Introduction
Something of mine is getting longer, just not the thing I smear rhinoceros-horn cream on every day after taking a warm shower like it says in the instructions. That sucks.
And I’m too embarrassed to call up Royal Bank of Canada and tell them that someone unknown to me—who must have gotten drunk, then jimmied my locks after I fell asleep—used my credit card while surfing on some sleazy interweb place. Site. While I was asleep and just generally not paying attention.
I mean, what if Kamala Harris answers the 1-800 number? She must be doing something! What a humiliating fantasy of a surprise that totally would not ever occur!
And that’s my life right now: Smearing and hoping, smearing and hoping. Really could have used that 500 bucks plus Harmonized Sales Tax, though. Boy oh boy.
It’s my Thought For The Day, originally conceived as a short thing, good luck with that concept, which is sprouting measurable inches in extra length because of my inability to refrain from getting jokey, or complaining, or explaining.
So. Enjoy the enhanced, presumably, experience.
Who says it’s not about size! Certainly not I!
Elon Musk claims that “activist groups”—
—and I’m assuming, don’t ask me why, that they were of that nasty, woke-lefty variety of activist groups that are always running roughshod over vulnerable dudes like Elon Musk and doing so much damage with their niceness and fairness and snowflakiness—
—that these devil-wokesters “pressured” advertisers to leave Twitter, and that they were “trying to destroy free speech* in America” (see Tweet, below).
*(in Canada we call it “freedom of expression”, acknowledging that this fundamental freedom includes any type of activity that makes your views known. It’s not just literal “speech”. And like the US, it’s mainly concerned with making sure you can express your opinions about your GOVERNMENT without ending up in jail. We’re a little more nuanced up here because of all the time we spend sitting in our ice houses, envying American democracy and sighing.)
However, Musk’s conclusion is incorrect. To state the obvious:
The “activists” were simply exercising their freedom of expression to “pressure” the advertisers—when conservatives do this to politicians, it’s called “lobbying” and is considered just business as usual—and the advertisers were exercising their freedom of expression by leaving Twitter.
Expression in America is freer and more expressive than ever! Thanks, Elon!
Meditate on this:
Freedom of expression includes stuff you disagree with. Even stuff that offends. Even stuff that goes out of its way to be egregiously offensive. Very important to remember!
BUT—
It’s also freedom of expression when people decide they don’t want to listen to your bullshit. They can get up and leave, chant during your rant, laugh at you, heckle you, blow raspberries or not invite you in the first place. You don’t have to sit there and endure hate invading your space, and the more public the space, the less you have to endure. It’s all free, free, freedom of expression!
Right, Elon?
Ya dumb conservative billionaire jackass.
