It's the Anti Trump Poster in the Old West Wanted Dead or Alive Style!
It's the Anti Trump Poster if the Old West Wanted him Dead (or Alive), featuring our modern-day #MAGA/mega criminal president. Soon to be seen on post office and police department walls throughout the land—and possibly around the globe!
Well, one can dream, right?
It's less than a month till we are rid of Donald Trump (at least, his foul presence in the people's house), and things are going about as I expected.
Between trying to stage a half-baked, half-assed coup to undo the election he got clobbered in (committing new crimes along the way, naturally) and fretting about the myriad of legal entanglements sure to tie him up in court for years to come, he needs to start thinking about a time in the not too distant future in which he might well be a wanted man.
(NOTE: Be sure to tell Donald that in this kind of "wanted," it's not because most of the public (and that subset of the larger public, women especially) like, admire or are attracted to him. It's NOT a good thing. Given that he's not very bright, and tends to hear what he wants to hear, it's important he understand the distinction here.)
With thoughts of such a blessed day, with Donald on the run from John Law—and while watching TOMBSTONE for the umpteenth time—inspiration suddenly gelled, and hence the artwork was born!
Truth to tell, I've been pondering some kind of Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster (Wanted Dead or Alive for Treason, etc.) art for some time now, but the impulse to do it hit hard as I was preparing the latest #MAGAfiles entry. Why in particular? Well, read the entry for December 21 to fully understand.
Here's a one word clue: coup.
Klik Image to Expand!
#DonTheCon(man) or #DonTheCon(vict)? Donald Trump Poster, Wanted for Treason and More!
My bet is that, if things get hot enough, ol' Donnybrook hightails it to a foreign shore where there's either no USA extradition treaty, amenable locals, or both.
In the meantime, he's just begun the expected pardoning spree, preamble to blanket pardons for his entire crime family, and possibly even himself. But because all things in this universe must eventually attain cosmic balance, he's executing scores of federal convicts in an unprecedented display of unnecessary cruelty (a Donald Trump speciality) to achieve cosmic harmony.
Well, either that or he's just a ginormous suppurating asshole.
Whether this particular state murder-for-pardon gambit works out or backfires remains to be seen. One must never forget the Trump Axiom, for which much historical precedent serves as proof of it's veracity: Everything Trump touches turns to shi*t!
BTW, every claim/assertion made in the Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster is buttressed by facts and strongly supported speculation.
Still, it's just for fun, and on a few minor things here and there, I could end up wrong. For instance, tax evasion, listed on the wanted poster, would seem to be a pretty likely crime in #DonTheCon's CV.
Why? It's pretty well understood that Donald has been receiving millions of rubles from Russia, and very probably washing them too, over a period of decades. This probably explains how his stunningly unprofitable enterprises somehow stay afloat, via an international banking institution known as the world's most friendly bank for criminals and one of dirty money's biggest laundromats. Deutsche Bank, in other words.
Speaking of which, in yet another "interesting coincidence," his long-time private bankers at the firm suddenly resigned today. One might think that it has something to do with the fact that after years worth of court battles, the bank was recently forced to hand over it's Trump-related records to authorities.
But maybe not. Time will tell. So if you take exception to some aspect of my Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster aka my Trump Treason Old West Wanted Poster, try not to blow a gasket, OK?
NOTE: There's some pretty funny, sly lil digs at ol' Donald in this art—if I do say so myself—so I strongly suggest you ZOOM IN in order to see 'em.
The Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster Perfect for Your Jail House Wall. Merch It?
Would you like to see this Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster on merch of various kinds, like a poster, mug, t-shirt or other kind of merch? This "Old West Poster" would be seen everywhere if Wyatt Earp were in charge.
If so, then PLEASE let me know! Leave word in the comment section below and tell me what kind of products you'd like to see.
I am dithering on whether to make this into a poster/wall art ASAP, and other kinds of merch are up in the air.
NOTE: Poster prints will have a signed/numbered option, as well as an option to buy matted and framed. Unless there is YUGE demand, the "limited edition" signed version will be 20-25 prints. Again, if you are interested, PLEASE let me know..
Here's the skinny: setting any piece of art up for actual POD (Print on Demand) production requires hours of work, and I'm not keen to go through all that in order to sell three tees of the damn design. It's just not worth the aggravation.
Finally, perhaps most importantly...
If you find my Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster amusing, then PLEASE SHARE IT with others!!! Every bit of exposure (and traffic) really helps. Such efforts ARE greatly appreciated!!! .
The #MAGAfiles. It's my little foray into documenting, in graphic form, the horrific improprieties of the #Trump Regime, here at the end of four years of inept despotism and would-be, tin pot, tin foil hat dictatorship. And specifically, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the effects it will continue to have on us even after the #ManBaby is gone.
Not that I expect he's ever going to be gone. I fear he's going to be in our collective faces, one way or another, for at least several more years to come.
Here at the top of the page I will post the latest #MAGAfiles graphic. While I'd love to update this projekt every day, the reality is that it's simply not going to happen. I don't have the time. That being said, I will try to update it frequently, so please check back in.
NOTE: Data for the #MAGAfiles is compiled from the Covid Tracking Project and various other sites and news sources.
The Latest #MAGAFiles Post
Pandemic? What Pandemic?
The Covid-19 numbers continue to mount inexorably, up 15,000 deaths in seven days. Daily death toll averages 3,000, which means we are experiencing a 9/11 every day now, on average.
To say this is heartbreaking and horrifying doesn't even begin to do justice to this national tragedy, to say nothing of the rest of the world. The United States represents about 4% of the world population, but suffers approx. 20% of the fatalities. What does that tell you? I know what it tells me...
It's only further reinforcement of these #MAGAfiles, and the main, over-arching point. To wit: Donald Trump and his criminal crew are directly responsible for the severity of the Coronavirus/Covid-19 disaster. Period.
Which makes them murderers, doesn't it?
Meanwhile, In Stable Genius Land...
Donald Trump and the #TrumpTrain continues careening off the rails. We've had not one word of even fake concern from the #SuperspreaderInChief in many weeks. It's clear he gives not even the smallest of small shits (not that he really ever did) about the devastation being wrought by Covid-19 across the land. The pandemic is not even a "to do" item on his planner.
(Not that the idiot has a planner, or would follow it if he did)
And condolences to a smarting nation? None. Nada. Nil. Fuggedaboudit. Who got time fo' dat?
What is on his tiny, broken, erratic excuse for a mind—because he's afraid and desperate—is running the biggest con of 'em all. That being, staying in the White House as POTUS when he clearly and unequivocally lost the election!
And why not? All of his other scams have—after a fashion—succeeded.
What does one expect from a sociopath so out of touch with reality, his focus is now entirely on subverting the will of the American people and negating an election—perhaps the single most transparent and responsibly run in history—in which he lost handily?
The "big deal" Covid Response Team, ostensibly "led" by Mike Pence, barely functions at all. It's not clear at all that it's doing anything of even minimal merit at this point. And we just heard that Pence will be "out of town" for the foreseeable future...
Tis the Season for Treason....
Which leads us to the latest outrage, and absolute clear evidence of conspiracy, sedition and even outright treason. Real treason. Not that phony-baloney bullshit Trumplicans like to throw about (since the advent of #Trumpism, everybody who doesn't heave to the party line is by definition a "traitor").
No this ain't no joke. It's the real deal.
The following videos from the great Keith Olbermann broke before most of the mainstream media picked up the story of what I'm calling the Friday Night Coup Do.
Besides Trump, present at the seditious session were Rudy Giuliani, pro-Qanon conspiracy lawyer and all around total nutbag Sidney Powell, long-time pol and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who damn well oughta know better), the White House Council and, apparently, a few others. One of whom was the ousted right-wing founder and former CEO of Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne. WTF? And for all I know, the My Pillow guy was there too.
Anyway, so it goes in the tragicomic end stage of the Trump Regime...
#MAGAfiles Musings
Anybody who knows me knows I hate Donald Trump. I stipulate to this, and freely admit that my opinion of him colors my evaluation of him. However, I'm a very objective person, so while I know A) my hatred of Trump would make it harder for me to acknowledge any good he does, B) the simple fact is, he's no good and has done little, if any, good whatsoever.
I mean, this is a guy who has the DOJ, which usually argues for the government and existing law, siding with the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn and undo Obama Care—during a freakin' pandemic!
The 45th President of the United States is pursuing a policy which he knows will injure millions of Americans at a time when, due to his devil-may-care style of "governing" (emphasis on "devil", and definitely not on governing), millions are already in extremis and hurting.
Seriously, need I say more?
(And I could. Pages and pages more. But who has the time/inclination?)
#MAGAfiles: December 15, 2020
New records shattered! The USA surpasses over 300,000 dead for the first time, and averages 2.5 to 3 thousand deaths per day.
Fortunately, the first Pfizer vaccines started going into the arms of front-line workers and those critically in need, even as Trump and his cronies intended to jump the line and inoculate the entire White House staff. Unfortunately, we also learned that Trump—once again proving his wisdom and acumen—did not order enough vaccine to treat even half the country!
How interesting and ironic it is that a group of people who have spent the better part of a year calling the Coronavirus pandemic "a hoax," "fake news" and even worse yet, some kind of Big Lie brought against the President by foreign actors (China), liberals and democrats, or both—and spitting in the eye of science and public health—now want shots.
Suddenly learning shame (or more likely, recoiling from more bad publicity in a year full of it), the White House reversed course on it's "us first" plan, though in typical fashion it did not do so definitively, leaving itself plenty of wiggle room to do so in a very dodgy public statement. The smart bet is that the innoculations are now being conducted in secrecy.
As the Associated Press article said: "The number of dead rivals the population of St. Louis or Pittsburgh. It is equivalent to repeating a tragedy on the scale of Hurricane Katrina every day for 5 1/2 months. It is more than five times the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. It is equal to a 9/11 attack every day for more than 100 days."
Jennifer Nuzzo of Johns Hopkins, in the same article, said: "To think now we can just absorb in our country 3,000 deaths a day as though it were just business as usual, it just represents a moral failing."
Without saying in so many words, she is making the same point as these #MAGAfiles. The failing is not ours, it is the nation's so-called "leadership."
Donald Trump and his administration, through it's stunning incompetence, disregard for science and sensible public health practices, willful stupidity and actively malicious behavior (including incessant lying, misrepresentation and deception), is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths—and most likely, in the end, many hundreds of thousands!
#MAGAfiles: December 9, 2020
For the first time ever, the #TrumpVirus kills more than 3000 Americans in a single day. As Jonathan Reiner, Professor of Medicine and Surgery at George Washington University said on December 3: “By this time next week, we are going to be talking about 3,000 deaths a day – that’s 9/11 every single day.” Six days later, on Dec 9, he was right.
#MAGAfiles: December 3, 2020
New single day American records! 2,885 deaths and 100,667 hospital admissions. 276,375 total deaths and 14,216,980 total infections in the USA.
#MAGAfiles Metrics
I mean, we can argue about whether some of his less controversial executive orders were "good" or not, but in the main, he has done nothing of significance to help Joe Sixpack, and plenty to do the opposite. In fact, most of the ones which weren't empty gestures were largely good for big business and bad for the American people; for instance, rolling back environmental protection regs to allow American companies to dump toxic waste in public waters. In fact, the Trump administration has sabotaged environmental protection across the board, undoing, reversing and eliminating over 100 important and consequential laws.
And legislation? Tell me how the YUGE tax break for billionaires helped the average American. Oh yeah. Trickle down. Uh huh. That.
We can argue about his role in vaccine production and Operation Warp Speed—as if any President wouldn't have jumped on such a program—but I think it's safe to say most experts consider his role minimal.
The fact is, Trump had little to nothing to do with getting these vaccines into development, production and distribution, as much as we wishes to take credit for them. Market forces, if nothing else, and cutting edge science (which, generally speaking, he sabotages and defunds) brought about the remarkably rapid development of Coronavirus vaccines.
New biotech made it all possible; the Trump administration had little to do with it. And then, when the vaccines were on the horizon, he couldn't even do a little basic math and order enough vaccine for the whole of the population! In fact, "the great negotiator" managed to let other countries scoop up what could and probably should have been the US supply through sheer stupidity!
Well, what does #ManBaby care? He got the absolute best, most cutting-edge treatment possible, and only cares about his class—you know, the folks willing to pay $200,000/year to be near #DiaperDon.
Which, MAGAts, Trumpers and other cult members—if I need to point this out—DOES NOT mean you!
#MAGAfiles: November 2020 Summary
As of November 2020: 272,270 total deaths and 13,920,038 have been infected. This is an increase of +35,791 in deaths and +13,920,038 infected over October.
#MAGAfiles Morons
I know that Trump and Trumpers want to give the #OrangeMenace credit for the vaccines (even as they vow not to take them), but like the economy he managed to wreck, he tries to take credit for the smarts and hard work of others.
This is nothing new. It's what he's done throughout his whole life.
Seriously, as Jake Tapper of CNN (another coldly objective observer) said of the first Trump-Biden debate—an opinion which could and should properly be applied to the administration across the board—it was "a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck."
In my (admittedly caustic) view, the only good thing about being on the #TrumpTrain (long since derailed, set alight and exploding) would be that A) you're dead, so therefore out of your own misery and ours, and B) you won't expose others to Covid-19, because the virus has been purged from your corpse by fire. So yeah, there's that.
Quite seriously, and sad to say, we are now losing thousands of Americans every single day to a disease which never had to be this bad. It never had to be half near this this bad! And it's all on Trump, directly or indirectly.
As of right now, we are on the fast track for 300,000 dead by Christmas and 400,000 dead by the time Biden-Harris take office in January. By the time the pandemic is "under control" (whatever that means), many experts say we're looking half a million dead.
That's more than the total of US casualties in WWII! But hey, we'll have done in one year through incompetence, negligence and stupidity what it took Germany and Japan to do in four. So that must be "winning"—right?
#MAGAfiles: November 29, 2020
USA totals: 256,377 dead and 13,383,373 sick.
#MAGAfiles Measure
Trump's response to Covid-19 has been so willfully indifferent, woefully insufficient and brazenly malicious, future generations of Americans (if there are future generations of Americans) will consider #Trump and his administration to be the standard by which political incompetence and abject viciousness in America is forever judged.
Thankfully, it didn't ever reach the Hitlerian/Nazi outright authoritarian model (which it very likely would have in a second term), but between the white nationalists, the gun-toting MAGA Militias, the neo-Nazis, the Boogaloo Boys, the unrepentant South-Will-Rise-Again pro-Confederacy goons and their KKK brothers, you can sorta see it from here...
To this point, each of the #MAGAfiles graphics has featured a central graphic—The Donald Trump Covid-19 Legacy element. Within it, I list a range of crimes which I believe #CadetBonespurs is probably guilty of. I say "probably," because I'm no lawyer and there's a certain amount of overlap in the terms. But I think the point is made.
If it's not clear, what I'm saying is that I believe President Donald J. Trump willingly chose to do as little as possible for the American people, thereby violating his oath, his sacred duty and the covenant every POTUS has with the public. While no President, no matter how concerned and competent, could have saved every one of us, Trump's toxic combination of inaction and incompetence has cost us tens of thousands of lives and will undoubtedly be in the hundreds of thousands by the time it's all said and done.
I believe he's personally responsible for a significant percentage of American deaths. So call it negligent homicide, manslaughter, mass murder... whatever. IMHO, he and his enablers need to be held to account, prosecuted and convicted.
My fantasy is that Donnybrook ends up celled with Bernie Madoff. One great con man deserves another, right?
Covid deaths aside, there's no telling what, if anything, Trump could be charged with, given that we don't know how tough state and federal prosecutors are going to be. It's unclear, for instance, how aggressively Biden's DOJ is going to go after the #TrumpCrimeFamily and it's associates.
Also, Trump is clearly planning on either A) pardoning himself, or B) resigning before January 20th and having Pence parson him. It's dubious whether the former would work, but everyone agrees the latter would probably stick. One way or another, he's going to try to get himself pardoned, and if successful, this would mean NO FEDERAL PROSECUTIONS could be launched against him.
I somehow think the Founding Fathers never meant the pardon power to be a presidential "get out of jail free" card.
Anyway, I wish I'd started the #MAGAfiles sooner, but it is what it is. I encourage you to weigh in, and please, share, share, SHARE!
UPDATE Dec 7, 2020: The points I make in the following article just got reinforcement from—guess what? Yep, you guessed it—from Twitter itself! Read on to see what I mean...
And In Particular, Douchey Ones!
So I guess you can say it finally happened—Twitter censorship hit yours truly. I finally got spanked by the little bird.
And I say "finally" because while I've had the MannArtt account for many years, it's only recently that I started doing much with it. However, it's become increasingly clear in recent years that all the big social media platforms have lost their collective minds.
I suppose this is appropriate in the Age of Trump, wherein at least 1/2 the American population has lost it's mind by supporting a #WhinyLittleBitch and the Grand Old Perverts' (GOP) politics of bullying and grievance (in other words: we're going to push you around and, win or lose, whine about how unfair things are afterwards).
So while the spanking itself was over quickly and the hurt only lingered on for about a day or so, I couldn't help but wonder... WTF?!?!?
I mean, seriously Twitter? What kind of stupid operation are you running over there? Calling Jack Dorsey! I've seen far more "abusive" tweets from sweet lil ol' grandmothers.
It allows Donald Trump and other public figures to verbally attack and insult anyone and everyone. As for #OrangeMenace, he regularly spews hate and incites violence, as do many of his cretinous followers. And apparently, that's all OK. It's all fine. It's good. No need for Twitter censorship there.
Hell, to state what is probably obvious to anyone paying attention to the social media world, this "fine" tweepy platform has been nothing but a profile in abject cowardice for most of the Trump administration.
#PresidentCheeto has tweeted out countless lies on the platform for years now—including some real humdingers—and yet the platform has only recently begun to not so much "fact check" him as flag his duplicitous and deluded communiques as being disputed.
Talk about far too little, far too late!
It appears that Twitter censorship, much like American justice writ large, has two levels; one for us plebes and one for the rich and powerful types. And boy are they different!
As for controlling what is said and protecting those who need to hear unvarnished truth, what I've said of Twitter could be said about the other social media platforms as well, not to mention the dread MSM (mainstream media) which has, in effect, coddled The Great Gasbag's incessant lying for most of his presidency.
I remember being in shock when they first started calling his lies... well, LIES! It only took 3+ years. Good job, guys.
The Joke That Is American Mainstream "Journalism"
MAGAts and Trumpers have complained endlessly that the mainstream media echosphere (which includes the big social media networks) has been unfair to Donald Trump, while I would argue the exact opposite—and quite honestly, I think the proof is self-evident.
If anything, the supposed "foes" of Trump have handled him and his administration with kid gloves.
It wasn't too long ago that I was ready to leap through the TV to personally bitch slap Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper for listening in silence as one Trump quisling after another spewed absolute tripe and vile deceit on our airwaves (yes, OUR airwaves) and these towering champions of journalistic integrity let them do it, with nary a head tilt.
This goes to several larger issues in American journalism (certainly at the national level). The first of these is that deference to "authority" seems to supersede the entire point of the exercise. I mean, if journos either can't or won't hold pols honest in the moment, interviews shouldn't ever happen. Giving a lier a platform in which to do it, with few or no limits, seems to me to be the exact opposite of what it's supposed to be all about.
In it's studied neutrality—both sides are equal, all views have merit—the American MSM has gone to the opposite corner from yellow journalism, to a place where lies, distortions and outright falsehood are as valid as truth.
The second of these issues, closely related to the first, is access. For TV news people, in particular, it's all about "getting the interview." For the networks themselves, it's all about ratings. For big "gets," like Donald Trump, it's all about spreading the message (lies) as far as possible without hindrance. And in order to keep the big guests happy and continue their access, the big networks and name journos let them do it.
With apologies to Bob Woodward, and the very few "old school" reporters who don't suffer fools gladly, who tell the freakin' truth regardless of what may happen to access in the future.
I personally blame the MSM for the rise and ascent of Donald Trump, because instead of exposing him for the fraud and charlatan he was—with a long and well documented history to draw from—it chose to focus on his outrageous and offensive utterances. Not only did this make for great ratings, it allowed Amerika's lazy journos to completely slack off.
It certainly served Trump very well. Somewhere along the way, he actually figured out that if he slings enough bullshit fast and loud enough, he pushes reporters to cover his words while, more often than not, completely missing his underhanded, shady, self-serving deeds.
Oh, and I say "somewhere along the way," because at some point it hit home for Trump that what was a natural and uncontrolled proclivity—incessant jabber and world-salad bullshit spew—was the single most effective means of throwing serious and earnest reporters off subjects they wanted to pursue and onto nonsense which would both, A) waste their time and B) shield him from scrutiny.
He also figured out that the more outrageous he was, the more incensed and apoplectic "the libs" became, and the more TrumpCult adored him!
The man who once wanted to buy an NFL team and instead settled for the USFL New Jersey Generals—which, like every venture of his own, he soon ran into the ground—learned one lesson that's as true in politics as it is on the football field; there's no defence like a good offence.
Studied moral relativism allows TV journos to give both sides equal time and equal credibility. To use an extreme example, it was as if a death camp survivor and a Nazi prison guard were treated as having equally valid positions—even as the guard accuses the survivor of the being the perpetrator and he the victim.
And research? Fah! Who needs it. Sources? Who needs 'em. Nothing is as interesting or as eyeball-grabbing as the 24/7, all-consuming dumpster fire known as Donald J. Trump.
I personally think American journalism is more or less intellectually and morally bankrupt. It's fitting in a way, since "old form" journalism, as corrupted as it is today, is effectively dead in an industry which, for all intents and purposes, is in it's death throes anyway.
You Ain't POTUS And You Can't Tweet Like One!
So Trump and some of his quisling followers and deranged supporters can flout the rules with apparent abandon and without concern about Twitter censorship. But be some citizen-schmuck who dares to use tough talk and criticize these oh-so-sensitive, delicate lil snow flakes we've unfortunately elected to public office and...
WHAM!
The hammer comes down.
In like... well, almost in real time! It happened that fast.
Wow!
Here's what happened yesterday: I fired off a harsh but in no way threatening tweet to Arizona's miserably incompetent and malicious governor, Doug Ducey (i.e. Douchey).
He had been happily chirping about a night on the town with his lady love while tens of thousands in his state were going without food, facing down eviction, finding themselves on the streets and suffering mightily amid yet another Covid-19 wave—the worst so far, nationwide.
The outrageousness and obnoxiousness of it really pissed me off!
So, I fired off the tweet. You can see it below.
And not more than 30 seconds later...
BLAMMO!
Account locked!!!
Twitter Censorship—We're All About Free Speech, So Long As We Like What You Say
The platform that loves to position itself as a bastion of unprecedented, unimpeded free speech is clearly full of, to use a Bidenism, "malarky."
As you can see from the above, my tweet was flagged for violating the rules against "abuse and harassment." To which I would say...
If this tweet constitutes "abuse and harassment," you must think cuss words constitute a major felony.
I suppose Twitter isn't technically wrong. Calling Ducey "another bootlicking #Trump POS" could be construed as abusive—assuming one is as thin-skinned as an "overly sensitive" five year old. I'm quite sure the man has been called far worse many, many times—even on Twitter!
Ducey is a well-known Republican politician who has, like most of them, sold what there was of his soul for the "rich rewards" of servile obsequiousness to Donald Trump, the man most scholars and historians already characterize as the worst president of all time.
Ducey's dereliction of duty, willful ignorance and moronic decision-making have cost thousands of Arizonans their lives, and will certainly cost many thousands more before the Covid-19 pandemic is done and dusted.
So I'm sorry, but I think what I wrote is actually a charitable characterization of the man, given his latest appallinging insensitive and aloof move. Alas, the Twitter Censorship Gods (i.e. Geeks?) see it differently.
OK then. You win, Twitter.
Still, given what goes on on the platform every day—insults and invective being slung by users at each other—my tweet is positively mild by comparison. Further, it represents a heartfelt opinion and assessment of Gov. Doug Ducey and his legacy. Boo hoo. And it was a one-off—my first and only tweet to the man locals call Douchey.
So, harassment? Hardly. Abuse? Yeah, maybe, a bit. But Douchey is a big boy. Pols get taken to task all the time. Is Twitter in the business of saving the Governor's precious widdle feelings? More to the point, should it even be intervening in the case of public figures—in particular, elected officials?
Ducey NEEDS to hear how voters feel about him, whether he likes their choice of words or not. But apparently, Twitter will no longer allow anyone to say anything tough to a public figure.
Outside of protecting the delicate feelings of these uber-tough-guy delicate-lil-snowflakes, how is this in any way good for freedom of speech and holding public officials accountable?
So, I filed an appeal (for all the good it did me). Note that at all these big social platforms, you never actually interact with a human being. It's not clear whether you're even dealing with one behind the scenes. In this age of AI, you may not be. There is no transparency in the process, no dialog, nobody to talk to.
And all decisions are final.
Twitter Censorship Squad: Protecting Delicate GOP Snowflakes at all Costs!
Is there a "Twitter Censorship Squad" empowered by Jack Dorsey to protect the delicate sensitivities of stupid, venal, tone-deaf GOP politicians?
Does Twitter have a bunch of guys who squat on the accounts of Republican officials just waiting for the inevitable hate tweets? Maybe so, because it happened that fast.
It's probably more likely that one of the words I chose tripped some insidious algorithm, but one has to wonder. I mean, I used the word "die" in there—though not in any way, shape or form threateningly.
Something or somebody, somewhere at Twitter (and by the same token, at Facebook, YouTube, etc.) is INCREDIBLY STUPID! It's either the algo or the zit faced geeks they're hiring to be hall monitors—or maybe a bit of both.
I've seen similar shit on YouTube and Facebook. Use a perfectly legitimate word the algo doesn't like and you're dead. For example, if you were to use the word "nazi" in a video, the YouTube algo just assumes that YOU are pro-Nazi or even an actual Hitlerite, regardless of context (and your video will be demonitized and submarined "appropriately").
It's like the way TeePublic banned my Confascerate Flag tshirt designs. Context doesn't matter. Use a banned word or an image they don't like and that's it; censorship kicks in!
Anyway, after 12 hours my account was restored.
Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?
And I confess, I must thank Twitter for this object lesson in stupidity. First, in the stupidity of corporate giants/social media platforms. Second, in the stupidity of investing anything beyond bare minimum energy in social media platforms.
Combined with recent bad experiences on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram—the hypocrisy, the lack of transparency, the arbitrariness, the total disregard for the time and effort one has put into building out a presence (not to mention making the platform in question money)—this Twitter mini-debacle is an excellent reminder that social media success, if one can even attain it, is fool's gold.
Because it can be automated, I will probably continue to post status updates to social media. I may even weigh in, if I'm bored. But I will not expend much more time and energy there. Why invest in a "partner" who can (and clearly will) treat you like the proverbial red-headed stepchild?
Your (Bad) Social Media Experiences
If you've had similar senseless, stupid, aggravating experiences with any of the social media giants—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, even Google+ (RIP), or others—please feel free to vent below.
Misery loves company.
UPDATE
It's always great when you get confirmation of your beliefs. And no, I'm not talkin' about marginal "evidence" that simply reinforces one's own confirmation biases. At least in this case, I'm talkin' about evidence you can point to and compare by.
No, I'm talkin', in this case, confirmation by way of fairly irrefutable proof kindly delivered (how nice) by freakin' Twitter itself! Here ya go...
Don Winslow called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis "a piece of shit." This is considerably harsher than what I called Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, yet his tweet wasn't nuked, nor, by all appearances was his account shut down, or any other sanction applied.
Huh. How about that?
How is this not "abuse and harassment" when my tweet was?
Might the difference have something to do with the fact that Winslow is a well-known author and Trump critic, with a large Twitter following, who has made something of a name for himself by doing hard-hitting, tough, no-nonsense infovids, along the lines of Meidas Touch and the Lincoln Project?
Whatever the case, I think it proves my case pretty definitively. And it also proves that on Twitter, as in US society, there are two different standards of treatment by authority figures, depending on how well known and influential you are.
"One Flag to to rule them all, one Flag to bind them, one Flag to lead them all and in the darkness bind them."
OK, in case you haven't immediately figured it out, I cribbed the above from Lord of the Rings to help characterize my Confascist Cross (aka the Confascerate Cross). Modifying Tolkien's words felt appropriate to me. We are, after all, dealing with Great Evil and a truly monstrous, inhuman Dark Lord leading an army of troglodytes, ghouls and trolls against decency, civilization and humanity. Simply by substituting "flag" for "ring," it readily applied to my new rework/merger of not one but two infamous hate symbols.
I can easily see legions of orcs and their demonic Nagzul bosses adorned with this thing! What about you?
The Confascist Cross–Sign for the Times
So back to reality. What happened at Charlottesville in 2017 bothered me. I mean, really bothered me. It still does. It led to the creation of what I call the Confascist Cross. More on this below.
I may just be a crazy artist, but I follow politics closely (if that's not already obvious to you). More to the point, as a humanist, I find it deeply upsetting, offensive and more than a tad bit frightening that we have so many far right-wing, white-is-right, torch-bearing loons running loose in this land, brandishing weapons of war, threatening peaceful protestors and intimidating passer-by.
According to Trump's own justice department (a remarkable finding in and of itself, given how the DOJ itself has been turned into a partisan tool of POTUS and the religio-fascist GOP), this group of pinheads is the greatest threat to domestic tranquility in the land!
Which is to say, NOT Muslims, NOT Antifa and definitely NOT Democrats, despite what Trumpers tell you. Hell, if anything, Dems should be perpetual winners of the Nice Guys of the Year Award (i.e. The Wimp Awards), something which is not exactly a compliment in the rough and tumble world of politics—particularly when your opponents are thugs and bullies.
At Charlottesville, gun-toting goons paraded around town chanting racist and Nazi-derived slogans ("blood and soil" and "Jews will not replace us"). They terrorized locals (members of a synagogue experienced alarming deja vu for what their ancestors experienced a century before in Germany, circa 1920-45) and "clashed with" (an overly non-judgmental, PC media-speak term for "attacked") entirely peaceful counter-protesters. As they did so, they proudly carried Nazi banners, Confederate battle flags, emblems of the KKK and sported other Aryan/neo-Nazi regalia.
Some of them even deem themselves Proud Boys! I'm sure their mother's aren't.
As an American patriot, an ardent champion of justice and equality and a student of history, I believe that we have here are nothing less than seditious cretinsdemonstrating their contempt for and hatred of everything this nation and it's noble ideals stand for. It makes me want to puke. I, for one, am very glad the FBI is keeping an eye on these folks. I'm sure the very existence of such unAmerican slimeballs makes the Founding Fathers want to weep.
Maybe these losers grew up in hater families, but I suspect the parents and grandparents of many of them would be shocked, horrified, disgusted and greatly disappointed to see these men spitting on everything prior generations of real Americans fought and died for.
One of these vile thugs felt is was a good idea to drive his car, at high speed, into the counter-demonstratorsfrom behind. Besides being a further demonstration of the cowardice associated with this sort (they're only "brave" while in heavily armed echelons, or while protected by 2000 lbs of steel), this move ensured maximum carnage. It's a miracle that "only" one person was killed. 19 were injured. RIP Heather Heyer.
The Confascist Cross–Hate is Grate*
It sickens me that our society has been corroded to the point that we now have guys (they're mostly young, misguided men) who think thuggery, intimidation and assault is a legitimate form of public debate; that it is somehow "American" and the best way to interact with others in the "public square." As a group, they appear to be perfectly willing to incite and use violence against their fellow Americans.
More scary still is the seeming tacit support mostly white police departments seem to give to these groups. Recently, in Kenosha, WI, protests over the Jacob Blake shooting, wherein a "long rifle" toting young man (who had come from out of state) shot three and killed two, the cops waved him on through their lines, even as onlookers screamed that he had just shot people! I don't want to ascribe bad, racist motives to all law enforcement officers (which wouldn't be correct or fair), but time and time again we see white perpetrators of violence against people of color treated with kid gloves and even overt deference, as in this case.
Conversely, and meanwhile, black and brown folks are shot and killed by police in grossly disproportionate numbers. Try to imagine what the police behavior would have been had the young man mentioned above been black!
Did you know that, in part, all the "gun control" legislation of the 70's (it's in quotes, because such laws really did little to stop gun proliferation and it's consequential rising tide of death and destruction) came to pass because of BLACK MILITIAS in Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities?
Yeah, that's right; honky got terrified that Charlie Manson's Helter Skelter might come to pass, when in fact, what these groups were doing was what every single law abiding American had a right to do, particularly in the face of systemic predation on their communities by the very people tasked with protecting them.
Did you know that police began as slave patrol squads? Some say not much has changed.
Coming back to the present, if you support Trump, IMHO, you're supporting a would-be dictator and the religious-corporatist right (i.e. fascists) who support him. #ManBaby's unAmerican, totalitarian leanings have been demonstrated over and over again by both his words and his deeds, as has the complete complicity of what is left of the Republican Party, which my friend K.S. Knight has dubbed the Trumplican Party. As for me, I call them the Party of Death, and the events of recent months (e.g. 200K+ dead on Trump's watch) only seem to buttress my view.
Witnessing these far right wing proto-fascists proudly and belligerently parading around with Confederate battle flags, Nazi swastika banners and other signs of race hate and white supremacist madness—and Nuremberg Rally-style torches—made me sick to my stomach, but it did inspire (months later) an artistic response.
* In several of my tshirt designs, I use the MAGA slogan, only slightly modified: MAKE AMERICA GRATE AGAIN. Not "GREAT." No, "GRATE." As in "grate on one's nerves." Trump, Trumpers and all the sicko haters in this land certainly grate on mine.
About the Second Amendment, Modern "Long Rifles"... and Trump.
Our mainstream media is wholly unprepared and most illiterate about firearms. Few know or understand the difference between a traditional rifle (like a hunting rifle) and an assault weapon, which is basically a weapon of war slightly modified for the consumer market.
Recently, I've seen reporters calling these weapons being brandished by para-military "militia" types "long rifles." This is a broad, generic term, technically correct, but insufficient to the task at hand.
When it comes to guns, it is as if the average newsperson cannot distinguish a station wagon or pickup truck from a dragster or NASCAR competitor. Yes, that's the degree of ignorance here. And it's a big problem, because it both cheapens any coverage the issue does get, and misinforms (by omission, whether intentional or not) the general public.
What many, if not most, of these "militia" types I've seen are brandishing the AR-15, which is the commercial version of the standard U.S. military assault rifle of decades (the M-16 of Vietnam war era fame). Some carry similar weapons, and a few even have the consumer version of the long-standing weapon of communist armies going back half a century; the AK-47 and it's many variants, used not just by Soviet-bloc nations, but the Chinese and their satellite states, too. Both weapons, even in their "civilian" version, fire the same ultra-powerful round used in war.
Second Amendment or no Second Amendment, I don't believe for a single moment that the Framers of the Constitution meant that individual citizens should possess weapons of war, except when they are at war! As my friend K.S. Knight has said, "If the Founders meant us to have weapons of mass destruction, they'd have included cannons, mortars and bombards in the Second Amendment."
Which they didn't, because doing so would have been insane. Frankly, i'm pretty darn sure the founders think modern day Amerika is insane on a number of fronts, and that was even before Donald "Grab 'Em By The Pussy" Trump came along.
A military-grade weapon, even if no longer fully automatic (i.e. "semi automatic") and made for the domestic consumer market, still fires a a very powerful rifle round which is designed to penetrate light vehicle armor and do maximum possible damage to human beings.
Despite what you may see on TV, there is very little similarity between the typical wound of the average pistol round (9mm, .45, .38, etc.) and that of the average assault rifle. The former can be stopped by body armor, a wall, a car door. The latter will tear through such barriers and keep going!
Unless you take a fatal hit (bullet to the brain or heart), you'll probably survive a pistol round. But even an assault rifle wound to a limb can be fatal, because it will do so much damage there's a very good chance of bleed-out in a matter of minutes—to say nothing of the kind of damage such a round can do to a more critical area.
Did you know an AK-47 round can go right through a car body, including the engine block, and still kill? Yeah, like that.
Weapons of war have no business on our streets. They really don't. And guess what? In other advanced countries, you don't see them—and you don't see the kind of outrageous and appalling massacres we see here, either.
Which begs the question, particularly given the Trump administration's appalling record on science and forward progress, whether the United States of America is, in fact, a first world nation anymore. I hate to alarm you, dear reader, but we may, in fact, be more akin to one of those despised-by-Donald-Trump "shithole countries" than any of us want to believe.
Anyway, even cops hate these weapons of mass destruction, generally speaking, because they don't want to face them. See the infamous North Hollywood shootout of 1997, if you want to see what I mean.
Such weapons should ONLY be found in the hands of SWAT teams. Period. IMHO, we need to make them illegal once again, as they once were under the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, do a gun buy back program as they did in Australia, and make the penalties for buying, selling or owning such weapons extremely severe.
The Confascist (aka Confascerate) Cross Arrives
Somewhere in the deepest, darkest recesses of my branding-oriented brain, thoughts and emotion stirred. And slithered. And bellowed. And stank up the joint. And then, roaring out of the reeking subconscious, the Confascist Cross was born! Which is just as well, since it's about time Nazi's, Johnny Reb and the KKK got a unified symbol of hate they can rally behind.
The rest of us have the stars and stripes and are proud of it—despite how Trump/Pence have defiled the nation, it's reputation and virtually everything Americans have fought and died for over the centuries (you know, those "losers" and "suckers" Trump despises so).
I was originally calling it the Confascerate Cross, 'cause I wanted the term for it to reflect it's dual origins – for the term to be as hybridized as the art. To get there, you take the first syllable of "confederate," substitute the first part of "fascist" for "fed" and tack on the rest of the word. But I admit, it's a bit awkward.
Worse yet, Confascerate Cross is a bit of mouthful even if you do know how to pronounce it. Confascist Cross is better, though either one is "correct," insofar as I'm concerned. I've just come to the conclusion that while the former is more evocative, the latter is simpler, easier to pronounce and therefore far more likely to be used and intuitively understood.
Either way, I think it's an interesting, compelling if slightly terrifying graphic, and you can see the tshirt and merch designs I've used it in over at my shop. If YOU want to make use of the sign, feel free and be my guest, so long as the use is non-commercial and you credit me under Creative Commons 4.0. See below. If you DO want it for some kind of commercial use, please kontact me.
The Confascist Cross is available for free non-commercial use under the Creative Commons license. This means you can take it and use it in your own creations, so long as you're not selling 'em. All you've gotta do is properly credit me, Mann and/or MannArtt.com with the design, and you can integrate it into your own works. All the details on how to do this (it's easy) are available on the Creative Commons site.
NOTE: Again, if you have some commercial use in mind, please kontact me.
