If early indications hold, former GOP RINO Rep. Adam “#fella” Kinzinger is fitting into his role at CNN quite nicely. It still hasn’t made him any better at owning Elon Musk, however.
Kinzinger — a prior member of the Democrats’ sham Jan. 6 committee and newly minted analyst from the network everyone in Washington, D.C., could have guessed he would join without want of a rumor after he announced he wasn’t running in 2022 — believes the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and Twitter owner is, to use Donald Trump’s parlance, a bad hombré.
The problem is that he doesn’t keep receipts. Nowhere was this more apparent than when he quote-tweeted an exchange that accused Musk of being a “Russian asset.”
Suffice it to say, it didn’t end well for Mr. #fella.
Now, a bit of background: Musk has been using his Starlink satellite communication system to facilitate transmissions in war-torn Ukraine. However, he’s set some limits on how Starlink’s capabilities can be used by Ukrainian forces.
This led to an exchange between Scott Kelly — a former astronaut whose brother is Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — and Musk about whether Ukraine should be allowed access to Starlink’s full capabilities, despite what those capabilities are being used to accomplish.
In one particularly heartstring-tugging (but notably evidence-free) tweet, Kelly pleaded with Musk: “Ukraine desperately needs your continued support. Please restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites. Defense from a genocidal invasion is not an offensive capability. It’s survival. Innocent lives will be lost. You can help. Thank you.”
Musk shot back that Kelly was “smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs.
“Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.”
The issue at hand is that, according to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, “Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement, so we have to work on that at Starlink,” CNBC reported.
While Shotwell said that SpaceX was “really pleased to be able to provide Ukraine connectivity and help them in their fight for freedom” with Starlink, she emphasized the system “was never intended to be weaponized,” especially “on drones,” which Ukrainian forces have reportedly been doing.
It’s a nuanced debate, one that doesn’t lead itself to people who have thoughts that only last 280 characters tops. This gentleman — or “fella,” because Mr. Kinzinger, for reasons unbeknownst to God or man, apparently has a fandom posse — didn’t even have that much space to fill:
Let’s amplify this, y’all.
@elonmusk , you are a Russian asset. pic.twitter.com/yKXNr8KysV
— Renny Francisco, Fella at Large ???? (@Danger_Rand) February 12, 2023
This got the attention of the chief “#fella” — who didn’t call Musk a Russian asset, but also didn’t not call Musk a Russian asset. Nudge nudge, wink wink.
Elon Musk is not on the side of Ukraine. This is obvious now https://t.co/PH5yVbxt4D
— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) February 13, 2023
Non-#fella Twitter was considerably less amused, however:
Nobody who has common sense wants WW3 only digital warriors like crybaby Adam do.
— I Meme Therefore I Am ?? (@ImMeme0) February 13, 2023
You are a modern day Joseph McCarthy grifting off false accusations and demagoguery.
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) February 13, 2023
Why is he required to be on Ukraine’s side?
Why does he have to be on anyone’s side?
— Shay Patrick Cormac (@ShayCormac_1) February 13, 2023
Now, let’s be clear: Elon Musk was under no obligation to help anyone in the Ukrainian conflict. He opened up his Starlink satellite system to facilitate critical communications between military personnel on the front lines, as well as other lines of communication in a country which had a distinct dearth of them.
What Musk did not sign on to, however, is using Starlink as a de facto military weapon. No matter what you think of Musk, his opinions or the consistency of his personal behavior, he’s right here: Not only does inching the world closer to World War III fall under the purview of his obligation, it’s diametrically opposed to it.
But then, Kinzinger doesn’t have to worry about facts anymore. He’s at CNN — the one place where truth matters less than Congress. If George Santos is looking for a gig in two years time, he’d do a lot worse than adding the hashtag “#fella” to his Twitter profile and hoping things work out like they did for good ol’ Adam.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
