Trump used the techniques effectively, benefitting from his expert use of social media, however, what he did is not new. It has gone on for decades.

I'm sure glad I didnt listen to the official narratives on the COVID vaccines and sought other knowledgeable experts who had a legitimate different science based opinion.

@Mickey And exactly which peer-reviewed publications did you read?

@anglophone F peer review. They've all been corrupted by big pharma and big medicine. I listen to the doctors who saw other agenda's and did the right thing for their patients. There's plenty of good doctors out there. I learned long ago that official narratives weren't necessarily the truth or the best choice. I think there's evil in high places and they don't like the common folk because they don't need most of us anymore. If you need that explained then there's nothing further I can say.

@Mickey dear, dear @Mickey...on this site most of us have brains, and then a few like you, sadly.

@anglophone [medecon.org]

Social media made it too easy for our enemies to harm us. Some of the crap on this site is supposedly written by a doctor, a doctor that doesn't use a name. The fact that legitimate researchers strive to be published in peer reviewed platforms for prestige and funding is lost on those seeing lots of likes and shares as proof.

@AnneWimsey useful idiot much?

@MizJ Thank you for the link. I find the phrase "useful idiots" in it to be particularly appealing.

@AnneWimsey See also my reply to @MizJ.

@Mickey You are clearly a useful idiot and puppet to Putin the Putrid. /@AnneWimsey @MizJ.

@anglophone again shows ignorance of the topic he posts. Living in Australia he somehow manages to determine that "Rethuglicans" all deal in alternate facts. The irony is that his posts frequently contain alternate facts.

While both Republicans and Democrats have their share of weirdos, anglophone has proven he does not know how to identify either party's fringe, or the actual influence they have.

Rant on anglophone, while you don't know much, you are amusing.

The idea of politics being public service has disappeared sadly.

@MizJ yes, it's all about personal gain and making connections for their next more lucrative job. Like the missionaries that went Hawaii. They went there to do good and did well.

@Mickey Christianity and Islam both did immeasurable harm in the quest to spread their beliefs. It wasn't just about religion, they destroyed other cultures.

Understood. If you haven't read it see Chomsky's essay on manufacturing consent.

@Mitch07102 The thing is, you do realise that you made your post on a social media platform, don't you? This site is a social media platform like Facebook. You do know that, don't you? 'In my splended isolation' you say, but no, you are here, connected to the rest of the world, talking to strangers like me. You do realise that, don't you?

Furthermore, your "sad but true observation on today's social-media driven world" is a very common view particularly among people from your generation, I'm afraid, and is circulated and shared very much on social media platforms like this one and Facebook where people from your generation congregate. That is to say, your view is also influnced by social media. We are all guity of utilising social media.

The Booker T. Washington quote is a pretty good explanation for why Republicans in Congress won't even debate immigration reform.

@Ryo1 Not all social media is bad. This site, unlike some, is not a dark cesspool of hate and disinformation (even though some of that pops up occasionally).

@Flyingsaucesir I don't have much preference when it comes to social media. I get slightly irreitated, though, when people blame social media, or any new technology for that matter, as if they have no control over them while they regularly use them. Just like parents complain that their kids are on their phones too long. Similarly, parents complained that their chidren watched TV too long 60 years ago, didn't they? There is certainly a passive aggression element to it. Double standard is one of my pet hates. Lol

@Flyingsaucesir I think his statement was, and still is, spot on.

I hope the upcoming shift you predict towards formal good taste includes not wearing Crocs or pajamas in public.

@MizJ I guess that there will be formal taste, but what that taste will be I could not begin to speculate. Future-ology is no science, and is alway little better than fortune telling, but I would guess that wearing socks with sandals will be all the rage.

@Fernapple Decades ago I worked in a Japanese restaurant. My uniform was a yukata (summer kimono) with thong sandals. We also had tabi, Japanese socks that had a separate big toe. When not on feet those socks looked like they were made for lobsters.

If one insists on wearing socks with sandals may I suggest only doing so with garments that reach the ankles at a minimum and when no rain is forecast.