Stop Being Trump's Twitter Fool

I first ran across Jack Shafer when he wrote for Slate and when I read Slate religiously.  He always comes off as a little cantankerous but also very bright and knowledgeable about the press.  I have followed him on Twitter, but to know why he vexes me, go read his Wikipedia profile (down under Libertarianism).  Still, I try to follow and read bright people with who I don't always agree.  This pays off sometimes like Shafer's recent article (under the same name as this blog post).

Trump's campaign and behavior as PEOTUS has been carefully scripted and executed by "media executive" Steve Bannon.  Shafer's point, acutely useful after the "Hamilton" tweets by Small Hands, is essentially:  Trump (probably Bannon) is playing us.

Haven’t any of these people raised children? Don’t they know about bait and switch? Have none of them been paying attention to Trump’s Twitter strategy for the past 17 months? For anybody who has read a half-dozen of Trump’s tweets, the pattern is obvious. He compiles these tweets precisely in order to elicit strident protest.

On a weekend where Small Hands paid a $25 million fine for Small Hand's University, we are talking about Safe Spaces and Pence in a theater.  He and his handlers keep waving shinny things, and we keep jumping after them.

Every time there is a crazy behavior or tweet, I am going to take a moment to consider whether I am being distracted from something more important.  It's going to be a rough four years.  Focus and thought are the most important tools to combat and contain the damage that is about to be done.

Go read Shafer's article, and read what he writes for Politico.  Some of it will make you mad.  A lot of it will make you think.