Conservative-reactionary folks have long accused Twitter and Facebook of being biased against them. They genuinely believe that people promoting conservative causes are singled out more often than others for temporary or permanent suspensions. I respectfully suggest that what many interpret as anti-conservative bias is really a hard and fast response to overt expressions of racism.

And then there’s me, a bombastic, vitriolic left-winger who sees red when encountering proponents of systemic racism, Trump’ism, the BIG LIE about the election, anti-BLM polemics, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTI intolerance…. etc. In their disingenuous efforts to suggest that animus and vitriol are not welcome on their platforms, people like me give the folks at Twitter and Facebook a headache.

Yes I do own and wear this t-shirt.

Twitter has temporarily suspended my account 3-4 times because of what they claimed were posts that promoted hate. My account was permanently suspended a couple of months ago as a result of a comment I made about Senator Rand Paul (R, KY). Paul was questioning Dr. Rachel Levine, President Joe Biden’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kentucky’s junior senator suggested that transgender people were guilty of genital mutilation. Dr. Levine is herself, transgender.

While some may question the tone of my retort, I stand by my impassioned response:

Sen. Rand Paul tries to score some cheap points with KY’s most sophisticated citizens by telling Rachel Levine that transgender people like her are self-mutilating sick people.

“You can put a suit on a dumb-ass redneck but he’s still dumb-ass redneck.“

Expressions of overt hate and ignorance in the halls of the United States Congress should cause all Americans to feel anger and shame. Don’t ask me to politely describe the stench of filth.

In an email sent me last week by the Twitter lords, I was informed that my profile’s suspension would be permanent. Jack Dorsey’s enforcers accused me of promoting violence and hate. Oh really? Is Rand Paul’s Twitter account still active? Was his venomous, denigrating comment about transgender people, not an incendiary remark capable of inspiring hate and violence?

May I share with you the actual words of some famous people who vent their spleens on Twitter daily to millions of adoring followers?

  1. I thank god everyday that that fucken dumbshit isn’t in the White House anymore
  2. It’s almost kind of tragically sad, a son willing to repeatedly lie and incriminate himself in order to win the love of a father who is incapable of loving him, but then you realize it’s Donald Trump Jr. and you laugh, because seriously, fuck that guy
  3. The people who attacked the Capital on January 6 are Nazis who shouldn’t be allowed to vote
  4. BLM supporters are nothing but rioting looters looking for an excuse
  5. holy fucking shit, Matt Gaetz is well and truly fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked
  6. have you seen Trump’s latest blog entry? me neither. who gives a fuck what that corroded old racist is whining about now

How come less than friendly verbiage from famous folks have no apparent impact on their Twitter and Facebook status? For how many years did Donald Trump get away with posting racist comments and dangerous lies before Twitter’s selective enforcement of community standards became the worst joke ever told? The profits generated by millions of people exchanging vitriol are what drives advertising revenue.

A number of people suggested to me that I shouldn’t flatter myself by thinking that a real person at 1355 Market St in SF (Twitter’s corporate offices) actually looked at my post and decided that I should be silenced. Rather, with hundreds of millions of people on Twitter at any given moment I was probably indicted and prosecuted by an algorithm. Maybe.

Algorithms assigned to police social media platforms are a cynical, disingenuous way of suggesting that FB and Twitter enforce community standards. Yea, and Fox News is real journalism.

Millions of people the world over have voluntarily surrendered online independence for the privilege of hanging out on someone else’s property with NO guaranteed rights.

The proprietors of the most popular online platforms can’t count their profits fast enough.

When you willingly join a community that does not require any kind of financial compensation for membership it doesn’t have to give you any rights and privileges. In other words, you have become a vassal, a peasant dependent on the whims and foibles of the lord of the manor.

For centuries humanity has struggled to articulate the freedoms and rights all people are entitled to. Apparently, most people are more anxious to shmooze, let famous people tell them how to feel about this or that, and kevel from pet photos than worry about being treated as mature responsible adults. No, this medieval-type arrangement of subjugation is just fine apparently for most of us. Sad.