I have an idea for a news story that would be popular for my Facebook friends to share and talk about.
Headline: “Donald Trump proposes shutting down Federal wildlife refuges”
Picture: Bucolic lake with some mountains in the background.
Story:
President Trump today said that the nation had too many refugees and therefore he was shutting down Federal wildlife refuges.
Readers: What do you think? Would it work? Do you have a better idea?
You just need to add “a source who spoke on condition of anonymity” and you’re in like Flynn.
You mean like “Hillary running a pedophile sex ring out of DC pizza shop” or “Obama not born in the USA”? I don’t see how it could fail.
Bartleby: Not exactly. It has to be something that confirms my Facebook friends’ belief that Trump is stupid/confused compared to them. So it needs to be a story where Trump does something based on a misunderstanding.
Great business idea @philg.
Do you really need to make something up? I’m sure you can find actual statements from him or his cabinet capable of provoking the same response.
@philg, #3:
How about adding this as a note of misunderstanding:
Confidential sources close to the president later clarified that he does not have any personal objections to wildlife; however he apparently misspelled “refugees” as he tweeted his executive order.
I think it would work. Who has time to sort it out from real stuff?
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/US-Cancels-New-Protection-for-West-Coast-Whales-428018543.html
(TRUMP HATES WHALES!)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/02/health/school-lunch-changes/
Trump hates healthy meals.
Also throw in the article for good measure, Trump hates girls learning in foreign countries.
There’s actually a whole industry for that:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/how-the-trump-russia-data-machine-games-google-to.html
I think things are bad enough without throwing more gasoline on the fire. What’s happening right now in US politics seems exactly like an Internet flamewar, with people dividing themselves into two hostile camps, fuelled by outrage, self-righteousness, and mutual incomprehension. Trump’s use of Twitter fits right in.
My entire working life has been spent on making the Internet faster and more reliable, so it’s pretty disheartening to see it have this malign effect on politics.