Sunday’s New York Times included a fascinating print and interactive section on the president’s Twitter Feed. However you feel about this president, you must agree that his tweets have been an effective if incendiary communications tool. The next president will use Twitter, but how? Based on observing not just Trump but other politicians and authority…
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey just banned all political and issue advertising. Facebook currently accepts all political ads, even if they include false content. But rather than blindly follow Twitter’s lead, I think Facebook has to think a little harder. The current situation regarding Facebook advertising for candidates is unacceptable. Mark Zuckerberg says it’s a free-speech…
Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook won’t block political ads with lies in them. Facebook has changed its policy on — lets call it what is — false advertising. Zuckerberg characterizes this as a “free speech” issue. This is misdirection, a smokescreen. It’s utter bullshit. I refer you to what I wrote earlier this year, after another trust…
Last week, Donald Trump sent a letter to Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Starting with “Let’s work out a good deal!”, it’s the strangest communication between national leaders ever revealed. Ridicule from both liberals and never-Trump Republicans has spread rapidly. But even as we point and snigger, nobody has really asked, “Why does this letter…
The future of the United States depends on Mitt Romney — but not in the way he imagined when he ran for president in 2012. The following things are going to happen: More will come out about Trump and Ukraine. None of it will look good for Trump. More will come out about Trump inviting…
Captions are so much fun. Why stop with one? “Dervish Airlines. How may I help you?” “I’m so sorry, Mr. Bond, but we’ve had some difficulty preparing the martini in the fashion that you requested.” “To get this claim started properly, could you please describe for me exactly how the accident occurred?” “The UK Brexiting:…
What does it feel like to file a complaint that something’s just not right and watch the process unfold? What’s happening right now in DC is unprecedented, and the stakes and risks for the person who filed the whistleblower complaint are very high. The person who reported on Trump’s activities in the call with Ukraine…
An ellipsis (plural, ellipses) has multiple meanings: it can indicate an unfinished thought, a pause, or, in quoted material, something that’s been omitted. When there’s ambiguity, it’s up to the author to resolve it. Trump’s Ukraine call summary doesn’t, and that’s a problem. The ellipsis for an uncompleted thought is more common in fiction. In…
“Power is sexy, don’t you think?” “See, my hands are big. Very big. Yuge!” “On the Twitter, it’s totally free speech. Totally. Anyone can say anything, pretty much. You should look into that, they’re very successful.” “Do you know how to get sharpie off a computer screen?” “2020 is going to be a very good…