Briefly Noted: Friends And Enemies Of The State

The tweets speak for themselves. SBF/FTX v. Musk. Who’s the enemy?

Tom Luongo (Give Deflation a Chance!) @TFL1728

This is absolutely correct. There are a lot of tense negotiations going on right now over who gets to fall, stand tall and bend the knee in the coming months FTX may be a major turning point in the war against Davos

Molly Elmore | clever hummingbird @mollyelmore22

A lot of US politicians are scared right now. If SBF were arrested, and offered to make a deal, would he spill the beans on a large money laundering operation using US taxpayer dollars? There is no way SBF got the access he had without being part of a bigger team. https://t.co/Sb6F7PaqxS

Molly Elmore | clever hummingbird @mollyelmore22

A lot of US politicians are scared right now. If SBF were arrested, and offered to make a deal, would he spill the beans on a large money laundering operation using US taxpayer dollars? There is no way SBF got the access he had without being part of a bigger team.

David "JoelKatz" Schwartz @JoelKatz

I have to admit, I thought the world would turn on SBF and friends as soon as their outrageous fraud, shocking incompetence, and mind-boggling greed became clear. I am completely baffled at the level of success the concerted whitewashing is achieving.

Baffling, ain’a?

Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley

We are awaiting the release of the Hunter Biden files from Twitter. foxnews.com/media/elon-mus… Musk is set to achieve the transparency and full disclosure that Twitter steadfastly rejected for years.

foxnews.comElon Musk says he’ll reveal ‘what really happened’ with Twitter suppression of Hunter Biden story on FridayElon Musk teased on Twitter Friday he would soon release the details of “what really happened” when Twitter suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020.

Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley

We have seen an unprecedented and full mobilization of government, corporate, and media interests against Musk. The threat is not only the restoration of free speech protections but the release of material exposing the company's notorious censorship system.

jonathanturley.orgWashington Goes to War Against Twitter and Free SpeechBelow is my column this week on the campaign to coerce Elon Musk to restore the censorship system at Twitter. The campaign against Twitter now involves the full allied forces of the anti-free speec…

Excerpts from a good article:

The real question is why the political, business, and media establishment is ramping up this campaign. The answer is power. With President Biden and Democratic senators supporting investigations, the message could not be clearer: proceed at your own peril. That message was brought home by Politico’s Sam Stein when he warned Musk that it is “[a]lways risky to attack members of congress. Especially risky with Dems assured of Senate power.”

For years, Democratic politicians and their allies have exercised an enormous degree of control over political discourse through allies in the media and social media.

The problem is that censorship only works if it is complete. If there are alternative sources for information, free speech is like water . . . it finds a way out.The real question is why the political, business, and media establishment is ramping up this campaign. The answer is power. With President Biden and Democratic senators supporting investigations, the message could not be clearer: proceed at your own peril. That message was brought home by Politico’s Sam Stein when he warned Musk that it is “[a]lways risky to attack members of congress. Especially risky with Dems assured of Senate power.”

For years, Democratic politicians and their allies have exercised an enormous degree of control over political discourse through allies in the media and social media.

The problem is that censorship only works if it is complete. If there are alternative sources for information, free speech is like water . . . it finds a way out.

…

So, the only way to regain control is to prevent people from getting the app or threaten to force Twitter into insolvency. The problem is Musk, an eccentric billionaire who is not easy to intimidate.

Musk now stands against a massive alliance of governments, corporations, celebrities, and politicians. He has only the public and free speech on his side.

He needs to use both.

Musk cannot remain on defense and just take political and economic hits. The campaign is growing because the risk is growing for these various interests.