Are we being blindly optimistic about Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover?


The news about the board of Twitter agreeing to a $44bn takeover offer from the billionaire Elon Musk caused both celebrations and meltdowns all over the world.

Musk tweeted the following

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518677066325053441


For conservatives, the hope is that Musk will liberate the platform from its overwhelming liberal bias and restore free speech.

The situation currently on Twitter is such that merely questioning the groupthink can get you suspended. At times the information is suppressed without the user's knowledge i.e. the Tweet is allowed but its visibility is restricted.  Twitter also allows and even promotes trends that are beneficial to the liberal agenda.

On the left meltdown began the very day Musk made his bid public. Twitter employees staged walkouts in protest. MSNBC warned their few viewers that Musk’s takeover of Twitter will have 'massive, life and globe-altering consequences'. SNL, as they always do, took the low route, under the guise of satire they claimed that Musk’s bid was because “White guys want to use the N-word".

Now that the bid has been accepted, the New York Times in a cliché ridden article that reads like a parody piece is claiming that “Musk’s reasons for taking control of Twitter aren’t about free speech; it’s about controlling a megaphone. With his legion of fans, Musk will command a gigantic megaphone and be free to plug his own investments, pooh-pooh sound health regulations and shout down critics.” The article also claims that “Female Twitter users, in particular, ought to worry about whether Musk will bring his apparent disdain for women to the company he is about to own. Twitter is already a toxic place for women who use it, particularly those of color.”

White House officials and Democrat strategists are reportedly worried about how Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter will affect the 2024 presidential election. Their concerns are focused on the possiblity that President Donald Trump returns to Twitter.

On Twitter, liberal users are threatening to quit the platform, much like they threatened to leave the US when Donald Trump was elected President in 2016.

Musk’s Twitter takeover can be compared with President Trump’s victory in 2016.

When Donald Trump won the Presidency, the powers that be in Washington should have accepted the public verdict.  They should have worked with President Trump to implement his agenda. They should have been humble about their defeat while attempting to learn what went wrong so they could embark on course correction for the next election. This is what civics textbooks have taught us.

But the reality is drastically different. The Washington Democrat establishment rejected the results claiming Trump colluded with the Russians to rig the elections. They placed numerous impediments before President Trump by misusing the powers of various agencies to concoct scandals without any basis and using the mainstream media to amplify their lies.

In doing so they accomplished two goals. The first is they managed to slow down the pace of Trump's implementation of his agenda. The second is they managed to convince some voters to vote against the GOP in 2019 and against Trump in 2020. Victory in the 2019 midterms enabled the Democrats to take control of the House which led to two baseless impeachments of Trump. 

It is a miracle that Trump despite all these impediments managed to implement a great deal of his agenda on the economy,  border security and so much more.

Twitter’s board may have accepted Musk’s offer but that doesn’t mean things change magically. Twitter has a complex organizational structure which means copious red tape before any change is allowed to percolate.

It also would be wrong to assume that powers that be behind the scenes in Twitter, especially those who walked out, are not planning ways to sabotage Elon's agenda ease restrictions.

It is also not beyond the realms of possibility that government will step in as a regulatory body citing hateful conduct or terror threat or any other flimsy excuse.

The point remains that while we hope that Musk turns Twitter into a utopia for free expression, we must be cognizant of the forces he is up against.

Musk may have the right ideas, but he will need a team that believes in his ideas to implement them.

The Washington Democrat establishment knows that if Twitter falls, the remaining platforms will either be rendered irrelevant or will have to fall in line.

Do not expect them to surrender on principle, they will not let go without a prolonged dirty fight. 

Much like Trump’s victory in November 2015, Musk’s Twitter takeover in April 2022 is not the end but the beginning of a long journey.

Time will tell if the journey turns out to be merely eventful or successful.

Also appears in American Thinker

 

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