Twitter politics

It may be hard to trust many of the storylines pushed by the media, but Cockburn must admit that looking to new Twitter — now X — isn't likely to solve any problems either. The owner of that troubled platform, Elon Musk, illustrated Monday exactly why. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO, who has over 150 million followers, replied to a series of tweets asserting that white genocide is on the verge of erupting in South Africa.  One response came to Benny Johnson, who posted a video of Julius Malema, the firebrand head of South Africa’s far-left Economic Freedom Fighters Party, singing the apartheid-era anthem “Dubul’ ibhunu,” or “Shoot the Boer” at a political rally.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is blaming Elon Musk for gumming up the works of her Twitter account. The New York congresswoman thinks that her criticism of Musk has “gotten under a certain billionaire’s skin,” leading him to mess with her notifications and mentions. Cockburn wonders whether this might be wishful thinking on the congresswoman’s part, because it is unlikely that Musk cares enough about her criticism to waste his time trying to punish her. Ocasio-Cortez, ever the card-carrying democratic socialist, went on to say that “money will never by [sic] your way out of insecurity, folks.” Cockburn is pleased to learn that AOC can steward us down the true path out of insecurity.

Before the internet, the town square was a weirder place. True believers — from those concerned about fluoride to those dedicated to stopping gay frogs — had to put in the work. There were cardboard boxes and Sharpies to procure in order to make signage. A milk crate wasn't necessary, but it did elevate the speaker above his audience. It was not a desk gig. People had to get up and hit the corner from morning until some point in the evening, blasting out their gospel to whoever passed by and, perhaps, stopped to listen. Those early content creators had angles. Some sang or played guitar. Others simply testified. Regardless, they were the righteous, willing to sacrifice time and effort for their art. Then Twitter happened.