The Sacrificial Tweet

I’ve been mulling over the topic of this article for the past few months.  The topic seems particularly timely today – Trump’s tweet this morning about Mika and Morning Joe has triggered the left.  They are absolutely unhinged when it comes to him, as usual.  But they’re not the intended audience for this piece.

I have always enjoyed sailing.  I’ve owned several boats and spent countless weekends sailing the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, the Chesapeake Bay, and numerous other beautiful bodies of water.  Frankly, there’s nothing like it.  It’s America’s original green pastime – driven by a fuel that makes a frugal conservative delighted. 

One of the most interesting things I recall from my time spent in various boatyards, boat stores and marinas was a metal block called a sacrificial anode which was typically affixed to the bottom of the boat.  This nondescript device plays a part far more important than its simplicity suggests. Like a lightning rod in a thunder storm, this thing is essential. 

Neil Young (no relation), had a highly successful album entitled, “Rust Never Sleeps.” There is unequivocal consensus that the current political climate is corrosive and that Trump has garnered more than the lion’s share of the mainstream media’s (MSM) caustic coverage.  

A recent report from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy analyzed the news coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days in office. This report effectively and objectively exposes the MSM’s animus.  The report explains, “CNN and NBC’s coverage was the most unrelenting—negative stories about Trump outpaced positive ones by 13-to-1 on the two networks. Trump’s coverage on CBS also exceeded the 90 percent mark. Trump’s coverage exceeded the 80 percent level in The New York Times (87 percent negative) and The Washington Post (83 percent negative).”  

Accuracy aside, that’s a lot to overcome.  Even Fox was predominately negative; however, it, “was the only outlet where Trump’s overall coverage nearly crept into positive territory—52 percent of Fox’s reports with a clear tone were negative, while 48 percent were positive.”  At least Fox, which was formerly self-described as “Fair and Balanced,” was.

Given the uninhibited and unrestrained assaults by the MSM, what’s the answer to Trump’s tribulation?  A website called “corrosionpedia.com” contains the answer.  (Who knew there was an entire website devoted to this problem right?)  The solution is none other than a “sacrificial anode.”  As the site dedicated to defeating and delaying corrosion explains it:

Sacrificial anodes are easily corroded materials deliberately installed to be sacrificed to corrosion, leaving the rest of the system relatively corrosion free… In sacrificial anodes, the protected metal is placed on the cathode side and then a more reactive metal or alloy (having a larger potential difference than the protected metal) is chosen and connected to the protected metal as an anode. The redox reaction will proceed spontaneously. An oxidation reaction occurs at the anode, which means that the sacrificial metal will be consumed. At the same time, the reduction reaction occurs on the cathodic side, preventing the protected metal from erosion. Thus, corrosion on the protected metal is successfully shifted to the anode, protecting the metal.”

Whether Trump’s employment of the “sacrificial tweet” is deliberate, devious, or destructive is not completely clear.  He has discovered the most successful defensive measure available given the deceitful and disproportionate corrosiveness he faces. 

Like unrelenting rust, the media has shown they will not slumber. As Don Casey, one of the most consulted experts on boat care puts it, “It would be hard to overstate the importance of maintaining the anodes on your boat. When an anode is missing or largely wasted away, the metal component it was installed to protect begins to dissolve--guaranteed.”

So, who is the intended audience for this treatise?  It is aimed squarely at my conservative friends.  There is no debate, Trump’s tweets are disconcerting.  And the demurer my friends are, the more they dislike it.  My simple message to you is, like a simple sacrificial anode prevents rust, trust Trump when it comes to tweeting. 

The left and the MSM (I repeat myself) want Trump to stop – they know the power is in his tweeting.  They simply can’t stand not being the clearinghouse to filter what reaches the American mind.  (Owning the public school and university system notwithstanding.)

To paraphrase Mr. Casey, “When a tweet is missing or largely wasted away, the man it was installed to protect begins to dissolve--guaranteed.”  

Tweet away President Trump – it’s a matter of survival.