Every once in a while it happens.
I don’t want it to, but, well, I do have a Twitter account, and those reminders that I have tweets to look at just wear you down after a while. I feel as though I'm missing something, though I know better. Really, I do know better.
So against every ounce of good judgment left in me, this morning I looked. It's like sneaking a peak back at Sodom, but less salty. And speaking of salt, I think I’m cured for a long time.
Twitter may be a lot of things to a lot of people, but as a vehicle for hatred, it is the unchallenged leader. The nonpareil. This is not news to me, but sometimes I forget, and so this morning I read a July 5 tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in which she criticized Trump’s Fourth of July celebration, contrasting the millions spent on it with the inability or unwillingness of the government to provide migrant children with essentials.
She is, admittedly, a lightning rod, and I don't march in lockstep with her. More important, she was not the first to make the criticism—people with a basic grasp of math or a basic belief in humanity (and both those numbers are dwindling) had made the same observation. But of course her tweet engendered responses, and I made the consummate error in judgment and read them:
from BigUmp @bigump01 Jul 6
“It’s the 4th of July, not Cinco de Mayo! #itsanamericanholidaybitch”
kudos, BigUmp—not a bigoted bone in your body.
from Patrick Love @PLOVE76
“Those people wouldn’t be caged if they just stayed in their countries. Facts are facts.”
O Patrick! the logic—facts are facts when they’re proven. (Aristotle wept)
and from the well-informed and uber humanitarian Celeste @titaniumchic23
“It’s their choice to be there”
and yours to say something stupid.
Beyond these three were endless personal attacks on her appearance, her heritage, her life in general. One person accused her of never having been married, whatever that’s supposed to prove. It was disheartening to read—a cautionary tale for anyone considering a career in politics, or at least a warning to develop a very thick skin.
If you'd like a good feel for the idiocy rampant in this country, Twitter is the barometer. And if you need any further proof of why it’s Trump’s preferred medium, you won’t after a few minutes perusing it. For people like him who can think only in short bursts and then have to rest while waiting breathlessly to see who likes them, it’s perfect.
But for those of us who still prefer to see accusations defended with facts; generalities defended with specifics, it's a morass. Twitter is to expression as Goodnight Moon is to A Tale of Two Cities: it can serve the purpose, but only until the brain develops a little more.
Human nature being what it is, I'm sure I'll be lured back, you know, in case I'm missing something. But for now...Goodnight Twitter. Goodnight noises everywhere.