Elon Musk is a danger to democracy

Sissy SpaceX has gotten himself in a bit of hot water lately, and I am here for it.

Musk’s “anti-woke” chatbot Grok recently generated a fake news report falsely stating that VP Kamala Harris is ineligible to be on the ballot in nine states. Secretaries of State for five of the nine issued letters to Musk telling him to fix his lying chatbot. [1] 

Musk’s pro-MAGA PAC has been promoting a website that claims to help people register to vote, but was really designed to hoover up personal information and prevent people from legitimately registering in states where the Old Man with a Spray Tan has a chance of winning. 

Voter registration fraud is illegal. That PAC is now under criminal investigation in Michigan and North Carolina. I am guessing it’s not going to end there. 

And, oh yeah: Musk is currently being investigated for securities and wire fraud by the Department of Justice for making deliberately false claims about the Tesla EV’s self-driving capabilities.

The reason Musk bought Twitter and fucked it up beyond all recognition is now obvious: He’s using it as a high-volume manure spreader to disseminate fake news, foment unrest, and elect a friendly administration. Like his preferred candidate, he needs to keep the gravy train rolling and his ass out of the pokey. And Musk clearly sees his best chance for doing that is by helping to put Don-Old back in the Oval. 

Toward that end, he just announced he’ll be conducting a one-on-one interview with Trump on Xitter next week. What a Xhit show that will be.

Our tax dollars are supporting this asshole

FIrst, here is your periodic reminder that Musk’s companies are staying afloat thanks to your (and my) tax dollars.

Since 2003, SpaceX has received at least $15.3 billion in federal contracts. And if it had not landed a crucial NASA contract in 2008, the company might have imploded as dramatically as one of its Starship rockets.

State and federal subsidies that reduced the cost of purchasing electric vehicles have benefitted Tesla to the tune of nearly $3 billion.

Starlink, Space Karen’s satellite communications company, has received $23 million from the Department of Defense for providing Internet access in the Ukraine [2], and has been vying for a $900 million contract from the FCC to provide rural broadband in the US. [3] That’s not including the contract it has with the NSA for building a network of spy satellites.

Neuralink, Musk’s brain chip implant company, received $280 million in private funding after receiving FDA approval for human testing in May 2023. This despite a coalition of physicians warning that “ the public should continue to be skeptical of the safety and functionality of any device produced by Neuralink.”

Let’s all pause and take a moment to appreciate the irony of one of the world’s most Hyper Libertarians living off the public dole. Small government for thee, but not for me, am I right?

Rhymes with ‘shitter’

But as Max Boot pointed out in a Washington Post editorial, “Musk is a MAGA megaphone and a federal contractor. That’s a problem.” It’s not merely that the man has allowed Xitter to become a cesspool of hate speech and wackadoodle conspiracy theories; it’s that he’s one of the main instigators. Per Boot:

So why are our tax dollars going to this man’s company? Why are we trusting him to build spy satellites for US intelligence services? Who in their right mind would let that man put a chip in their brains?

I would love for the US government to suspend its contracts with Musk’s companies until he stops his efforts to manipulate the election. I’m not holding my breath on that one. But I think he might just self-destruct on his own.

Over the past two days I’ve seen more people announcing that they’ve (finally) abandoned Xitter and moved over to Threads than I’ve seen in the entire year since I made that move. Obviously that’s purely anecdotal, but it’s encouraging.

The problem is that most people have spent years building up their audiences on that benighted social network and are loath to abandon them. [4] So FrameLab and LOLGOP blogger Jason Sattler serves up some tips on how to use Xitter responsibly. They boil down to a) use alternate networks like Bluesky or Mastodon to share news and discuss politics; b) don’t use Xitter as a news source; and 3) if you must share news via Xitter, make it your last option, not your first.

In the meantime, please enjoy this panorama of Musk’s future home, taken by the Mars Curiosity rover. 

He can’t move there soon enough for me.

What can you do to make Elon Musk’s life miserable today? Share your ideas in the comments or email me: [email protected].

[1] The four state secretaries who didn’t send cease-and-desist letters to Musk were all Republicans. Surprised?

[2] Musk also memorably refused to grant a request by the Ukraine military to expand that access so that it could coordinate efforts to attack the Russian fleet. Since when do US corporate oligarchs get to meddle in foreign policy?

[3] The FCC rejected Starlink’s bid in December 2023, saying the company could not meet the minimum bandwidth requirements. But imagine how that decision would play out with a different administration in place. 

[4] I feel their pain. I had about 10K followers on Xitter. I have fewer than 500 on Threads, and half of them want to show me their bodacious booties.