And the beat goes on. Another day, more stupid Facebook posts and tweets from politicians. Sure, many people do that these days. But we still expect better from our elected officials. And we still have the power of the vote to demand better.
The latest infringement on our sense of civility and decency was part of a nationwide backlash against the Women’s March on Washington Saturday, a backlash that jarred, at least temporarily, some politicians nationwide from their sanity, including two Republicans from our area.
Our new insurance commissioner, Mike Causey of Greensboro, was one. “Causey shared a photo on his Facebook page Sunday from someone in Jacksonville, Florida, that showed a street filled with marchers with the text overlaid: ‘In one day, Trump got more fat women out walking than Michelle Obama did in 8 years,’” The Associated Press reported.
“WRAL-TV in Raleigh reported Mike Causey said in his apology that the post he shared on Facebook and linked to one of his Twitter accounts ‘represented a momentary lapse in judgment on my part for which I am truly sorry,’” the AP reported.
The apology was certainly needed. Let’s hope Causey’s moments away from judgment decrease and he bears down on his job, including keeping our auto-insurance rates as low as his Democratic predecessor did.
State Sen. Joyce Krawiec of Kernersville, to a less offensive degree, also got caught up in the wave. “Around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Krawiec apparently posted this message to her Twitter account: ‘Message to crazies @ Women’s March — If brains were lard, you couldn’t grease a small skillet. You know who you are,’” the Journal reported.
“By Tuesday morning, Krawiec had taken down the tweet and attempted to explain her message. ‘I applaud those women who were there for the cause and were respectful,’ she wrote at 8:30 a.m., shortly after tweeting ‘BTW I was only speaking of the DC protesters dressed inappropriately and spewing foul language. Distrespecting [sic] women. Not representing women.’”
She followed up with two separate apologies on Twitter, the Journal reported: In the first, she wrote, “I apologize. I apologize. I was only talking to those who acted inappropriately. Forgive me Please. Twitter Lesson learned.”
In the second, she wrote, “I apologize to those women who marched for right reasons. I was only talking about those I described. They didn’t speak for all women.”
Sen. Krawiec’s responses struck us as more heartfelt than that of Commissioner Causey.
But both should realize that such insults are more than just wrong. They’re also not practical for politicians dependent upon votes, even in districts such as Krawiec’s that favor her party.
We hope she means it when she writes, “Twitter Lesson learned.”
And we hope that Causey has learned something as well.
Even President Trump seems to be reducing his volume of insulting tweets. If he can do it, anybody can. Here’s to dreams of civil cyberspace. If only our politicians could lead us there.
