READ: X Marks the Hate

[Author's Note: Since Elon Musk still deadnames his offspring, I still call it Twitter. It, and he, deserve no better.]

Wanna play make-believe for a moment?

Let’s pretend an ultra-famous mega-billionaire has invited you to his big bash. By attending, you’ll raise your social profile, meet famous people who could advance your career – maybe you'll even make yourself rich and famous by attending!

You’d RSVP in the positive without hesitation, yes?

Now, let’s imagine that your celebrity host is also a renowned racist, who's family made their fortune thanks in large part to apartheid. He's well known for fascist behavior and interference in governmental affairs. He communicates with our nation’s enemies and successfully conspires with a wannabe dictator to secure power. He proudly brags about using illegal drugs. He’s well known for bullying employees and skirting work rules, He's harassed the several mothers of his children, and has disowned his own trans daughter.

And now, he says he plans on putting Americans through "hardships" to help his own personal Hitler secure his/their goals.

Would you still plan on attending? Of course not! And why would you? “Guilt by association,” and all that.

Right?

But guess what! If you’re still on Twitter/X – SURPRISE! – you’ve already been at that party for some time!

I must admit, I was already stymied by how many fair-weather liberals remained on repugnant racist Elon Musk’s vile platform.

But in light of recent developments, I am absolutely flummoxed. I must ask, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

You will hear all sorts of excuses from those who refuse to budge. Believe me, I've had the arguments!

“I’m staying there to fight fascism and defend democracy in the lion's den!” they will proclaim.

How’s that battle going? (If it were working, Musk would have already thrown you out of his party!)

“My one little account doesn’t make a difference,” they’ll then claim, forgetting that the best way to drive a business out of business is to take your business elsewhere.

If everyone canceled their "one little account," it certainly would make a difference.

“I stay on there to see what the Right is up to,” is another lame excuse. As if the mainstream media doesn’t already report on every tweet that's even remotely newsworthy.

Fresh out of excuses, some tweeters might finally state the truth.

“But my followers! It took me years to build my base!”  

And that, in my humble opinion, is perhaps the lamest excuse of all.

You’re willing to sell your soul for a little popularity?

Which leads back to my original question: "What the hell is wrong with you?"

The hard truth is, you are not – cannot be – truly pro-democracy if you’re keeping the fascist’s Lie Machine alive. No matter how many followers you have.

Not even if you’re Brian Tyler Cohen, Marc Elias, the Lincoln Project, or others who claim to be fighting the good fight, but who continue tweeting away. Even though they know better.

Because they know Musk uses Twitter to promote blatant lies unchecked, to block truth unchallenged, to bully and harass his enemies (of which there are many).

When he bought the platform, Musk fired most of its employees, and removed all guardrails and safety supervision – declaring himself the king of "free speech."

As a result, it quickly became awash with Nazis, porn, trolls, and Russian and Chinese bots.

And now, empowered by his bizarre friendship with president-elect Trump, he’s become even more malignant – spreading blatant lies about patriots like retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, and joking about assassinating President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris, among other disgraces.

Because he owns the forum, he can post anything he wants without consequence or censorship, no matter how outrageous, not matter how false.

And if you dare insult him or any of his cronies? He will throw you out of his party on your ass!

Then there's Musk’s constant lies to support his latest pet project, the “presidency” of Donald J. Trump. Those certainly paid off, with Trump naming Musk the head of Trump's nebulous, newly formed "Department of Government Efficiency."

Musk's behavior is becoming exponentially more and more reptilian.

For example, he recently doxxed the names of of some government employees he plans to fire -- making them targets of MAGA's merry morons. He warns "average Americans" [i.e., non-billionaires] are going to have a hard time as he enacts his "vision."

And Trump hasn't even been sworn in yet! Imagine how bad it will get in the months and years ahead.

That is, unless Musk meets the same fate of many former Trump ass-kissers and gets thrown under the gold-plated bus.

But as my friend Jeffrey Hartgraves used to say, "Until then, it's now."

By staying on Twitter, you implicitly support not only Musk, but his lies, his anti-American policies, his megalomaniacal ego, and the skin-crawling Musk-Trump alliance.

“I’m just one person. I don’t make a difference.” Oh, shut up.

Just imagine if all the liberals, independents, and media companies stomped out of Musk’s party?

After the wildly disappointing election, it's starting to happen. Fed up with Musk’s rampant churlishness, his interference in national affairs, and his petty vindictiveness, users are now fleeing his platform in droves, and flocking to alternatives.

Meta’s Threads is one option. Alas, Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter wannabe has de-emphasized news and politics from its social networks. Just further proof that Zuck is as spineless as Musk is evil.

Need more proof of his cowardly status? See below, Zuck’s congratulatory note to the man whom he’d banned from his platform for insurrection just four years earlier.

Ick. 

Many former Twitter users, myself included, found a new haven on Bluesky.

Why do we prefer it to the others?

Bluesky has no ads, there's no "master algorithm." Users have much more control over their feeds. Their moderation team quickly enforces community standards (a feature Musk quickly killed at Twitter). Posts about news and politics are not "shadow banned."

Many users have created “starter kits,” where you can follow (or block) numerous users with just one click.

Bluesky CEO Jay Garber claims her site is "billionaire-proof" since it's not one centralized feed of content but a "protocol" from which endless feeds (sports, cats, libraries) can be created.

In other words, since the site is open-sourced and maintained by many contributors, like Wikipedia, it's more difficult for a single person or company to control it.

I’ve been there since Nov. 7, and I’ve yet to encounter a single Nazi or a porn bot. There are a few MAGA morons, but they are quickly dispatched. In fact, I’m spending most of my social-media time there these days. (Follow me!)

The “Xodus” from Twitter (as media calls it) clearly makes man-baby Musk nervous. After all, he paid $44 billion for Twitter. Its current estimated worth is around $600 million. No wonder he’s acting out.

But then again, he did buy a Presidency as a result. Not a bad investment.

I truly hope you will leave Musk’s fascist party and join the fun on Bluesky. It's still small, with 20 million users (as of this writing), so let's help it grow! Let’s bury Twitter once and for all!

And if you can't bring yourself to leave the party? Then stop claiming you're pro-democracy. Because you are not.

Actions speak louder than words.

Now buckle yourselves in. It's going to be a bumpy fight.

Stats from the New York Times 2 years ago. Think how much worse it is today!

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Burgeoning curmudgeon (or is that queer-mudgeon?) Leon Acord takes on current events (MAGA, cancel culture), modern-day life (precocious parents, technology), pop culture (theatre critics, closeted actors), and more in Expletives Not Deleted, his collection of bitchy yet bubbly essays, all written in the same acerbic voice that made his memoir SUB-LEBRITY a five-star Amazon bestseller.

Buy it HERE