Now I am not the biggest fan of Elon Musk. At the same time,
I can smell prejudice when I encounter it. Elon Musk is not only the richest
man in the world, but he is also one of the most innovative, which is part of
how he got so rich. (All while identifying as autistic.) He saw a need and
filled it. Twice. First with the following.
The Left’s obsession with climate change has led to their
political leaders calling for drastic changes in the way we live. One of the
most prominent changes being the elimination of the internal combustion engine
that is powered by fossil fuels. The exhaust emissions of all these cars is
believed to be the single biggest contributor to climate change in the world.
So the focus became on changing the way cars are powered - switching to an
alternative energy, like electricity that does not produce any exhaust
emissions at all.
Musk took that ball and ran with it all the way to the bank,
creating a company that sells the lion’s share of electric vehicles (by far).
Thus contributing more to reverse the effects of climate change than just about
any other individual on the planet. The left-wing media should be all over him
with praise. Maybe even nominating him for a Nobel Prize!
Musk did the same thing with NASA, seeing their desire for
space travel to continue but short on government funding to support it. Musk
not only took over that mission but improved on it by developing reusable
rockets that would be able to take off for outer space and return to earth
landing safely after their mission was completed. A feat that used to be the
sole domain of science fiction.
And yet, he seems to be one of the more hated people by the
left. As though his great wealth was some kind of disqualifier from being
admired. But that’s nothing compared to the main reason they hate him. They
hate him because he became a MAGA Republican. And is now one of Trump’s closest
allies and confidants. This makes him irredeemable in their eyes. He may as
well have teamed up with Hitler.
That has resulted in the insinuation that he is some sort of
closet Nazi by virtue of some of the things he has said and done. A
recent photo of Musk raising his arm in what was probably an innocent gesture
made to someone in the audience he was addressing has been cast as a Nazi
salute by the left. The media was full of commentators painting it that way,
even though ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu assured everyone that Musk is not an antisemite. The latter asserting
that Musk is a proven friend of Israel.
Musk, for his part, laughed it off, knowing that his gesture
did not have any malicious intent, and then tweeted something on X that used
Holocaust terminology in a humorous way, for which he got more grief. This
time, from Greenblatt himself, who correctly claimed that the Holocaust is not
a laughing matter and should never be used that way.
I agree. It was a mistake with no intent to hurt anyone. But
it was wrong nonetheless. That much should be clear to anyone that has an
inkling about what the Holocaust was all about.
This is where my pet peeve comes in.. Where was all the
outrage at Mel Brooks who did the same thing only in a much broader and
splashier way in one of his most critically acclaimed comedies, The
Producers. That was a film that featured a play called Springtime
for Hitler.
Which ended up being an unintended parody of Hitler and a
great success. A lot of people laughed hard at that parody. But not me. I
didn’t think it was funny. Nothing about the Holocaust is funny to me. There
are some things that are just too horrible for comedy- even if it is
for the purpose of ridicule. Ridiculing Hitler is not an appropriate reaction
to what he did. With all due respect for his comic genius, Brooks was wrong to
use the Holocaust in this way. What Brooks did was in my view far worse than
what Musk did. And yet, to this day, no one has criticized Brooks for doing
that. Only praise.
Please do not misunderstand. I do not believe for as minute
that Mel Brooks is an antisemite. He is a proud Jew who served in the military
during World War II. I also happen to be a hue fan of just about all of his
other movies. But on this one film, he was categorically wrong. It should never
have been made.
Can anyone imagine if Musk were to get into the film making
business and decide to produce a comedy using Hitler as a vehicle
for humor? The condemnations would have been coming in fast and furious.
Rightly so.
Some may suggest that Musk has again shown his antisemitic
colors via his dismissive comments at a rally at one of Germany's far
right political parties to saying that they should stop dwelling on Germany’s
guilt over the Holocaust. They should instead move on and think about the
future.
Even though I completely disagree with him, I do not believe
he is in any way antisemitic. He just believes it is counterproductive to do
dwell on the nefarious past of grandparents and great-grandparents that he
present generation had nothing to do with. I can understand why he would say
that even as I completely disagree with him. Germany must forever be cognizant
of what their ancestors did to the Jewish people. It is all part of ‘Never
Again’. But at the same time one must never accuse people of antisemtism when
there isn't any really there.
All of which once again proves how incredibly biased the media is. If I have learned anything about the mainstream media over the last 15 months since the war in Gaza began, it is never to trust them to tell us the unbiased truth. We can only trust them to be true to their own.
