In the opinion of Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman, President Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night on the war in Afghanistan was deliberately timed to block the Christian message of the "Peanuts" television Christmas special.
Wiseman made the statements on his Facebook page, where he declared Obama to be a Muslim. Only people on Wiseman's "friend's list" had access to the post. He has more than 1,600 friends on Facebook.
"Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation (sic) about it....w...hen the answer should simply be 'yes'...."
"A Charlie Brown Christmas," which first aired in 1965, has become an endearing program for many because of its emphasis on the "real meaning of Christmas," including Linus' memorable reading from the Gospel of Luke of Jesus' birth.
In Wiseman's extensive thread that attacked the president, his supporters and Muslims, he stated "...you obama people need to move to a muslim country...oh wait, that's America....pitiful."
At another point he said, "you know, our forefathers had it written in the original Constitution that ONLY property owners could vote, if that has stayed in there, things would be different........"
When contacted Thursday, Wiseman declined to comment about his Facebook posts.
"It's ridiculous for someone to send my Facebook post," Wiseman said. "You guys are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill."
As the popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook has increased, some organizations, such as some NFL teams, have banned the use of posting comments online because of inflammatory and embarrassing remarks that invariably make it into the public domain.
To avoid online controversies, Ellyn Angelotti, a faculty member at the Poynter Institute, said that everyone, not just public officials, must to be careful of what they post on the Internet.
"A lot of people think Facebook is private so only a limited number of people can see their post," Angelotti said. "But the reality is that it can be made public.
"You've got to be careful. The same social rules that apply in real life should be applied to the virtual life."
Wiseman said his post received more than 70 comments.
For the record, I think its ridiculous to say that the President scheduled his speech to deliberately interrupt the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Furthermore, even if the President were Muslim (which he claims he is not), should that even matter? Why is it that Christianity seems to be a requirement for not only positions like to be the President of our country, but also seem to be synonymous for decency, humanity, and intelligence? What's wrong with being Muslim? Or being an Atheist? Or being anything else that isn't Christian?
I'm not even going to touch his comment about land owners voting... thoughts, anyone?
I think that it is sad that people will be hiding thier thoughts, instead of letting people know what they really think and feel. Even if their words are unpopular, they should be spoken, or written for all to see. Anything less would be an act of deception. If a person really is a racist, bigotted, hate monger, everyone should know it.
ReplyDeleteWell said kdstentzel! This is a fascinating story. Maybe even more interesting was the comments that people have posted on this story...I got hooked and read them for a good 20 minutes (what a waste of time).
ReplyDeleteKevin, I agree that it is sad that people have to hide their thoughts. You say that anything less would be an act of deception. The way I see it, however, is that is it one thing to reveal your thoughts and it is another thing to deceive others, such as Wiseman saying "our muslim president". It should be obvious and clear by now that President Obama is not Muslim. By the way, even if he was, it wouldn't matter to me!
I agree, more and more people are becoming scared to share their feelings on subjects and feel the need to hide their thoughts. I think it is becoming an issue because we have to sensor everything out of fear that what we say is taken out of context and spun around in different ways.
ReplyDeleteRegardless or not if I am a fan of President Obama, all the things people are using as excuses to find fault with him are getting very annoying. Saying that "Obama's speech...on the war in Afghanistan was deliberately timed to block the Christian message of the 'Peanuts'...Christmas special..." is crazy. President Obama is Christian, as reported by the Associated Press. And even if he had 'purposefully planned' his speech over the Peanuts special, we need to be focusing on what our PRESIDENT is saying anyway. The war in Afghanistan affects all of our lives, and if your life is going to change that much from not watching the Christmas special, I suggest you go out and buy a video copy of it so you can stay sane.
Wiseman did apologize for his comments on Dec 8, and the Associated Press reported "he regrets offending anyone with what he described as a 'poor attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor amongst friends..." The AP reported that Wiseman has since deleted his facebook account. I don't think it would be wrong to assume it is a result from this story hitting headlines.
I am glad we live in a country that has freedom of speech, but I don't think that means people should feel free to spout off whatever random or offensive thing that pops into their heads. That is being irresponsible with the freedom of speech they have been given. The internet has been around long enough that people should know to be careful with what they say. When something is on the internet, readers miss all the voice inflections and body language that cue you to take the comment as a joke or sarcastically or seriously.
ReplyDeleteAs for the speech being part of an elaborate plot to block the Charlie Brown Christmas special... conspiracy theorist much? I agree with Kelsey- buy a copy if it's that important!
I am also grateful that we live in a country that has freedom of speech, but I think that the mayor was way out of line with the comments that he made. I think that regardless of whether he agrees with the decisions that the President makes or not, he is still the President and he should respect him. It seems like some people just look for anything they can find to bash on the President and bring it up as if to prove that he isnt qualified for the position. Even though I dont agree with everything that he does, I respect him and honor him as the President of the United States. If someone has a concern with a decision that he makes, I think that voicing their opinion is okay. But when there is someone (especially a mayor) making childish remarks about something that isnt even true, I think there is something very wrong with that.
ReplyDeletere: Kelsey
ReplyDelete"he regrets offending anyone with what he described as a 'poor attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor amongst friends.'"
I recently read a book by Tim Wise called "White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son" and he talks very frankly at one point about people who make racist, bigoted, ethnocentric (pick your favorite term) comments "among friends". He talks about "white bonding", or what happens when one person, finding himself among all whites, attempts to break the ice or start a conversation with racist talk.
We need to look at the bigger issue embedded in this story. It's not really about what one high-profile person said. It's realy about some people thinking it's ok to assume that others will appreciate insulting language directed at others who are different in some way, just because they are your "friends" on facebook or share a racial, ethnic, or cultural identity. This was not a "poor attempt at... humor", this was a deliberate attempt to belittle someone because of his race and/or religion, and to get people to accept it becaues it was, after all, "just a joke".
My point is that some jokes are better left untold. Bigotry is never ok, even in joking, because it has real consequences. Sometimes entire groups become marginalized simply because a majority group thinks it's ok to joke about them. He wouldn't have regretted it if someone hadn't told him that they wouldn't tolerate his "white bonding" moment. I think it's about time to stop saying "that's not funny, don't make those kinds of jokes around me" and start telling people that it's not ok to assume that just because I'm white and Christian that I'm a bigot. It's obvious that this guy thinks very little of white Christians. Nothing funny about his little "joke."
Oh, and one other thing. As long as we're discussing going back to requiring land ownership to vote, can we also insist that women can't vote, and that you have to be well educated to vote? I'd really like to go back to being governed by a powerful aristocracy with no say in anything. Ha!