I’m one of many Americans that wish Trump would throw away his phone and delete his Twitter account. After moving the embassy to Jerusalem I quipped he should have dropped his phone into the Dead Sea before coming back. I understand the argument that he is bypassing traditional media and getting his message to his followers, just in argumentative form. But I still never liked it and, to borrow a comment Trump made about the origins of refugees, I thought his feed was a sh** hole. But watching a different channel of the news, combined with some reflections from Chinese history, made me reconsider that view.
I changed my provider to Sling and I didn’t receive any stations except for CNN. I didn’t like their programming, and I quickly changed back to something with more options. But during that short time I marveled in particular how the news people assessed and overanalyzed every word on Trump’s twitter feed. They tried to assess the policy implications, grammar, tone, and their supposed contradictions to other Trump positions. They did it with such fervor and with such length that it seemed kind of odd, especially because his tweets seem like general messages that often sharply contrast from his actual policies.
The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers. We have our hostages, testing, research and all missle launches have stoped, and these pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say! We will be fine!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2018
That overanalysis over minute amounts of information reminded me of several ancient practices in Chinese history. Early Chinese rulers would often write down various questions on the back of tortoise shells. They would then heat the shell until it cracked and interpret the cracks. This would give them guidance and answers about going to war, the planting of crops, and other matters for which they wanted divine guidance. Chinese generals would often look at the shape of clouds and consider them omens from Heaven. The Athenian invaders of Sicily didn’t board their ships because of an eclipse, and Native Americans would often take hallucinatory drugs in order to achieve visions.
These and similar practices from other ancient people might garner laughs from modern readers. But these analysts and pundits are having their chains yanked as much as the ancients did trying to understand oracle bones. Trump isn’t crazy for his Twitter feed, he is crazy like a fox. He often gets the elite members of the media so outraged and in a frenzy that they overreact to his tweets and ignore his substantive policy accomplishments such as the tax bill, reduced regulations, and conservative picks for the judiciary.
As with the comment referring to MS-13 gang members as “animals,” he often uses the Twitter feed to set up his opponents to take extreme positions that will backfire on them at the next election. To quote the famous Chinese military theorist Sunzi, Trump lights a fire on the east and then attacks from the west. He gets his message straight to his supporters, imbalances his enemies, while he continues with substantive policy.
Why should I, as President of the United States, allow countries to continue to make Massive Trade Surpluses, as they have for decades, while our Farmers, Workers & Taxpayers have such a big and unfair price to pay? Not fair to the PEOPLE of America! $800 Billion Trade Deficit…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2018
After this line of thought I am somewhat more comfortable with his Twitter feed. I still think his Twitter use can be counterproductive, and it would be much more helpful if he learned some tact. But overall, Trump is making his opponents look like ancient seers chasing their own tails over his Delphic tweets.
