Democrats should not be kissing up to Musk
+ Vibe hacking, ChickenDog, Temugeddon, Peak Millennial, aura farming, Labubu cults, sauna raves, bedtime phone calls, panopticon chic, Type-C supremacy, and why pride is going beige
Not even 24 hours into one of the messiest public breakups of all time, Democrats are already frothing at the mouth to embrace Elon Musk and welcome him into the fold.
Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, went on X to defend engaging with Musk, saying that "we can be the party of sanctimonious lectures, or the party of FDR that knows how to win & build a progressive majority." Liam Kerr, co-founder of the group behind the centrist Democrats’ WelcomeFest told Politico that "of course" Democrats should welcome Musk back into the party. Rep. Ritchie Torres said that he's a "believer in redemption"
Time and again, Democrats have tried to forge alliances with high profile right-wing "defectors", usually claiming something about bridge building and how the party needs to build a bigger tent. They're usually praised by the right for these actions and get some headlines out of it, but it comes at the great cost of the party's long term credibility.
Journalist Adam Johnson put it well when he posted, "Setting aside the fact Musk took an axe to the liberal state, does Nazi salutes, is having a stimulant-fueled meltdown & has favorables comparable to herpes—the issue is why SPECIFICALLY is 'embracing' Musk of urgent import vs literally anyone else? It’s JUST BECAUSE HE’S RICH. Big tent schlock makes sense for VOTERS, for random misguided uncles, not for seething mega billionaire racists in the middle of a two year drug bender who post white genocide memes all day and poll in the negative 20s."
Groveling at Elon Musk's feet the minute he breaks with Trump, after vilifying him for the past year so aggressively and publicly (the anti-Musk Tesla Takedown protests were the most outspoken resistance Democrats have shown) will only further convince voters that the Democratic party stands for nothing. It shows that Democrats will happily overlook a slew of atrocities to cozy up to billionaires.
Musk is not suddenly some 2000s never-Trump Republican, he’s a megalomaniac billionaire who has shown blatant disregard for our democratic system. He has revealed himself to be deeply racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and has done irrevocable harm to our information and media environment through repeatedly platforming actual Nazis on X. He has attempted to dismantle journalistic institutions, killed children by cutting foreign aid, and terrorized countless women he’s fathered children with with. It’s extremely hypocritical of Khanna specifically to be posting things like, “Americans are sick of big money in politics” while trying to curry favor with a man who just admitted to buying an election.
Kat Abughazaleh, a former Media Matters staffer who's running for congress in Illinois, bashed fellow Democrats on CNN for even considering a Musk alliance. "He's not an ally to Democrats," she said. "He not only sued my former employer for reporting in multiple countries, he deposed me in Chicago… for mean tweets. A 25 year old, with less than $10,000 in her bank account, because he has such thin skin and hates when his power is questioned in any way.”
Elon Musk is only an ally to himself, and I do think that it’s very shortsighted for ostensibly progressive and liberal political leaders to be trying to cozy up to him. But I’m sure this will not be the end of this messy saga!
The government wants your face
All across the internet, parents and lawmakers are calling for tech companies to verify users' ages online. They frame these efforts as a smart, reasonable, and harmless way to keep kids safe. But that's not what age verification does.
Age verification efforts are a major threat to privacy, freedom, and the very idea of an open web. Eric Goldman is the associate dean for research at Santa Clara University School of Law and co-Director of the High Tech Law Institute and he recently wrote a fantastic paper on age verification, soon to be published in the Stanford Technology Law Review. He joined me on my Free Speech Friday series on YouTube to talk about how age verification works online and how it's all ultimately a trojan horse for government control surveillance, and censorship.
I worked until 3:00am last night on this episode! I think it’s a really robust breakdown of the problems with age verification. This political effort has huge implications so I really hope you listen/watch! :) and leave a comment letting me know what you think.