I’m watching that full-throttle nosedive to doom

benfell

Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[1] fair use.

It is awfully hard to imagine any San Francisco landlord long tolerating Twitter’s withholding rent in an effort to renegotiate its lease.[2] My consistent observation of San Francisco Bay Area landlords is that they would rather leave the space vacant, for years even, than take a penny less. Meanwhile, Elon Musk is selling Tesla stock like mad, without explanation,[3] but I think most folks presume it’s to keep Twitter afloat.

Twitter struggled financially even before[4] Musk took over,[5] drove advertisers away,[6] and saddled the company with even more debt,[7] but he continues transforming the network into something only white Christian nationalists can love, and the most extreme ones at that,[8] as if he really believes that most people are either white Christian nationalists themselves or at least won’t see white Christian nationalism as a deal-breaker.

This is specifically reminiscent of paleoconservatism. In the taxonomy of tendencies of conservatism in my dissertation, paleoconservatives, who include neo-Nazis, skinheads, and other white supremacists, believe that all white people must, on some level, agree with them, fearing “Black and brown” people, even if they won’t admit to it.[9] I guess we’re about to find out, but for my money, Twitter remains on a full-throttle nosedive to doom.[10]

Laura Forman, “Twitter’s Advertising Truth Hurts,” Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-advertising-truth-hurts-11670706720

Keith Olbermann, “Hey look what they found in the ‘Twitter Files&rsquo,;” Twitter, December 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1601983506070081536

Elon Musk, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Twitter, December 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601894132573605888

Charlie Warzel, “Elon Musk Is a Far-Right Activist,” Atlantic, December 11, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/

Joseph Menn, “Elon Musk uses QAnon tactic in criticizing former Twitter safety chief,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-child-porn-qanon/

Stephen Wilmot, “Half-Price Tesla Stock Is Still No Bargain,” Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/half-price-tesla-stock-is-still-no-bargain-11670851513

Cat Zakrzewski, Joseph Menn, and Naomi Nix, “Twitter dissolves Trust and Safety Council,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-twitter-harass-yoel-roth/

Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton, “Twitter’s risky plan to save its ads business,” Platformer, December 13, 2022, https://www.platformer.news/p/twitters-risky-plan-to-save-its-ads

Steve Burgess, “Please Advise! Is Elon Musk Really That Vile?” Tyee, December 14, 2022, https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/12/14/Please-Advise-Elon-Musk-Really-Vile/

Joseph De Avila, “Twitter Suspends Account That Tracked Elon Musk’s Private Jet,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-suspends-account-that-tracked-elon-musks-private-jet-11671036887

Rebecca Elliott, “Elon Musk Sold More Than $3.5 Billion Worth of Tesla Shares,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-sold-more-than-3-5-billion-worth-of-tesla-shares-11671071099

Nicholas Gordon, “Twitter is reportedly not paying rent for its offices as Musk warns users to ‘beware of debt,’” Fortune, December 14, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/14/twitter-not-paying-office-rent-elon-musk-cut-costs/

Drew Harwell, “QAnon, adrift after Trump’s defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Washington Post, December 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/14/qanon-musk-revival-twitter/

Dana Hull and Bloomberg, “Elon Musk just unloaded $3.6 billion in Tesla stock, his 4th huge sale this year,” Fortune, December 15, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/15/elon-musk-unloaded-billion-tesla-stock-fourth-huge-sale-this-year/

Illiberalism


Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

Paola Tamma, “EU strikes deal with Hungary, reducing funding freeze to get Ukraine aid approved,” Politico, December 12, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-deal-hungary-drop-vetoe-recovery-plan-approved-funding-freeze-ukraine-aid/

Diane Jeantet, “Bolsonaro supporters clash with police in Brazil’s capital,” Associated Press, December 13, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/jair-bolsonaro-caribbean-brazil-brasilia-government-fa08598a3abecb1e0e1e621199c0861b

Gabriel Stargardter, “Gun-loving Bolsonaristas challenge Lula’s pledge to disarm Brazil,” Reuters, December 13, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/gun-loving-bolsonaristas-challenge-lulas-pledge-disarm-brazil-2022-12-13/

Kareem Fahim and Zeynep Karatas, “Turkish court sentences Erdogan rival to prison for insulting officials,” Washington Post, December 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/14/turkey-erdogan-ekrem-imamoglu/

  1. [1]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/↩
  2. [2]Nicholas Gordon, “Twitter is reportedly not paying rent for its offices as Musk warns users to ‘beware of debt,’” Fortune, December 14, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/14/twitter-not-paying-office-rent-elon-musk-cut-costs/↩
  3. [3]Rebecca Elliott, “Elon Musk Sold More Than $3.5 Billion Worth of Tesla Shares,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-sold-more-than-3-5-billion-worth-of-tesla-shares-11671071099; Dana Hull and Bloomberg, “Elon Musk just unloaded $3.6 billion in Tesla stock, his 4th huge sale this year,” Fortune, December 15, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/15/elon-musk-unloaded-billion-tesla-stock-fourth-huge-sale-this-year/↩
  4. [4]Nicholas Gordon, “Twitter is reportedly not paying rent for its offices as Musk warns users to ‘beware of debt,’” Fortune, December 14, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/14/twitter-not-paying-office-rent-elon-musk-cut-costs/↩
  5. [5]Jake Johnson, “‘Dangerous for Us All’: Elon Musk, World’s Richest Man, Completes Twitter Takeover,” Common Dreams, October 28, 2022, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/10/28/dangerous-us-all-elon-musk-worlds-richest-man-completes-twitter-takeover; Elon Musk, “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” Twitter, October 26, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585341984679469056; Elon Musk, “the bird is freed,” Twitter, October 28, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585841080431321088; Greg Sargent, “The hidden danger lurking behind Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover,” Washington Post, October 28, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/28/elon-musk-twitter-takeover-russia-ukraine-war-big-tech/; Faiz Siddiqui and Elizabeth Dwoskin, “Top Twitter executives fired as Elon Musk takeover begins,” Washington Post, October 27, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/27/twitter-elon-musk/; Lauren Thomas and Alexa Corse, “Elon Musk Twitter Deal Completed, CEO and CFO Immediately Fired,” Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-completes-twitter-takeover-11666918031↩
  6. [6]Laura Forman, “Twitter’s Advertising Truth Hurts,” Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-advertising-truth-hurts-11670706720; Patience Haggin, “Twitter Offers Advertisers Generous Incentives After Many Marketers Left Platform,” Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-offers-advertisers-generous-incentives-after-many-marketers-left-platform-11669922354; Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, and Kate Conger, “Twitter Keeps Missing Its Advertising Targets as Woes Mount,” New York Times, December 3, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/technology/twitter-advertising-targets-missed.html; Sarah E. Needleman and Alexa Corse, “Elon Musk Says Twitter Has Had Massive Revenue Drop as Layoffs Begin,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-says-twitter-has-had-massive-revenue-drop-11667573127; Naomi Nix and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Advertisers are dropping Twitter. Musk can’t afford to lose any more,” Washington Post, November 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/22/twitter-advertiser-exodus-musk/; Faiz Siddiqui, Naomi Nix, and Will Oremus, “Advertisers fleeing, workers in fear: Welcome to Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Washington Post, November 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/04/twitter-layoffs-musk/; Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin, “Ad Giants Advise Brands to Pause Spending on Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ad-giants-advise-brands-to-pause-spending-on-elon-musks-twitter-11667333021; Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin, “General Mills, Audi and Pfizer Join Growing List of Companies Pausing Twitter Ads,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/general-mills-audi-and-pfizer-join-growing-list-of-companies-pausing-twitter-ads-11667507765; Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin, “Twitter’s Advertising Exodus Accelerates, Despite Outreach From Elon Musk,” Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-advertising-exodus-accelerates-despite-outreach-from-elon-musk-11668262920↩
  7. [7]Nicholas Gordon, “Twitter is reportedly not paying rent for its offices as Musk warns users to ‘beware of debt,’” Fortune, December 14, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/14/twitter-not-paying-office-rent-elon-musk-cut-costs/; Dana Hull and Bloomberg, “Elon Musk just unloaded $3.6 billion in Tesla stock, his 4th huge sale this year,” Fortune, December 15, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/15/elon-musk-unloaded-billion-tesla-stock-fourth-huge-sale-this-year/↩
  8. [8]Steve Burgess, “Please Advise! Is Elon Musk Really That Vile?” Tyee, December 14, 2022, https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/12/14/Please-Advise-Elon-Musk-Really-Vile/; Duty To Warn, “Elon Musk tweeted this meme. . . .” Twitter, November 21, 2022, https://twitter.com/duty2warn/status/1594655174852755460; Drew Harwell, “QAnon, adrift after Trump’s defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Washington Post, December 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/14/qanon-musk-revival-twitter/; Ron Kampeas, “Welcome to the new Twitter: Kanye West returns with ‘shalom’ and Elon Musk trolls the ADL,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 20, 2022, https://www.jta.org/2022/11/20/united-states/welcome-to-the-new-twitter-kanye-west-is-back-and-elon-musk-trolls-the-adl; Robert Mackey and Micah Lee, “Left-Wing Voices Are Silenced on Twitter as Far-Right Trolls Advise Elon Musk,” Intercept, November 29, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/11/29/elon-musk-twitter-andy-ngo-antifascist/; Joseph Menn, “Surging Twitter antisemitism unites fringe, encourages violence, officials say,” Washington Post, December 3, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/03/twitter-antisemitism-violence-jan-6/; Joseph Menn, “Elon Musk uses QAnon tactic in criticizing former Twitter safety chief,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-child-porn-qanon/; Dan Milmo, “Twitter trolls bombard platform after Elon Musk takeover,” Guardian, October 30, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/30/twitter-trolls-bombard-platform-after-elon-musk-takeover; Liz Moyer, “Elon Musk Reinstates Trump on Twitter. Trump Shrugs,” Barron’s, November 20, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/elon-musk-reinstates-trump-on-twitter-trump-shrugs-51668964354; Elon Musk, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Twitter, December 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601894132573605888; Reuters, “Twitter rolls back COVID misinformation policy,” November 29, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-rolls-back-covid-misinformation-policy-2022-11-29/; Kelly Rissman, “Donald Trump’s Twitter Account Has Been Reactivated But Will He Return?” Vanity Fair, November 20, 2022, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/donald-trump-twitter-account-has-been-reactivated; Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return; Faiz Siddiqui, “Amazon, Uber ads appear on Twitter pages of white nationalists restored by Musk,” Washington Post, December 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/06/twitter-ads-elon-musk/; Faiz Siddiqui, Drew Harwell, and Isaac Arnsdorf, “Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account,” Washington Post, November 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/trump-musk-twitter/; Charlie Warzel, “Elon Musk Is a Far-Right Activist,” Atlantic, December 11, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/; Cat Zakrzewski, Joseph Menn, and Naomi Nix, “Twitter dissolves Trust and Safety Council,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-twitter-harass-yoel-roth/↩
  9. [9]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).↩
  10. [10]David Benfell, “Elon Musk’s Achilles’ heel,” Not Housebroken, December 9, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/07/10/elon-musks-achilles-heel/↩

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