President Trump, who clearly never read Pinocchio as a child, is furious at Twitter for labeling several of his tweets as false.
OK, yes, technically they didn’t say, “The president’s tweets were big, fat, phony lies.” What they did do, however, is put a label under two recent tweets of his claiming that mail-in ballots are fraudulent.
Trump votes by absentee ballot, by the way. (He’s not into irony.)
The label says, “Get the facts about mail-in ballots,” and links to news articles with those inconvenient things called facts. (Also something Trump isn’t into.)
This, of course, enraged him. “Violation of free speech!” he thereafter roared. “I’ll close them down! I’ll regulate them! I’ll …”
No, he won’t. He can’t. And if he somehow can then this nation as we know it is over.
Everybody in the land of the free and home of the brave has the right to speak their mind, even a president who lied a stunning 18,000 times during his first 1,170 days in office, according to the Washington Post. (If you’re into math, that’s an average of more than 15 lies a day, which is darned impressive. Say what you want about the man, but he is a master of his craft.)
But nobody has the right to have their free speech broadcast on anyone else’s platform without their permission.
You can spray-paint knock-knock jokes on the side of your house if you want.
But you can’t spray them on mine. (Although I may make an exception for this one: Knock, knock. Who’s there? Dwayne. Dwayne, who? Dwayne the bathtub! I’m dwowning!)
You can hang a sign on your car saying that “Donald Trump is the greatest president in history.” And I will laugh ’til I choke.
But you can’t hang one on mine.
You can even come to my website or Facebook page and say anything you want – as long as I’m OK with it. But if you post something that’s rude, stupid or false, I’m going to take it down and probably block you from my page. (I have a much quicker block finger than I used to. My patience for stupidity is running thin.) If I block you or delete your message, does that mean I’m violating your right to free speech?
Nope. My website, my rules. Deal with it.
Twitter, Facebook and others are exactly the same. They are not public utilities. They are not government-owned entities, required by law to treat everyone equal. If they wanted, they could only allow left-handed people to post.
So when Trump violates their standards of fairness and decency, they have every right to slap a warning label on him. They’ve actually been ridiculously patient with him, if you ask me. They ought to outright ban him. Not for his political views but because he is a relentless, pathological liar and an evil, immoral, narcissist. Plus, his spray tan is stupid.
Twitter’s move is a good first step, though. Bullies have to be called on their behavior or they keep right on bullying.
It’s nice to think Trump might see the light and rein himself in. But that’s about as likely as me donning a MAGA hat. Even if he quits Twitter in a huff, he’ll just find another platform for his hatred, lies and bigotry.
I think it’s called Fox News.
Americans who voted for trump in 2016 thought that they knew what they were voting for, they knew they voted for an anti-establishment candidate, they just did not know that it would be worse than their wildest imaginations.
His base continues to be unfazed by his actions, they eat it up.
The voters who disliked Hillary and voted against her in the election are fuming, dismayed, and embarrassed.
America has discovered that they were duped by a snake oil salesman.
The president is unfit for for office, he proves it over and over again every day.
Vote him and his minions out of office in November.
People will almost always put their pettiness over the good of the nation. Confronted with four years of Trump and his 18,000 lies, 100,000 COVID deaths, selling the country out to Russia, bungling the economy and so on, they’ll still vote for him because they like that he insults people.
He doesn’t think Fox has been very loyal to him lately. Poor miserable old curmudgeon!
The President of the United State just threatened to use the power of the US government to shut down a private company because he doesn’t like how they are legally running their business.
Trump supporters that call yourself conservatives, you’re clearly beyond self awareness at this point. The rest of us that know what that word actually means are ashamed for you.
Thank you Andy. I will give you the highest compliment I learned many years ago from one of our areas finest gentlemen. “You are a gentleman, a scholar, and a poor judge of good whiskey.”
Ha, thank you. But I”m getting better. I’m up to Maker’s Mark level now.
The Failing US President spends every waking moment stumbling around, creating irreparable chaos, all of which results in a steady effort to dismantle rule of law, decency and social order. The kleptocracy that is his so-called “administration” is so clear. His only purpose for occupying the Oval Office is to facilitate a long grift on the American public. On top of that, he’s a functional illiterate. What a cosmic hoot.
Here is a link to the hateful nicknames that Donald Trump has unleashed on just about anyone. Many people feel his behavior is extremely unbecoming of a President of the USA; actually it is downright dirty. Yet his pockets are filled with every republican he controls, and all his followers in the country. Sadly, they cannot hear or see.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump
Remember when there was a “Batman” show on TV, and during a brawl between Batman (the good guy) and the bad guy, words like “Bam! Pow! Zing! Smack!” would appear on the TV screen? Keep up the good work, “Andrew Batman Heller! ” November is just about 5 months away!
I fear the election. America proved how awful our choices can be last time around – and I”m no HIllary fan. I suspect we’ll do it again. Love the nickname cheat sheet.
You live in Traverse area – how could you not like Traverse City Whiskey Company whiskey? Their cherry whiskey is the bomb!
1. Thank you, Andrew, for allowing me to post here. I hope I actually contribute something original.
2. Holy Cripes! Did you see that some bar in Lowlife County Texas has a sign on their front door, prohibiting anyone wearing a facemask from entering?!! Facemask politics down there in Trump Country! That bar should not even be open. How thirsty would you have to be, to choose Covid along with your Lone Star Lite Beer?
“Sorry, no mask allowed,” read the poster taped to the front door of his bar Friday. “Please bare with us thru the ridiculous fearful times.”
I just found this. This is the actual sign the actual bar owner put on his front door.
Spelling problems and dumb people often go together
In January and February of 2020, the stock market was hitting all time highs. There was record low American unemployment, record low black unemployment, record low Hispanic unemployment. Most reasonable people would consider those statistics a positive thing. Trump’s economy was roaring. Along comes the Wuhan virus, the epidemiologists estimate 1.5 – 2.2 million U.S. deaths without a shutdown. Trump chose the shutdown, and had he not done so, you’d have been the first to start bitching and moaning about ‘profits over people’. So, faced with these two alternatives, can you explain how he “bungled the economy”?
What a convenient memory you have. Trump has obstructed and slow-walked COVID response to the point it killed 35,000 more than it likely would have by this point, thus tanking the economy with it. Trump inherited the Obama economy. Obama also recovered us from the Bush Recession. What a happy little fantasy you’ve constructed in your mind. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/9-charts-comparing-trump-economy-to-obama-bush-administrations-2019-9-1028833119 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/21/columbia-study-coronavirus-deaths/
He also engaged in practices that are typically to be used when the economy is in crisis, such as huge corporate tax cuts, increased deficit spending and reduction of interest rates. He was doing this to try and at least stay even to Obama’s GDP, and he barely even did that, even though Obama’s did it without the tax cuts and interest rates. The problem is that now that we are actually in an economic crisis, the three biggest tricks we have have already been used in 2017 and 2018 when things were good.
With the tax cuts, Trump does deserve credit for the increase in the stock market in 2017. The big companies upon receiving their savings, as they did in 2009, largely used the money to buy back their stock, rather than investing in labor and development as we were promised they would. The massive stock buybacks, good old supply and demand, had the effect of increasing stock prices and turbo charging the stock market in 2017. Unfortunately by 2018, they were finishing up, which is why you see the stock market in December 2018 pretty much exactly where it started in January 2018.
Now the increase in 2017 was fine and good to be sure, but the price of it was a huge reduction in federal tax revenue accompanied by a large increase in the debt. Plus, tax cuts, rather than a one time stimulus, is a loss in perpetuity of an ongoing source of revenue. Only way you can replace it is with tax increases, something we can hardly do now, despite the fact that we desperately need money for this crisis.
A rather large price to pay for one year of stock market steroid, I’d say.
2019’s market was on balance good, but if you recall, it was especially volatile, spiking up on reports of trade war resolutions that never proved to be real, and drastic dips as investors kept sniffing recession. This was when he was putting his considerable weight behind interest rate reductions to keep the bull market that started early in Obama’s term going. But again, this is a trick you can only do so much, when its done, it can’t be done more. So you want to save it for when you need it. Like right now.
Same with the deficit spending. Obama had (barely these days) higher deficits in 2009, 2010, but he was using it to bail the country out of the fiscal crash that occurred before he was elected. This is where deficit spending is a responsible choice, when its needed to keep the country in existence. Trump on the other hand, when the economy, as you say, was doing great, engaged in an orgy of spending actually approaching the level of spending when the country was fending off another depression in 2009.
Again, this is something you can only do so much, so you only do it when you need to, not when you’re just trying to hyper charge the economy for your four years. Now that we need to ramp up spending, which to his credit he is, we’re looking at a much much bleaker financial future with paying it back. Throw in the effects of the trade war and you got a real problem. Think of current state of US farming. Did you howl about socialism when Obama paid out 14 billion to the US auto manufacturers that were going bankrupt in 2009? Trump’s bailout of the farmers was up to 28 billion in 2018 before this crisis. Socialism indeed. And unlike Obama’s bailout of GM, Trump actually started the trade war that made the bailouts nesssasary.
So yes, he gets credit for the state of the economy, but understand, that’s like taking credit for a family getting all new cars, flashy clothes, electronics and grand vacations because dad maxed out the credit cards, cashed in his 401k, remortgaged the home and sold all the plumbing to scrappers.
Make no mistake, we’re in a lot of trouble right now. Talking about that great time we had doesn’t erase the inevitable consequences of how it was brought about.
oof, sorry for the wall of words…, there was a lot to cover.
According to Media Bias/Fact Check, regarding Business Insider,
They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words ( wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes.
According to Allsides.com
The Washington Post has a lean left media bias. AllSides rates the Washington Post bias as Lean Left with high confidence.
What’s next, Huff Po and MSNBC?
The unicorns in your fantasy are colorful, no doubt. But there is a reason many on YOUR side are hoping for more death and economic chaos. It’s about that political ax your comrades want to grind . It’s a bad look to hate Trump more than loving one’s country. Barring devastation, at least have the leftist media do the heavy lifting for the DNC until November, yes?
Brad, you’re correct in saying that these organizations have a leftward bias, but understand, saying that someone wants something to be true, doesn’t disprove or refute what they’re saying.
Its a lazy rhetorical trick, it allows you to comfortably walk away without having to actually refute the information, or in the alternative, reconcile yourself to facts you don’t like.
Meanwhile, the information you don’t like remains unassailed.
Ha, you beat me to it, Adam. That kind of lazy b.s. response is straight out of the Trump divert and distract playbook. It’s amazing to me that anything that he perceives as “good” is always directly attributable to him and anything “bad” is always someone else’s fault – Mexicans, black people, liberals, the media. (And the assertion that Democrats want people to die and the economy to suck until after the election is beyond stupid.)
Brad! Do not accuse us of wanting more death and chaos! Not true! Offensive when you spout this nasty baloney! Yo mamma wants more death and chaos; she wears army shoes; she swims out to the troopships! Please stop trying to play this simple-minded childish game!
“I’ve heard for years he kept the country safe after 9/11 — what does that mean? … What about during 9/11? … The worst attack ever in this country. It was during his presidency. I mean, we had the worst attack ever,”
Donald J. Trump on George W. Busy in 2016.
Yes, my what happens during a Presidency and how it reflects upon its holder.
Again, “conservatives” that supported one man, yet are now supporting the one that viciously attacks him and directly contradicts everything he stood for… we are ashamed for you, because as I said above, you clearly lack the capacity yourself.
West Mich. Report:
1. In both Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, most of the protesters and rioters seem to be white folks. Both the daylight marchers, and the after-sunset smashers and burners.
2. In GR, the problems have not occurred in The Hood. Rather in downtown, where few people actually live.
3. Lots of Americans seem to relish the opportunity to smash and burn. For fun, to have stories for their grandchildren, I suppose. This opportunity seldom actually arises. Take advantage now, while you can.
Dreadful, dreadful news on the economic front……the DOW is up more than 7000 points since March’s low. It’s the largest increase in this amount of time in history. In the name of political expediency, you won’t be hearing much about this from the DNC water toters in the media. To so many of you here on this tiny site praying for an election year economic depression, keep hope alive. According to the pied piper of this blog, Trump bungled the economy, Hussein Obama saved it. I guess it’s time to thank President mom jeans for the 7000 point market jump. Your resident pied piper/economist will drool and genuflect while doing just that.
1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average still is 3534 points below its February 14, 2020 level.
2. The stock market is NOT the economy.
3. Brad, You are doing it again. Stop. Yo momma prays for an economic depression. Nobody else does.
Damn, the DOW went up another 500 pts. today.
Let us pray that our nation can heal by going into an economic depression, creating soup lines, squalor, and destruction of economic independence so that the masses are beholden to the government overlords for the welfare dime. If that is what it takes to change presidential administrations, sign me up.
Sincerely,
America hating liberals.
Here is what really galls me: Trump had his soldiers clear a path for him. Then he walked to a church, and brandished a Bible. Trump does not go to that church or any church on Sundays. And, Trump holding up the Bible is sort of like, imagine, the Pope holding a copy of Hustler. Utterly preposterous! Deeply cynical. I am surprised that Bible did not burn Trump’s evil fingers.
Brad, Do you have a portfolio of stocks? Did you buy on the dip? Have you and yo momma profited from the recent rise? I doubt it. So far, no investors have gained. Investors are not even back, not even close, to where they where before Covid. Please stop with your dopey posts about the stock market. Do you even own one stock?
How much more devastating economic news can we take?
The economy added 2.5 million jobs in May. Another all time record, but don’t tell Prius pilot Heller, he knows Trump ‘bungled’ the economy. To the political partisans here who want the nation to fail In this election year, keep the faith.
Perhaps you’ll get the chance to celebrate your neighbor losing his/her house, job etc. in exchange for a few more DemocRAT votes. Remember leftists, it’s a bad look to hate Trump more than you love the U.S.A., and karma can be a bitch.
Man, he was so quiet back before things turned out to be just freaking horrible, instead of worse than horrible.
13% unemployment, 100,000 Americans dead, and counting.
Indeed Brad, celebrating can be a bad look.
But I guess we now know what, or rather who is important to you.
The day after the Battle of Little Big Horn, General Custer’s army lost no soldiers, because all the soldiers already were dead. But, it was a big improvement over their losses on the battle day. Did they celebrate that huge improvement in battle deaths, that day? Should we join our pal Brad in celebrating General Trump’s “improvements?” NO! Trump actually is worse than Custer, worse than Benedict Arnold, way worse than Herbert Hoover. Vote Trump out in November!
Pandemic? What pandemic? Gov. wHITLER is out and about standing shoulder to shoulder with protesters. Social distancing and partial shutdowns for the rest of us, but not for herself or politically ‘approved’ crowd. Evidently the democRATS, who claim to be the party of science, discovered that Covid 19 is a red virus, not a blue virus. Surprise, surprise. As usual, leftist hypocrisy stands proud and tall.
I myself do not understand this Pandademic. There are 65,000 cases of Pandas, in Michigan! I would have thought we had about maybe a dozen, maximum, in Michigan zoos. I thought Pandas only lived in China…
And, 6,000 pandas have died in Michigan alone! Also, what is this about, “testing,” Pandas? Do they test our regular black and brown bears? To see whether they actually are Pandas? I never have seen a Panda, alive or dead, in Grand Rapids.
Defund the police? Yeah, sounds like a great plan. Prius pilot Heller says you don’t need a gun to defend yourself, just call 9-1-1. Well, when nobody answers the call, will you call your social worker? Take the time to tell the thug(s) you’re down with their cause? Kneel and beg for absolution as a guilty liberal? Personally, I’m all for defunding the police in major cities, let the social experiment begin. There is a reason I moved out of the city a LONG time ago, and ironically, Heller did too ( for the exact same reasons). Yet only one of us is honest enough to admit why. Right, Heller?
There is a reason I moved out of the city a LONG time ago
Elderly Antifa provocateurs from the senior center down the street…?
I’m sad to see what you’ve become. I was a big fan of your when you were a columnist for MLive.
I’m not sure what I’ve “become,” but I appreciate the kind thought on the column. I suspect it’s my politics compared to yours. I wrote politics while at MLive, of course, but it wasn’t my sole focus back then. Trump, however, is such a dominant and disfiguring figure for the nation, that it has seemed odd to go with my usual mix of national, state, local politics, slice of life, personal columns, bits and pieces columns and whatnot. I may get back to that mix after I return from hiatus, but we’ll see.