Responding to the news yesterday that one of the leading figures among the far-right freshman Republican congressional waste products of the MAGA movement, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has been permanently suspended from Twitter for “repeated violations” of the site’s COVID-19 misinformation policy, Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert of Colorado issued what sure looks to us like a threat of retaliation in the event Republicans retake control of the U.S. House this November:
Once again Rep. Boebert seems to have confused the very different ideas of speech being criminalized versus merely subsidized, the former Twitter having no power to do and the latter Twitter having no obligation. As for threatening a major social media company with unspecified retaliation for exercising their own rights, if we were Twitter we would tell Boebert to take her complaints to Gab–maybe encouraging that transition with a suspension that Boebert’s own fount of misinformation certainly qualifies her for.
Don’t look for Boebert to push Twitter too hard, though. Without Boebert’s 829,000 followers on the platform, she’s a sideshow without an audience. As much as Boebert complains, losing her Twitter account would be a devastating blow to her media footprint.
With that in mind, we expect the threats from Boebert against the platform that helped make her famous to remain vague.
Threats, bluster and bullshit. Never mind that Taylor had ample warning to quit posting COVID misinformation. I'm betting she won't be seated for the next Congress. Karma is coming for you Lauren.
I believe the game of Twitter allows 5 strikes.
"We will be holding them accountable".
Right out of the fascist playbook to contol the media. Scary
Bingo. Everyone wants to look at these people as buffoons, but it won’t be so funny when they have the power to actually fulfill the wild things they talk about. The danger they pose can’t be overestimated.
Even if the Republicans gain a majority in the House, I'm not certain what they could do.
Even if the Trumpublicans have a working majority in the House and Senate, I'm still unclear on what they can do. Trying to craft legislation to "get" Twitter when the Senate Republican conference is split between T-loyalists and traditional Chamber of Commerce backers would be hard. Trying to find a way to overcome a filibuster would be harder, and I doubt McConnell would choose that particular hill to fight on and call for the elimination of the legislation power of filibuster.
Even with all those barriers overcome, Congress would have to reach a supermajority, as Biden is not going to sign any legislation "punishing" Twitter's enforcement of rules of conduct. And even if it WAS signed because it was attached to some absolutely essential bill, I suspect even the Roberts-influenced Court system might block many avenues of action, as they did for a number of Trump efforts on Muslims, the Wall, and other policies.
So what "power" are they going to have to fulfill their ambition to retaliate against Twitter? .
It’s so strange how the single most important issue for these people is their ability to post their inane brain farts at all hours of the day. Like their cult leader himself, nothing, and I mean NOTHING–not the economy, not the pandemic, not national security–matters more to them than being able to endlessly post whatever diseased half-formed notion that bubbles to their smooth brains at any given time.
The race is on to see which one can “out coo coo” the other?
Reportedly she mass-emailed a campaign letter to her followers through her DM, a violation of Twitter standards unless you are a validated account (it’s the same rule for liburals).
#ValidateThyself
Lori Saine is a conservative fighter? That doesn't sound right.