For those of us, like our new President, who tweet a 3 a.m., there's been a bit of a wince as many analyze the 3 a.m. tweet. I just read The Boston Globe's article, Executive analysis, from afar which discusses Trump including his 3 a.m. tweets.
For people like me, the 3 a.m. tweet is a way to share an idea that has awaken me in the night. Typically those 3 a.m. ideas lead to good work later on. I see those tweets as the synthesis of lots of effort and endeavor that has sifted and sorted in my mind while sleeping only to wake me up with the answer, next steps, or more questions.
Sometimes those 3 a.m. tweets have earned me nice small exchanges with educators from far away places--it's nice to have a chance to exchange ideas with educators who may typically be awake as I sleep. I like to hear their perspectives.
There's also that public canvas you create as you share your ideas online. Once online, you think about the idea differently. You hear from others and you reread it yourself.
Plus, there's something quite positive about hearing the direct words from an individual which may be a salient point of view that you would have had to cull from thick texts or third person articles in the past. For example, I've received tweets from many experts at one time or another that shifted my thinking and moved my research in a positive direction with a few words.
As our new President settles in, we all have to recognize that we don't disagree with everything. Yes, I don't like the way he has spoken about women, multiple cultures, and other countries. I worry about his rash comments and blurry borders between his personal and professional life. Yet, I do have the 3 a.m. tweet in common with him--a commonality I value (I may not agree with his tweets, but I support his freedom to tweet when he likes and like the idea that I can hear his words first hand via Twitter).
A friend called me the other day to debate the immigration events. My friend agrees with some of Trump's immigration decisions and stated that what he agrees with, in part, doesn't differ that much from Obama's policies which focused on deporting immigrants who commit crimes. He also felt that if we have laws, we should either enforce them or change them.
I'm watching our new President. I want to be objective. I don't want to think one way or another because it may seem like everyone agrees or disagrees.
In general, we have to think deeply about all of these issues. We have to be careful about judging, but also unafraid to judge and comment if the facts lead us in that direction. I thought the Globe article was balanced and thought provoking.
Let's not stay mired in issues that are small and have little consequence, and instead, invest ourselves in the issues that can have a substantial, positive impact if approached with good intelligence, reason, and effort.
