{"id":1447213,"date":"2022-04-20T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T12:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1447213"},"modified":"2022-04-20T08:00:38","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T12:00:38","slug":"elon-musks-battle-for-twitter-is-a-proxy-war-for-americans-against-the-ruling-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elon-musks-battle-for-twitter-is-a-proxy-war-for-americans-against-the-ruling-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk\u2019s Battle For Twitter Is A Proxy War For Americans Against The Ruling Class"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Felon-musks-battle-for-twitter-is-a-proxy-war-for-americans-against-the-ruling-class%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1447213&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Elon Musk\u2019s battle for Twitter has become a smoldering proxy war between the ruling class and a free and sovereign people, a war that transcends the four corners of his offer letter. It is a contest over who controls the public discourse, and with it, who rules.<\/p>\n<p>Our elites self-evidently believe that, to retain power, they must dominate the digital public square. A monopoly on The Narrative is integral to a monopoly on power.<\/p>\n<p>That Musk threatens to return that power to us \u2014 restoring our right to speech in one of the digital public square\u2019s most important forums, and perhaps most importantly creating a safe space for speech critical of our would-be rulers \u2014 is intolerable to them.<\/p>\n<p>America\u2019s commanding heights \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/elon-musk-mocks-washington-post-op-ed-twitter\">Silicon Valley<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/liberal-media-organizations-run-by-billionaires\">corporate media<\/a>, and a slew of institutions represented by a veritable <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AuronMacintyre\/status\/1514653963408318474?s=20&#038;t=xZn5RUQhbGkYhlgup31cZg\">blue checkmark brigade<\/a> \u2014 aren\u2019t even bashful about the fact their aversion to Musk\u2019s bid is rooted in a regressive ideology demanding censorship and suppression aimed at achieving power.<\/p>\n<p>They care not whether Twitter maximizes shareholder value. What <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/SnujN\">hysterical<\/a> Twitter employees, the fearmongers at Jeff Bezos\u2019s Washington Post, and melodramatics like Max Boot apparently find most objectionable are the liberal grounds on which Musk claims to have made his offer.<\/p>\n<h2>Musk\u2019s Intent<\/h2>\n<p>The bid would almost seem to be an afterthought. When Musk proffered it \u2014 at a significant premium to its recent trading price \u2014 he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/0001418091\/000110465922045641\/tm2212748d1_sc13da.htm#ex-b_001\">said<\/a> he did so because he \u201cbelieve[s] in its [Twitter\u2019s] potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe,\u201d and that \u201cfree speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a TED Talk, Musk <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cdZZpaB2kDM\">elaborated<\/a> on his view, stating:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Twitter has become\u2026a de facto town square. It\u2019s just really important that people have both the reality and the perception that they are able to speak freely within the bounds of the law\u2026and so one of the things that I believe Twitter should do is open source the algorithm and [if Twitter] make[s] any changes to people\u2019s tweets \u2013 if they\u2019re emphasized or de-emphasized, that action should be made apparent so anyone can see that action\u2019s been taken so there\u2019s no sort of behind-the-scenes manipulation either algorithmically or manually.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Musk added that \u201cthis is not a way to make money\u2026 My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization\u2026 I don\u2019t care about the economics at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So Musk says his effort to take over Twitter flows from his belief in free speech. Were he to prevail, he says he would aim to ensure due process, transparency, and inclusiveness; and that he is driven by a modern sense of noblesse oblige over avarice.<\/p>\n<p>Isn\u2019t this the kind of move our \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jsx9P4yORAc\">democracy-defending<\/a>\u201d ruling class would typically award someone a Nobel Prize for? Well, no, because for all the ruling class\u2019s anti-authoritarian rhetoric, it consists of those who seek total economic, political, and social control \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletmag.com\/sections\/news\/articles\/new-authoritarians\">projecting<\/a> its pathologies onto its opponents, whom it works to crush using every lever of its power.<\/p>\n<p>Hence its opposition to Musk, who threatens to break the ruling class\u2019s stranglehold on the communications platforms it controls \u2014 enabling it to propagate narratives conducive to its rule while suppressing conflicting ones; cowing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/americas-ruling-regime-doesnt-fear-disinformation-it-fears-truth-opinion-1679940\">Joe Rogan<\/a>, who threatens the narratives of the ruling class communications arm in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ya9Jc5pKjT0\">corporate media<\/a>, as well as the legitimacy of that media; and de-platforming a Donald Trump who threatens the power and privilege of the political establishment and all of the institutions reliant on it. In so doing, the ruling class <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmind.org\/features\/get-ready-for-a-fight\/trumps-greatest-achievement\/\">exposes their rot and corruption<\/a>, showing the lengths to which they will go to destroy Musk.<\/p>\n<h2>Elon Musk Fights for Us by Proxy<\/h2>\n<p>These powerful and influential figures targeted by the ruling class have become stand-ins for us. But we are not spared either, with the ruling regime pursuing everyday Americans who dare to question the regime\u2019s narrative on a million issues from election integrity to the Chinese coronavirus, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/11\/biden-administration-parents-who-oppose-racism-are-domestic-terrorists\/\">critical race theory<\/a>, and human biology \u2014 through platforms including Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>Our betters are loathe to relinquish the power to suppress the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/hunter-biden-laptop-scandal-ultimate-american-information-operation-opinion-1690293\">Hunter Biden laptop story<\/a> while propagating an American information operation claiming it was Russian disinformation, or to prohibit people from sharing information deemed damaging to the regime.<\/p>\n<p>They now seek to legitimize and augment that power by invoking national security, which only further imperils the republic, classifying wrongthink as dangerous misinformation or disinformation, those who engage in it as dangers, and siccing the public sector and its private-sector auxiliaries on them in a brutal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/biden-domestic-terror-strategy-codifies-woke-war-wrongthink-opinion-1605341\">War on Wrongthink<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It was <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CGasparino\/status\/1514560918000185347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1514560918000185347%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&#038;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fas-elon-musk-battles-twitter-bidens-doj-and-sec-reportedly-launching-probes-targeting-him\">reported<\/a> that the feds were probing Musk soon after he disclosed his Twitter offer, which only further contributes to the Third World vibes. For Twitter and like-minded Silicon Valley leaders, the corporate media, and the feds all to be targeting Musk concurrently may well parallel the collusion seen with respect to Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop, the anti-Rogan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ya9Jc5pKjT0\">jihad<\/a>, and the myriad coordinated campaigns to topple Trump.<\/p>\n<p>It is a shame the depths our republic has plumbed. It is a shame that we no longer have an elite in America dedicated to protecting and preserving the foundational principles that have enabled themselves and the country to thrive. It is a shame the best we can hope for to restore some semblance of balance is to back one Big Tech titan \u2014 whatever pause his heterodox views might give us, including his apparent acquiescence towards the Chinese Communist Party \u2014 over others.<\/p>\n<p>But this is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/12\/01\/if-you-dont-know-what-time-it-is-get-out-of-politics-now\/\">what time it is<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Deranged Response<\/h2>\n<p>By the mere act of seeking to effectuate change at Twitter, Musk, like Trump before him, has elicited a deranged response, exposing the hypocrisy, fraudulence, and fragility of our supposed democracy-defending keepers of the liberal, rules-based international order in our ruling class \u2014 to our benefit. That is a significant contribution.<\/p>\n<p>With Twitter now adopting a poison pill aimed at thwarting Musk\u2019s bid for the company, we should be hoping he is preparing to engage in a protracted legal battle. As he hinted at:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"KAzm8VZEQygn4BwCjFLpDNoOkPSXq657193vHi0\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty. <\/p>\n<p>The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1514718700674306052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Any litigation and <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/XZHro\">corporate wrangling<\/a> that might result from Twitter\u2019s effort to fend off Musk\u2019s takeover could be costly to the company \u2014 perhaps ruinously so \u2014 as could any revelations or missteps that might arise in connection with the litigation. Musk has deeper pockets than does Twitter \u2014 not to mention the leverage of all the shares he owns.<\/p>\n<p>Will Twitter blink? Let the negotiations begin.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Ben Weingarten is a Federalist Senior Contributor, senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and fellow at the Claremont Institute. He was selected as a 2019 Robert Novak Journalism Fellow of the Fund for American Studies, under which he is currently working on a book on U.S.-China policy. Ben writes on national security and foreign policy, economics, and politics for publications including City Journal, Conservative Review and PJ Media. He is the founder and CEO of ChangeUp Media, a media consulting and production company dedicated to advancing conservative principles. Ben is also a 2015 Publius Fellow of the Claremont Institute. You can find his work at benweingarten.com, and follow him on Twitter @bhweingarten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elon Musk\u2019s battle for Twitter has become a smoldering proxy war between the ruling class and a free and sovereign people, a war that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":698,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1447213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/698"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1447213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1447213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1447213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1447213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}