If you felt Obama was a great President wouldn't you have enjoyed a Tweet now and then?

Oh, so if Obama does it, it’s cool, huh?

^^Are you asking me? I don’t understand your comment.

Search for Barack Obama’s account at Quora. Yes, the former president was a member of and participated at an online message board. His posts were so rational and well-crafted, they never incited outrage; they really didn’t get much attention at all.

^^Are you sure it was really him? If so, why do you think no one ever mentioned it in the media? Or, did they?

Assuming it was him, did you like his participation? Or, did you think he shouldn’t be online?

I think it is best if the President of the United States announces policy through more formal governmental channels than through a tweet.

He did tweet. The account @POTUS was first set up for him.

They were as ephemeral as most people’s tweets, because he was sane and measured in what he would say, knowing full well that saying something disruptive can have a profound effect on people’s lives.

@JLeslie How are you sure that Donald Trump is really on Twitter (aside from the fact that his posts are as bat$hit crazy as he is)? Mr. Obama used his Quora account for several years; if a poser had been impersonating him and falsely using his name and photo, surely federal law enforcement would have closed the account.

Mr. Obama never announced policy through Quora. He did reiterate policy and laws that had already been correctly promulgated and reported through mainstream media.

My personal favorite – someone asked, “What’s it like to play basketball with President Obama?,” so he answered. That’s a far cry from an insane rant about “tapp my phones” and “Bad (or sick) guy!”

@Love_my_doggie I’m not saying it wasn’t Obama, I’m just asking. Since it was seemingly so under the radar Obama didn’t need to confirm or deny. I agree that likely the fed would have it closed down if they became aware of it and it was a false account.

With Trump, he stands behind the tweets, which are easily visible to the public at large, not just people with twitter account, by the television media, so I’m guessing it’s him, or at least dictated by him.

Quota is quite obviously not the same as twitter. Twitter has a larger audience. Moreover, as I stated, our media outlets have taken to broadcasting the tweets, they didn’t do that with the quora statements, so the vast majority of the public wasn’t aware of it.

And, again, what is being said on twitter or quora is a different subject. A lot of people are saying presidents should not be tweeting. Some say trump should stay off of twitter. Is that because he says things they don’t like? Or, because they feel it’s not presidential?

Sadly, the evidence seems to indicate that the negatives around tweeting heavily outweigh the benefits.

@JLeslie Is that because he says things they don’t like?

It is because he makes “pronouncements” that are not actual Executive Orders, nor are they vetted within his own staff and advisers as to legality or if they are actionable. And, he uses it to insult and castigate people that disagree with him.

@zenvelo So, no problem with a president tweeting, just a problem with what Trump actually tweets?

It’s not the medium, it’s the message.

No, not particularly. Didn’t get any from any other prez…

@janbb That doesn’t seem clear when I listen to other people. I really wasn’t sure if it was the medium or the message when I listen to the complaints or recommendations that he should stop tweeting. I’ve always been worried about what Trump says no matter what medium, so I don’t have a problem recommending he stifle.

Like the answer just above me, basically saying no other prez did it. To me that is a comment about presidents tweeting, not content.

He does tweet now and then. So does Michelle. They are rare, brief, refreshing, intelligent and refined, just like them. But that’s now. I don’t know if they did during his presidency. If they did, they sure ran it through their panel of experts before it was released.
They’re just ‘mart like that.

@Love_my_doggie if it’s not really Trump on Twitter wouldn’t there have been some uproar within the first 10, insane tweets? Trump has never denied that it’s him!

I think it is Putin spoofing Trump. Isn’t covfefe a Russian word?

I think it’s a stripper word.

Most politicians give statements that are carefully crafted to be somewhat ambiguous. They seldom tell us what they are really thinking. Trump doesn’t do that. It’s what his supporters like about him and his detractors hate. It’s not the use of twitter that people hate but rather the message. If Trump stopped tweeting it would not calm the storm because his message would be the same. Just a little less crude. FDR used the radio for his ‘Fireside Chats’. That was a new medium for the president and it gave FDR a chance to talk directly to the people. Trump is using Twitter, also a new medium, to do the same. Those that like him think it is a brilliant strategy. Those that hate him find it crass and stupid. Communications continue to evolve and Presidents will continue to use whatever is available.

If I remember correctly Obama used a text message to announce his VP pick in 2008. A new medium which allowed him to inject some drama into his pick and gain some attention from many that normally couldn’t care less. I don’t recall any complaints about that.

As president Barack Obama was quite active and engaged with social media. The difference is he didn’t go on unhinged, late night Twit rants, treat his twits like they were official statements, or try to dictate policy via Twitter rather than via official channels.

Most (intelligent) Presidents have the good sense to keep any inflammatory opinions to themselves, until long after their Presidency has ended, and in some cases where the subject of the remark has passed away. Case in point, Harry Truman. Of course, he didn’t have access to Twitter in his day, but he did keep a diary. Long after he retired from public life, and after Ike had passed on, he called Eisenhower a dumb son of a bitch in his memoirs. And he mentioned how he had received a memo from General Marshal, Chief of Staff for the Army, about how Ike wanted to divorce his wife and marry his jeep driver. Marshall nixed the idea, (wasn’t good from for public figures in those times), but Truman could have used the info to throw a monkey wrench into Ikes Presidential bid. Instead, he burned the memo in the White House fire place, and never mentioned the incident until years later, a class act there. You think our current clown in office would have the couth to keep dirt on one of his opponents quiet? ” I have dirt on Hillary, naughty naughty boo boo – gonna tell Putin too too!

People say Trump should “stop tweeting” as shorthand.

It’s like when you’re with a group of people, and someone’s continuing to put their foot in their mouth, simultaneously making you look bad by association and distracting others from meaningful discourse, and you lean over and say to them, “stop talking.” It’s not literally a “stop all talking forever,” it’s just a short, abrupt way to say, “what you’re saying right now is unwise and unproductive and not adding to the conversation” ... that’s the issue people have with Trump’s tweets.

Also, others (from both sides of the aisle) have pointed out that some—though not all—of his inflammatory comments seem to be timed to try and pull attention away from unflattering political developments. It’s a cheap trick, trying to create conversational chaos to keep others from sinking their teeth into issues he either can’t or chooses not to engage in meaningfully… The effects are basically the same as above, however, and the lament of “I wish he’d just stop tweeting” is, too.

I think a president tweeting on a regular basis, any president, is sophomoric.
The leader of a country should not stoop to the level of an average 7th grader, something the reviled Trump is quite good at.

I agree with the penguin and even Jaxk up to the point about it not mattering what he says out loud. Little imagination is required to appreciate that there might repurcussions to a President incapable of keeping his mouth shut.

The tweets and the sorts of things like the advice to law enforcement officers against “coddling” arrestees betray a missing piece in the Trump brain that even his devotees should sweat over. The man lacks an aspect of basic socialization common to most of us, and terrifying if missing in a sitting President. I think we are fortunate in one respect, and that is that most of the world’s leaders are fully aware that “things ain’t right”. Meanwhile we can look forward to more excitement as our profoundly ignorant President marches into history shooting from the hip.

. What matters is if they “NOT” tweet new policies and tweet bat shit crazy stuff. The reason Trump shouldn’t tweet is because he does both of those. It confirms to the world that he is bat shit crazy.
He also spew hate an a ton of lies with no proof. As my mother likes to say about people like Trump. ” He’s always showing his ass”.

Oh, and I don’t tweet. I’m a grown ass woman. I don’t feel it necessary to talk about every moment of my life. I also don’t go on twitter and read about peoples’ boring lives. I have my own boring life. I do however know about Trumps tweets because they are so crazy that people share them everywhere along with the media.

Oh, a new one. Or confirm in a tweet security secrets. Like today.

But let’s think about why it is that Trump tweets and Obama didn’t. To me Trump’s tweet habit is the clearest evidence possible of a defective or missing “judgement switch”. It’s a self reinforcing loop. A man notorious for poor impulse control “chooses” to communicate almost exclusively through technology ideal for impulsive communication.

Right – like me on Facebook, tweet me on twitter, tweet retweet. Rooskies have a new secret weapon, but we have Area 51, Naughty Naughty boo boo.

N Korea will be flambéed by Thursday according to the President’s tweets.

@zenvelo And now NK is threatening Guam because of Trumps tweets. Trump may actually be the death of us all. Or at least the death people at our military installations and millions of innocent civilians.

It really does seem as though Trump and Kim Jong-Un are two of a kind, each trying to match the overblown statements of the other.

I mean seriously WTH is going on with Trump? Back in the day he talked about diplomacy with NK. I can’t figure him out. I wonder if he believes he is being very calculating and purposeful in what he says? That he sees himself as very clever.

He’s trying to figure out how to be a diplomat, but he has no clue. He can’t move beyond the fact that threatening and blustering that worked in his personal and business life has NO PLACE in the presidency.