Tweet Storm Turns to Pete Storm

If you’re like me, you witnessed a pretty ugly two front attack launched against Pete Buttigieg throughout the Twitterverse this week. Largely by the usual suspects, Bernie Bros. and a handful of cyberbullies from the campaigns polling at the bottom.

The older of the two attacks began with a staff member from "The Other 98%" posting a story (written by someone else) about Pete hiring a former Goldman Sachs executive (from over a decade ago) with an ulterior motive already debunked (back in June).

The second wave was the result of praise given by Pete to a specific decision making styling of Supreme Court justices Soutter and Kennedy. Cut and pasted. Cropped from the remaining supporting text and context. Highlighted in bright orange for effect. And manipulated to go viral. Which it did.

And then the Twitt hit the fan.

I try to keep an open mind. Maybe I'm wrong. My acid test is usually this:

What sort of facts support this claim? Does Pete have a political track record to substantiate this? A history of political corruption in South Bend? Corporate crime? Charges? Investigations? Conspiracy Theories? Anything? Does Wall Street have a history with billionaires becoming chummy with Midwestern rust belt mayors of mid sized cities? Or is this simply a baseless claim?

We all know the answer to this. So do they.

My thoughts then go to:

Well, you're showing me that you don't really know Pete at all, so what's up with the dishonesty and lack of integrity?

I posted to my profile this week about a thoughtful campaigner in California who sent me a signed copy of "Shortest Way Home". It was a beautiful gesture from somebody who'd seen me struggling with chemotherapy lately, and bummed about missing Barnstormers. A random act of kindness that means the world to me.

I get a notification on my profile page from a random Bernie supporter I've never met. Not a friend, nor friend of a friend. He criticized the book and my support for Pete. Pete only cares about billionaires, he wrote. Why would I support a guy with no political experience (I was like- "Mayor" Pete?) over Bernie who's spent his entire career in Washington (which he hasn't).

Don't engage, I told myself. But he posted to my profile. He's got to know me somehow, I thought. So I figured I'd be polite.

I told him that I understand that he supports Bernie. I don't dislike Bernie, I said. But after recent events, I don't want to see him die over this bid. I continued that he's been misinformed and ought to, for his own sake, learn the truth about Pete.

I shared with him my most recent story about Pete's accomplishments, not only as a politician, but as a human being. He's a candidate who comes around once in a lifetime. Check it out, I told him. Let me know what you think.

He read it. And then he attacked. At my story. At the post, At the book, At Pete. At the Pete community. At me. He accused me of being no better than MAGA, and drinking too much kool-aid. Who in the hell is this dude, I thought.

I clicked over to his profile and that's when I realized that we had no contacts in common. I wondered how angry, lonely, and pathetic one must be to randomly stalk me simply over my support of Pete. He began to post something ridiculous about Pete being CIA just before I blocked him.

Unfortunately, he wasn't unique by any stretch. Nor creative. None of Pete's haters are. It's the same two false accusations recycled over and over:

Pete's all about big money.

Pete's a racist.

If they didn't have to always be right I would say to them:

"There's a formula that I put together to help you better understand Pete. You should try it.

...First, read 'The Pete Effect', 'The Mayor Pete Almanac', and my 'Once in a Lifetime: Pete'. You can find me on bryanzubler.blogspot.com."

...Next, YouTube the campaign launch speech, as well as the most memorable debate soundbites, and highlights of the campaign at the Iowa Steak Fry."

...Finally, take this photo collage I made of Pete engaging children along the campaign trail, and Chasten, Truman, and Buddy back home. Look at their reactions to Pete. Tape it to your refrigerator, mirror, or someplace where you'll see it for the next week."

...If you still dislike Pete and are unwilling to learn any more about him after that? Ok. At least you tried. But tweeting and retweeting falsehoods about Pete make you no better than the Russian bots that we've all agreed to avoid."

Unfortunately, I know that I'm left with:

"Your inability to never be wrong is called narcissism, and it's the same personality disorder that you share with the President and base you hate most", or remain silent.

I choose silence. Before Pete I wasted way too much time attempting logic and facts with MAGA. It's was like yelling at a stray cat. Bernie Bros. are simply another cat the alley nowadays, and not worth my time.

Besides, after the Twitter attack against Pete this week something unexpected happened. The entire Twitterverse seemed to be tuned in to the attacks. Especially cable news networks, social media, and newspaper personalities.

They witnessed two things:

One campaign manufacturing fake news against an opponent, followed by the most vile and disrespectful attack witnessed on social media to date.

And Pete's campaign following the "Rules of the Road" pretty much down to the last man.

-Hate was met with kindness.

-Lies were met with truth.

-Baiting was met with silence.

By the end of the tweet storm America saw the #PeteStorm.

By now most of the posts were coming from the same political news media personalities who'd been played from the beginning. They reported the corrected truth, and some of their scorn towards those who launched the attacks were epic.

And then something magical happened this morning....Pete took the lead in Iowa over Bernie.