated over decades wasn't going to be relinquished in weeks. 

The control of one of the preferred platforms for the narrative-building wasn't going to be ceded.

Those accustomed to privilege begin to think of equality as discrimination 

It hence wasn't a question of if, but when, D.C. would strike back at Musk. It was just a matter of the apt chance.

A week ago, Musk rolled out the new Twitter Blue with verification where anyone can pay $8 per month for their blue check.

This caused myriad spurious but verified accounts to emerge. Joe Biden, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Pope Francis, Jesus, etc. were impersonated with blue-ticked accounts.

Also not spared were firms such as Tesla, Nintendo, British Petroleum, Eli Lilly, Lockheed Martin, etc.

Clearly, the feature was launched without even an elementary risk assessment. Most of these accounts have been suspended. 

This was the opportunity that Democrats were looking for. Hence they collaborated with their foremost PR firm, the Washington Post, which masquerades as a news organization.

A WaPo columnist named Geoffrey A. Fowler created a verified account of Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) via the new Twitter Blue, with Markey's permission.

Next Markey then wrote to Musk criticizing the platform's new policies.

The following is a key excerpt:

“…..your Twitter takeover, rapid and haphazard imposition of platform changes, removal of safeguards against disinformation, and firing of large numbers of Twitter employees have accelerated Twitter’s descent into the Wild West of social media.”

 

 

The fake Markey account was suspended as was the Twitter Blue program.

Musk responded rather contemptuously to Markey

 

 

 

 

This caused a seemingly infuriated Markey to warn Musk to fix his companies, followed by a threat of government intervention. 

It wasn't just Twitter; Markey was targeting is all firms run by Musk.

 

 

That changes the character of the threat entirely. It was no longer a threat to how Twitter was run, now, it was a threat to Musk no matter what he's involved in.

This isn’t the first time Markey has gone after Musk.

Back in June, Markey demanded stricter scrutiny of Tesla, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed that Tesla vehicles were in roughly 70 percent of the crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems in a recent period.

In August 2021, the time when Musk was involved in a back-and-forth about taking over Twitter, Sens. Markey and Dick Blumenthal (D-Conn.) expressed “serious concerns” and asked for the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into Tesla.

Lastly, Biden claimed that Musk's relationships with foreign countries merit an investigation.

So what could they do now?

If the Democrats retain a majority in the House, various congressional committees could investigate Musk and compel him to testify.

Markey currently sits on, the Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Markey could initiate an investigation.

We saw how the Democrats ran probes on Trump. The goal was not to find facts, but to push narratives. The politicized and weaponized DOJ and FBI were always eager foot soldiers and the media willingly amplified spurious claims by citing ‘sources.’

This is probably what they have in mind for Musk.

The goal is to make the process the equivalent of punishment. The scope of investigations can be expanded, citing shocking discoveries. As rich and powerful as Musk is, he cannot possibly take on the might of the government.

They could investigate his finances and his other businesses. They could interview friends, former girlfriends, disgruntled employees, and recently fired Twitter employees, and some of the interviewees could be encouraged to fabricate.

Musk will have to hire lawyers to challenge or respond to the investigations, and the back and forth will cost money and time. It will also cause stress for Musk personally and that is one of the goals.

They will build a perception that Musk is reckless; he has shown some proof of that following his Twitter takeover. They will also claim he is uncaring, bigoted, arrogant, entitled, and corrupt. 

This would make him a pariah and give an excuse for others to boycott him for ‘moral reasons.' If they could isolate a country such as Russia, they could easily do it to Musk.

Even if Musk's name is cleared, the perception will remain. 

The establishment would want to make an example out of Musk for challenging the status quo as they did with Trump. 

Could Musk end this by appeasing the Democrats, and rehiring the old team to retain the status quo?

Possibly, but that is unlikely to occur, hence the Democrats have made up their mind that Musk has to be ‘disciplined.’ They must have been infuriated by Musk's endorsement of the Republicans for the midterms.

It is most unfortunate and sad that this has become the norm in the U.S., a country the world once regarded as a capitalist superpower that fervently promoted freedom and ardently supported the spirit of enterprise and entrepreneurship.

The Democrats with their abuse of power have made the U.S. seem like a third-world dictatorship that only rewards loyalists while it persecutes even the slightest form of dissent.

Will the GOP attempt to stop this madness if they win a majority in the House?

We know the answer to that.

Image: Twitter screen shot

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