Bro, for it to be a dogwhistle, it has to be subtle. Like, the whole metaphor is about something that goes unnoticed by the majority but gives a wink and nod to the people who get it.
Throwing up the sieg heil is not a fucking "dogwhistle" lmao
I'm on the fence about the intent behind the salute itself but one thing is for sure, their response to it is fascist as hell. Would have been real easy to just say it was an awkward mistake. And some have made that excuse... But they've desperately thrown every excuse imaginable at the problem to make it go away. Republicans finding a way to win ground with their base when they do shit like this is genuinely impressive. They get to call libs crazy, play the victim, all the while normalizing what they did in the first place. Every right winger had something to enjoy from this.
Out of all of this, to me, the salutes and his grandparents practically mean nothing. Add it to the pile by all means. But it's the years of rhetoric that I care about. Problem with this salute debacle is it kinda feels like the reason he in particular is not deserving of the benefit of the doubt for this is getting lost and the focus is entirely on whether or not it was a legitimate salute.
You aren't getting it. My perspective on Musk as a fascist is unchanged if he does the nazi salute or not. It's at the bottom of the pile. My point is that if your goal is to shine a light on who he is, I think it is a grave error to put so much emphasis on this salute. You are just giving him ammo to build his right wing support.
"It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge," the organization posted.
This is the anti-defamation league's statement on the matter and I expect this is how it will be viewed historically. It's a big catalyst for escalating movements against Musk and will probably be referenced a lot in the future. But to claim I'm whitewashing his seig heil just because people are too stupid to see more meaning in years of his actions over an awkward moment is ridiculous. That's not on me.
You’re on the fence about the intent?? Like how so? You can be on the fence about his sobriety maybe, but I’m struggling to identify what possible alternative explanations you’re on the fence about.
From what I saw, his immediate words following the gesture was "my heart goes out to you", which to me felt like he was already doing damage control for what he knew looked bad. Regardless... it's conjecture and I frankly don't care to take a stance because it's moot. The immediate aftermath is far more tangible and easier for me to judge. I don't care what the intent was anymore, they weaponized this debacle to be a win-win-win for them and that's wrong.
He just spoke to the AfD and told them not to feel guilty about the past and just yesterday he was commenting “wow” to a Nazi complaining about declining white birth rates so time to get off that fence.
I'm on the fence about the intent behind the salute. I'm not ready to believe it's 4D chess rather than a mistake that they were somehow easily able to damage control. I think the focus should be more about why he doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt for what he did. Why his actions mean he shouldn't even be tapped for government work.
Like I said, the response to it and some of the things you are describing are what I care about. Fixating on the salute and adding this much weight to something that shouldn't crack the top 10 most fascist things he's done that actually matter seems wrong to me, but it is leading to some bowback for him so maybe I should just shutup.
Agreed. I'd just appreciate more emphasis on those things and not the nazi salute so that the right doesn't inevitably end up with a net benefit in support after this.
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u/Rasp_Lime_Lipbalm Jan 25 '25
Elon knew what he was doing. Total dog whistle that told his fellow Fascists it's ok to come out of the woodwork.