Me Too!

Every once and a while an article appears via the Internet that strikes a cord. One such article appeared the other day, penned by Rebecca Buckwater Poza. It served to remind me that I wasn’t alone, others were suffering the same way I was. Ms. Buckwater Poza defined our common problem and identified a solution. I now have a clear direction to follow. Maybe I can get Ken White, at Popehat, to take my case?

Since President Trump was elected, I have tried to establish contact with him. He speaks to me, and I’m sure we must be kindred souls. I have repeatedly tried to make contact with him. ESP doesn’t seem to work. I tried channeling, transcendental meditation, spirit mediums, and even got out an old Ouija board. Nothing, nada, zilch. I need two more people to put together a proper seance, and the hole in the backyard for the sweat lodge is half done. Then I read Rebecca Buckwater Poza’s article, “Trump-blocked-me-ontwitter-and-its-costing-me-my-career/”  Here are some excerpts:

Twitter also brought me to where I am today: Pursuing a lawsuit with others against President Trump for his decision to block us on Twitter. It was because I tweeted about being blocked that I eventually connected with the Knight First Amendment Institute and became involved in the legal effort.

On Twitter, the bulk of my recent follower growth and new relationships with others in the politico-legal sphere have come out of responding quickly when the president tweets and engaging the threads of conversation that flow from those tweets.

So when President Donald Trump blocked me in June, apparently for suggesting that Russia influenced the outcome of the 2016 election, he harmed me professionally. 

The same thing has happened to me! President Trump by shutting me out and refusing to communicate with me in a manner most conducive to my preferences. I am unable to get my finger on the pulse of the body politic, to generate hits to my blog. It is tough lurking in my mother’s basement. It took years to get this ratty bathrobe to fit right.

Used to be journalists had to go out and meet people, go to strange places, and ferret out facts. Ms. Rebecca Buckwater Poza has shown me the way. Facts are passe; feelings are all. All I need are half-baked reactions based on a flawed understanding and reduced to 144 characters to achieve fame and fortune. Where does Donald Trump get off refusing to produce grist for the mill!

I know next to nothing about Twitter but bear with me. The President has been known to send out tweets, and these tweets have attracted a substantial following, both pro and con. People who are on the same Twitter feed automatically have access to the same base. Response to a Presidential twitter could generate as many “hits” as the original comment. In effect, the commenter benefits from the brand, Trump, without regard to the actual comment.

The commenter who is not on the same twitter feed can obtain the same comment, but the response would be dependant on the commenter’s followers: mom, dad, siblings, college roommate, and the neighbor across the street. In other words, the same long suffering folks that fell prey that time the commenter decided to sell Amway.

Despite what the geeks say, I suspect that Twitter is finite. There is a constant battle to identify active users and weed out the inactive, abusive and users with ulterior motives. In a way, the Twitter access list is a mailing list. The feed, Trump’s comments, are directed to followers and supporters. Is it Ms. Buckwater Poza’s stance that politicians have an obligation to send their message where it is least wanted. Taking Ms. Buckwater Poza’s suit a step further, would she require that Mr. Trump uses all available technology in every language known to man so that nobody is left out?

Could it be that Ms. Buckwater Poza’s comments, on their own, lack the necessary merit to attract a following on their own? Anyways, I support you Ms. Buckwater Poza; I would like to join you in your law suit. I would invite you to my mother’s house for a planning session, but I’m not allowed to have girls in the basement.

Paul Battaglia is a retired Texas police officer who blogs at Porac Ponders. He recently published his first novel, THE UNIT available on Kindle.