I CANNOT CONTROL WHO FOLLOWS ME ON TWITTER
It’s incredibly annoying to even have to write this post, but I keep getting the same line of attack over and over again, so it’s worth the 6 minutes or so that this will take. Please read this sentence very, very carefully: I cannot control what anonymous trolls do on Twitter. I have no ability nor desire to micro-manage the online activity of random people, who can claim to be anything or anyone. Some of them may follow me, some of them may not. I have no idea. I do not monitor this.
It’s amazing how frequently critics and interlocutors will cite my Twitter following as somehow discrediting evidence against me, as if it’s something I actively control or direct. I do not. It’s not surprising that some amount of Trump-supporting or “alt-right” oriented people have followed me as of late, given that I just spent a very long time criticizing the Clintons on a regular basis. This does not mean that I have any affinity with the “alt-right.” I do not. I denounce them, such as they exist. Trying to tie me to the “alt-right” by dint of their unsolicited interaction with my tweets is just incredibly sleazy and disingenuous.
If you wish to attack me, please cite something that I have actually done or said, rather than citing the online behavior of random people over whom I have absolutely no control. This “attack rationale” is becoming increasingly prevalent, and it’s pernicious. Its essence undergirded the “Bernie Bro” craze, which held that the candidate himself was somehow responsible for the trollish internet activity of people who purported to be his supporters, but whose identity could not be verified. How unbelievably stupid. Jeremy Corbyn has been made to deal with the same nonsensical claims. It’s a distraction spearheaded by cynical naysayers who have a pre-existing political grudge.
The only reason to resort to this attack is if you have no other tenable argument. I’m not going to go through and individually vet every one of my Twitter followers. Anyone who would expect me to do that is either a moron or a cynic. I welcome critique, but only of things that I’ve actually written, said, or done. All else is just tripe.
