# 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:** 69
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1382 "2025-01-15T21:21:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Yeah, from 1935 onwards the Nazis weren’t remotely “socialist” in any way. There’s a reason that communists and socialists were listed first in Niemoller’s “First they came” poem. Although the _Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei_ certainly wasn’t ‘socialist’ beyond the earliest days before it became the _Deutsche Arbeiterpartei_ (and later the NSDAP or “Nazi Party”), it is difficult to classify it as being specifically ‘right wing’, either. It was a populist party that promoted a culturally conservative return of ‘family values’ and conventional gender roles, but it ended up supporting a lot of social welfare programs (both to promote itself and later because of the impacts of isolation and the war). The base were mostly laborers and lower socioeconomic middle classes prior to rising to power within the Weimar National Assembly, when industrialists and investors swooned to Hitler’s inner circle and fěted his every desire, following the lead of a few early advocates like [Frederich Flick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Flick), one of Weimar’s (and later post-WWII Germany’s) most wealthy industrialists. (Sound familiar?) Fascism itself isn’t really an ideology in any meaningful way; it is really an advocacy of absolute power behind a cult of personality, driven by largely manufactured fear and resentment, typically toward a foreign ‘other’ or marginalized groups within the society. This allows it to attract wealthy business owners and corporate interests who are largely free of any particular ethical principles by advocating whatever is most likely to improve business conditions, e.g. eliminate regulation, compel government investment, make prison or other forced labor available for low or no cost, provide national resources, apply tariffs and other anti-competition measures, et cetera. (Sound familiar?) Hitler, of course, recognized early the benefits of populist organizing at a grassroots level, presenting an epic vision of a vast German Reich based upon the purported racial superiority of the Teutonic people (or “Aryan Race”—a meaningless term that nonetheless took hold), the myth of a “Big Lie” that Germany didn’t really lose the Great War (I) and the German people had been undermined by internal forces, and utilizing media outlets into his political movement, first newspapers and later adopting radio as the first broad and immediate communication medium, essentially inventing ‘viral marketing’ and a sort of ‘social media’ precursor of thousands of people publishing pamphlets and holding extemporaneous displays of bigotry and violence, which promoted fear, uncertainty and doubt through the populace, creating a sense that the only options were to join up or be silent. (Sound familiar?) Fascism and fascist-like movements don’t really fit on the left-right political spectrum; _fascismo italiano_, Nazism, Peronism, Stalinism, Maoism, and whatever you want to call what belief system Pol Pot and Enver Hoxha advocated were all fascist-like cults of personally, and their support and frameworks were drawn from all over the progressive-conservative sociopolitical spectrum. The only unifying ideals were blaming all problems on a convenient scapegoat class, promotion of an all-knowing, never-wrong charismatic leader, and creating a culture of paranoia and corruption where even basic survival, much less advancement, depended on a willingness to turn against or report your neighbors, friends, and even family to demonstrate loyalty. (Sound familiar?) > [@TroutMan](#): > > I take this with a massive grain of salt: I don’t know that everything in that post has been (or can be) verified, but there is enough in there which corresponds to what we do know about the happenings when Elon Musk took over Twitter that there is at least some partial truths in there. For certain, Twitter went from being a general dumpster fire to a platform that specifically promoted right-wing personalities and conspiranoia, and distributed anti-progressive memes and false claims very quickly, and has since become as much of a far-right social media tool as 4Chan and Rumble, and now even nominally ‘independent’ media platforms like Meta and Instagram are now removing protections and rapidly transitioning over to being ‘fascist-friendly’ sites dominated by explicitly ‘conservative’ bogus ‘news’ and conspiracy nutterism instead of just being general misinformation of all shades. Stranger ---
**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:** [January 15, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1383 "2025-01-15T22:00:24Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I take this with a massive grain of salt: Yeah, I’m not buying it. Anonymous source with vague accusations, and nothing to back it up but a dozen lines of code. I suppose it could have happened, but reading it gives me the feeling of someone just coming of with lists of things that Musk could have done, rather than an testimony of what he did do. If this was real testimony I would think would include more details of how it was done with specific examples. The simplest explanation for the way Musk turned twitter into a wretched hive of scum and villainy, is by removing all of the guard rails that had previously kept that sort of thing in check. Once enough white male supremacist and Russian propaganda bots start showing up it drives out the civilized people and they are all that remains. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1384 "2025-01-15T22:22:01Z")
I’m not buying it either. It reads too perfect; it’s left-wing candy. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1385 "2025-01-15T23:46:10Z")
Good post and I have but one thing to add: > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > the myth of a “Big Lie” that Germany didn’t really lose the Great War (I) ITYM the [Stab-in-the-back myth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_myth) here, in particular. (I disambiguate, because there were a lot of “big lies”.) ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1386 "2025-01-17T02:15:28Z")
Oops. [SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket blows up in ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’, says company | The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/space/starship-launch-spacex-flight-test-b2681014.html) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1387 "2025-01-17T02:36:56Z")
There was a spectacular video of the debris falling toward the sea on Bluesky. Lemme see if I can find it. ETA: Google provides this news report with video: > **[Videos on social media show Starship debris streaming across the sky](https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/videos-on-social-media-show-starlight-debris-streaming-across-the-sky-229532741599)** > > Videos circulating on social media show fragments of the Starship rocket breaking apart in the sky above the Turks and Caicos. SpaceX confirmed on X, stating, "Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn." ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1388 "2025-01-17T03:21:03Z")
That’s very pretty! Maybe he’ll do more of that. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1389 "2025-01-17T03:32:21Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > > SpaceX confirmed on X, stating, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn.” SpaceX, stop trying to make it sound impressive. You fucked up and your rocket blew up. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1390 "2025-01-17T03:46:32Z")
I’m surprised Elmo hasn’t tried to blame it on woke. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1391 "2025-01-17T05:14:14Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > > > > SpaceX confirmed on X, stating, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn.” > > SpaceX, stop trying to make it sound impressive. You fucked up and your rocket blew up. The phrase “rapid unscheduled disassembly” is a term of art in the aerospace industry. Very much tongue in cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1392 "2025-01-17T06:18:50Z")
Yeah, even the abbreviation “RUD” is common jargon among in-the-know observers. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1393 "2025-01-17T06:54:56Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I suppose it could have happened, but reading it gives me the feeling of someone just coming of with lists of things that Musk could have done, rather than an testimony of what he did do. Obviously there’s no way to verify a lot of these allegations, but that fake accounts have been flooding Twitter with pro-Trump messages has been [widely reported](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/304988/20240524/fake-accounts-increase-tenfold-targeting-election-x.htm) previously, and there is good statistical evidence that the Twitter algorithm was [manipulated to inflate right-wing/pro-Trump content](https://eprints.qut.edu.au/253211/) around the middle of last July. This precisely tracks Musk’s endorsement of Trump on July 13, after [lobbying for the nomination of JD Vance](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-a57d5ac0-42e3-11ef-a18b-df9c93a5e649.html) (publicly announced on July 15). Of course, that substack post could just be (perhaps most probably is) somebody inflating those already known stories, but I wouldn’t be shocked if such manipulations actually had happened behind the scenes at Twitter—it seems hardly worse than what the evidence already points to. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1394 "2025-01-17T23:24:53Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > > > > SpaceX confirmed on X, stating, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn.” > > SpaceX, stop trying to make it sound impressive. You fucked up and your rocket blew up. I’ve seen a lot of reports that CNN and MSNBC held the line on “reporting” that the SpaceX mission was “successful” and that at most, the explosion and falling debris were “beautiful.” We need hard data on the actual reporting but I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if both cable channels held the line (of fellating Musk instead of reporting that his company failed spectacularly). ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1395 "2025-01-17T23:27:44Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > We need hard data on the actual reporting but I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if both cable channels held the line (of fellating Musk instead of reporting that his company failed spectacularly). It’s like Billy Mumy from the _Twilight Zone_; everyone was afraid of the kid’s godlike powers. “No, it was a good thing the rocket exploded, it was beautiful! Don’t send me to the cornfield Elon!” ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1396 "2025-01-17T23:29:18Z")
If i was a Black engineer at SpaceX I’d very very nervous about now and polishing my resume. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1397 "2025-01-17T23:29:24Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It’s like Billy Mumy from the _Twilight Zone_; everyone was afraid of the kid’s godlike powers You know, comparing the Billy Mumy character with Elon, it seems clear to me that the former was the more stable, emotionally-healthy individual. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1398 "2025-01-17T23:34:00Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > comparing the Billy Mumy character with Elon, it seems clear to me that the former was the more stable, emotionally-healthy individual. Elmo is more like Bart Simpson in the Treehouse of Horror parody of that episode. Declaring that America was discovered in 1949 by Some Guy who named it “Bonerland” would be right up Elmo’s alley. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1399 "2025-01-17T23:36:46Z")
Don’t give him ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1400 "2025-01-18T00:54:07Z")
I suppose I should feel honored that with all this going on Elmo took the time to try to Friend me on Facebook. [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/rvxZH5U.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/lGqUYC8) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/1401 "2025-01-18T02:36:22Z")
Melon Husk, the special little snowflake, is so offended by Twitch streamer Aspenglow accusing him of paying someone to boost him in a game, that he started a feud with him on Twitter and outed his DMs. > **[Elon Musk Vs. Asmongold—The Gaming Feud, Explained](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2025/01/16/elon-musk-vs-asmongold-the-gaming-feud-explained/)** > > Elon Musk is currently in the midst of a feud with Twitch streamer Asmongold, after he was accused of boosting his ‘Path of Exile 2’ account. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=68) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=70)