The rule is I'm not supposed to be smarter about politics than the smart people in journalism. But what if I am?#
It's not radical to say what's true in clear language, it's just good writing.#
Elon Musk half-endorsed Ron DeSantis for president in 2024. DeSantis is a younger, more attractive, ambitious and not quite so openly hostile to non-whites version of Trump. Asked to comment, DeSantis makes a Musk-like joke, he welcomes African-American support (Musk is from South Africa). If this is what Musk means by free speech, well we're free to walk away from a Musk-owned Twitter. Where will we go? Probably nowhere. It's not possible for a service to take Twitter's place, it was formed a long time ago, and morphed into what it is now. I don't think any system will show up where there's a consensus that this is the new Twitter. #The US is openly white supremacist, but for sixty years has been trying to become less so. That peaked when we elected a black president in 2008. There is a caste system here, and blacks were the bottom rung, and still are, largely, but there has been progress away from that, through laws passed in the 60s, and supporting Supreme Court decisions. All that is turning around. DeSantis, a smoother Trump, will be more careful about arousing his opposition. He will seem to be a likeable Republican and many will overlook his racism, or worse, quietly support it. I have no idea what the answer is, the racism is deeply ingrained in America. #
Trump supporters like this about him: He tells them they are important, but if things continue as they have been going, with elites promoting black people, they will matter less and less. That's the connection.#