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Last Updated on: 15th July 2025, 09:12 pm

“Democracy Dies In Secret” is a phrase found on the masthead of the Washington Post, even though its owner, Jeff Bezos, seems to be unaware of what the phrase means. It is often attributed to famed Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, but according to Wikipedia, he first heard it from Circuit Court judge Damon Keith, who used it in a decision involving the First Amendment and the right of free speech. Where the judge got it from is unknown.

What does this have to do with the price of tea? Simply this: The Texas Newsroom is a public radio journalism collaboration that includes NPR, KERA in North Texas, Houston Public Media, KUT in Austin, Texas Public Radio in San Antonio, and other stations across the state. Recently it asked to see copies of emails between Elon Musk and Texas officials, including alleged Governor Greg Abbott.

It was told that retrieving the information would take 13 hours and there would be a charge of $244.46 to make the materials available. It cut a check in that amount and sent it off. According to ProPublica, the emails were never released. After the check was cashed, the governor’s office told The Texas Newsroom it believed all of the records were confidential and asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office referees disputes over public records, to allow the documents to be kept private.

Matthew Taylor, Abbott’s public information coordinator, gave several reasons the records should not be released, ProPublica said. He argued they include private exchanges with lawyers, details about policy-making decisions, and information that would reveal how the state entices companies to invest here. Releasing them to the public, he wrote, “would have a chilling effect on the frank and open discussion necessary for the decision-making process.” In other words, it would allow the public to know of the secret deals and skulduggery taking place out of public view.

Now, you may wonder why the Texas Newsroom was interested in those emails. It seems that Elon Musk, Tesla, and SpaceX had a busy year in the Texas legislative session this year. ProPublica reports that, during this year’s legislative session, lobbyists representing Musk and his companies promoted a range of bills beneficial to Musk or the companies he controls. The Texas Newsroom identified these bills by searching legislative records for committee testimony and other evidence of public stances taken by Musk or his representatives.

One bill that got approved made it faster and easier for homeowners to install residential storage batteries like the Tesla Powerwall. Another made it a crime for people to fly drones or interfere with operations at SpaceX. A third changed who controls the highway and public beach near SpaceX’s South Texas site so it can launch its rockets according to Musk’s preferred schedule. In addition, two bills that Musk opposed died in this year’s legislative session.

Legislation Favors Tesla Robotaxis

One of the bills that passed added new regulations for autonomous vehicles, like the robotaxis now operating in Austin. When we covered that story a few weeks ago, we noted that officials in Austin refused to disclose details of the arrangements they made with Musk and Tesla, which they claimed were protected by a nondisclosure agreement.

Over the weekend, Tesla expanded the geofenced area where its robotaxis are allowed to operate. The ever playful Musk, who threw tens of thousands of government employees out of work as he wielded his fraud and waste–cutting chainsaw as the head of DOGE, just couldn’t resist making the outline of the new service area look like male genitalia. This is the kind of boorish, sophomoric stunt we might expect of a 12 year old, but when you are the richest person in human history, you can get away with things like that.

We are not going to crawl into the sewer with Musk, so we are not going to share the image with you, but if you haven’t had an opportunity to view a drawing of the male anatomy recently, you can gaze on Musk’s crude and offensive joke at this link.

It seems to come with the tech bro territory, as Jeff Bezos some years ago found time in his busy day to send dick pics to his neighbor, who was so flattered she married him. Bezos implied he was attracted to her because of her large breasts, a predilection he shares with the so-called president of the United States.

Secrecy & Democracy

CleanTechnica readers, who are all well above average, may see the problem that arises when a private company cuts deals in secret. It is but another example of the arrogance of Musk and his tech bro confreres who take the attitude they can do any damn thing they please because they are wealthy, so laws that apply to mere mortals don’t apply to them.

Musk made gains even on bills he didn’t publicly endorse, ProPublica says. “Texas lawmakers followed Musk’s lead by rewriting the state’s corporate laws and creating a new office modeled after the Department of Government Efficiency he used to slash federal spending” — so there would be enough room in the budget to give the 841 billionaires in the US — including Musk and the failed president — a $3 trillion tax cut. Not so long ago, people would be aghast that a president would use his influence to get a tax break that would benefit himself personally, but malfeasance by the Moron of Mar-A-Loco has become so open and notorious we don’t even notice such behavior any more.

Critics told ProPublica the new laws passed in this year’s legislative session will give Musk’s companies more cash, more power, and more protection from scrutiny as his business footprint continues to expand across Texas. “The real harm is the influence of a private company on the decisions made by government,” Cyrus Reed, the conservation director for the Texas chapter of the Sierra Club, told The Texas Newsroom.

Moriba Jah, a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, told ProPublica he believes Texas is pandering to Musk. “It’s all to help Elon,” said Jah, who opposes what he calls “environmental plunder masked as ‘innovation. There’s this whole cloak of secrecy with whatever Elon is doing,” he said.

A History Lesson

Many years ago, a family friend was elected to the Rhode Island legislature. Around Christmas time, a longtime legislator came into his office and suggested they go to lunch. He tried to beg off, but the veteran lawmaker was insistent. “Be sure to leave your door unlocked,” he said as they got ready to leave. After a long lunch, the freshman lawmaker returned to find a stack of envelopes stuffed with cash on his desk.

“What’s this,” he asked? “Christmas presents,” came the reply. “Sometime during the year, you will get a call asking if you got a Christmas present and — oh, by the way — we would appreciate it if you would vote a certain way on a particular bill.” Democracy dies in darkness was true then and it is true today.

Another Executive Departs Tesla

Recently, Omead Afshar, a senior marketing manager at Tesla, left the company. Whether he was fired or left of his own accord is a bit of a mystery. Tesla sales have plunged in many world markets thanks largely to Elon Musk’s public embrace of Nazi themes, including now infamous Nazi salutes at a convention of MAGAlomaniacs. Musk, of course, never takes responsibility for his own stupidity, so someone else’s head must roll when things turn sour. By definition, the Great and Powerful Musk is never wrong. A legend in his own mind, is our Elon.

Investopedia is reporting that the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation, said on July 15, 2025, that Troy Jones has left Tesla after working for the company for 15 years. According to his LinkedIn page, Jones was vice president of sales and service in North America. So, even though Jones has not been seen giving Nazi salutes in public and is not the reason Tesla has not brought out a new electric car model, he is being sacrificed on the alter of Musk’s ego, because someone must be responsible and it’s never Elon.

Coming a week before the next Tesla earnings call is a bad sign for Tesla. Afshar is gone. Jones is gone. Drew Baglino is gone. Apparently, Musk things he can run the company himself when he is not high on ketamine, telling legislators what to do, procreating, training xAI to praise Adolf Hitler, or thinking up dick jokes. The wonder is not that Tesla’s market cap is so high, it is that it exists at all as Elon continues to run the business into the ground.