Today’s lead Wheeling Intelligencer editorial, "Trump Getting To Work for Us," begins:

A “golden age,” one in which the United States of America can aim even higher than the moon, was proclaimed Monday during President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration speech.

And while Elon Musk may have thrown his hands in the air to cheer the goal to “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars,” and “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars,” ordinary Americans were more likely to find a common reason to cheer in Trump’s promise to seek a broad government effort to reduce inflation and reduce prices.

Since everything that happened yesterday is online somewhere, I first went looking for Musk’s reaction to Trump’s “manifest destiny into the stars” comment and I found it here - at the :38 point of this clip:

Elon Musk is seen giving a thumbs up after President Trump says the U.S. "will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars." pic.twitter.com/QDuGymhM0e

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 20, 2025

Note that Musk is not throwing his hands up; he first gives a simple “thumbs-up” and then claps.

Here, then, is the clip of Musk throwing “his hands in the air”:

Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena.

“Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just… pic.twitter.com/K8Fo0sdozL

— PBS News (@NewsHour) January 20, 2025

If you follow politics, you may already have seen this clip of Elon Musk twice giving what may have been the Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration. Is he? Musk has recently supported a neo-Nazi party in Germany (AfD) and if you look online for the reaction of historians and experts on fascism, you’ll find a somewhat mixed bag of reactions to Musk’s gesture. I found that most experts believe that it is a Nazi reference, but there are a few who attribute Musk’s salute to something else (one argued autism). But note that today’s Intelligencer editorial is not making that point; rather, the paper argues that Musk was reacting to Trump’s speech (which he clearly wasn't).

Even more interesting is how Nazis and other extremists reacted to Musk’s gesture?

Right-wing extremists, white nationalists, and neo-Nazis are celebrating an alarming gesture made by the world’s richest man.

More: https://t.co/uf1T52isXl pic.twitter.com/3mX1e6jCQe

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) January 21, 2025

And as I was just about ready to publish, the AP is out with a similar report:

Musk’s straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists regardless of what he meant

So, whether or not we believe that Musk was purposely invoking the Nazi salute may be irrelevant -- the extremists believe he was, see it as a sign of support, and will act accordingly. Add all the pardoned January 6 felons while a high percentage of the media look the other way or, like Ogden, actively support this move toward fascism. Who is going to fight for democracy?