by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
"Speech is silver, silence is golden"
That old saying, which some believe originated with Muslim philosophers more than a thousand years ago, reminds us that sometimes a bit of silence can be more powerful than the spoken word, and there are certainly times when silence is much more appreciated that a string of pointless chatter.
I developed a new appreciation for the power of silence over the last week or so after Twitter at long last dared to silence - permanently - the personal account of Donald John Trump. It wasn't until that glorious event happened that I started to realize just poisonous Trump's speech on the Twitter platform had actually been.
There are all kinds of ways that a person as powerful as a national leader can express himself and get his thoughts out to the public, but Trump's preferred method of communication had always been Twitter. Tweeting was expedient. It allowed him to get his message out quickly, in short bursts that were aimed at inciting rather than inspiring. Trump quickly learned that wherever he went with his tweets, the mainstream press would rush along behind and dutifully turn his musings into major stories - and on days when the national narrative was not going to suit Trump, a tweet could quickly redirect the press and the public's attention.
Donald Trump was loud, and mean, and arrogant, and blatantly dishonest on Twitter, day-in and day-out, for four solid years. His tweets were big noise aimed at drowning out decency, and they were wedges that sought to divide us as a nation.
But now Twitter has pulled the plug on Trump and we are suddenly thrust into vast amounts of silence - soft, restful, invigorating silence - and it is very golden indeed!
Thank you, Twitter, for shutting Trump up by shutting him down!
No comments:
Post a Comment