# 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:** 44
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/861 "2024-11-13T05:23:34Z")
Who’s going to stop them from doing it anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/862 "2024-11-13T05:48:55Z")
Essentially funding. You don’t think they’re going to do any legwork themselves, do you? They’re going to want a bunch of flunkies around to do their bidding, to set up office space and official looking stationary, set up their masturbatory press events, etc. And Congress controls the funding. Then it becomes a game of “what ifs”. What if they ignore that and just direct the Treasury to print money to pay for all of it? Or what if they pay staffers out of their own pocket? Or some other scheme? Well, that’s not impossible but that works against their other grifts, which is kind of the main point. Power might be the point for some of them but mostly they’re looking to enrich themselves at the expense of everybody else. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2024, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/863 "2024-11-13T10:14:58Z")
The law will. Trump **has** to work within the framework of the law. He is not some omnipotent wizard, and it’s stupid to think he is despite how frustrating it might be to see what he gets away with. But he can’t just literally do whatever he wants or he wouldn’t have even bothered to run for election; he’d just declare himself emperor of the world from a Mar-A-Lago press conference and that would have been that. Believe it or not, he has to follow the rules or he can’t do anything. Now, he might try to find loopholes, he might (okay, he will) ignore protocols and precedence and tradition. But he has to do what the laws say. He only has power because the laws give him that power after he won an election, and that power works through laws that also restrain him. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/864 "2024-11-13T11:29:01Z")
Remember when Congress refused to fund Trump’s border wall, and he just took the money from military housing construction funding? What consequences did he suffer for that? Funding is not a roadblock for a dictator, especially with a compliant Congress. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/865 "2024-11-13T11:55:36Z")
Is this a bit? Have we not been paying attention? Trump doesn’t have to follow the law. The courts have made that clear. I don’t think this is hyperbole at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/866 "2024-11-13T12:10:48Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Now, he might try to find loopholes, he might (okay, he will) ignore protocols and precedence and tradition. So he will do whatever he wants. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/867 "2024-11-13T13:00:09Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What consequences did he suffer for that? Funding is not a roadblock for a dictator, especially with a compliant Congress. Goalposts shifting much? The question was not about consequences but about how they could do it. I already noted they could find extralegal ways to do what they want. That wasn’t the objection. The objection was that it would work against their grift. They don’t want to do these things just to do them. A few want personal power but mostly this crew of miscreants (and especially Musk) want to personally enrich themselves, usually at the expense of the general public. And these types of workaround shenanigans mostly work against that goal. Not for Trump himself - he really doesn’t care and he’s rather stupid, but for the Musks and Ramaswamys and so forth. Despite (or because of their personal avarice), they know they should maintain fig leaves to preserve their ROIs. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/868 "2024-11-13T13:59:47Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > They don’t want to do these things just to do them. Every time we comforted ourselves with assurances they won’t act against their own interests, we were wrong. They are running on pure id now; they will choose the most cruel, painful path just because it feels good. They will burn it all down, and gleefully reign over the ashes. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/869 "2024-11-13T14:16:07Z")
I’m calling it the Department of Grifting Everyone. Take that Elon. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/870 "2024-11-13T14:26:49Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > A hepped-up White House staffer. on goofballs? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/871 "2024-11-13T14:58:06Z")
Well, absolutely certainly so in Musk’s case. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/872 "2024-11-13T15:08:06Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Trump doesn’t have to follow the law. The courts have made that clear. I don’t think this is hyperbole at this point. No, it’s 100% hyperbolic bullshit. He has managed to get away with some things but the idea that he never has to obey _any_ kind of law _ever_ is insanity. It’s just petulance to insist that he literally can do anything he wants ever. This being the Pit, people can feel free to rant and exaggerate of course, but in reality it’s not true that the law doesn’t matter. That’s childish. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/873 "2024-11-13T15:16:56Z")
Someone called Musk “president Musk”,and I find that funny, and will use it, but I’m just going to leave this here. I give you, the new FLOTUS [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcJgpqgWcAAcjrw.jpg:large) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcJgpqgWcAAcjrw.jpg:large) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/874 "2024-11-13T15:56:18Z")
In real news, the Guardian announced today they will no longer post on Xitter from their official accounts. I wish other media organizations would follow. > **[Why the Guardian is no longer posting on X](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/13/why-the-guardian-is-no-longer-posting-on-x)** > > We will stop posting from our official editorial accounts on the platform, but X users can still share our articles ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/875 "2024-11-13T16:57:13Z")
Good call. I can only imagine the blue-check responses to that, if they posted it on X. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/876 "2024-11-13T18:06:54Z")
Apparently there’s a new font based on Musk and his X obsession, and it made me giggle: > **[Times New Dumbass](https://timesnewdumbass.co/)** > > Elon does this stupid “X” jump all the time. So we took one of those pictures and warped it into every letter of the alphabet. Now it’s a free font. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/877 "2024-11-13T18:47:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Apparently there’s a new font based on Musk and his X obsession That’s epic (thanks for posting it). > [@TroutMan](#): > > In real news, the Guardian announced today they will no longer post on Xitter from their official accounts. I wish other media organizations would follow. Last night, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes did a prime-time story on the recent and growing success of Bluesky as an alternative to X. I hope it helps move both media organizations and followers: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UQpOO5u4sTw/maxresdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCIAKENAF8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-CYAC0AWKAgwIABABGEYgRihlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLAs8HpJI-zDuFrvuj-nSfA9wpGYWQ "Bluesky segment -- All In With Chris Hayes, MSNBC") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQpOO5u4sTw0) ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/878 "2024-11-13T18:53:35Z")
I can’t see Bluesky without pronouncing it blue ski in my head ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/879 "2024-11-13T18:55:05Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I can’t see Bluesky without pronouncing it blue ski in my head. I thought that was how it was supposed to be pronounced. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/880 "2024-11-13T19:02:52Z")
Just wait until you find out what users call posts there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=45)