Here’s a hypothetical: You’re playing a pickup game of football with a few dudes after work. One of ‘em tackles you harder than normal and cracks your ribs. Now you’ll need medical attention — and you don’t have insurance.
Can you sue the guy who tackled you extra hard?
Well, this is America: Pretty much anyone can sue anyone for almost any reason. But it’s highly unlikely your lawsuit will go anywhere.
Volenti non fit injuria. It’s a Latin phrase that means, “to a willing person, injury is not done.” So, if you voluntarily stepped on the football field and agreed to play tackle football, you assumed certain risks, responsibilities, and liabilities. That’s Tort Law 101.
Naturally, if you’re just walking across the street, minding your own business and not bothering anyone, if some knucklehead tackled you and broke your ribs, you’d have every right to sue. Can’t do that! But when you voluntarily engage in certain, specific activities — such as a violent, full-contact sport like football — there’s a reasonable expectation of being tackled extra hard.
When you play the game, you assume the risks.
That’s not to say ALL sports injuries are lawful under the volenti non fit injuria standard. If you’re playing football and some dipstick blasts you with a baseball bat, that’s absolutely illegal: There’s no “reasonable expectation” of getting attacked with a bat! But extra-hard tackles, late hits, penalties, shoving and pushing, and the physical give-and-take are all normal parts of the game.
The burden’s on you to protect yourself.
Same goes for politics.
If you thought tackle football was a brutal, unforgiving game, ha! It’s child’s play compared to partisan politics! At least in football, there’s a rulebook and referees. In politics, eyeball-gouging, character assassination, and lawfare are all go-to tactics. There is no ref; no rules; only spin.
It’s Thunderdome, baby!
So, if you voluntarily step on the political field, you must protect yourself at all times — not just for your own safety, but for the wellbeing of your entire movement. Because, in politics, it’s not just about you anymore.
It’s about all of us.
Elon Musk is doing D.C. DOGE-style, finding fraud and identifying waste. It was a MAGA masterstroke: Convincing the world’s wealthiest man — and the most innovative, forward-thinking entrepreneur of our generation — to relocate to Washington and dedicate his brainpower to eliminating government bloat will probably go down in history as one of the Trump administration’s longest lasting, most significant legacies.
Had Biden thought of it in 2021 or 2022, the liberal elite and/or mainstream media would’ve oohed and awed, clapping their hands in rapt appreciation: “Hooray for Mr. Musk! The same super-genius who privatized the rocket industry and saved the planet with his electric cars is now helping America streamline its government! Best of all, because he’s already so rich, we don’t have to worry about Elon Musk trying to line his own pockets — instead, he’s solely motivated by doing the right thing. Another big win for Joe Biden, the most consequential president of our lifetime!”
Alas, in our current timeline, Elon Musk is an evil, greedy Nazi that must be destroyed. Consider the mainstream media’s headlines over the last two weeks:
The New York Times: Democrats Take Aim at Elon Musk
CNN: Democrats mobilize to take on Musk
The New York Times: This Is How Democrats Can Counter Elon Musk
The Wall Street Journal: Struggling Democrats Find a ‘Good Villain’ in DOGE Lord Elon Musk
Time Magazine: How Outrage at Elon Musk Is Helping Democrats Fight Back
Politico: Democratic polling finds Elon Musk is unpopular
The Washington Post: Democrats focus on Elon Musk at they search for a message to fight Trump
Business Insider: Elon Musk Is Reawakening the Democratic Resistance
Within the Democratic Party, there’s been a clear PR pivot: Instead of focusing their ammo on Trump — who (curses and drat!) is stubbornly resistant to their slings and arrows — they’re refocusing their salvos on Elon Musk.
Musk is too rich. Too weird. Too foreign. Too socially awkward.
It’s working, too: Musk’s popularity in the Democratic Party has crashed to the single digits. Overall, only 18% of Americans want Musk to have a lot of influence over Trump.
It’s a helluva gamble for Musk and it will likely cost him dearly. As we’ve noted previously:
Estimates vary and markets fluctuate, but roughly speaking, 75 percent of Elon Musk’s wealth is tied to Tesla. And Tesla, of course, is an electric car company.
According to Gallup, 71 percent of Republicans would not consider owning an electric vehicle.
Eighty-three percent of Democrats would consider owning an electric vehicle.
You don’t need to be a statistician to recognize which audience matters most to Tesla’s core business model.
It’s already happening: Nitwit celebs like Sheryl Crow are abandoning their Teslas. (Some disavowed the racist legacy of Elon Musk’s “hate and white supremacy” by trading their Teslas for Volkswagens, demonstrating an appalling-yet-hilarious ignorance of automotive history.)
So where does this leave us?
The litmus test of a morally sound movement is how it looks after its people: A good movement takes care of its own.
For MAGA to succeed, we can’t abandon troops on the battlefield. Nobody gets left behind — not Musk, not the young wiz-kids of DOGE — not anyone.
We owe that much to Musk.
But Elon Musk owes something to us: He’s got to minimize his mistakes. No more “awkward hand gestures” or unforced errors. No MAGA-on-MAGA sniping. Stop giving the Democrats an opening.
No, it’s not fair. (It’s not anywhere close to being fair!) Yes, the playing field is tilted. And the Democrats will absolutely lie, cheat, exaggerate, and call you the move vile, loathsome names, and the media will turn a blind eye: You’re a Nazi, a traitor, a racist, a bigot, a fascist, a white supremacist!
But hey, that’s just volenti non fit injuria. This is how the American political game is played, so protect yourself — and protect your movement — as much as possible.
Remember, we’re still in the first quarter. The late hits, low blows, and cheap shots are just beginning. Strap on a helmet, play smart, and don’t outrun your coverage.
And let’s kick some a** together.
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