Trump vs The National park Service

Anyone have any sources on how real this twitter account is?

Right now there's no way to know, though the general consensus is that they're probably not official in any capacity, though Twitter could authenticate it if the National Park Service people go through the process.

NPR has a good rundown of what's going on: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltech...merge-on-twitter-amid-social-media-gag-orders

That said, as you can see in the NPR news article, the Badlands National Park Twitter account people said that an unauthorized person used their account.

Which sounds less than on the level to me.

The "former employee who was not currently authorized to use the account" line sounds a lot like it translates to "was former as of the moment we found out and had them fired" to me.

Exactly, and I don't like the implications behind that at all.

A few departments have walked back these restrictions, including the USDA, following the backlash. Apparently, the vagueness of the orders even left some confused as to whether they were able to talk to Congress, so Rep. Elijah Cummings has offered to take calls from any concerned Federal employees and assured them that they have a legal right to discuss those concerns with Congress.

apparently now there are "rogue" accounts for NASA and several other science specific agencies.

I saw where people at the EPA are frantically trying to back up all of their climate change data in case Trump orders a purge.

Honestly, I'm kinda okay with this. For better or worse, this is Trump's government, and some sense of policy discipline is important. Imagine what could happen if the State or Defense department Twitter accounts suddenly started tweeting contrary policy positions. Other governments could think there'd been a coup here.

The whole Social Media lock down isn't unprecedented. Other administrations have done stuff like it in the past during transition. I think what's really got people worried is Trump saying any scientific studies need to be vetted by his administration before being published.

Yeah, I guess I'm also kinda okay with Trump following Chapter 1 of the "Authoritarianism for Dummies" playbook.

At least he's being transparent about what he is ultimately aiming for.

Empirical measurements, scientific studies and facts should not be a matter of policy.

This. This is my greatest concern. I understand that PR accounts for various government agencies can be muzzled for a while, for various reasons, but we currently have a President who has no problem stifling scientists if their studies don't agree with his outlook. Considering that the man tries to alter reality to fit that worldview, it is of great concern to all of us. Particularly coastal cities.

Which facts you report are absolutely a matter of policy.

It is now. But it didn't use to be, and I think your description reflects that. You say that it might seem like a coup if different departments tweet contrary policy positions. But facts don't contradict each other.

"The particle is here"
"It's also here"

In other words, there's a new sheriff in town.

And by his own definition he's "A loser. Sad."

But keep on defending him, even though you didn't vote for him.

What am I defending? Obama apparently let agencies run wild and was all about social media. Trump says enough is enough and all of the sudden hes a big meanie. Maybe Obama shouldn't have let them run wild in the first place? Bush ran a tight ship as well. Maybe that's just the way businessmen think?

Proof?

No proof needed.

According to Sean Spicer, the EPA was, "breaking its own rules". If that's true, the Obama was not running things well.

Tweeting about CO2 levels, which have no relevance to the park in question, is a policy stance, and it's disingenuous to say otherwise. Just like the side-by-side NPS photo of Trump's vs. Obama's inauguration was, while factual, unambiguously meant as a slight against Trump.

Let them run wild?

A cop pulls over a physicist. The cop asks him, "Do you know how fast you were going"?
The physicist answers, "No, but I know where I am".
The cop says, "You were doing 80 in a 55".
And the Physicist throws up his hands in exasperation and says, "Great! Now I'm lost!"

Coming from Sean Spicer, I wouldn't be surprised if that had been an "alternative fact."

Maybe so, maybe not.

And maybe the moon is made of cheese, but you cannot use Spicer as a source.

I think that is arguable, but if that were anywhere near the extent of Trump's gag order, I wouldn't worry. It isn't.

This is a set up.