A couple of weeks ago, Lauren Pierce (my sister) was on ABC News and all the local channels because of a tweet that she wrote. The tweet is shown above.
With one tweet, she had her fifteen seconds of fame.
As a result of her being the President of College Republicans at the University of Texas at Austin, her tweet received a lot of hype. Now, if she was just another random person that wasn't affiliated with a certain political group... would the tweet be on the news? I think not.
Most of the articles that were written about Lauren's tweet were titled:
"Lauren Pierce, President Of College Republicans At University Of Texas At Austin: Obama Assassination 'Tempting' ". (something to that effect)
The word that they emphasized was "Tempting".
As if she had a rifle in her hand and was saying let's go do it, y'all.
Of course, that was not the case. The emphasis on the word "tempting" was just to make a good headline and cause hype or interest.
In the words of my sister: "It must be a slow news day".
Power of the media.
A single quote will prompt calls from the secret service and the UT police.
The problem was that people didn't read her whole quote.
Perhaps, they were too dyslexic to read the entire quote.
Perhaps, they don't have a sense of humor.
Lauren received death threats and vulgar comments.
Behind a computer screen, people can be so vicious and horrible.
Where are the consequences for that?
People feel empowered when they're behind the computer screen, saying anything and everything they please. The reason for that is because there is no face to face interaction involved.
Tweeting, Facebook, and texting are now as common as talking except for one thing
- it's in writing.
Sure, people have the freedom to say anything, but they may face some unwanted consequences as a result. Freedom of Speech does not free you of being held accountable for what you say.
Threatening the President of the United States is a class D felony under United States Code Title 18, Section 871. It consist of making "any threat to take the life of... or inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States".
No, Lauren wasn't threatening the President's life. She even said "... don't shoot Obama".
I find it funny that the people making those comments (more like insults) saying she's dumb and whatever else, are showing their low intelligence through their choice of words.
Their comments were stupid, funny, and untrue all at the same time. It's truly amazing.
Isn't it funny that people threatened her life because they believed that she threatened Obama's life?
How ironic.
As Harvey Danger's song Flagpole Sitta says: "been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding, the cretins cloning and feeding" and apparently using the computer to make harsh anonymous comments.
Yes, I did just use that quote because it was too "tempting".
This entry into my blog isn't an attempt to demonize some for their political views, but to make an example of a growing trend that affects nearly everyone now days: Social Networking.
ReplyDeletePeople in the United States have many rights to many things: free speech, ownership of a weapon, due process, etc... So why are Americans exposing themselves and waiving their own rights of privacy on an open forum? I'm not saying I don't condone this behavior, but it's hard for me to feel sorry for anyone who's chooses to acknowledge some rights and waive others for the reward of notoriety. I think this particular case is very entertaining in that regard.
Considering this is my last entry, I'll end with a challenge to anyone who reads it: Find a mirror and look at yourself. Ask yourself if you truly love your country and understand that for over two-hundred years Americans have sculpted this incredible land into the most amazing nation on Earth. Respect this Nation, respect your rights, and don’t complain if you’re not willing to sacrifice for the welfare of your country.