Earlier this week, President Obama — well, supposedly it’s really him — joined Twitter as @POTUS. And because the world isn’t always a friendly place, a fraction of tweeters out there decided to direct nasty, racially charged messages at him.
David Badash at The New Civil Rights Movement decided to write about it:
Now, we could spend time trying to figure out exactly how Badash turned a handful of ugly tweets into a veritable flood of conservative bigotry, but if you’ll indulge us, we’d rather take a closer look at WaPo writer and MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart’s take:
The hatred squeezed into 140 characters by lunatics is enough to make you question your support for the 1st Amendment http://t.co/2Pq1WeVHqd
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 19, 2015
Beg your pardon?
The hatred squeezed into 140 characters by lunatics is enough to make you question your support for 1st Amendment http://t.co/2Pq1WeVHqd
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 19, 2015
Is that so?
The hatred squeezed into 140 characters by lunatics is enough to make you question your support for 1st Amendment. http://t.co/2Pq1WeVHqd
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 20, 2015
Once more, with feeling:
The hatred squeezed into 140 characters is enough to make you question your support for 1st Amendment. http://t.co/2Pq1WfdiON
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 21, 2015
Allow him to elaborate:
There are moments when I come thisclose to quitting Twitter. The amount of hatred squeezed into 140 characters or less by lunatics usually cloaked in anonymity is enough to make you question your support for the First Amendment and your faith in the decency of other people. To the uninitiated, the torrent of bigotry can leave you feeling violated. Even the most seasoned, battle-scarred, seen-it-all, can’t-nuthin’-shock-me individual will be left O-o by the filth in his or her Twitter feed.
A story I just read by David Badash at thenewcivilrightsmovement.com about the welcome President Obama got upon joining Twitter left me slack-jawed.
Recommended
You know what leaves us slack-jawed, Jonathan? That some stupid tweets are enough to make you doubt the First Amendment’s worth.
Taking great delight in seeing right wing that praised me after Ferguson piece trash me after Obama Twitter piece. What took y'all so long?
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 20, 2015
Dude, just because you got something right once doesn’t mean you’re immune from getting called out on your B.S.
@CapehartJ I mean, rolling back the first amendment is way more reasonable than quitting twitter.
— “Bob” The Emotional Support Hamster (@bob_emotional) May 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/R_U_Srs/status/601404147385008128
https://twitter.com/hboulware/status/601406638084358144
Maybe instead of questioning his support for the First Amendment, he should be questioning his understanding of it.
https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/601005388625014784
No its not RT @CapehartJ: The hatred squeezed into 140 characters by lunatics is enough to make you question your support for 1st Amendment
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) May 20, 2015
No it isn't. Idiot. https://t.co/bFPBPdMoTY
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) May 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/JGreenDC/status/601080951913975808
We don’t recall Jonathan getting the vapors when this happened:
https://twitter.com/sven10077/status/601404120013111298
Or this:
.@CapehartJ wassup?https://t.co/oIBPFnVtxjhttps://t.co/mt1lETr5Ophttps://t.co/CHst0CYEpohttps://t.co/8dmpLUNDpbhttps://t.co/aCoOir0vvu
— TheRightWingM ?? (@TheRightWingM) May 20, 2015
Guess those times were different or something.
Only if you don't understand that this is exactly why it's there. https://t.co/2ri55FfPvg
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 20, 2015
Only if you're a fool who doesn't understand the importance of the 1st Amendment.
Inexcusable for a "journalist". https://t.co/JPxM8LSfww— novaculus ❌ renegade dreg ?? (@novaculus) May 20, 2015
@CapehartJ If you're serious, you should question your understanding of the U.S. Constitution. You don't have a right to not be offended.
— (((David L. Ritter))) ن (@BlessedTex) May 20, 2015
.@CapehartJ If you thought the 1st Am was about protecting speech you thought was ok, you never really supported it to begin with, actually.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) May 20, 2015
https://twitter.com/UtVenatorem/status/601182540439904256
Freedom is hard for people like Capehart.
No, I even support the rights of morons like you https://t.co/ythe3PkPk8
— ⚡️Erick Brockway⚡️ (@erickbrockway) May 21, 2015
I support your First Amendment right to say any damn fool thing you want. https://t.co/4ipIR1QQi2
— ?It's?Almost ⛄️Christmas? (@jtLOL) May 20, 2015
God bless America.
https://twitter.com/ConWarrior1/status/601082366992363520
Here’s an idea:
https://twitter.com/JustEric/status/601024244705800192
We’ll wait.
https://twitter.com/JustEric/status/601407062095060992
Looks like we’ll be waiting a while.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member