Devin Nunes Lashes out at Twitter With Lawsuit, Hilarity Ensues

I honestly don’t know if this is more pathetic or more hilarious.

Ok. It’s both.

Devoted Trumpian bootlick and all-around sniveling weasel-boy, Representative Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) announced on Monday that he was suing social media platform, Twitter, as well as several parody accounts, Devin Nunes’ Cow (@DevinCow) and Devin Nunes’ Mom (@DevinNunesMom).

The congressman hopes to get $250 million out of his efforts for compensatory damages. He hopes to get another $350,000 for punitive damages – because his feelings were so very hurt.

He’s also named GOP strategist Liz Mair and Mair Strategies in this ridiculous action.

Here's some free legal advice that would have saved Devin Nunes thousands in legal fees: there's a public official exception to libel that lessens the standard so his suit has no chance-Clarence Thomas has been trying to get rid of it FOR YEARS. https://t.co/YWdVYZzD3l pic.twitter.com/1NjbqPnZFE

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) March 19, 2019

In the lawsuit, Nunes claims that Twitter “shadow banned” conservative voices, negatively impacting the outcome of the 2018 midterm election.

Shadow banning, for those not up on the vernacular, is when a user can post, but no one can see what they’ve posted.

I have to note that the way I learned about shadow banning was from seeing the frantic posts of Trumpian Twitter users who claimed they’d been shadow banned and no one could see their posts.

You know, it’s like your crazy Uncle Ed, who loudly declares at 3:00 am in the morning that he’s invisible, then starts running across the lawn naked, right up until the police taze him and haul him into the hospital for a 72-hour psych hold.

Twitter officials have repeatedly denied there was any shadow banning going on. Rather, they noted, there were algorithm “burps” as they tweaked the system in an attempt to stop Russian bot accounts and white nationalist garbage from infesting the site.

In reality, it seems the pouty congressman is upset that someone on the internet made fun of him.

What is it about Branch Trumpidians that makes them such weak Nancy boys?

Nunes accuses Twitter of “facilitating defamation on its platform” by “ignoring lawful complaints about offensive content and by allowing that content to remain accessible to the public” despite alleged violations of its terms of service and rules.

“Twitter, by its actions, intended to generate and proliferate the false and defamatory statements about Plaintiff in order to influence the outcome of the 2018 Congressional election and to intimidate Plaintiff and interfere with his important investigation of corruption by the Clinton campaign and alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 Presidential Election,” the lawsuit reads.

I think he’s going to have a pretty difficult time proving that a social media platform, made up of millions of users from very diverse backgrounds and political leanings was attempting to influence any election.

As for strategist Mair, the suit alleges she “smeared and defamed” Nunes by repeating a claim that he was somehow involved with a California winery that was wrapped up in a shocking scandal, which included mention of underaged prostitutes and cocaine.

I can understand how he would be upset, but is Mair responsible for the report? I actually don’t recall seeing her mention anything about it, so he may be inflating her part in the spread of the scandal.

Then again, as I pointed out, he’s suing because a couple of anonymous accounts, probably from just the average Joes blowing off steam, made fun of him.

I can’t think of anything more cowardly or weak.

The suit pushes on, claiming Twitter allowed “libelous” content.

“Defendant, Devin Nunes’ Mom, is a person who, with Twitter’s consent, hijacked Nunes’ name, falsely impersonated Nunes’ mother, and created and maintained an account on Twitter (@DevinNunesMom) for the sole purpose of attacking, defaming, disparaging and demeaning Nunes,” it states.

Some of the remarks cited in the lawsuit include the following: “Devin Nunes’ Mom stated that Nunes had turned out worse than Jacob Wohl; falsely accused Nunes of being a racist, having ‘white supremacist friends’ and distributing ‘disturbing inflammatory racial propaganda.'”

Ok. I’m ready to rethink everything.

Saying he turned out worse than Jacob Wohl is, indeed, below the belt.

Calling it a “conspiracy,” Nunes’ lawyers write in the suit that they’ll be looking to see if any Democrat donors are involved in making fun of their pitiful, aggrieved client on the internet.

The part that has sane, rational individuals laughing out loud is just how clueless Nunes seems to be about how the internet works.

While the Devin Nunes’ Mom account has been suspended (*Edit* A new account, called “Devin Nunes’ Alt-Mom” @NunesAlt has kicked up, as of this morning), the Devin Nunes’ Cow account has blown up, now boasting over 59 thousand followers, and some hilarious mockery.

It has also spawned other accounts, and it will likely continue.

If we can just think of the more serious implications of this suit for a moment, I want us to consider what it is that Nunes is trying to do.

He’s trying to curtail speech. He’s trying to make an example of parody and what would otherwise be considered lighthearted, frivolous fare.

Now think of the comments from Nunes’ liege, President Trump, as he rages against TV sketch shows, like Saturday Night Live, that make fun of him.

On more than one occasion, he’s suggested the iconic Saturday night show be investigated for their portrayals of him, neglecting to note that these parodies did not start with him, but have been a mainstay of comedy for decades.

What Nunes is doing is no different, but actually moves in a direction that could arguably make it easier for thin-skinned tyrants to clamp down on protected speech.

Something to consider.

And one more thing:

Last Congress, Devin Nunes cosponsored a bill called the “Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act”https://t.co/muQ0FhmUO7

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) March 19, 2019