Why I Do Not Tweet

Josh Marshall of TPM addresses the problem in his short editorial comment, The Humbling of Social Media:

...

I traffic mainly in the world of politics and culture. And there's little surprising about the kind of intense political disagreement that makes it hard to have any real sort of communication. Other times it's simple ignorance or even lack of intelligence. You find yourself in a seeming disagreement. But it's actually not quite a disagreement because the other person doesn't understand what you're saying. And the thin straw of social media contact is simply too narrow to overcome the gap.

Other times - and these are maybe the most frustrating but also most important - the person's no dummy. They're not uneducated or ignorant in a general sense. But the points of reference, experience, the simple 'what they're trying to talk about' and vice versa, is so different that real communication is very difficult or not really possible. ...

...

I recall the first time I ever heard someone say, "He didn't choose his parents well." (Well, actually the second time, but that's a long story, and this is a short one.) The speaker was a partisan Republican speaking in conversation in his role as a Republican. At first I thought he was joking; in fact, I started to laugh, then caught myself as I realized he was voicing something that was, for him, a truism. It wasn't long before I realized exactly what Marshall is saying: communication with this man was, for me at least, not possible... or perhaps possible only through a mediator, and with explicit expansion of every thing that might have been, for him or for me but never for both of us, a truism suitable for tweeting.

Him

Me

And thus I do not tweet.

Admit It: Obama Has Excellent Political Skills, When He's Inclined To Use Them

House GOP demands Pony

Obama and the House GOP both needed to make a point about the relative significance of things. The GOPers threatened... are still threatening, as far as I know... a government shutdown if Obama doesn't both sink his signature health care legislation and give them their entire conservative Christmas list, probably including a pony. Obama, on the other hand... well, let Daniel Strauss at TPM tell us about it:

The White House released a photo of President Barack Obama's phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday.

...

The photo follows the White House announcing that the two leaders spoke on Friday. According to the Associated Press, the phone call was the first conversation between an American president and an Iranian president in three decades.

After the phone call Obama said it he could see the United States and Iran coming to an agreement concerning Iran's nuclear program

President Obama
calls
President Rouhani

Right. OK. Let's see. The GOPers demand a pony or they'll hold their breath 'til the government turns Blue. Meanwhile, OBAMA ESTABLISHES DIRECT LEADERSHIP TIES WITH AMERICA'S GREATEST NUCLEAR-CAPABLE ADVERSARY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES. Hmmmm, which is more deserving of public attention? which event puts which event in perspective? Of course, the public could always find out from Fox News...

I wish I could like the man better as president, but I have to admit he can play the House GOP like a circus calliope...



AFTERTHOUGHT: Heh. It didn't dawn on me until later. It's not Obama's fault if the only tune anyone can play on the House GOP calliope is Waitin' for the Robert E. Lee...