Lindbergh and Musk
Birds of a feather
When I saw the photo of Elon Musk giving the Nazi Salute on Inauguration Day, I couldn’t help but think of Charles Lindbergh, the legendary pilot.
Lindbergh achieved meteoric fame after the extraordinary feat of flying solo across the Atlantic in 1927 from New York to Paris in a single-engine aircraft.
During the 1930’s while living in Europe, he became increasingly isolationist and impressed with the armed might of Nazi Germany: “Lindbergh remained convinced that Germany would win any coming war based on its superior military strength.”
In 1938, he was awarded the Service Cross of the German Eagle by none other than Nazi uber-leader Herman Goering.
Lindbergh’s “America First” isolationist bent and his identification with the Nazis, the latter possibly innocent, signaled his downfall in the eyes of his adoring public.
What was not to so innocent was his blatant anti-semitism including blaming Jews for the approaching war.
Lindbergh’s achievement, a blend of technology, skill and courage, imbued him with a sense of omniscience which crashed and burned after the Pearl Harbor attack though it had begun to falter long before.
Now comes the fame-infused Elon Musk, rocket man, car-wizard and lover of things fascistic, who in his hour of glory tells us where his heart really lies.
Musk cuts a 1938 Lindbergh-esque figure as he basks in this moment when anti-heroes are again all the rage.
He is going much further than Lindbergh, openly supporting the far-right fascist parties in Germany.
He may yet learn, as Charles Lindbergh surely did, that the public can be fickle and unforgiving as the sky begins to darken.
Musk might also note how his progenitor Henry Ford, who received the same Nazi medal as Lindbergh, has fared in the public consciousness.
Ford is now remembered as much for his race hatred as anything else.
Money (and fame) can’t buy you love, respect or decency.
Cheers.
