Emily Post, Tokyo Rose And Axis Sally

Tokyo Rose broadcasted propaganda to our troops in the Pacific during World War II. As it turns out, there really was no single Tokyo Rose. Tokyo Rose was a number of women broadcasting lies on behalf of the Japanese. They all used the name Tokyo Rose. Their job was to demoralize our troops.

Axis Sally was born in Maine. Her real name was Mildred Gillars. She broadcasted propaganda for the Nazis during World War II. She ultimately earned the distinction of being the first woman to be convicted of treason against the United States.

There may have been another woman broadcasting under the name Sally as well. The thing is, nobody got to see any of them because all their broadcasts were radio broadcasts.

It was a lot like Twitter. You never really get to see who is posting. You can never be sure who the posters are. even if they use a profile picture.

I post on Twitter. I use my real name and that's my real picture. You can take my word for it. Just as I have to take your word for who you say you are.

I am trusting to a point. I know there are people on Twitter who are not who they purport to be.

My only reason for being on Twitter is to communicate with others who are concerned about what is happening to our country. I identify myself as a resister.

No, not exactly. I identify resisters as those people who agree to vote for whoever is running as a Democrat in 2020 - identified by "Vote Blue No Matter Who" text and graphics.

I clearly have my preferences as to who I would like to see on the ballot, but as a resister, I pledge to vote for whoever is on the ballot running as a  Democrat. Pledge in this case has the same validity as my claim to who I am on Twitter.

I interpret Voting Blue No Matter Who as being opposed to Trump and the Republican Party. I don't view this as a partisan issue. I view this as a country over party issue.

I view this as voting to preserve our government. I come to this as one who believes the 2016 election resulted in a coup - a Russian funded criminal takeover of our country by American criminals and traitors.

I am not engaging in hyperbole. I mean that literally.

I believe we are engaged in a non-partisan, political civil war. Unfortunately, all the criminals are members of the Republican Party. So my pledge to vote Blue is a pledge to vote against the criminals.

I support the "rule of law". I support our Constitution. I do not believe in rebellion or violent, illegal confrontation.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people on Twitter who are not true resisters. They are the Tokyo Roses and Axis Sallies of our times. Their agenda is to foster division in the ranks of those who are true resisters. They do this by spreading false information and despair.

What's a poor resister to do? How do you survive in an environment where you don't know who's who or what's true and what's not? Where's the instruction manual?

So in the fine tradition of Emily Post, and at the risk of sounding presumptuous, I propose an etiquette manual for resisters on Twitter.

This is the succinct version: never fuck a friend; treat all strangers as friends until they prove otherwise; and never let someone fuck you a second time.

Okay, Emily Post never dropped an F-Bomb. Here's the socially acceptable version:

1. Don't argue with anyone.
2. Advocate for any candidate you choose without trashing anyone.
3. Agree to disagree.
4. Clarify that the person you are engaging with is committed to Voting Blue No Matter Who.
5. If they are not committed to voting Blue, Block them.
6. Remember you are here to share information with and support fellow resisters.

Easy peasy. Motherf ... Oops!

Holy Moly!