Just roll the irony of this complaint around in your mouth for a moment, savoring it as one might with a sip of what you think is a 1950 Château Lafleur. Only while doing so, you discover that it's actually a 2023 Frass Canyon vintage. 

The resulting spit-take perfectly suits this latest broadside from four European Union leaders. After years of attempting to interfere with Elon Musk's social media platform, this quartet is suddenly shocked, shocked that Musk has decided to participate in their electoral processes to protect his own interests:

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is getting wide pushback in European capitals as he tries to extend his recent political success to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. 

Leaders in four European countries — France, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom — denounced his influence in separate statements Monday, warning that Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, should not involve himself in their countries’ politics. ... 

“Who could have imagined, 10 years ago, that the owner of one of the world’s largest social networks would intervene directly in elections, including in Germany?” Macron said, according to The Associated Press, alluding to Musk’s endorsement of a far-right German political party. 

Oh, I dunno ... maybe the same people who imagined that European leaders could dictate speech policies to an American social-media platform? Go figure. 

As Harry Truman once said: If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. European politicians can't expect to arrogate speech policies for an American social media platform, even in the EU, without facing political accountability for that intrusion. Or perhaps these flabby elitists are so used to imposing their will on others without accountability that they truly get shocked when someone won't kowtow to them but instead challenges their authority. 

Keir Starmer's response descends even further into hypocrisy into a case of projection:

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was asked about Musk at a news conference about child sexual abuse cases. Musk has accused Starmer of not doing enough to stop the abuses when he was a prosecutor — an accusation that Starmer, without naming Musk, dismissed as a self-promoting lie. 

“Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims. They’re interested in themselves,” he said, according to Sky News. Starmer said those people get a “vicarious thrill from street violence.”

Er ... wut? At the moment, Starmer is embroiled in a years-long refusal to deal with Pakistani rape gangs that victimized hundreds of children. Starmer's own party seemed pretty sanguine with this kind of "street violence" as long as it didn't interfere with their social engineering in pursuit of "multiculturalism."  Now suddenly, pointing out the years of refusing to deal with organized crime is the equivalent of cheering violence. It appears that the American progressive elite are not alone in "treat[ing] crime and violence like speech, and speech like crime and violence."

And if you thought Starmer's elitist arrogance was limited to The Continent, then watch the embattled Labour PM attempt to dictate terms to Donald Trump:

According to BBC Newsnight, Britain's socialist government are considering ending their security partnership with the U.S. unless Donald Trump distances himself from Elon Musk's views on grooming gangs.pic.twitter.com/024Qbg1iaH

— Ben Kew (@ben_kew) January 7, 2025

So let's get this straight. British national security is more dependent on keeping silent about the Pakistani rape gangs than it is on a military alliance with the United States? Is that what Starmer seriously wants to argue? Is that what voters in the UK believe, too? Because we can take our ball and go home any time, and leave Starmer and Macron to deal with Vladimir Putin on their own. Have fun storming that castle. 

However, I'd bet that Starmer went way over his political skis with that suggestion. Trump will not just call Starmer's bluff, but now he and Musk can raise Starmer a Zuckerberg, too. (How very Meta!) The EU Left is already in retreat over its refusal to enforce laws and control migration, as well as their economic policies and arrogant elitism. Starmer and Macron are political dead men walking at this point, and they know it. That's why they are desperately trying to quash Twitter/X in the EU, only now that Zuckerberg has foresworn progressive "fact checking," the EU will have to play Whack-a-Mole on several popular social-media platforms rather than just focus on Musk. 

Starmer, Macron et al tried playing with social-media fire and are in the process of self-immolation because of it. The forces of accountability are not just returning but are joining hands. And it's not a moment too soon.