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Elon Musk buys 9.2% stake in Twitter, making him the largest shareholder

Cope said:
"Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy," Musk tweeted last month. "What should be done?"

Sounds like the exact opposite.
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No, I think he wants to force Twitter by law to stop banning conservatives for breaking the rules. Right wingers and people like Musk don't believe in the rights of businesses. They think their freedom of speech entitles them to someone else's property. Worse, the reverse is not true. Every single right wing "free speech" platform bans people for being liberal. Twitter is far more accommodating to right wing views than Parler is to left wing views.

"Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage."
-Winston Churchill
 

Elon Musk to join Twitter board after taking $2.9bn stake​


www.theguardian.com

Elon Musk to join Twitter board after taking $2.9bn stake

Tesla and SpaceX boss became social media platform’s biggest shareholder with 9.2% of shares
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

————

Not surprised at this. I assumed Musk was going to angle for some seats on the board if he wants to make any real changes.
 
americanwoman said:
Every day? You act like we are not on the internet at this very second and that claim can easily be squashed.

theconversation.com

Trump White House goes 300+ days without a press briefing – why that’s unprecedented

A longtime White House reporter describes what’s lost when the relationship between the press and the president is bad and once-routine press briefings aren’t held.
theconversation.com theconversation.com



Sure Biden isn't exactly out there but let's not act like Trump didn't spend the majority of his days watching TV, tweeting, and golfing.
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Chuck Todd and gang discussed public access to a president on Sunday's show this week. They talked about how they feel Trump forever changed that dynamic and it is now expected by the public to hear from the president very regularly with updates on events of the moment. I'll see if I can find the specific clip.

Here is the part which most addressed this:

"CORNELL BELCHER:

You know, it's funny that you say that. And one of the things I pick up in focus groups among Democrat voters is Trump has set us up. And he was in your face every day, all day. You always knew what was going on in Washington. You know, Hillary said there's a disconnect between what the administration's been accomplishing and what American people know. And to your point, they've – they’ve turned it off. Trump has, I think, reset the game for politics in that, I think, you will suffer if you are not dominating social media. You will suffer if you're not constantly taking your message to the people 24 hours a day. It is sad, but I think he has broken the system in a way that if you don't follow in that path of constantly being on Twitter, constantly being on social media, you're failing. And I think that's sad for politics."
 
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gbg3 said:
Chuck Todd and gang discussed public access to a president on Sunday's show this week. They talked about how they feel Trump forever changed that dynamic and it is now expected by the public to hear from the president very regularly with updates on events of the moment. I'll see if I can find the specific clip.
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Like how Trump focused on his failed election over the global pandemic or basically anything else? That kind of very regular updates on events of the moment? Trump didn't change shit in that department.
 
americanwoman said:
Like how Trump focused on his failed election over the global pandemic or basically anything else? That kind of very regular updates on events of the moment? Trump didn't change shit in that department.
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I was able to quickly find the Belcher quote which was the one most applicable to the Trump created change Belcher saw. I added it to my comment.
Regularly, Dems on DP discuss how they think Dems need huge improvement in getting their message out and how they are currently terrible at it. While you and many may have thought reporter/public access to Trump was overkill, Biden is the polar opposite. Do you think Biden might benefit by finding a middle ground?
 
I'll add that I think Kamala is TERRIBLE at getting a message out - so it's not just Biden, but both of them. In Trump's case, not only was he very available to reporters but Pence was fairly available too.
 
Deuce said:
Sounds like he wants more government regulation on private businesses. I say we give it to him. Tesla has some safety and quality control issues in their facilities that could use some more oversight.
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If he wanted more government regulation on private businesses why did he buy a minority stake in the company? We need to take off our liberal hat and put on our common sense hat.
 
gbg3 said:
Chuck Todd and gang discussed public access to a president on Sunday's show this week. They talked about how they feel Trump forever changed that dynamic and it is now expected by the public to hear from the president very regularly with updates on events of the moment. I'll see if I can find the specific clip.

Here is the part which most addressed this:

"CORNELL BELCHER:

You know, it's funny that you say that. And one of the things I pick up in focus groups among Democrat voters is Trump has set us up. And he was in your face every day, all day. You always knew what was going on in Washington. You know, Hillary said there's a disconnect between what the administration's been accomplishing and what American people know. And to your point, they've – they’ve turned it off. Trump has, I think, reset the game for politics in that, I think, you will suffer if you are not dominating social media. You will suffer if you're not constantly taking your message to the people 24 hours a day. It is sad, but I think he has broken the system in a way that if you don't follow in that path of constantly being on Twitter, constantly being on social media, you're failing. And I think that's sad for politics."
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While Trump was President he was tweeting all day and night sharing his thoughts on everything going on in government and politics directly. He also made himself available for interviews and public questioning, but typically from friendly journalists. The purpose of the White House Press Secretary is to share the President's thoughts on issues. Trump did that more than any other President, likely in history (for better or worse). However, the function of the WH press pool is to ask questions that they think the public wants to hear, including difficult subjects that the administration may be wary of discussing without a prying journalist. That was something Trump denied the American public for a very long time.
 
GummyVitamins said:
While Trump was President he was tweeting all day and night sharing his thoughts on everything going on in government and politics directly. He also made himself available for interviews and public questioning, but typically from friendly journalists. The purpose of the White House Press Secretary is to share the President's thoughts on issues. Trump did that more than any other President, likely in history (for better or worse). However, the function of the WH press pool is to ask questions that they think the public wants to hear, including difficult subjects that the administration may be wary of discussing without a prying journalist. That was something Trump denied the American public for a very long time.
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He certainly did tweet constantly!

I disagree about friendly journalists. Trump fielded questions from everyone! It was especially impressive listening to the number and variety of questions he very often took prior to boarding the helicopter. He'd take them rapid fire, one after another for a good long time. MANY of them were from unfriendly reporters and Trump did not shy away from or avoid those questions. He deserves enormous credit for his press availability. He was NOT afraid of tackling the press. He was both available to the press and VERY willing to address questions.
 
NatMorton said:
The left can be a bit odd when it comes to Twitter.

View attachment 67383960
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I'm a little confused.
Were those quotes intended to be examples of the "left" being odd about the first amendment? If so, how? Con law was nearly 30 years ago for me and Twitter didn't exist then so I'm a little lost.
 
GummyVitamins said:
If he wanted more government regulation on private businesses why did he buy a minority stake in the company? We need to take off our liberal hat and put on our common sense hat.
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It's an investment and is done for the same reason as any other investment. Is your claim that companies can never grow if regulations are added? We need to take off our plutocracy hat and put on our common sense hat.

But maybe you have an alternative explanation for he meant by asking what is to be done.
 
Deuce said:
It's an investment and is done for the same reason as any other investment. Is your claim that companies can never grow if regulations are added? We need to take off our plutocracy hat and put on our common sense hat.
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This argument makes even less sense. If Musk's goal was to increase government regulation he would have spent his $3B in election donations for candidates who would support imposing regulations on Twitter like Warren Buffett does. But, he didn't. He invested his money to gain capital in a company to give him more private influence over the organization. This isn't confusing so I'm not where the confusion is coming in. It sounds like you're recycling a talking point and hoping it fits in a discussion. It doesn't. And it sounds stupid. He was apparently mulling two options: 1. create his own platform or 2. gain some influence over an existing platform. He isn't getting the government involved, that's just your fan fiction.
 
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GummyVitamins said:
This argument makes even less sense. If Musk's goal was to increase government regulation he would have spent his $3B in election donations for candidates who would support imposing regulations on Twitter like Warren Buffett does. But, he didn't. He invested his money to gain capital in a company to give him more private influence over the organization. This isn't confusing so I'm not where the confusion is coming in. It sounds like you're recycling a talking point and hoping it fits in a discussion. It doesn't. And it sounds stupid. He was apparently mulling two options: 1. create his own platform or 2. gain some influence over an existing platform. He isn't getting the government involved, that's just your fan fiction.
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The world makes more sense when you realize that human beings are not 100% rational actors and not every single choice they make must necessarily be in furtherance of one specific goal.

He calls himself a "free speech purist" but you can't create his proposal without government intervention.
 
Deuce said:
The world makes more sense when you realize that human beings are not 100% rational actors and not every single choice they make must necessarily be in furtherance of one specific goal.
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So you think Elon Musk spends $3B without thinking his decision through? This is your argument now? Give me a break. :ROFLMAO:

Nobody with more than a couple of firing neurons believes that Musk spent $3B in a capital expense rather than $3B in a lobbying expense because he's not intelligent enough to know what his goals are, but you have the magical ability to read his mind.
 
Elon Musk - Trying to save western civilization.

Twitter represents the town hall of America. It needs to be protected as a platform for free speech.

God Bless Elon.
 
PoS said:
Sure, its how capitalism works.


In the internet, everything is bought.


In the internet there really is no free speech. The closest thing you can get to it is to buy it.
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Actually, the Freedom of speech in this issue applies to Facebook, in it not being told what speech it has to print.
 
PoS said:
Sure, its how capitalism works.


In the internet, everything is bought.


In the internet there really is no free speech. The closest thing you can get to it is to buy it.
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We live in a society where corporations - Amazon, Apple, Google, and Tesla have market caps bigger than countries.

I support Elon Musk because he advocates for returning power to the people and democracy.

There is a takeover happening. Crypto, for example, has a market cap of 1 trillion, compare that to rare minerals which have a market cap of 3 trillion.

crypto has the power to change lives, end racism, end famine, and end poverty. Sooner or later like-minded people will restore freedom of speech and true democracy will be restored in web3.
 
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Court Jester said:
Only if Trump decides to run as a 3rd party.

I have no fear of a healthy primary competition and allowing either the Republicans or the Democrats to work out their issues and decide on who they will be putting on the ticket.
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Seems pretty likely to me if DeSantis is the GOP candidate. Trump is already campaigning and if there's one thing he's proven to the world it's that he never backs down to people he considers his opponents.
 
American said:
Actually he had real press conferences daily, unlike Biden; who hides in his basement. Biden embarrasses the country daily without having to go on Twitter to do it. His policies are complete failures.
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nope
 
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