Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Donald Trump blocks at least 40 followers on Twitter.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

At 8:10 a.m. Tuesday, the progressive veterans advocacy group VoteVets alerted its Twitter followers that it had been blocked by President Donald Trump. 

Hours later, the novelist Stephen King let it be known that he too had been stymied from viewing Trump’s 140-character missives. Jordan Uhl, an organizer known for quickly responding to Trump’s tweets with what can best be described as trollish behavior, said he also was blocked on Tuesday. As did Brandon Neely, a former Guantanamo Bay guard who’s been a Trump critic. 

The seemingly thought-through effort by Trump, or whoever is running his account, to keep people from viewing his tweets is not the most outrageous example of government secrecy exhibited by this administration.

However it is bad enough that it has inspired those who were blocked to fight back.  

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is representing the legion of the Trump-blocked. Their argument has been that there is something fundamentally unconstitutional about a president restricting access to what are definitionally public proclamations. 

“Twitter is many things at once,” the Institute’s executive director, Jameel Jaffer, told HuffPost. “It is a broadcast mechanism and being blocked from the president’s Twitter account means it is harder to get access to his statements on Twitter and sometimes those statements are important.... If you’re a critic you don’t have access on the same terms as everyone else.”

The group has reached out to Trump's social media guru but have not heard back as of this post.

Kind of ironic that the guy who has used Twitter for years to attack everybody from the Pope to Rosie O'Donnel is such a little snowflake that he himself cannot take a little criticism.

Maybe if everybody who was blocked gathered around a table to tell Trump what an awesome tweeter he was, reminiscent of that bizarre cabinet meeting, he would agree to unblock them.

Yeah fat chance of that happening.

27 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:03 PM

    Does anyone else remember Bristols blog post attacking Obama for blocking people on twitter? Which actually turned out to be BS and, or course, she never wrote a retraction or apology when the story got debunked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:51 PM

      You mean her "godly" patheos blog that deleted the comments section all together because she (and French) couldn't handle criticism? Like Mommie Dearest blocks criticism on her Facebook page?

      Thin-skinned bitches!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:47 PM

      I remember Brisdull's demand that President Barack Obama call her. She said she would be waiting. As for Twitter, are you sure 'Dull knows how any of that works? Because it seems to be beyond her pay grade.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous2:05 PM

    Somehow, I do not think this tRump's doing. This only started after he lawyered up. With the same lawyers that represented him for all his bullying years, and the same one that made him fire Prosecutor Bharara.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:55 PM

      Agreed. I think his minders got to his account and blocked people who have gotten him riled up in the past. tRump is probably too dim to realize what happened.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous2:19 PM

    POTUS was disappointed at first the morning's shooter wasn't a Muslim, but now is giddy that Hodgkinsin is a liberal Democrat.

    https://twitter.com/RoguePOTUSStaff/status/875012887454109697

    If Spicer is named ambassador to Ireland Reince might quit anyway. He's running short on allies.

    https://twitter.com/RoguePOTUSStaff/status/875108207676588033

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:21 PM

    Hmmm, I troll him daily. Not b;locked, yet. Seems he isn't interested in those without clout.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2:25 PM

    A House committee was scheduled to debate a bill making it easier to buy gun silencers Wednesday

    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/14/15802734/congress-gun-control-virginia-shooting-steve-scalise

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous2:41 PM

    Why would any American want to follow Trump's tweets? Makes no sense to me. I find him to be such an idiot and so lacking in respecting his fellow Americans!

    Impeachment is the only answer for him!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:01 PM

      And "I," in return will give him the same respect. ZERO.

      Delete
    2. I don't follow trump but I do tweet every article about President Obama I come across, especially since the articles show how much people like him.

      Don't know why I haven't been blocked.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous2:56 PM

    "That at the name of TRUMP, every knee should bow." -- Donald 3:16

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous3:00 PM

    New badge of honor. #igotblockedbyPOTUS

    GeorgiaPeach

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous3:08 PM

    I read on Twitter that Trump is blocking verified users because their responses are more prominent and if he gets rid of them it leaves some room for his sycophantic bot ravings.

    I couldn't say for sure because I blocked Trump around the time he descended on his escalator waving to a paid crowd of professional actors.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous3:12 PM

    tRump also cut off a group of over 500 US military veterans.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Everyone does remember that his social media guru is his ex-caddy, right? He was a CADDY before he was put in charge of Trump's social media.

    The best people? He'll hire only the best people?

    Are we all tired of this shit yet?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous3:24 PM

    Republicans are upset over a guy who legally got a gun and nearly killed a few republicans. But they're okay with giving a raving narcissist, compulsive lair and feeder of hate on Democrats the nuclear codes. Houston, we have problem.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous3:30 PM

    Special Counsel Investigating Donald Trump For Possible Obstruction Of Justice: Report

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-obstruction-of-justice_us_5941b82de4b003d5948d0611?mo8&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/special-counsel-is-investigating-trump-for-possible-obstruction-of-justice/2017/06/14/9ce02506-5131-11e7-b064-828ba60fbb98_story.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous3:30 PM

    After 152 Mass Shootings In 2017, It Took An Attack On Congress To Get Our Attention

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congress-mass-shooting_us_59414b06e4b003d5948c8364?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous3:39 PM

    I love King's comment - we can all feel his pain, right? J/K - but a great comment for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  16. WA Skeptic3:57 PM

    Considering that the TrumpfTweets are now considered official statements, per the WH spokespeople, this should be considered "Obstruction" and is a violation of the First Amendment.

    Not that he gives a flying fark about that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lawsuits are already filed for exactly that.

      He is going to be forced to unblock everyone just like his Muslim travel ban was struck down repeatedly.

      Poor Loser 45. Just can't manage to get anything passed.

      The Congress just put additional sanctions in place for Russia attached to an Iraq sanctions bill. If Trump vetoes it, they'll override him. They have the votes and the fortitude.

      Just imagine that. Not only can't Trump get anything passed but he'll have his veto overridden too.

      If this doesn't kill him I don't know what will. His blood pressure must be through the roof on a regular basis.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous5:50 PM

    Trump properties tied to alleged Russian mobsters
    5:06 p.m. ET March 28, 2017

    https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/politics/2017/03/28/trump-properties-tied-alleged-russian-mobsters/99747054/


    Also

    Trump caught red handed in foreign bribery real estate scandal

    https://youtu.be/ePIjrDHBSBA

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous5:57 PM

    BREAKING NEWS

    Washington (CNN)Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating President Donald Trump for obstruction of justice, The Washington Post reported Wednesday evening.

    Mueller is interviewing as early as this week three top intelligence officials as part of the probe, the Post reported, citing "five people briefed on the requests."

    The three officials the Post says Mueller is interviewing are Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers and Richard Ledgett, the recently retired deputy NSA director.

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/14/politics/robert-mueller-donald-trump/index.html

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous7:16 PM

    Trump and his surrogates say that his preferred method of speaking to the American people is on Twitter, because it's unfiltered. So . . . why is he filtering it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:30 PM

      14 year old girls communicate with their besties on Twitter, not the POTUS. This social media platform is beneath the office, and I never thought I'd say this but Facebook might actually be a preferable avenue of communications for the leader of a country.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous8:28 PM

    Trump is the President of the United States. He by law cannot act as if his Twitter is a private citizen account and he by law cannot block any American citizen from having access to his Twitter.

    This is going to be in the courts, if he lasts that long, and he'll be found to be obstructing the public's access to the President.

    He's so dim.

    ReplyDelete

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