Democrats are mad at Elon Musk again, this time for the grave offense of exercising autonomy over his own company.
As RedState reported, controversy struck after Musk made a decision in 2022 to not offer his Starlink satellite network to Ukrainian forces as they were preparing an attack on the Russian navy in Crimea. As the billionaire explained, he felt that making his company complicit in a direct act of war was a bridge too far, backed by his fear that a nuclear strike could result.
In a clarifying post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk noted that Starlink was not operational in Crimea in the first place. He explained that the Ukrainian government made an “emergency request” to activate the service in the region ostensibly to aid in the attack on the Russian fleet. “If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,” he wrote in response to Mario Nawfal, an entrepreneur and social media personality who repeated the original claim from the CNN report.
Whether one agrees with Musk's decision or not isn't really relevant. What's relevant is that short of the United States government procuring Starlink through the proper channels, including paying market value for it, there is no obligation for SpaceX to offer its technology free of charge for submarine attacks on the Russian navy.
Unfortunately, Democrats, drunk on power, are now calling for investigations into Musk and SpaceX for not being willing participants in the military attack of a foreign nation. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is leading the charge.
This is incredibly dangerous because it assumes that the U.S. government operates as a fascist state in which largely unelected officials have the final say over how a private company distributes its technology. If Warren is worried about the government being the last word on foreign policy, then the government is welcome to offer its own satellite and communication systems, whatever they may be, to the Ukrainian military. It is not the job of private American citizens to facilitate proxy wars, even if the Ukrainian cause is just.
Musk drew a line in the sand for what he was willing to be a part of, including consulting Russian officials on what their relation to such an attack would be. That is not conducting foreign policy. It is conducting the business of a private company.
With the recent suspension of gun rights in New Mexico instituted by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, it is becoming increasingly clear that even basic freedoms in America are hanging on by a thread. If Democrat politicians were given free rein, there is no limit to the damage they would do, not just to the American system of government, but to individuals who dare cross their chosen ideologies.
Warren's demand is just the latest example of that. How long can the courts hold back the tide of tyranny? Time will tell, but the more relentless the left gets, the more tenuous the situation becomes.