Elon Restricting Ukrainian Military's Internet Because Of This Russian Propaganda He Swallowed
We've been talking about Elon Musk's little problem with lapping up any Russian propaganda that's served up to him. He fuckin' loves it, it's his favorite. He's extremely susceptible to lies about NATO troops dying in Ukraine (there are no NATO troops in Ukraine), and he's been coming up with "peace plans" for Ukraine that just so happen to overlap almost exactly with Vladimir Putin's wet dream wish lists.
Now here's Elon spreading some more extremely dumb shit, while defending his decision to withhold from the Ukrainian military the Starlink comms infrastructure it needs in order to fight against its genocidal bastard neighbor:
\u201c@StationCDRKelly You\u2019re smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs.\n\nStarlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed.\n\nBut we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.\u201d— Scott Kelly (@Scott Kelly) 1676092153
That's Elon fighting with astronaut Scott Kelly, and looking like an idiot doing it. Elon is spitting out shit about how Kelly should be "smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs." Is it "propaganda" that Russia started an unprovoked, genocidal war against Ukraine?
And he's spitting out pro-Russia messaging about "we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3." Go fuck yourself, dude.
Timothy Snyder, historian, author and expert on authoritarianism and Russia, recently wrote extensively about how this whole "escalation!" thing is just clickbait that serves no one's purposes but Russia's. It's concern-trolling at its finest. Because it does sound good to prevent WW3, yes? That's a noble goal, surely?
It's bullshit. As Snyder points out, making it about WW3 makes it about us and our fears, and not about Ukraine. This results in casting suspicion on what Ukraine does to defend itself with these fake worries about how "escalation" could affect the rest of us. And it entertains the silly fantasy that Elon Musk or any other American can do anything to prevent whether Russia decides to start lobbing nukes at Ukraine. This is just giving in to what Snyder refers to as Russia's nuclear blackmail.
Anyway, read it all, but the crux of Snyder's argument is that the most effective thing we can do is to help Ukraine win a conventional war against Russia, and that includes all money, weapons and yes, internets Ukraine might need. Ukraine is the nation that would get nuclear-bombed by Russia, and they keep begging us for more weapons.
Again, read it all. We can't possibly summarize it, but suffice it to say that Elon's pant-shitting about escalating into WW3 is a message directly from Vladimir Putin's bowels. Oh, great Putin! We must do whatever he wants, lest he become angered!
Clearly Ukraine has gamed this out. They don't need Elon's help.
SpaceX did indeed recently announce that it's restricting Ukraine from using Starlink for military uses, specifically drones. This is a gift to Vladimir Putin. However, Elon swears he hasn't turned Starlink off for all military uses, but he could if he wants to:
\u201c@EvaFoxU @StationCDRKelly SpaceX commercial terminals, like other commercial products, are meant for private use, not military, but we have not exercised our right to turn them off.\n\nWe\u2019re trying hard to do the right thing, where the \u201cright thing\u201d is an extremely difficult moral question.\u201d— Scott Kelly (@Scott Kelly) 1676092153
It's such a fucking easy question, unless you think there are two sides to the question of whether Putin should be able to blow Ukrainian babies apart because he clings to sad fantasies of Making Russia Great Again by stealing adjacent countries' land. But Putin loves it when ignorant people think there is an "extremely difficult moral question" here.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak made clear in a tweet last week that Elon and SpaceX need to pick a damn side:
\u201cA year of \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 resistance & companies have to decide:\n-Either they are on the side of \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 & the right to freedom, and don\u2019t seek ways to do harm.\n-Or they are on RF\u2019s side & its "right" to kill & seize territories.\n#SpaceX (Starlink) & Mrs. #Shotwell should choose a specific option\u201d— \u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u0439\u043b\u043e \u041f\u043e\u0434\u043e\u043b\u044f\u043a (@\u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u0439\u043b\u043e \u041f\u043e\u0434\u043e\u043b\u044f\u043a) 1675936231
Kelly is also following up with more tweets trying to educate poor Elon on what is and is not "escalatory."
\u201c.@elonmusk Credible first person reports from the frontlines indicate Starlink is being restricted even for military comm. Precision strike in defense of sovereignty is not escalatory. Putin will not stop until he is defeated on the battlefield. Starlink is essential. Thank you.\u201d— Scott Kelly (@Scott Kelly) 1676313805
Elon's words and deeds suggest he may not want to see Putin defeated.
Mister Twitter Guy is of course free to prove us freedom-loving people wrong.
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