Musk's Discoveries vs. Media Distraction: It's the Language Game at Play Here

Elon Musk is facing criticism in the media for repeatedly using the R-word, which, according to federal guidelines, he should use the term "intellectual disability," as mandated by Rosa's Law, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010.

It's just more political correctness trying to take over the conversation. On the surface, is calling someone "intellectually disabled" really any different from using the R-word? If I tell someone they lack intellect, that's not really a compliment, is it?

Musk is using the term to describe his findings as DOGE delves deeper into the country's books, uncovering hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful spending by our government at taxpayer's expense. Isn't it abundantly clear, when you really take a hard look at the growing list of what's being spent on, that the people responsible for the expenditures weren't making the wisest decisions when they deemed any of this as a responsible use of America's money?

What else could it be? People with intellectual disabilities or R-worded people? Essentially, it's describing the same thing, especially when you consider the broader definitions of both terms.

Of course, steering the language, which is what political correctness is really all about, serves to shape, redirect and lead the conversation towards a different narrative. Would the discussion change if Musk used terms like ignorant, stupid, dumb, idiotic or insane?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

But regardless of what word is used, all of them accurately describe the spending Musk is referring to, including the R-word.

Criticizing Musk's use of the R-word is nothing more than a tactic to divert attention away from his findings and diminish their significance. The desired goal here, and Democrats and the media happen to be experts at this, is to shift the focus from the wasteful spending to Musk's character, thereby undermining his credibility and making his efforts appear more absurd than the wasteful spending DOGE is exposing.

It's not unlike a magician skillfully concealing his sleight of hand, showing you only what he wants you to see.

We've seen this exact same pattern in how the media and the Democrats portray President Trump. By focusing on his words and actions, we avoid discussing the actual impact of his decisions. It's a trick to effectively shift the conversation to a preferred narrative, rather than addressing the real issues underneath.

Ultimately, Musk has a manner of speaking much in the same way that President Trump has. They can be a bit over the top, and sometimes even insensitive. I will grant that. We don't have to like it, and it sometimes might even catch us off guard. But it shouldn't detract from the actual work being done, or in Musk's case, the discoveries being made. 

It's not so much about the words used; it's about the substance behind them that truly matters. And that's what all the hoopla is really about when Musk is criticized for the language he chooses to use—the substance of what's being uncovered.

It's like an old saying. If you can't win the argument, attack the person. They are attacking Elon Musk because they can't win the argument.

What Musk is uncovering is alarming, and that is of course what the Democrats and the media want us to turn our attentions away from. If they can effectively win the language game, maybe we won't see what's really going on behind the curtains.

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© 2025 Jim Bauer

I'm Just Going to Stick with What I Know, Thank You Very Much: It's Columbus Day

by Leonard Knath, staff writer

I'm sorry. Did you just call it Indigenous People's Day? I have a new name for it too, actually, now that you mention it. I am going to call it Blow it Out Your Ass Day. In other words, you can take your political correctness and literally shove it where the sun doesn't shine, and I don't really care about what you think about that any more than you care about changing history, and what a holiday is called.

As it happens to continue to be a free country, with the 1st Amendment so far untouched by cancel culture, I am going to say what I want just like you feel so free to.

By the way, have you seen a bottle of Pearl Milling pancake syrup lately? It says right on the label, "Formerly Aunt Jemimah," so what are you really accomplishing here anyway? I think nothing but more liberal BS that only a very small circle of people care about that accomplishes nothing but to create more division.

Curated by the very people who drive around in Tesla's crying about climate change with "Coexist" stickers on their bumpers while acre and acre of land is mined for minerals to make batteries as coal plants burn ton after ton of coal to bring sparks of electricity to the very plug you put in where the evil gas pump is supposed to go.

Ah. I get it. We're saving the planet and saving ourselves from...ourselves. For the greater good, supposedly. 

Ten years from now we'll be burying those massive car batteries, and ten years after that we'll have aquifers polluted by them after we bury them. The left who clamored so loudly for them will simply blame the big corporations for being the problem, of course.

"You were supposed to figure out how to recycle them. Not bury them!"

Look, whether or not it was Columbus who landed on our shores way back when or whether or not the people he saw when he landed were people from India or indigenous people doesn't matter. It's our history. Right or wrong. It's what it is. It's what it was.  

Why can't we just discuss the mistake? Why do we have to change the history? Why do we have to cancel it? What purpose does it serve to deny it? I mean, what if, in Germany, they completely tried to erase the Hitler era and make it sound more appealing? Because that's really what Indigenous People's Day is all about. Making people feel better. 

Like it or not, good or bad, we have a history just like anywhere else in the world. We don't have to like it. It doesn't even have to be a good history. Slavery sucked, for example. It was terrible. The Jim Crowe days are no more appealing than a colonoscopy without anesthesia or lube. But it still happened.

You can call the day whatever you want to call it. That's your right just like it's mine to call BS on it, and to continue to call it Columbus Day. I'm only mad about it because you're mad about what I want to call it. Otherwise, I couldn't give two hoots.

But that's part of it too, isn't it? You want to control me. You want me to conform to your demands. You want me to crater under the weight of your pressure.

"You can't call them Indians."

Oh, the hell I can't. You can try your best to rewrite history and change the story. You can tear down the statues and rename the pancake syrup. But what you can't do is change the facts, no matter how badly you want to or no matter how hard you try.

Since 1937 it has been called Columbus Day. If you want to call it something else, that's fine. But you're going to have to step in line and wait your turn if you want everyone else onboard with it. It's been Columbus Day for far longer than you have been opposed to it being called that. And if I call it what it is to me, well, you're just going to have to accept it just like you expect me to call it what you want me to call it now.

Season's greetings or Merry Christmas? I don't know. Both are correct. You decide. But don't try to tell me which one is right, and which one is wrong. You don't get to have exclusive dibs on who makes the rules. That's not how it works.

Leonard Knath, pronounced like math, is a seeker of truth and an adamant denier of the status quo. He makes his home in Stratford, New Jersey in Camden County where he lives with his wife Dee and their two cats, Lawson and Saul.

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© 2024 Leonard Knath