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Dec 6, 2023Liked by Paul D. Thacker

And what worries me as I watch this unfold: if a political party—either Democrat or Republican—can target the richest, most powerful man in the country because he doesn’t support all their policies, who might be next? Isn’t that what’s important?”

Yes! And the investigations, the facts and their reporting must continue and be as widely distributed as possible. Thank you and Elon Musk for driving these actions. The rest of us are here... understanding, aware, and fighting with our daily choices to eliminate these attacks on our freedoms.

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I don't know how old he is now, but Podesta is a kind of Saruman the White in this whole mess, building and guiding his evil orc army of Imrans and Lorenz types from his lair at the Center for American Progress, his Isengard (not sure who Sauron is in this metaphor). Especially interesting on Podesta are the many things I've read suggesting he and his cronies (Steyer) are or have been hugely invested in coal while pushing nuclear plant shutdowns, wind and solar, which have all massively increased coal use. If that's true, they should be beaten around the head and shoulders with it publicly. If true, it's so duplicitly, brazenly evil it would be almost... admirable in some horrible way.

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Podesta is doing what political bosses have always done: organizing to promote your party and attack others. What seems different is the focus on a company like X because Elon Musk doesn't support their policies.

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This is true however the big difference is regular Americans have never really had an intimate inside view of all this "evil" maneuvering by Agencies, Media, Political power players etc... I am, as a regular American, extremely grateful for what Elon has done to expose the grift and for writers such as yourself who do fantastic work at analyzing it all. Thank you.

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As more time goes on, I’m detesting politics. I wish things weren’t left or right. I’m so tired of it. It causes such division and anger. Both parties use their might to sway opinion. I remember listening to GOP politicians in congress making a speech about universal health saying it has death panels and no freedom to choose the doctor you want or stay with the doctor you already have. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing because they mentioned Canada. I don’t trust any of them. Since 2020, the lies, the misinformation from our governments makes me sick to my stomach. I’m vaccine injured and want the truth to surface. But, it’s more important to cater to vested interests rather than the health and rights of human beings. This sickness is pervasive worldwide.

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I only saw headlines about Musk this week and wondered what happened.

Thanks for the details!

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There are times when A F bomb s the right answer.

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"Editors at the New York Post commissioned me to write a piece last weekend explaining how the Democratic Party has been targeting Elon Musk for buying Twitter and taking away their ability to censor critics and label them “disinformation.” "

Okay, yes, and I abhor all efforts to practice intellectual suppression and manipulation. BUT: Being attacked does not ipso facto make Elon Musk and more importantly, X, a paragon of free speech virtue.

X is still loaded for intellectual suppression bear (Freedom of speech, not freedom of reach!, "We reserve the right to deamplify/demonitize what X apparatchiks/AI deem "lawful but awful". No bueno to conflate x and a platform operating on conditions which actually respect authentic intellectual freedom: https://jenswanndowney.substack.com/p/we-are-being-trained-to-perceive

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So because X is not being run the way you would like, then it's okay for a political party to attack Elon Musk for not censoring Americans?

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Not at all, and that's not what I said. It is NOT okay for any political party to attack Musk for not censoring on command. I am a free speech absolutist. What I'm ADDING to our agreement, is my observation that many are conflating Musk being wrongly attacked by one group as PROOF that he is a "free speech" guy and that X is a "free speech" platform. Being wronged by a bigger bully, does not make a lesser bully suddenly a non-bully.

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Why aren't these algo's that decrease or increase reach for any of these platforms the same as editing content, therefore Rule 230 protection for liability should go "poof"? There should be no editing, inflation or deflation on these platforms except what I do myself, right?

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