So I was reading CNN this morning, and came across the article about Trump being upset with the way the cast of Hamilton "treated" Pence last night, and I clicked on his Twitter post. Then I ran into an existential quandary. What are the rules for getting into a flame war with the president-elect on Twitter? Will he continue to be available in this way once he takes office? Does the normal "wild-west" nature of the Internet apply? Will I get placed on watch lists and audited by the IRS?
What exactly are the rules of interaction when the president is trolling the internet?
That would be a good question to pose in Discussions And Debates. Moving thread.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman
To piggyback on Certis' line of thinking, I've tagged this thread as "discussion," and you can now add a Scope of Discussion to clarify how you want this conversation to go down.
"Everything in moderation, including moderation." Oscar Wilde
Nintendo Switch: 2867-6743-0495
I would hope that any president (including Trump) would quickly realize that Twitter wars are a complete waste of time and should be avoided. Moreover, the president should really be letting the press secretary take the lead on communications and outreach.
As far as independent citizens saying stuff to the President, I'd say you're fine as long as you don't post anything remotely threatening. That being said, Trump comes across as particularly vindictive so I'd personally just avoid interacting through Twitter. You'd probably have better luck interacting with your state reps and senators.
There's another thread about ideas for protesting and protecting yourself online if you want to get more politically involved.
My backloggery
GWJ Strategy Club
GWJ CRPG Club
I wonder what happens when the stuff that Trump says or tweets as a private person suddenly becomes illegal as he becomes the head of state? (i.e. he is now THE government and any language inferring censorship is actionable)
He could get millions of lawsuits from one tweet...
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
redfang#1780
Thanks Certis. I debated where this should go.
sometimesdee -- to clarify, I don't know what the scope is. Reading his comments on CNN resulted in an internal response in my head, and being Twitter, I went there to post. Something to the effect of "maybe you'll start getting the respect you are asking for when you begin to show the same respect to others."
I was about half-way through, and stopped. Of all things to go through my head, I thought about the movie The American President. How everyone referred to and acted around the president. I realize it is Hollywood, but I would hope that if given the chance to meet a president one day, I'd treat the position with the respect it deserves. Then I though: "I'm about to send some comment about respect to the president-elect. What the heck?" I know the likelihood of him seeing it minuscule, but what if, despite all of his handler's efforts, he still hops on Twitter ranting about... whatever current pet-peeve he's fuming over.
Do we the people respond to the president the same way we do to a sports personality or other type of celebrity? Is a snarky comment to the president just show how much the position has been demeaned? Are there new rules of conduct when you can tweet the president? I know Obama has an account, but it's just not the same. You know someone else is controlling it.
"President" is just a job. Nobody is due any specific respect purely due to the job they have, especially if they expect to use it as a shield to cover their raging bigotry.
One could argue that some jobs i.e. paramedic or nurse, are due a certain amount of respect, but even the decision to do a job of that type is an expression of their character. The current American president-elect and VP-elect are in the job for the purpose of; for the first, corruption and ego and, for the second, religious zealotry and the repression of human rights. Their characters are demonstrably not worthy of respect and they shouldn't be respected purely because of their job titles.
Struggling to sleep? Try my sleep podcast! Sleepy Time Tales.
Need Podcast editing? Go to Bright Vox Audio
Well, since we're supposed to take Trump seriously and not seriously at any given moment that's convenient, I'm not sure it'll matter.
"Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense."
This is how authoritarianism works. Any time you have to ask "Should I use my constitutional freedom, or will that bring The Leader down on my head?", you know you're looking at a changed society.
The two sides to every story are true and false, not yours and theirs. Facts are not political; lies are. - Deven Green (Mrs. Betty Bowers)