by Ram ben Ze'ev
The Twitter-sphere is abuzz with the news that Elon Musk has, under the guise of democracy, restored the account of President Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump. In fact, in his pronouncement of free speech for President Trump, Musk proclaimed "Vox Populi, Vox Dei", which translates as "the voice of the people is the voice of god" and was used by the British Whig Party, in its tract of 1709. The Whigs were a Liberal, some say, radical political party that dissolved in 1859.
Full disclaimer; I voted, using Elon Musk's now-famous poll, to restore President Trump's account. In fact, as a director of a number of companies, each with a separate Twitter account, I voted 16 times (it was an American election after all). So, I am happy that President Trump's Twitter account has been restored, but I prefer my free speech G-D given, not determined by a mob or even (or particularly) Elon Musk.
What rubs me the wrong way is that having campaigned on free speech, Elon Musk didn't simply restore the account as soon as he took over control of the company. Either he is a free speech absolutist, as he claims, or not.
Why did Musk find it necessary to use an easily manipulated Twitter poll to suggest that this was his reasoning for restoring free speech to President Trump? The method appears disingenuous at best to me.
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Of course, those on the Right are celebrating Musk and his granting of free speech and while I don't follow any Leftists/Communists or watch any of their media, I have it on good authority that the Left is wildly upset. And this proves how easily the Mass Formation can be manipulated by someone wielding power, offering something that costs them nothing that an apparent majority or a well-organized minority wants.
An important takeaway from Elon Musk's @realDonaldTrump poll is that any ‘right’, like free speech, which the mob can give, it can take from you.
Some things never change, no matter who’s in charge. In my opinion, Elon Musk is no better than the previous management.
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Bill White (Ram ben Ze'ev) is CEO of WireNews and Executive Director of Hebrew Synagogue