# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [August 13, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634 "2024-08-13T00:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/721 "2024-10-24T23:08:14Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Doesn’t this leave him open to a class action law suit by those people who signed his petition under the impression that they would have a chance at a million dollars? I don’t think so. You don’t have a legitimate claim for breach if the contract was illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/722 "2024-10-24T23:29:17Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I don’t think so. You don’t have a legitimate claim for breach if the contract was illegal. But then he was guilty of fraud for convincing them that if they did this thing that he was not allowed to pay them for he would give them money. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/723 "2024-10-24T23:37:51Z")
I guess, if that amounts to a criminal charge. But you can’t legitimately claim damages (a civil matter, as in a class action suit) if the law says you were never legally entitled to a consideration. It would be like a hit man suing someone for not paying him for an assassination. The guy who made the offer (and the hit man) are in criminal legal jeopardy, but the hit man has no grounds to sue for not getting paid. It was never a valid, enforceable contract. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/724 "2024-10-24T23:45:17Z")
So what if I hire somebody to cut down some trees on my property that are blocking my view, but then after he does it I tell him that actually the trees were on my neighbor’s side of the property line and so I couldn’t legally hire him to cut them down. Sucker, now I don’t have to pay him. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/725 "2024-10-24T23:47:52Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > But hey, at least you aren’t Elon Musk! Thank God for small favors. The money would be nice, but the whole “insane, narcissistic, sociopathic techo-fascist” thing would be a huge turn off. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/726 "2024-10-24T23:49:16Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > So what if I hire somebody to cut down some trees on my property that are blocking my view, but then after he does it I tell him that actually the trees were on my neighbor’s side of the property line and so I couldn’t legally hire him to cut them down. Sucker, now I don’t have to pay him. Sounds to me like you’ve committed fraud in that scenario and both the contractor and your neighbor are gonna sue your balls to the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/727 "2024-10-25T00:37:06Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > So what if I hire somebody to cut down some trees on my property that are blocking my view, but then after he does it I tell him that actually the trees were on my neighbor’s side of the property line and so I couldn’t legally hire him to cut them down. Sucker, now I don’t have to pay him. I’ll leave this to our lawyers if they’re inclined to comment. Perhaps there’s a nuance in your tree scenario, but even though it’s been 40+ years since I took Contract Law, I do recall clearly that a contract to do something illegal was not enforceable. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2024, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/728 "2024-10-25T03:03:42Z")
Well, wouldn’t you know who won the pony? > **[Elon Musk has regularly talked with  Vladimir Putin — and faced...](https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-2669477305/)** > > Tech billionaire and vocal Trump supporter Elon Musk has talked regularly with Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least two years, according to a new report.Several current and former officials for the U.S., Europe and Russia told The Wall... [https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/musk-putin-secret-conversations-37e1c187](https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/musk-putin-secret-conversations-37e1c187) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/729 "2024-10-25T03:05:21Z")
God, it would be such a shame if Musk crossed Putin. While they happened to be on the second floor. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/730 "2024-10-25T03:33:09Z")
I mean… Musk has always considered himself a martyr to “free speech”, a god-like being (no one else is real), and otherwise suited to deliver us poor peons from the burden of thought and free will. I would evince quite the grin if Putin were to arrange to have Musk nailed to his old giant ‘X’ sign, and even willing to donate some nails or railroad spikes to the good cause! [oh, Eloon, if you’re a lurker here with an account, I formally apologize for threatening a fellow poster. Sorry/not sorry] ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/731 "2024-10-25T16:49:33Z")
Higher ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/732 "2024-10-25T17:17:41Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Musk has always considered himself a martyr to “free speech”, a god-like being (no one else is real), and otherwise suited to deliver us poor peons from the burden of thought and free will. I am skeptical that the guy who censored out information of criminal investigations of Erdogan in Turkey, after Twitter had already won Turkish Constitutional Court cases that certified the freedom of publishing such information, has any honest view of himself as a free speech martyr. People can say things that ain’t true. If the evidence points in that direction, you don’t aid the world any by helping them to spread the lie. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/733 "2024-10-25T17:27:43Z")
Free speech is about making sure that even unpopular opinions have a chance to be heard, and don’t get censored. That Musk is a giant jackass is in no way an unpopular opinion so Musk censoring negative posts about him doesn’t violate free speech. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/734 "2024-10-25T18:21:15Z")
It violates his own stated ethos though. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/735 "2024-10-25T18:26:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Sounds to me like you’ve committed fraud in that scenario and both the contractor and your neighbor are gonna sue your balls to the wall. Exactly; rather than suing for breach of contract you sue for fraud and get your money that way. Now, if the contractor should have known that what they were doing was illegal, then that could make them liable too. It’s circumstantial. If the property line splits the middle of an unmarked field, that’s one situation. If you hop a fence and you ignore a guy yelling at you to get off his property or he’ll call the cops as you cut down trees, that’s quite a different situation. (I’m not a lawyer.) ---
**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:** [October 26, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/736 "2024-10-26T23:14:08Z")
> ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2024, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/737 "2024-10-27T08:59:38Z")
This is so weird. Elon held a town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Saturday night. Ostensibly, he is out there barnstorming for Trump. But there are no Trump signs (just “vote early” signs) and Elon answers questions from the audience like he is the candidate. I didn’t watch a lot of it (there is a timestamp for the topics) but there are quite a few questions about how he would handle various governmental issues. Is he running for co-VP? I have noticed that JD hasn’t been making the news much. Of course, mostly he is just talking about his own shit but his appearances all around PA in these last days are supposed to be in support of Trump. But they are really all about him. (And he is such an awkward weirdo.) I’m kind of surprised that Trump is ok with this. > ---
**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:** [October 27, 2024, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/738 "2024-10-27T09:11:40Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Is he running for co-VP? Secretary of General Affairs. > **[Business Plot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot)** > > The Business Plot, also called the Wall Street Putsch and the White House Putsch, was a political conspiracy in 1933, in the United States, to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install Smedley Butler as dictator. Butler, a retired Marine Corps major general, testified under oath that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization with him as its leader and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow Roosevelt. In 1934, Butler testified Early ... Not surprisingly, even back then the New York Times claimed that the fascist plot to overthrow democracy was overblown. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/739 "2024-10-27T16:47:12Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I’m kind of surprised that Trump is ok with this. Elon can buy and sell Trump (although frankly, I probably could also if I mixed in the right flattery with a check for $1,000) - what exactly could Trump do? Give him a nickname? ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/740 "2024-10-27T17:04:41Z")
Heh, the banking app hit a speed bump this week when they withdrew their application for a money transmitter license in New York. > **[X Payments delayed after Musk’s X weirdly withdrew application for NY license](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/x-payments-delayed-after-musks-x-weirdly-withdrew-application-for-ny-license/)** > > Will X Payments launch this year? Outlook not so good. And well, they seem concerned enough to actually respond about it when asked, which is kind of amazing. > [@](#): > > An X spokesperson answered Ars’ request to comment (which rarely happens) but declined to provide an update on any new timeline for X Payments’ launch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=38)