Every tweet dashed off by President Trump jangles the psyche of Democrats. Tweets are so unpresidential they scoff. His cryptic dispatches are hurtful, mean-spirited. Trump's messages create confusion, contradicting staff. The uproar over 280 characters has never been so self-righteous.
On the subject of presidential docurm, Mr. Obama was hailed by the media when he became the first president to open a Twitter account. He posted more than 15,000 tweets to fawning praise. It was Mr. Obama, not Mr. Trump, who first broke with tradition to use social media as a political pulpit.
Democrats and Never-Trumpers demand Republicans renounce the president's tweets. They are appalled by his tone. For the record, I too wince at some tweets. However, like any president, Mr. Trump has the right to communicate in his unique style. No one is forced to read the tweets.
All this indignant outrage might be taken seriously if it wasn't so hypocritical. Democrats are seldom if ever called upon by the media to defend their colleagues often palatable Trump-loathing screeds or the incendiary, repulsive, vitriolic speech, including vile anti-Semitic rants.
The media stokes the tweet outrage by dissecting each one as if it were an atom then searches for those who are offended. They are rankled by the audacity of the president to announce news on Twitter rather than pandering to their interests, wounding their journalistic and personal ego.
It may explain why the media either ignores or glosses over scandalous language by Democrats. Before passing judgment on trifling social media missives, perhaps those who hold Mr. Trump in contempt should read the vicious tirades of Democrats reaching a wider media audience than tweets.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) has called on her supporters and all Democrats to "harass" Trump cabinet members. Her words have incited repugnant confrontations in restaurants aimed at former Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and most recently Eric Trump.
No Democrat has dared condemn Waters for shouting to crowds "tell them (Cabinet members) they're not welcome anymore, anywhere." Can you just imagine the puffed up fury if a Republican lawmaker would have urged people to do the same to Obama cabinet members?
Then you have precocious Democrat Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez comparing migrant detention centers to "concentration camps." Even giving her the benefit of her youthful 29-years, no educated person with an iota of historical knowledge would make such an outlandish, untruthful statement.
A member of Poland's Parliament invited the New Yorker to fly to his country to "study concentration camps." He admonished her because the comparison "cheapens the history" of Nazi camps for the purpose of "political point scoring." Democrats tip-toed around her comment to avoid confrontation.
In her latest dishonest broadside, Ms Ocasio-Cortez characterized the conditions at an El Paso County immigration detention center she visited as deplorable and complained about babies in dirty diapers and women drinking out of toilets. Her explosive invective garnered worldwide headlines.
However, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, toured the same facility later and reported his group of pastors "found no soiled diapers, no deplorable conditions and no lack of basic necessities." His rebuke was buried by the media.
Then you have Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) insulting Jews and all Americans by admitting she gets a "calming feeling" when "I think of the Holocaust and the tragedy of the Holocaust." Her words should have led to her censure by Congress. A few heads shook but nothing more.
She also once screeched to impeach "the motherf----r" Mr. Trump. Take a moment and think what would have been the reaction if a Republican had used those exact words about former President Clinton. The offender would have been stampeded out of Washington by the media and colleagues.
Ms. Tlaib's fellow Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) has waded in deep into the murky waters of anti-Semitism. She claimed that Israel's allies in American politics were motivated by money rather than principle. Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was reluctantly forced to call her out.
Not satisfied with one anti-Jewish slur, Rep. Omar charged Israel with "hypnotizing the world to carry out evil." She also trivialized the attacks of 9/11 by remarking that "some people did something (on 9/11) and that all of us (Muslims) were starting to lose access to our civil liberties."
Instead of a Democrat groundswell to reign in this rhetorical swill, Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson has done the opposite. She warned that those "making fun of a member of Congress" should be "prosecuted," adding the authorities need to "shut them down."
Apparently in her view, freedom of speech does not include mocking members of Congress, even if the person is an eight-year old child actor. Ava Martinez, who parodies AOC on social media, has received death threats and harassment, forcing her mother to end the skits for the child's safety.
Rep. Wilson is not alone in her campaign to bully Democrat opposition. Today there are many in Congress who want freedom FROM speech they consider insensitive. They are determined to persecute, defame and imprison if necessary anyone who dares to exercise their right to free speech.
Is this the America we want? If Democrats have the right to smear and deliberately sow discord, then surely the President of the United States should not be silenced for his choice of words on Twitter. Or do Democrats prefer a double standard? Their actions indicate they do.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment