Editor's note: This updates with apparent cause for the order to halt Twitter feeds.
A few national park Twitter accounts, at least, went silent Friday afternoon after the newly installed Trump administration ordered the Interior Department to idle its accounts.
"... All bureaus and the department have been directed by incoming administration to shut down Twitter platforms immediately until further notice," read a notice that went out across the National Park System on Friday.
President Trump, of course, is famous for using his Twitter account at all times of the day.
The issue behind the order was apparently an unflattering retweet the National Park Service made comparing crowds at President Obama's 2009 inauguaration and Trump's inauguration. The photos were telling: gaps in the crowds for Trump's inauguration, and a National Mall practically bursting at the seams for Obama's.
Not all parks seemed to get the message, though, as a number of parks were still posting tweets Friday evening.
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The womens march just minimized themselves.
The 2.8 [the last I heard] million, as I said in my initial post, referred to his lack of mandate. Not to the electoral college mechanics that gave him a win. NO MANDATE. Not that that will matter to his apologists.
Count the noses today, world wide. Count those who showed up for the inauguration.
I have watched every inaugural since 1977. This one was just as memorable, unless, of course, your memory is of having lost the election, which you still refuse to concede. Yes, Trump is going to very different, starting with his marginalization of the press, which, of course, marginalized him some 18 months ago. There, Mrs. Clinton's sigh on the Capitol steps said it all. In the internet age you take nothing for granted. The power of the press has changed.
Patrick, what's so negative about it? The only thing it showcases is the past two inaugurations from the same camera angle. Just because the current one has a lot less crowds it sure has gotten some of you riled up into a tizzy. Trump also has a lot lower approval ratings going into office than Obama did. So, he has a lot of work to do.
Secondly, the National Park Service needs to live on past countless administrations, whether they are democratic, republican, or whatever party eventually seizes America in the future after the current two fade away. This isn't a game for any administration to play, and the parks are not "commodities to be traded at will" to suit the flavor of the day. There was obviously a lot of criticism leveled on this site, and from various NPS employees about various rules from the Obama administration, as well. So don't act like any Presidential administration isn't open to criticism.. They very much are, and Trump needs to quit being so sensitive.
Regardless, you are foolish to think if this picture is anything more than a historically accurate depiction of two inaugurations events in DC. They need to do this again for the next administration and have all 3 photos compared, and keep it ongoing. I don't even know if the case can be made if pictures like this serve as a barometer, since things like weather can also play a factor. It did rain.
Now quit being a thin-skinned fickle whiney brat. I thought republicans percieved themselves as big and tough, and independently minded? And you are whining about a historically accurate photo? So much for imagining yourselves as big bad John Wayne.
I just heard a new phrase that I'm afraid we may hear a lot in the future. When asked about crowd size this morning, Kellyann Conway introduced the term "Alternate Facts."
Not sure what it means, but I think we're about to find out.
Its not new. Its what you have been getting from the left wing press for quite some time.
I've heard it before when the wolf debate was taking over the northern rockies. Many that were against wolf introduction used the phrase "Probably facts" many of times in the discussion. Meaning, they had no clue, but it's what they assumed, and they wanted you to believe it too.
They say a single picture is worth a thousand words. It's going to take Trumpy and his crew more than a thousand words to spin this one... They still have a long way to spin it. Obviously, didn't take many words for EC to start buying the mantra, which isn't suprising.. but the picture is proof.. all of the "Probably facts" and "Alternative Facts" in the world are not going to change the reality that was in the photo.
Lee - it is simply their announcement from the start that they are going to follow Orwell's Newspeak, and that everey single thing they say will be open to doubt, if not scorn.