May 9, 2025
by Jaymie Johns
GENIUS
Let’s start with the obvious: Elon Musk is smarter than basically everyone else in every room he enters, and I say that as someone who considers themselves at least somewhat clever. He’s not smart in a polished, soundbite-ready way. He’s smart in the
“this
garbage doesn’t work like it should; I’ll fix it”
way. The inconvenient kind. The
“I see the problem, and I’ll handle it, even if it
kills me”
kind.
Mainstream media used to love this about him. He was electric (literally). He made rockets cool again (Though I wasn’t aware they ever stopped being cool). He didn’t wear suits, but hoodies and nerdy t-shirts. He casually name-dropped Hitchhiker’s Guide.
He was the tech world’s Van Gogh — unpredictable, but impressive. He gave them great headlines, and they revered him.
INNOVATOR
Then he kept going. And the innovation got... bigger.
Reusable rockets. EVs that looked like supervillain cars (way better than superhero cars, if you ask me). Personal robots (coming soon), satellite-based internet, brain chips, underground tunnels, diabolically hilarious memes, Mars plans — all real, all active, all terrifyingly functional.
You’d think this would keep the press cheering, but not when he had an evil plan brewing: free speech
(the horror!)
It’s not that the accomplishments stopped. It’s that the tone shifted.
In a blink.
BETRAYAL
The moment he acquired Twitter — sorry, X — media magically forgot he had been (and still is) the leader in manufacturing cars that don’t rely on fossil fuels, which they previously lauded. Suddenly he was no longer the genius entrepreneur changing the world. He was a “billionaire troll with an erratic agenda.” Is he a billionaire? Yes. Is he a troll? Also yes. Erratic? Sure. But when you string them all together like that, it stops being an observation of fondness, and a calculated smear tactic.
Same man.
Same genius.
Same drive.
But now he wasn’t just doing cool stuff with rockets and cars.
Now he was messing with narrative flow.
Now he was a threat.
Because there are few things more dangerous to corporate media than a man who not only doesn’t play by their rules, but shouts the unfairness of the rules into a loudspeaker.
HERETIC
He wasn’t arranging sightseeing caravans to Neptune (the weather’s horrible this time of year, anyway), or selling flamethrowers (although my Amazon Wish List would be at max capacity).
No — his real crime was saying everyone deserves free speech. Not just blue checks. Not just journalists. Everyone.
Sure, “Free speech” has been the excuse for bad behavior by every guy on the internet who thinks freedom of speech equates to freedom from consequences. But Musk didn’t even suggest free rein chaos — he advocated for transparency. For the right to disagree without being placed on a hit list.
The media that once called that “essential to democracy” has now decided it’s actually the biggest threat to democracy; how does that make sense? Because he questioned the narrative;
he disobeyed.
VILLAIN
And so, predictably, they turned him into a bad guy.
News coverage became unrecognizable. Suddenly everything he did was suspicious.
Rockets weren’t triumphs — they were distractions.
X wasn’t innovative — it was restrictive.
Because we all know that freedom of speech is the equivalent to a muzzle.
Tesla wasn’t leading the electric vehicle revolution — it was allegedly a sweatshop.
(Side note: Tesla still leads the EV revolution.)
Anyone who was paying attention could have seen it coming.
And that was before he supported Donald Trump. Now, Musk is ‘suppressing dissent’, ‘supporting Hitler”, and ‘doing it for the money’ –
Yes, Brenda. That’s exactly how fascism works.
Nothing changed except the media perspective; Musk didn’t shift – he’s been as steady as a rock. And that was his crime: having principles he stuck to, even when the principles became suddenly inconvenient.
HERO
I’m not handing out capes, but if anyone deserves a swath of fabric dramatically blowing in the wind behind them, it is Elon Musk.
He’s building things that improve people’s lives. (EVs, robots, space exploration, chips in brains that can vastly improve
function to previously stubborn body parts)
He’s doing it faster than anyone thought possible.
He’s doing it while being mocked, misrepresented, slandered, threatened. And with his head still held high.
If that doesn’t make him a hero, nothing else will.
