Trump the Tweetster – 2016-11-29 "CNN Sucks!" Edition

So two meta notes:

1. It's been interesting to see the meme go mainstream in the media (esp. the "sad" media Trump hates) that his tweeting is actually a clever distraction from other things he's doing — i.e., get people focused on something over here (Donald says something outrageous) to avoid attention to something over there (Donald actually doing something outrageous, a media outlet releasing something damaging to his reputation, etc.).

I dunno. The answer has to be keeping eyes open on all the balls. But Trump's Twittering is not solely a distraction. It is, at least, how he's choosing to communicate (daily!) with his base, and will be treated seriously and believed as gospel by a sizeable chunk of his followers. It is, at worse, the ravings of a guy with minimal impulse control who will happen to also have his finger on the nuclear button in a few weeks. Whichever, it cannot be ignored, but should also not be the headline of the day. Well, not the only headline.

2. If you were reading about the speeches of a powerful new leader in a small country somewhere that consisted attacks on the media, attacks on people who disrespect nationalist symbols, and praised disgraced military leaders, what would you think about that country?

Yup, welcome to the United States.

===

Just met with General Petraeus — was very impressed!
[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803343150907617284]

By all accounts, David Petraeus is an impressive guy. I mean, bipartisanly impressive. He's been given high level jobs of importance by a number of presidents.

And then there's this[1]:

'On November 9, 2012, General Petraeus resigned from his position as Director of the CIA, citing his extramarital affair, which was reportedly discovered in the course of an FBI investigation. In January 2015, officials reported the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors had recommended bringing felony charges against Petraeus for allegedly providing classified information to his biographer, Paula Broadwell (with whom he was having an affair), while serving as Director of the CIA. Eventually, Petraeus pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information.'

So after spending the last year leading chants of "Lock! Her! Up!" for dubious email server practices that, by the same token, did not lead to any known security leak and, after several GOP witch hunts congressional investigations and FBI probes, led to no charges being filed, Trump has pivoted to a military/intelligence guy who acknowledged that he gave classified info to his lover as a possible candidate for Secretary of State (apparently because his internal folk are torn between Giuliani and Romney as State candididates).

This one could be a conspiracy, just to make people's heads 'splode.

The irony is that Petraeus could probably be a decent Secretary of State, except for his (confessed, and legally punished) crimes in handling classified material.

===

"@HighonHillcrest: @jeffzeleny what PROOF do u have DonaldTrump did not suffer from millions of FRAUD votes? Journalist? Do your job! @CNN"
[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803421742815412224]

This was the first of a series of tweet quotes that Trump published over an hour [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803422200594309120, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803423203620245504, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803423503978532864] basically saying the same thing — Trump had voter fraud committed against him, by "Crooked Hillary," aided and abetted by the bad journalists at CNN.

(Mother Jones looked into the sources of those retweets.[3] Yeah, kind of deplorable.)

This all climaxed with:

.@CNN is so embarrassed by their total (100%) support of Hillary Clinton, and yet her loss in a landslide, that they don't know what to do.
[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803434300846862336]

For certain, hitherto unknown, values of "landslide."

What does it say about a president-elect that he spends a couple of hours in the evening attacking, in public, a media outlet — not even on a specific item, just in general calling them losers. If it was your Uncle Fred, you'd roll your eyes and say, "Geez, can we not invite him to Thanksgiving next year?" Alas, this time it's the guy who's going to be our head of government and head of state, and who will be faced with a lot of "unfair" criticism from the press.

So will he do something more than tweet about it?

Oh, and after a good night's sleep on it?

I thought that @CNN would get better after they failed so badly in their support of Hillary Clinton however, since election, they are worse!
[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803562827776720896]

Man up, buttercup.

===

The Great State of Michigan was just certified as a Trump WIN giving all of our MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN supporters another victory – 306!
[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803558077144399873]

Congrats.

Btw, how's that popular vote going for you? Wished away any millions of votes yet today?

(No, the popular vote doesn't determine who goes into the White House. But it's an important principle. Also, apparently, it drives the Donald batty.)

===

Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!
[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803567993036754944]

I can't even.

No, let's break down what this could mean.

1. Dog whistle to the base: "I am as hyperpatriotic as any of you, remember? I'm not going to do anything about it, because the courts, including some very conservative justices[2], have said that this statement is full of shit, but that doesn't mean I can't wave it around in front of you and make you salivate on cue. Also, if you happen to see someone burning an American flag, feel free to thump them, and don't worry about any federal prosecution."

2. Honest sentiment and legal judgment: "Free political speech and express that I find outrageous should result in jail time, or maybe even being kicked out of the country. Definitely should lose voting rights. The First Amendment is only for Good Americans who respect the things I respect — that's why it was written, amirite?"

3. Distraction: "I am about to do something really outrageous, like nominate my daughter as Princess-for-Life or Rudy Giuliani as Secretary of Defense — but the stupid press and bloggers will be focused on my unconstitutional tweets! Ha! Suckers!"

I'm not sure which of the above (and they are not all exclusive) is the most disturbing.

What colorful thing will Trump tweet today?

—

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus

[2] Including St Antonin of Blessed Memory — twice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._Johnson, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Eichman

[3] http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/11/donald-trump-flips-out-again

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