Twitter kills two birds with one stone
Hits Trump’s account, American free speech
Watch out, President Trump — there’s a new contender for the most polarizing person in America: Jack Dorsey.
The CEO of Twitter decided to permanently ban the president’s account on Friday, which garnered Dorsey plenty of praise from his liberal friends in the media.
Jim Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent and resident hero, was positively delighted by the news.
“So, the president has been kneecapped by Twitter,” he said. “He can no longer use this account to do all of the various and sundry things that he does on a regular basis.”
While the reporters at CNN tried their best to hide their sheer excitement, conservatives expressed their indignation.
The president’s son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “So the ayatollah, and numerous other dictatorial regimes can have Twitter accounts with no issue despite threatening genocide to entire countries and killing homosexuals etc. … but The President of the United States should be permanently suspended. Mao would be proud.”
The arguments raged on — mostly on Twitter, of course.
Dorsey’s explanation for the ban was that the company, “permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Is there an argument to be made that the president’s tweets incite violence? Perhaps.
But the problem with policing dangerous language is that Democrats use it, too.
ABC’s Political Director Rick Klein tweeted, “Trump will be an ex-president in 13 days. The fact is that getting rid of Trump is the easy part. Cleansing the movement he commands is going to be something else.”
Nothing says tolerance and unity like a good oldfashioned “cleansing,” right Rick?
Now, while I don’t agree with Klein’s rhetoric, I do not want Twitter to ban his account.
I enjoy the fact that elitists, like Klein, constantly expose their ugly biases on such a huge platform.
Speaking of dangerous language, just this past August, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley said there “needs to be unrest in the streets.”
Was Pressley inciting violence? It sounds like it to me.
But I don’t blame her for the multiple deaths that occurred during this summer’s riots. It’s ridiculous to blame someone’s tweets or comments for the actions of unwell people. It is much easier to simply condemn violence and call out idiocy when it presents itself.
For example, what happened at the Capitol this week was disgraceful. No sane or serious person should condone it. (None have.)
But it’s a slippery slope to blame political figures for the actions of their worst supporters. If that were the case, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders should probably call U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise and offer an apology ASAP.
Furthermore. Twitter can’t be expected to police free speech impartially.
Jack Dorsey is tough on Trump but seems to have a soft spot for the Chinese Communist Party. See the problem?
What the liberals are failing to realize is that @Jack’s decision to ban the president will have implications that outlast Trump.
People who despise Trump, due to the politically charged time we live in, can not think beyond him. Their principles are no longer based on logic, but instead all hang on what will damage Orange Man the most.
But to use an expression I heard from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, these liberals are “missing the forest for the trees.”
Every single American, whether you watch Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow before bed, should want to protect free speech. Beneath this column, I can almost assure you there will be plenty of comments from people who hate my writing.
They come back week after week and express their disgust for me, my opinion and my ability. It would be easier if I could ban them. And honestly, it would probably make me happy for a minute or two.
But free speech does not come with addenda. It is not convenient. Free speech does not mean ideas you always agree with or words that makes you feel good.
It has its downsides. It means there will be tweets you hate, columns that make you want to pull your hair out and Facebook fights among your relatives about elections and climate change and Hillary Clinton.
But we must all fight to protect free speech.
Because today Jack Dorsey is brave because he doesn’t like Trump — but tomorrow he might not like you either.