When Musk's offer of help to Thailand was first discussed here, I said I thought I didn't think it was a cynical PR stunt, because Musk gets into all kinds of musings/tinkerings, for better or worse, when people prompt him on Twitter. I think the self-meltdown he's had since the rescue bolsters my point, that his initiative was a gut reaction more than a thought-out PR ploy.

It boggles my mind the number of people who argue, "Well, at least he helped!", as if attempts to help are always a net good. It's fine if he sent help, or if he were privately working on a solution. Tweeting his prototype as it was being developed, as if it were on the cusp of success, was not helpful. It put undue pressure on the rescue chief -- imagine if the operation had failed and children had died? Can you imagine the vitriol the chief would face by armchair critics for not waiting, or for not trying out Musk's solution?

I can't be the only one who thought the rescue operation would end with some casualties (so soon after that former Thai SEAL died). But everyone was rescued, and it turned out the rescue chief/governor made the right call under pressure. Musk, who was accountable to no one, ripping into the rescue chief is the height of douchebaggery. Well, at least until this morning when he called one of the rescuers a "pedo".