A man who attained national fame with just two words, “You’re fired,” knows the power of words. (Okay, to please the pedantic, two and a half words, and he was, I suppose, reattaining national fame.) Nonetheless, Donald Trump knows the power of words. I’ve never used Twitter because I believe I’d never have much to say. Trump who tweeted some 57,000 times while in the White House obviously believed he had a lot to say. Now his Twitter account has been permanently closed. And I have mixed feelings.
His words have always been provocative; but, since losing the election, they have been dangerously provocative. That’s a good reason to stop his tweets.
On the other hand, closing his account won’t shut him up. He will find other ways to incite his followers. Members of the MOD (Minions of Donald) Squad will happily relay his words to thousands. Can Twitter close the account of anyone who merely quotes the soon to be former president? Who decides which words are provocative and not simply flamboyant or hyperbolic?
Of course, it’s a tough call. When Henry II angrily tweeted, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest,” the king could have claimed he was just letting off steam, never dreamed a handful of his followers would read the tweet as instructions to assassinate Becket. Plausible deniability and all that. In any case, I suspect that will be Trump’s claim should any of his tweets be said to have provoked anarchy and rebellion.
While I’m a proponent of free speech, I think it may be proper for Twitter to say, “You have the right to say whatever you want, but not here.”
If, as some experts suggest, Trump suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (actually, we’re the ones suffering from his condition), no amount of reasoning with him or appealing to his conscience will dissuade him from voicing his divisive, destructive opinions. But if his access to various social platforms is limited, so may his capacity to do harm be limited.
But this gives rise to another facet of my mixed feelings. Closing Trump’s account may eliminate one source of sparks, it will not put the lid on the powder keg. A silenced Trump may simply make way for others to strike steel against flint.
Trump’s characterization of the coronavirus as a phony issue may have influenced many people to put their health at risk. Yet, I do not recall a single instance in the months just past when the president was accused of ripping a mask off anyone. Nor did he, so far as I can recall, snatch men and women off the streets and force them to congregate mask-less, and shoulder to shoulder. In short, as reckless as Trump’s tweets concerning the virus may have been, each man and woman who ignored the CDC guidelines made the decision to do so on their own.
I live in a blue county in a red state, adjacent to what is likely the bluest county in Texas. Yet it is commonplace to see pro-Trump flags flying from pick-up trucks. Just last Sunday, protestors stood on the city square with sign declaring, “My Face, My Choice.” Like many of those who stormed Congress, these protestors were to be in their 30s and 40s, likely the beneficiaries of a tax-supported school system in a state where independent thinking is touted as a virtue. Yet, they have listened to the unscientific rantings of a narcissist only concerned with his poll numbers. Why? I’m not sure.
Toward the middle of the last century (the 20th, if you’re keeping count) some began to embrace what is called “young earth creationism,” that is, they believe the earth is no more than about 10,000 years old. Most American evangelicals reject this notion. Believing the earth is only a few thousand years old may be bad science, not to mention deriving more from the Bible than can be legitimately derived, but it is a basically harmless belief. You can confidently tell your teenaged neighbor, “Sure, when your dad or grandfather declares his young-earth convictions while you and your friends are cramming for the biology exam, it’s embarrassing but you’ll get over it.” But if you ignore the corona-related science, your life could be forfeit. Maybe people don’t believe the warnings about COVID because they want to shake a fist at science, to say we know better.
In an apparent effort to demonstrate his science acumen, Trump offered a rambling scenario to one of his science advisors—at a press briefing last April. The president wondered if the virus could be killed if shining ultraviolet light deep inside the body or if drinking or injecting a disinfectant like bleach or Lysol could kill the virus. Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, was sitting next to the president and quickly tried to defuse his musings, but it was too late. Across the nation people began trying the bleach cure. In North Texas alone, more than four-dozen people drank bleach to try to kill the virus. As late as August, people were still drinking bleach in an effort to counteract the virus. Fortunately, few were seriously injured by their self-medicating.
Again, the president did not recommend drinking disinfectant of any kind. But his words are so powerful, at least some of his followers drank or injected the fluid. No, it wasn’t cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, but the mindless response suggests a severe failure to think for themselves, to ask simple questions like, “What would my doctor say about this,” or “Does the Internet recommend this cure,” or “What does Mom think about it;” or even, “If this works, why don’t I inhale bleach when I have a sinus infection?”
Okay, maybe Trump was talking to hear his own voice—a sound he likes. Maybe he hated the scientists getting all the attention. Maybe he says whatever pops into his head, never bothering to filter it because knows he’s so smart. Who knows? Ultimately, the bleach-cure episode is emblematic of the entire Trump syndrome. It’s a syndrome explained in these words: Otherwise sane people (I assume they’re sane since most of them hold jobs and know how to tweet—something I can’t do) surrender critical thinking skills when Trump speaks or tweets.
No, not everyone who voted for Trump is so afflicted; and we’re beginning to hear from those who experienced spontaneous remission last Wednesday. Moreover, at the risk of stating the obvious, something similar to this syndrome can be found on both ends of the political spectrum. Fortunately, the solution is the same.
So, if any of you know how to get people to think for themselves, notify the proper authorities immediately.
