People look for inspiration and happiness in a vast array of places. Some see school kids walking out of class across America to take a stand for gun control and find hope. Others note that 7-Eleven now has customizable tater tots and are filled with joy. What do they get when they look at the internet? All that and a lot of bickering and tweets about calzones. Here, dear friends, is what everyone was talking about online last week when they weren"t talking about the new Avengers: Infinity War trailer.
Rex-It
What Happened: President Trump announced Rex Tillerson was being replaced as secretary of state on Twitter.
What Really Happened: Folks like to make jokes about Donald Trump running America via Twitter, but last week he announced an executive decision on the platform that was definitely not funny—at least not to the head of the State Department.
Yes, the change in Secretary of State—one of the most important, if not the most important, cabinet positions—was announced via social media, as if Trump was every parody of himself imaginable. For those who wanted more than just a tweet of notice about the new state of affairs, that was forthcoming … also via Twitter, of course.
Those around Tillerson, who had just arrived back in the country, were surprised by the news, suggesting that Tillerson himself wasn’t entirely prepared for what had just happened.
There might, it turns out, have been a reason for that, if one response from the State Department is to be believed.
OK, perhaps it was a little disingenuous to say that no one saw this coming, as some pointed out.
Unsurprisingly, the White House has a different take on the way everything went down.
Except, it turned out, chief of staff John Kelly’s message might not have been entirely clear.
There really is something to be said about Twitter’s role in all of this, isn’t there? Still, things couldn’t have been that bad, because Tillerson did make an appearance later that day to talk about his firing and smooth everything over.
OK, maybe it was kinda bad. (Tillerson’s failure to thank the president did not go unnoticed by, well, anyone.) Still, perhaps the split between Trump and Tillerson was for the best.
This is worth noting, as well. The State Department aide who put out the earlier statement saying that Tillerson didn’t know why he’d been fired? Yeah, there was a price to pay for saying that.
The Takeaway: Quick, we need a catchy way of talking about former Exxon CEO Tillerson now that he’s been ousted!
That"ll do.
Move Along, Nothing to See Here
What Happened: House Republicans announced they were closing their investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, saying there was no evidence of such actions.
What Really Happened: Last week, with little warning, the House Intelligence Committee"s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election just ... stopped.
"Case closed"? Sure, if you say so. And, it turns out, they really did say so.
There are others who might disagree with that take, of course…
As news of the surprise closure started to go wide, it was perhaps worth turning to the ranking Democrat on the committee to see if he had anything to say about the whole thing.
That would be a yes, then. And, sure, it seems suspicious to say the least that the Republicans just shut down the investigation unfinished with so much still out there unanswered, but surely the Democrats on the committee were given adequate warning that the investigation was being closed, right?
OK, but at least all the Republicans are agreed that this move was the smart one?
Well, fine, yes, that’s a little awkward. Still, at least one of the leading Republicans on the committee didn’t disagree.
Oh, come on. As the week continued, it eventually started to become clear even to the Republicans that this had been a mistake, with this headline putting it best: "Republicans Fear They Botched Russia Report Rollout." Gee, you think?
The Takeaway: In what could only be described as a spectacular piece of timing, the Republicans announced that there was nothing Russians had done in regards to the 2016 election in the same week that the Trump administration finally signed sanctions into law against 16 Russians for their efforts to interfere with the 2016 election. There’s nothing like being consistent.
Meanwhile, Over at the Department of Justice...
What Happened: Special counsel Robert Mueller"s investigation took aim at the Trump Organization.
What Really Happened: Meanwhile, you might be thinking, “I wonder how special council Robert Mueller’s Russia collusion investigation is going? I’m sure that, if the House Republicans were right and there’s certainly nothing going on, he’ll be wrapping everything up too, right?” Funny story: He’s not wrapping everything up.
Yes, in what is pretty much the opposite of wrapping things up, Mueller is subpoenaing the Trump Organization"s records, which is … kind of a big deal, to say the least. Certainly, that’s what people on social media seemed to think.
But what could it all mean? Some people had theories.
And how is this going down with those targeted?
Somewhere, Devin Nunes is wandering around the halls of Congress, muttering to himself, "But I said nothing happened…!"
The Takeaway: It’s worth pointing out that the Mueller news dropped on March 15, which amused certain people online.
Oh, Canada
What Happened: Forget "Commander in Chief," perhaps President Trump"s title could be "Gaslighter in Chief." Or, maybe, "Man Who Should Perhaps Never Talk in Front of a Tape Recorder Ever."
What Really Happened: This might sound like the kind of old-fashioned, unnecessary posturing of people stuck in the past, but once upon a time it was widely expected that the President of the United States wouldn"t be the kind of person who would boast about lying to the head of state of a friendly nation.
Those days, dear readers, are long gone.
Yes, the Washington Post obtained audio from a fundraising speech in which Trump boasted that he’d made up information that he used in an argument with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over whether or not the US runs a trade deficit with Trudeau’s country. (It doesn"t.) "I had no idea," Trump can be heard to say on the tape. "I just said, "You’re wrong." You know why? Because we’re so stupid." As you might expect, people were thrilled about this display of, uh, political maneuvering? Sure, let’s go with that.
As the media struggled to understand what was happening, the White House press secretary attempted to smooth out the situation by, well, repeating the lie.
There is, also, a surreal second story to this audio of Trump that has nothing to do with lying to Justin Trudeau. Instead, it had to do with the "bowling ball test."
As multiple outlets looked into the matter, it slowly emerged that it was probably all made up. Not to worry, though; according to the White House, it was just a joke.
The Takeaway: There’s really only response to this entire exchange, isn’t there?
Space Force? Space Force!
What Happened: When it comes to America’s manifest destiny, there’s only one direction left to go: To infinity… and beyond?
What Really Happened: With all the bad news going around the the White House, you can’t blame the president for wanting to change the narrative somehow. And you only get to do that, he knows, by thinking big and reaching for the stars. Last week, Trump gave a speech that showed just how literally he took that advice.
Sure, going to Mars is definitely thinking big, but is it thinking big enough? Not to worry, however; Trump was right there with the next big thing.
Space Force! Just the very idea got the media excited, and asking questions like, “For real?” and “What does that even mean?”, not to mention “Do we have to?” Sure, not every outlet took the idea seriously, but that’s the lamestream media for you. Everyone else was into the idea, or calling the president a laughingstock. It’s hard to be a leader. But at least Twitter understood the potential of Space Force.
SPACE FORCE!
The Takeaway: Make no mistake, people may joke now, but Space Force is the future.
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