# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 105
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2081 "2022-12-15T16:29:43Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > A lot of Americans I knew chose to (falsely) identify as Canadian if asked their nationality by the locals. I’m from Washington State so I’m somewhat South Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2082 "2022-12-15T16:47:22Z")
We’re four miles from the border. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2083 "2022-12-15T21:16:49Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@CairoCarol](#): > > > > A lot of Americans I knew chose to (falsely) identify as Canadian if asked their nationality by the locals > > Yep, that’s the very real practice I was riffing off. And people were doing this way back in the late 60s/early 70s. I knew some of them. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2084 "2022-12-15T23:40:03Z")
> **[Tesla stock price continues to drop: Are Elon Musk’s Twitter antics to blame?](https://en.as.com/latest_news/tesla-stock-price-continues-to-drop-are-elon-musks-twitter-antics-to-blame-n/)** > > Since announcing his plans to take over Twitter, the company that employs him as CEO, Tesla has seen its share price drop. Elon Musk’s antics aren’t helping ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2085 "2022-12-15T23:59:07Z")
Michael Flynn as in _ex-General_, _now a traitor_, Michael Flynn? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2086 "2022-12-15T23:59:51Z")
No. And I confirmed this with Harry, quoted on the cover. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2087 "2022-12-16T00:02:08Z")
MelonElmoProsecute just banned Mastodon: > ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2088 "2022-12-16T00:04:57Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Michael Flynn as in _ex-General_, _now a traitor_, Michael Flynn? The line between ex-general and traitor can be surprisingly thin. Not that it should be, or that the thinness excuses Traitor Flynn in any way. But he is far from the first gray crewcut to sing that sordid tune. Though certainly one of the more memorable overt actors. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2089 "2022-12-16T00:39:10Z")
…Aaron Rupar, a relatively uncontroversial independent journalist, had his account suspended just now, one of a number of suspensions today in the latest Twitter phase that I will now call “The Purge.” ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2090 "2022-12-16T00:50:12Z")
…two more journalists down in The Purge (along with some anti-facist sites), Donnie O’Sullivan from CNN and Drew Harwell from the Washington Post. AND…Ryan Mac from the NYT is gone. Damn. He was a great follow. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2091 "2022-12-16T00:50:39Z")
So what’s Elmo’s endgame here? He acquired the platform supposedly to make it some kind of absolutist free speech paradise, but now he’s going to burn it to the ground because his fee-fees keep getting hurt? > [@Smapti](#): > > I prefer “Phony Stark” myself. 😁 > [@CaveMike](#): > > I’m not a big fan of using Fauci. IMHO Fauci dosen’t deserve the association. Fair point! ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2092 "2022-12-16T01:03:27Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …two more journalists down in The Purge (along with some anti-facist sites), Donnie O’Sullivan from CNN and Drew Harwell from the Washington Post. > > AND…Ryan Mac from the NYT is gone. Damn. He was a great follow. …not gonna keep updating but the purge really is in full effect now. Matt Binder has just been suspended, I suspect they’ve been compiling a list of people that have been critical of Musk and are just going through it and getting rid of them. Totally adult behaviour. The ultimate in “free speech absolutistism.” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2093 "2022-12-16T01:08:59Z")
Apparently Elmo is banning anyone who reported on the elonjet kid or his banning of Mastodon. So much for “free speech absolutism”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2094 "2022-12-16T01:19:32Z")
A modest proposal: I wonder if, starting from just a few dozen “influencers” we could incite the entire twitter userbase worldwide over the course of a few hours to each tweet (not re-tweet) “Long live free speech!” just once. Somewhere along about the 50 millionth independent posting of the same content Musk might, just might, get the idea he was being massively trolled. And then he’ll ban the entire userbase. Sure, it’s crazy. But it’s amongst all the other craziness, this might be just crazy enough to work. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2095 "2022-12-16T01:34:45Z")
I was thinking of walking into Twitter HQ, singing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant, and walking out. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2096 "2022-12-16T01:48:03Z")
If Elmo had bought Twitter to immediately shut it down, I would have grudgingly respected that. Instead we all have to watch it slowly circle the drain like an acquaintance we weren’t overly fond of but don’t want to see suffer. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2097 "2022-12-16T01:57:13Z")
But like watching a really bad beating, after a while you start rooting for the bully, not the victim. I hope Musk tortures this thing to death. And he’ll wear that history like an albatross for the rest of his now-pitiful life. Comparing this with Trump’s\* latest move, it’s like we’re watching a real version of _The Bonfire of the Vanities_. Both these ~~guys~~ goofs are self-immolating in a raging BLEVE of pure ego. In sync. It’s not synchronized swimming; it’s synchronized sinking. * * * \* I honestly typo-ed his name as "Turmp's" and almost left it that way. Ref the whining about name-calling upthread, I'm not a big fan of name-calling either. But I think "Turmp" (which makes me think of "turnip" and of the Russian language might be a very nice nickname for a certain criminal and traitorous Putin-stooge. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2098 "2022-12-16T02:05:21Z")
Elon has suspended the account of several journalists who were reporting on his suspension of the ElonJet account. > **[Twitter suspends journalists who have been covering Elon Musk and the company](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/twitter-suspends-journalists-covering-elon-musk-company-rcna62032)** > > Musk joined a Twitter Space to say the suspensions were related to new rules banning private jet trackers. Twitter suspended an account that tweeted the whereabouts of his plane. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2099 "2022-12-16T02:16:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Apparently Elmo is banning anyone who reported on the elonjet kid or his banning of Mastodon. > … That’s the excuse that’s being given, but some of those banned journalists reported on neither the elonjet account or the Mastodon banning. It really does seem to be simply journalists-with-enough-followers who have criticized Musk in any way. Apparently Musk’s theory, here, is that gaining a reputation as a massively-insecure guy will ‘create buzz’…??? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/2100 "2022-12-16T02:25:23Z")
“Aaron Rupar”, “free speech”, “Elon’s Jet”, and “Mastodon” are all among the top trends right now, so I guess we can add the Streisand Effect to the list of things Elon doesn’t understand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=104) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=106)