Elon Likes it in the Original German, After All

Musk embraces the German far-far-right.

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.” —C. S. Lewis

I promise that I won’t bother you much during the holidays, because you have more important things to do with your time. But I wanted to call a few things to your attention first.

Happy Sunday.

To the Contrary is a reader-supported publication. You may disagree with me from time to time (and I expect you will, because I’m not promising you a safe space here). But I’ll always try to give it to you straight. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. (And I’m immensely grateful for your generous support.)

It looks like the U.S. Navy shot down one of our own airplanes (the pilots are okay). Which is embarrassing and awkward, but perhaps not as embarrassing and awkward as losing a whole congressperson, who went missing six months ago, and now turns up in an assisted living facility. And until this weekend, no one seems to have noticed that 81-year-old Kay Granger was missing.

Meanwhile… Elon Musk failed to shut down the U.S. government, but has now turned his attention to Europe, where he’s making some new old friends. Given the pace of news, I’m afraid this will get memory-holed over the next few weeks.

So, attention needs to be paid.

Neo-Nazis. Germany. Questions?

I’d really like to know who made this.

Elon über alles

Not content to have purchased the American presidency, the world’s richest man wants to extend his influence across the globe. Over the weekend, he pledged to make massive donations to Britian’s MAGA-manque, Nigel Farage.

But Musk dramatically upped the ante in his bid for Ubermensch-hood when he waded into the upcoming German election by calling Chancellor Olaf Scholz an "incompetent fool" and endorsing the country's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

“Only the AfD can save Germany,” President Musk posted on Xitter.

And who is AfD? Danke for asking. Here’s Adam Kinzinger:

Besides being anti-immigration and pro-Putin, among other things: “The AfD demands a ‘reversal’ of Holocaust remembrance in Germany, states that the Nazi Schutzstaffel were ‘not criminals’ and has memorialized Nazi leaders.” Via The Financial Times:

The German domestic intelligence agency has designated its branches in Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt as “rightwing extremist”.

Some of its politicians have sparked controversy. Höcke was fined €30,000 this year by two different courts for using banned Nazi slogans. In 2017 he described the Holocaust memorial in Berlin as a “monument of shame”.

In an interview with the Financial Times in May, AfD MEP Maximilian Krah said of the SS, the group that ran Adolf Hitler’s extermination camps: “Before I call someone a criminal, I’d really like to know what he did personally.”

In other words: Elon Musk did think his ideology sounded better in the original German. So, apparently, did VP-elect JD Vance, who rushed to the support of Musk and his German kameraden.

**

It gets dumber.

The world’s richest man has since doubled down. After Senator Chris Murphy ripped him for his coziness with the German far right, Musk Xeeted out:

What a huge liar.

The AfD policies are identical to those of the US Democratic Party when Obama took office! I don’t think there is a single difference.

“Identical to those of the US Democratic Party when Obama took office.”

I’m sorry, but this triggered my Fucktose Intolerance, which makes me unable to tolerate rank bullshit. So, my apologies, but once again I’ll leave it to others to spend 4000 words explaining why this is the sort of thing that exists only in the febrile brains of rabid, senile gerbils.

**

There is never a good time to embrace extremists, but the Musk-Vance timing was especially ghastly. On Friday night, a terror attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg killed at least five people and injured hundreds of others, when a speeding car rammed into the crowd. When it was initially reported that the car was driven by a Saudi native, right-wing politicians jumped to exploit anti-immigrant sentiment.

But..

It now appears that the suspect in the attack was a supporter of the AfD party, and a fan of … Elon Musk and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

According to Der Spiegel:

Taleb A. apparently shared the resentment of conspiracy ideologists and agitators such as the US podcaster Alex Jones or the British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson

The entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has increasingly openly expressed his sympathies for right-wing parties, was also one of his role models:

“If you listen to someone like Tommy Robinson or even Elon Musk, and even if you are ignorant of the process of Islamization, you will think that they are both conspiracy theorists,” said A. in an interview.

“But I can say from experience that everything Robinson says, what Musk says, what Alex Jones says, or anyone who is described by the mainstream media as a radical or right-wing extremist – they are telling the truth.”

As for Musk’s favorite new German political party:

The alleged perpetrator A. is obviously a fan of the AfD, as revealed by an analysis of several of his social media accounts by SPIEGEL.

Eight years ago, he wrote on Twitter that he wanted to start a project together with the AfD: an academy for ex-Muslims.

When another user asked why he was planning to do this with the AfD, he replied: »Who else is fighting Islam in Germany?«

He obviously held this opinion until the end. This June, he retweeted party leader Alice Weidel, writing with typos: »The left are crazy. We need the AfD to protect the police from them.

**

Exit take: Remember when America used to be the shining city on the hill? A beacon of freedom?

I do.

What are we exporting now?

A short word from your readers:

Nota Bene

Don’t miss this extraordinary (and surprising) read from David Brooks (Gift Link): “The Shock of Faith: It’s Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be.”

Some people are spiritual but not religious; during that time, you could say I was religious but not spiritual. I grew up in a Jewish home where we experienced peoplehood more than faith. I went to a Christian school and camp where I sang the hymns with pleasure, not conviction. I lived through decades of Jewish adulthood (kosher home, the kids at Jewish schools) but all that proximity still didn’t make me a believer.

When faith finally tiptoed into my life it didn’t come through information or persuasion but, at least at first, through numinous experiences. These are the scattered moments of awe and wonder that wash over most of us unexpectedly from time to time. Looking back over the decades, I remember rare transcendent moments at the foot of a mountain in New England at dawn, at Chartres Cathedral in France, looking at images of the distant universe or of a baby in the womb. In those moments, you have a sense that you are in the presence of something overwhelming, mysterious. Time is suspended or at least blurs. One is enveloped by an enormous bliss.

**

Bluesky is having some growing pains. Yascha Mounk writes:

When Bluesky launched, I hoped that it would succeed. But the platform has quickly shown that it is hard for any social network to deliver on its promise of being the place for a kinder or gentler discourse. At its best, Bluesky has become a giant progressive echo chamber…. At its worst, it openly revels in violence—so long as that violence can make a claim, however tenuous, to defend or avenge righteous victims.

Pre-Christmas Dogs

Auggie and Eli in a rare contemplative mood.

Auggie says it’s Go Time.