Elon Musk is actually Dr. Strangelove
He can't control his arm.
Musk has Strangelove Syndrome
Elon Musk swears he didn’t intend to flash the Nazi salute —not once but twice —during the Trump coronation. He claims it was just a nervous tic and blames it on his autism (as if lots of autistic folks go around doing the Heil Hitler thing).
His actual condition brings to mind "Dr. Strangelove syndrome," named for the titular character, played by Peter Sellers, in Stanley Kubrick's famous 1964 film, in which Dr. Strangelove's right arm repeatedly tries to give a Nazi salute, and he must beat it down again and again with his left arm.
Right-wing extremists are celebrating Musk’s gesture regardless of his intentions. Andrea Stroppa, a close associate of Musk, shared a video of Musk’s gesture at Trump’s rally with the caption, “Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute.” The Roman salute is historically associated with Mussolini’s Fascist Party in Italy and was later adopted by Hitler’s regime. Stroppa later posted that "that gesture, which some mistook for a Nazi salute, is simply Elon, who has autism, expressing his feelings by saying, 'I want to give my heart to you'". Stroppa deleted the post amid backlash and attempted to retract his statement.
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The ADL (Anti-Defamation League), an organization originally founded to combat antisemitism, is downplaying the significance of Musk’s salute.
“It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute,” the group wrote Monday in a statement on Musk’s own social media platform X.
Recently, ADL has advanced the concept of new antisemitism, arguing that anti-Zionism and criticisms of Israel are, by definition, antisemitic.
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Unlike Musk and Strangelove, DT’s right arm is working fine. He used it to write pardons for nearly 1,600 January 6 rioters, including many of the white nationalist Oath Keepers and Proud Boy thugs. The Proud Boys’ former top leader, Enrique Tarrio, and three of his lieutenants were convicted of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Trump to Biden after the 2020 election. Tarrio was serving a 22-year prison sentence, the longest of any Capitol riot case before Trump pardoned him on Monday. Some members of the group marched in Washington on Monday as Trump was sworn into another term.
When pressed by a reporter about the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and whether there was a place for them in politics, Trump said, “Well, we have to see.”
Good connection, Mike. I hope the younger folks get it!