WASHINGTON — News that Elon Musk has agreed after all to proceed with his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter may have felt like a stunning surprise from the brash billionaire who loves to shock.It sent shares of the social media platform soaring and stoked alarm among some media watchdogs and civil rights groups worried about what kind of free speech would flourish on Twitter under Musk.But it wasn’t surprising to observers of the monthslong legal battle as Twitter tried to compel the world’s richest man to …