That was then and this is now. Donald Trump was a disrupter. He said the unsayable. He broke norms. He rallied people who were sick of stuffed-shirts who believed they were above them, who had forgotten about them, especially when it came to globalization.
Now let's not get hung up in reality, in truth. Turned out once in office Trump was the corporate shill the Republicans truly are, lowering taxes on the rich and...
But this is not about truth, it was never about truth. It's about emotion, having something to live for, ATTENTION!
I mean what is there to live for anymore? You'll never be rich, unless you win the lottery. Everybody in entertainment and sports is a whore, sold out to the highest bidder, just like the naming rights of the arenas and stadiums they play in. In order to move forward in life, you need hope. And let's be clear, this is not what Hillary Clinton was delivering, in essence she was promising more of the same. Furthermore, she was anything but believable, we still don't know who the real Hillary is.
But we damn sure know who Donald Trump is. A not-so-bright guy born with a silver spoon in his mouth who will do anything for attention, who never admits he's wrong, who believes that Roy Cohn wrote the moral handbook.
"I can see by your eyes you must be lying
When you think I don't have a clue
Baby, you're crazy
If you think that you can fool me
Because I've seen that movie too"
Or should I have quoted Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"?
Yes, Elton John's "I've Seen That Movie Too" was on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," not "Caribou," but it applies here just as much as "The Bitch Is Back."
"I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch, oh, the bitch is back
Stone cold sober as a matter of fact
I can bitch, I can bitch, 'cause I'm better than you
It's the way that I move, the things that I do"
That's right, Trump doesn't drink. And from day one he's thought he's better than the rest of us. That was what "The Apprentice" was all about: I'm rich, I'm omniscient and I have the power to hire and fire, you report to ME!
Yes, Donald Trump felt justified when he was five. And he skated until he became president, because with the office comes attention, and it turned out that Trump was a lying, cheating, scumbag. How dare I talk about the Donald this way! But that's just the point, this is exactly how Trump talks!
And the media couldn't get enough of it.
Back in 2016, we believed that facts still mattered, that significant swaths of the public were not completely looney-tunes. This was before QAnon not only gained huge traction, but back when Democrats laughed when told people believed Hillary was running a child-sex ring out of a pizza parlor.
No one is laughing anymore, neither Democrats nor Republicans. It's a fight for the soul of our country, it's a fight for democracy, it's a fight for an ABORTION, and Trump is on the losing side of all these issues, which is why the Republicans got creamed in this year's elections. Turns out most American citizens are frightened, turns out they'd rather live in a land of enforced laws that apply to everyone, they're scared of creeping autocracy, and they know if elections are not sacred, you've got no democracy.
And now Trump pulls out the same playbook.
Homies might be buying it, but not Rupert Murdoch. Rupert has put out the word to his papers and his TV news channels, Trump is toast, bury him. The "New York Times" did not put this lift of the ban at the top of its homepage. Everybody's seen this movie and they're not going to fall for the deception again, they don't want to relive the plot.
So you've got Elon Musk. Part of a triumvirate, along with Kanye West and Trump, who are attention whores, who need to be in the headlines every damn day. Usually while they destroy their careers. People tire of the story and it goes on long enough for reporters to uncover the truth and the old saw remains, if you're rich, SHUT UP! Because as Balzac said, "behind every great fortune there is a crime." And this is true. You don't want the spotlight upon you.
So Trump comes back to Twitter, he will, no matter what he's said in the past. And I don't care about the follower count, boosted by bots, who is going to see what he posts?
Elon's Twitter saga has revealed the truth to everybody, that most people are not on Twitter, it's really just the media intelligentsia who are addicted to it. And this same media reported everything Trump said before his ban. They justified this by saying he was president. They used false equivalencies when Trump was lying outright, they'd get a quote from the other side saying that Trump was speaking the truth. And there was infrastructure, like Fox News, defending Trump, spewing disinformation 24/7. But Fox has gotten in trouble for this, the voting machine lawsuits are nothing to laugh at. Turns out supporting Trump is bad for business, they want to downplay the Donald if they say anything about him at all.
And one thing about America's corporations, they guard their image, their business, very closely. They're fearful their companies will turn into Tesla, a great product that more and more people won't buy based on the image of the man who runs it, Elon Musk. Meaning, when Trump comes back, even if he never comes back, advertisers will continue to stay away from Twitter. Who wants to be attached to this stink? It's too big a risk. Furthermore, the guy running the operation is off his rocker.
Taking a vote? On a site that he wanted to weasel out of buying because of the plethora of bots? A Twitter vote is about as accurate as a political poll, as in NOT VERY! It's a self-selecting group that replies, it is not an accurate sampling of the public, and to make decisions based on this information is a route to hell. Yes, the right wing media and the polls said there was going to be a red wave, but Michael Moore knew there would not be one because he actually went out and touched America, which is anathema to those in D.C. and the news. Oh, they pay lip service, but they'd rather hang with their insider buddies, and they all pay fealty to the rich.
But it turns out Trump is not that rich!
So what are you getting with Trump?
Well, there are diehard fans of perennially last place sports teams. But their dedication and vocal cries don't mean the team wins. I get it, those on the right hate the left. But do they need Trump to lead the charge? What's so special about Trump? A know-nothing who shoots from the hip, doesn't think the law applies to him, and wants to stay in power forever, just like Xi, never mind Putin.
So what is Musk gaining by allowing Trump back on? He gets the kudos of the bros, the right wing fanatics, those who think he can do no wrong, who believe you have a right to say whatever you want whenever you want wherever you want.
But that's not what free speech is.
But rather than get into a discussion of free speech, as a practical matter Musk is throwing in with a gang, many of whom are uninformed and uneducated, he's making Twitter positively toxic, who wants to be involved? Once again, not advertisers! At least not those with deep pockets who make these sites run.
By allowing Trump back on Elon is inherently marginalizing Twitter.
And we love to watch the movie, just like with Charlie Sheen. But the movie ultimately ends. It's a train-wreck. Truth outs, the actor/politician/business person crashes, and the public moves on. So Elon takes Twitter to bankruptcy, and even if he doesn't, it ends up a second class platform. There ends up being nothing to report. The show is over. People have seen it, they move on.
Come on, the most interesting thing about Twitter is not the content, but Musk's shenanigans. As for those who think his moves are genius, Charlie Sheen even went on the road where people paid to see him, how many people would pay now? Never mind Charlie losing his big paying TV gig and fading into obscurity.
And people are rooting for Musk to lose. They're loving his decimation of Twitter. Finally, this guy is gonna get his comeuppance!
Allowing Trump back on is not going to solve his problems, it's only going to create new ones!
So Trump can tweet away, but we know almost all of what he says is worthless. Hell, if even Fox News wouldn't broadcast all of his announcement speech, what are the odds all these reporters are going to give air to what he claims on Twitter? VERY LOW!
This is a sideshow. You may tell me 1/6 had no effect on people's thinking, but you're completely wrong. And they're not coming out of the woodwork to claim fraud in elections. Turns out 1/6 was a blip on the radar screen, in terms of its effect on the trustworthiness of elections. That ship has sailed. Yes, as a result of 1/6, heinous voter repression laws were passed, but it turns out the public wants to believe in elections, which is why Trump supported Big Lie secretary of state candidates lost.
Elon Musk is so self-centered, so deep in his bubble, that he doesn't even know he's losing, he keeps thinking he's winning when the truth is just the opposite. So Musk says Trump can come back. It's news today, but not tomorrow, just like Trump's ultimate bloviations on the short message site. People love the crash, not the content. It's hubris on parade, both Elon and the Donald, and that's one procession most people don't care to see. Twitter is becoming more of a backwater each and every day. And who pays attention to that? Very few! Allowing Trump back on Twitter is akin to Arista saying it will put out a new Milli Vanilli record. The announcement will be everywhere, but the music will be nowhere.
I rest my case.
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