When To Say Goodbye

 Just to be clear, I am not going to insert a poll here when I get bored with writing this blog. There are plenty of ways to go out, but I'm thinking that asking the people who are already logging into your corner of Al Gore's Internet if you A) like them, B) really like them, or C) would like them to step down as CEO of Twitter. Which is what Elon "Gate" Musk did over the weekend. I'm not sure what he expected to happen, but fifty-seven percent of those who answered the poll suggested that he take a hike, while just forty-three felt it would be a good idea for him to stick around and continue to run his toy app into the wall repeatedly until it breaks. Completely. 

So, I was looking for a model which would approximate not staying past your welcome. Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway comes to mind. He won back to back Super Bowls, was named MVP of the second one which was the last game he played and he retired before he could embarrass himself. He had succeeded in wiping those memories of Super Bowls lost from his ledger, and he rode off into the sunset. The same could be said of Peyton Manning, who really didn't have much to add to his resume, but the last game he played was a Super Bowl and he won that, so now he can pretty much show up wherever he wants and get a free slice of pizza, a hearty handshake, and a pat on the back. 

For about eighteen minutes back there, Elon "Elan" Musk was going to be remembered as a prime mover in saving this planet and opening up new frontiers for us in space. The forty-four billion dollars he threw at buying Twitter was a bad enough decision to knock him off the pedestal of King of the World. Who among us would trust this guy to pass out oxygen on his sponsored field trips to Mars? Somewhere midflight he's likely to change the terms. "Sorry, if you want air, you're going to have to pay twenty dollars." Unless Stephen King is on the flight and barters down to eight. 

As it turns out, a lot of folks are building electric cars these days. The public perception of Mister Musk's motor cars has slipped. So much so that stock for that company dropped to a two year low after shareholders witnessed the antics of the CEO. His conservative side was on full display when he attended a World Cup match with Jared Kushner. And started banning journalists from Twitter. And started looking like the spoiled brat with far too much money that many believed he probably was. 

Meanwhile, Colin Kaepernick continues to be retired against his will. As a champion of free speech and Super Bowl quarterback, he was put out to pasture by the NFL for quietly shining a light on the injustices felt by people of color in this country. There were plenty of online polls that helped steer that decision, but I still think I would rather go to Mars with Colin than Elon. 

But nobody asked me.