# 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:** 245
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4884 "2023-05-20T01:05:50Z")
Free speech means that the AP is free to report the fact that false claims about the election abound on Twitter. It also means that private organizations like Twitter can choose whether or not to allow such false claims, or whether to include disclaimers on such false claims. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4885 "2023-05-20T01:05:57Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > AP reports that false claims that the 2020 election was rigged are thriving on Twitter. > > That would be called “Free Speech”. I’d much rather live in a world where speech ‘thrives’ than one in which the gatekeepers get to decide which thoughts are too dangerous for the proles to hear. And you wonder why people think you are delusional, lying, Elmo fanboi hack. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4886 "2023-05-20T01:07:06Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > That would be called “Free Speech”. I’d much rather live in a world where speech ‘thrives’ than one in which the gatekeepers get to decide which thoughts are too dangerous for the proles to hear. Maybe you could explain to us (preferably somewhere else, like in your Pit thread, because this thread is becoming all about you again) how democracy is supposed to survive under your concept of “Free Speech” where there is no distinction between fact and fiction, between truth and contrived propaganda, and no ability to make such a distinction. You know, like in Orwell’s _1984_. You know what an actual democracy is, right? The system of government where citizens who know what they’re doing determine the government and its policies. Note my use of the word “know” here. It’s the root of the word “knowledge”. In your Orwellian world it’s indistinguishable from “lies and propaganda”. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4887 "2023-05-20T01:15:21Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Agile censorship! > > First, this appeared last night: > > [https://twitter.com/GlobalAffairs/status/1657219168863756288?t=SbESvG1OGBpBJS4LkIksEQ&s=19](https://twitter.com/GlobalAffairs/status/1657219168863756288?t=SbESvG1OGBpBJS4LkIksEQ&s=19) > > Matt Yglesias responds: > > [https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1657407941828395010?t=\_-PHGP5Y8BK1MvwOiut9pA&s=19](https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1657407941828395010?t=_-PHGP5Y8BK1MvwOiut9pA&s=19) > > Elon smartly (in his own head) retorts: > > [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1657422401754259461?t=nYuKBLJFZVuyZ6tUJqpNZw&s=19](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1657422401754259461?t=nYuKBLJFZVuyZ6tUJqpNZw&s=19) > > MattY notes: > > [https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1657408296586731522?t=-vwIP6djcWy0F3\_XjzFaSw&s=19](https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1657408296586731522?t=-vwIP6djcWy0F3_XjzFaSw&s=19) > > Agile Free Speech for Me but Not for Thee! Almost forgot, what with Elmo’s ever shifting definition of free speech absolutism; added irony for defending Elmo’s ‘free speech’ on the heels of him silencing the Turkish government’s political opposition. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4888 "2023-05-20T01:36:31Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I’d much rather live in a world where speech ‘thrives’ than one in which the gatekeepers get to decide which thoughts are too dangerous for the proles to hear. > ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4889 "2023-05-20T01:40:24Z")
You’ve posted a mountain of dumb things on this board. But in all honesty, this might be one of the dumbest. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4890 "2023-05-20T02:27:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > AP reports that false claims that the 2020 election was rigged are thriving on Twitter. Technically, they said these claims thrive unchecked. This is false, because there’s a whole lotta blue checks making those claims. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4891 "2023-05-20T04:42:27Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I’d much rather live in a world where speech ‘thrives’ than one in which the gatekeepers get to decide which thoughts are too dangerous for the proles to hear. I assume you’ll be lodging a strong objection to the fascist suppression of the _free speech_ statement **“These pills _are too_ Vicodin, Percocet, and Xanax!”** : > **[More Than 800 People Have Been Arrested As The DOJ Clamps Down On Fake Pills](https://www.npr.org/2021/09/30/1042008567/the-doj-is-clamping-down-on-counterfeit-pills-causing-lethal-drug-overdoses)** > > Authorities said they recovered 1.8 million counterfeit pills laced with enough fentanyl to kill 700,000 Americans. "One pill can kill," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Thursday. > Monaco said the counterfeit pills are designed to look like regular prescription drugs — Vicodin, Percocet, Xanax or other medicines… ---
**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:** [May 20, 2023, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4892 "2023-05-20T05:55:58Z")
Elmo wanted to hire an unlicensed plumber who would install a bathroom without work permits next to his office which he was sleeping in, because he didn’t want to have to wake up his bodyguards in the middle of the night when he needed to pee. Agile Howard Hughes! > ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4893 "2023-05-20T12:13:17Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Elmo wanted to hire an unlicensed plumber who would install a bathroom without work permits next to his office which he was sleeping in It sounds like somebody decided that [_Pacific Heights_](https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=85) was a documentary on San Francisco tenancy law. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4894 "2023-05-20T12:26:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > he didn’t want to have to wake up his bodyguards in the middle of the night when he needed to pee. What’s wrong with a chamberpot? (And shouldn’t his bodyguards _be_ awake to you know, guard his body?) ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4895 "2023-05-20T13:40:15Z")
Does he sleep with his bodyguards, or does he have a bell to call them? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4896 "2023-05-20T15:13:20Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > Elmo wanted to hire an unlicensed plumber who would install a bathroom without work permits next to his office which he was sleeping in > > It sounds like somebody decided that [_Pacific Heights_](https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=85) was a documentary on San Francisco tenancy law. LOL … Elmo should have a fine time renting office space in the future. My first thought was of a different movie, that his principles of tenancy were inspired by the Delta Tau Chi fraternity in _Animal House_, except they actually paid their rent. Elmo doesn’t: > Twitter’s new leadership deliberately, specifically, and repeatedly announced their intentions to breach contracts, violate laws, and otherwise ignore their legal obligations … “Elon doesn’t pay rent” … for Musk, the fact that Twitter was legally or contractually obligated to pay a particular sum would be irrelevant to the decision of whether to actually pay it – that Musk operated on a “zero cost [basis]”. I understand this man wants to run a full-service internet bank. 🤣 What makes this especially interesting is that Elmo – in his own words – very explicitly doesn’t give a shit about anything. It’s rare that one can actually watch psychosis in motion, almost in real time. Lots of material here for future case studies in psychiatry school. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4897 "2023-05-20T15:28:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > his principles of tenancy were inspired by the Delta Tau Chi fraternity Everybody _liked_ the residents of \Delta TX ☠ (Neidermeier and Wormer notwithstanding) ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4898 "2023-05-20T17:23:00Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Elmo should have a fine time renting office space in the future You would think so, but Trump never had trouble finding contractors to work him despite being notorious for not paying them. The sad reality is, and we see this with @Sam_Stone, is there is a perception that the rich are worthy. And the poor are unworthy. So society bends over backwards to cater to the wealthy, even though they need the least catering too. I know you know this, but I just find it so bizarre. Elon Musk must be a great man because he’s so rich, just ignores so much about how people can and do become wealthy. Musk being no exception. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4899 "2023-05-20T17:42:57Z")
I’m sure that Trump has had more than his share of contractors who want nothing to do with him, especially in the legal profession where the risk isn’t just not getting paid, but potentially being sanctioned by the courts. Yet he still gets them, because even if 9 out of 10 turn him down, 1 out of 10 is plenty. Elmo is likely to find himself in the same position. It may not be economically fatal to him, but it’s a major nuisance. Elmo may have to set up a never-ending series of shell corporations to do his renting for him. What’s more fun to think about is when the entity whose trust he’s lost is not just the population of potential contractors, but the population of potential business partners and the general population of potential customers. Whatever the future may hold, Elmo is now widely regarded as an irresponsible and unpredictable fool who should be of great concern to anyone whose fate or fortune is in his wildly erratic path. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4900 "2023-05-20T17:57:07Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > You would think so, but Trump never had trouble finding contractors to work him despite being notorious for not paying them. But what competence and quality do you get? If people are desperate enough to work for someone they know is going to stiff them, then they are probably not very good. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4901 "2023-05-20T19:10:52Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > The sad reality is, and we see this with @Sam_Stone, is there is a perception that the rich are worthy. And the poor are unworthy. So society bends over backwards to cater to the wealthy, even though they need the least catering too. I don’t think socioeconomic status makes anyone ‘worthy’ or ‘unworthy’. You don’t seem to understand my thinking or that of other conservative/libertarians. It’s simply this: Freedom is everyone’s right. You don’t lose it when you are poor OR rich. I never think in terms of who is ‘worthy’, just what their rights are. It’s the height of arrogance to assign ‘worth’ to people you don’t know based on some characteristic, immutable or not. The idea that people in politics should assign ‘worth’ to people then treat them unequally because of their differing ‘worth’ is repugnant. Everyone should reject that. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4902 "2023-05-20T20:33:23Z")
> [@Mikkel](#): > > Does he sleep with his bodyguards, or does he have a bell to call them? Well, he could always add that function to the bodyguard’s job description… [![](https://guillotine-card-translations.github.io/images/cards/v3.jpeg) ](https://guillotine-card-translations.github.io/images/cards/v3.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/4903 "2023-05-20T21:06:25Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The idea that people in politics should assign ‘worth’ to people then treat them unequally because of their differing ‘worth’ is repugnant. Everyone should reject that. Who the hell mentioned people in politics? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=244) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=246)