The people have spoken.
Trump will be reinstated.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei. https://t.co/jmkhFuyfkv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
No, “the people” have not “spoken.” A poll was taken on Twitter over a full day, without any notice as to the timing nor the stakes and without any real opportunity for an educational campaign as to the consequences of either “vote.”
Musk has spoken.
Now others want to be heard, including the NAACP, which on Saturday night called all advertisers to pause their campaigns on Twitter to ensure that they are not “still funding Twitter” after Musk restored account access to Donald Trump, who was effectively banned from all social media on January 8th, 2021, two days after the attack on the Capitol. The NAACP’s statement reads:
In Elon Musk’s Twittersphere, you can incite an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which led to the deaths of multiple people, and still be allowed to spew hate speech and violent conspiracies on his platform. Any advertisers still funding Twitter should immediately pause all advertising. If Elon Musk continues to run Twitter like this, using garbage polls that do not represent the American people and the needs of our democracy, God help us all.
Johnson added a tweet:
You are failing our democracy.
Your garbage poll means nothing. Did people outside the US vote? Did you reach out to marginalized communities—the targets of Trump’s rhetoric—for their input? Your followers don’t represent America.
If you run Twitter like this, God help us all. https://t.co/v8DsB9vtza
— Derrick Johnson (@DerrickNAACP) November 20, 2022
There is every reason to believe that not only is Musk “going to run Twitter like this,” but that Musk bought Twitter for “this” express purpose. No – not just restoring Trump, but stirring up sh*t in the “town square,” bending the conversation itself to his will. After all, this whole “Musk-Twitter-Thing” started with Musk publicly saying that “it didn’t sound fair” that Twitter kicked conservatives off but not liberals, with the assumptions underlying the statement as untrue now as they were then.
Furthermore, to reiterate Johnson’s main message, every single reason to suspend Donald Trump from Twitter remains as strong, if not stronger, today as on January 8th, 2021. Trump has learned nothing. He has changed nothing. He is entering yet another dangerous period in which a special counsel will feel compelled to move fast in perhaps issuing indictments. Trump may yet again turn to his “army” and ask them to “get wild” to further Trump’s agenda in making his arrest “too dangerous.”
Imagine the horrors. Last time, Trump had only lost the presidency and would be going home to Mar-a-Lago to plot his return. This time, however, there could easily be criminal charges blocking his return to the presidency or even his freedom. Imagine what could be done.
God help us all, indeed. Yet to be seen, the advertisers’ reaction. After all, isn’t there an old saying about “people talk, money walks”? Of course, at no point in time has Musk acted like he purchased Twitter as a financial investment for economic growth. He has an agenda that may go beyond advertisers. He may truly not care if the money walks, for now.
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact with any concerns.
