I have always remained silent in my blog about politics. I will continue to focus on promoting indie authors and improv artists, but just for today, I am speaking out. I have always been a conservative Democrat and have very close friends who are Republicans and very close friend and relatives who are Bernie Sanders supporters. My comments have been almost exclusively on Twitter where my conservative former high school classmates won't see them.
The whole thing that prompted this is this question: just how effective are Tweets and Facebook postings in ushering in positive social and political change? I know that sounds dry and boring, but maybe what I'm leading up to will spice it up. So, I decided to take on this challenge in November of 2016 - you figure out why.
I went on a Tweeting campaign to five Republican U.S. Senators who were noted to be critical of Trump. Of course these legislators get thousands of Tweets a day. I also started following and Tweeting to Dan Rather and reTweeting him a lot.
For six months, nothing really happened until last week. I didn't even Tweet to Senator Flake and Dan Rather; I replied to their Tweets. Usually, you don't get noticed by the hecklers this way. Wrong! I had one Tweet from a middle class white guy saying, "Hooray for Donald Trump the most powerful man in the world married to the most beautiful woman in the world." I muted him. Even if his Tweet isn't that antagonistic, I didn't want to respond to him. Then, I saw another one from a loose cannon laden with bad grammar and cheesy emojis. I won't dignify her Tweet by repeating it, but it showed that she had the emotions and self-control of a two year-old.
My question is: Should bloggers who aren't normally political use their blogs to occasionally speak out and stand up for what is right?
Jeff Flake does this in his book The Conscience of a Conservative. Link: http://amzn.to/2x4K60i
I have not found a low-priced source for this book, but you can also see his many Tweets and essays on his Twitter account: https://twitter.com/JeffFlake His website: http://bit.ly/2eyco8a
Also, famous journalist Dan Rather has a lot to say and is not afraid to tell it like it is. His Tweets are good reading. Here is his Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/DanRather His website: https://www.newsandgutsmedia.com/
Just how far should a blogger who promotes indie writers and entertainers go in standing up for her beliefs? Next week, I will return you to your normal programming, to paraphrase The Outer Limits.