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The Catholic Church is both conservative and liberal, both ordered and open, both a builder of walls and a builder of bridges. To seize upon one side at the expense of the other is necessarily to misunderstand her.

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Elon Musk attacked democracy defender and superstar court lawyer Marc Elias as “undermining civilization,” taunting him by asking if he suffered “generational trauma.”

Elias’s response was brilliant and worth amplifying:

Mr. Musk,

You recently criticized me and another prominent lawyer fighting for the rule of law and democracy in the United States. I am used to being attacked for my work, particularly on the platform you own and dominate.

I used to be a regular on Twitter, where I amassed over 900,000 followers — all organic except for the right-wing bots who seemed to grow in number. Like many others, I stopped regularly posting on the site because, under your stewardship, it became a hellscape of hate and misinformation.

I also used to buy your cars — first a Model X and then a Model S — back when you spoke optimistically about solving the climate crisis. My family no longer owns any of your cars and never will.

But this is not the reason I am writing. You don’t know me. You have no idea whether I have suffered trauma and if I have, how it has manifested. And it’s none of your business.

However, I will address your last point about generational trauma. I am Jewish, though many on your site simply call me “a jew.” Honestly, it’s often worse than that, but I’m sure you get the point. There was a time when Twitter would remove antisemitic posts, but under your leadership, tolerating the world’s oldest hatred now seems to be a permissible part of your “free speech” agenda.

Like many Jewish families, mine came to America because of trauma. They were fleeing persecution in the Pale of Settlement — the only area in the Russian Empire where Jews were legally allowed to reside. Even there, life was difficult — often traumatic. My family, like others, lived in a shtetl and was poor. Worse, pogroms were common — violent riots in which Jews were beaten, killed and expelled from their villages.

By the time my family fled, life in the Pale had become all but impossible for Jews. Tsar Nicholas II’s government spread anti-Jewish propaganda that encouraged Russians to attack and steal from Jews in their communities. My great-grandfather was fortunate to leave when he did. Those who stayed faced even worse circumstances when Hitler’s army later invaded.

That is the generational trauma I carry. The trauma of being treated as “other” by countrymen you once thought were your friends. The trauma of being scapegoated by authoritarian leaders. The trauma of fleeing while millions of others were systematically murdered. The trauma of watching powerful men treat it all as a joke — or worse.

As an immigrant yourself, you can no doubt sympathize with what it means to leave behind your country, extended family, friends and neighbors to come to the United States. Of course, you probably had more than 86 rubles in your pocket. You probably didn’t ride for nine days in the bottom of a ship or have your surname changed by immigration officials. Here is the ship manifest showing that my family did. Aron, age three, was my grandfather.

[see image in comments]

As new immigrants, life wasn’t easy. My family lived in cramped housing without hot water. They worked menial jobs — the kind immigrants still perform today.

Some may look down on those immigrants — the ones without fancy degrees — but my family was proud to work and grateful that the United States took them in. They found support within their Jewish community and a political home in the Democratic Party.

I became a lawyer to give back to the country that gave my family a chance. I specialize in representing Democratic campaigns because I believe in the party. I litigate voting rights cases because the right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy. I speak out about free and fair elections because they are under threat.

Now let me address the real crux of your post.

You are very rich and very powerful. You have thrown in with Donald Trump. Whether it is because you think you can control him or because you share his authoritarian vision, I do not know. I do not care.

Together, you and he are dismantling our government, undermining the rule of law and harming the most vulnerable in our society. I am just a lawyer. I do not have your wealth or your platform. I do not control the vast power of the federal government, nor do I have millions of adherents at my disposal to harass and intimidate my opponents. I may even carry generational trauma.

But you need to know this about me. I am the great-grandson of a man who led his family out of the shtetl to a strange land in search of a better life. I am the grandson of the three-year-old boy on that journey. As you know, my English name is Marc, but my Hebrew name is Elhanan (אֶלְחָנָן) — after the great warrior in David’s army who slew a powerful giant.

I will use every tool at my disposal to protect this country from Trump. I will litigate to defend voting rights until there are no cases left to bring. I will speak out against authoritarianism until my last breath.

I will not back down. I will not bow or scrape. I will never obey.

Defiantly,

Marc Elias

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Feb 20
at
5:53 PM

Ship manifest referenced above

What a brilliant response. And your family history is inspiring. Thanks for giving the rest of us an example of strength, courage and the generational power of endurance.

Can't express my respect and admiration for Marc enough, what absolute class.

Class is something neither Trump nor Musk has in any measure nor will they ever have. Musk may be the richest man in the world according to his bank balance but he is also among the poorest in all the ways that count.

Feckin A!!

Brilliant, powerful and authentic rebuttal!!!

Musk probably stopped reading after the second sentence.

…and Elias knew that, his response was for the rest of us and it was brilliant. The die is cast with Musk, but I feel that this response was meant to rally the troops who may feel downtrodden or hopeless, many such comments of which I have seen. I feel that this was well calculated, incredibly thoughtful and brilliantly executed. Here here!

I responded to Elias last night re: his letter to FElon. My family background is similar to his. Musk and the GQP (MAGA..whatever!) is afraid of him. GOOD!

I’m sure he’s shaking in his boots. I will say that I believe Elon has the best retired IDF body guards known to man.

Bottom line is IDF has top notch soldiers that are available to hire.

Now Elias is Jewish as is Zelensky. Imagine that lerny.

Marc: you are the best.

And that’s a real hero!

Yes The man is fighting for the truth of us all,…he is a h

“hero” in my Heart!🇺🇸🇺🇸💙🌏🕊️👩🏽‍🚀🫶🏽

Musk should go to hell.

And take Trump with him! The Republicans all know Trump has DEMENTIA and they don’t care as long as they have power!

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My hate for Trump is not really about politics. And as a Ukrainian, I’d be perfectly entitled to hate him for that.

But my real hate, my real disgust for him, has to do with his behavior as a human being. Just that.

He’s rotten.