Here's what happened. I'm sure y'all are familiar with the recent kerfuffle involving Debra Messing. (If not, I gave you a link, so you're welcome.) An absolutely awful shithead from Kansas said he hoped she got aids and died! I responded with, "You first, sweetie."
That seems to be enough to ruffle the feathers of the twitter gods. Apparently, twitter has a rule where you're not allowed to wish harm on people...well, at least not out loud on twitter. Well, okay then. The tweet I responded to is gone, so maybe this was evenhanded. Or not. Who knows?
But here's something to think about: a woman suggested using publicly available, open information to see who was financially supporting a controversial politician. Said politician immediately likened her to Joseph McCarthy Then fans of said politician collectively lost their goddamn minds.
The problem is, neither the politician nor his adoring fans know their history. McCarthyism used the power of the federal government to persecute people suspected of communist sympathies. There was an actual blacklist. People couldn't get work. Some states still require loyalty oaths in order to apply for state employment. (I had to sign one in order to volunteer at my grandchildren's school.)
No one is calling for government oppression of Trump supporters. People absolutely have a right not to work with or associate with other people whose values trouble them. People and groups have a right to engage in boycotts - even though there are efforts to stifle that right, those efforts aren't succeeding.
Because people don't know their history, and/or have reading comprehension deficits....well, they lose their minds over the idea of using public records to make decisions about who to associate with or work with. Personally I think it's a good idea to spend my time and my money with folks who share my values.
Anyway, back to my day spent in twitter jail...yeah, I was rude. Twitter, as a private company, can censor whatever they like. But I'm not sorry for what I said. So there.
