Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Face Book Satire Spins out of Control

by John Leander
BFP staff writer



There's been outrage today over a hideous comment that festered for hours on Sarah Palin's Facebook page. The comment was allowed to remain on the page while anything that might damage the conservative star's political standing was vigorously deleted.

Several watchdogs of the blog-o-sphere noticed and discussed the radically self-serving practice.

Here is the comment in its entirety, "It's ok. Christina Taylor Green [the nine year old girl killed in the Arizona shooting] was probably going to end up a left wing bleeding heart liberal anyway. Hey, as 'they' say, what would you do if you had the chance to kill Hitler as a kid? Exactly."

Here is how awful, heated, and hysterical the public discourse in this country has become. This opinion was meant to be satire and no one noticed. Granted, its not on the level of Swift's "A Modest Proposal," but if you take just a moment to really read it, (and read the discussion leading up to it) its an obvious parody.

Unfortunately for Tina King, her post fit in all too seamlessly with the hateful bile being spewed onto Sarah Palin's Facebook page. It's very sad to know that King's satire was immediately believable as the opinion of one of Palin's followers.

"I want to apologize for what was apparently an ill fated attempt at satire," Ms. King said. "I posted a comment that was meant to been seen as a brutal commentary on the violent rhetoric that has become a staple of the political discourse is this country."

Unfortunately, the "political discourse in this country," among Palin supporters is irrevocably saturated with "violent rhetoric." So much so, that an insane statement of rage passed as just another mainstream opinion of a popular and influential organization.

1 comment:

  1. I'm sorry I was one of the ones posting the comment. There was absolutely nothing on the quote to tell me it was satire, and because of where it was posted (on Palins site) and because of the other comments around it, I took it seriously. I'm so sorry. But it just goes to show me and Tina and people like us that what we say has consequences.

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