Ah, the perils of Facebook. When will rising political stars learn that a Facebook wall is not an appropriate venue for unsavory comments?
The latest culprit in a string of Facebook wall-offenses is (was) the Deputy Press Secretary for Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer. Lee Landor posted a comment to her Facebook account earlier this week in which she lauded Cambridge, MA police for “doing [their] job” and stated that President “O-dumb-a” should not have involved himself in the issue of the controversial arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as he attempted to enter his home. Landor wrote:
“You know what, I am really getting SICK of hearing about how white people are evil racists. Black people, Hispanic people, Indian people, Asian people, whoever, are being over-the-top racists in recent weeks, as highlighted in the media since the Sotomayor-New Haven issue,”
After a friend left a shocked reply to her initial post, Landor went on to respond:
“And racial profiling does exist, but for good reason. Take a look at this country’s jails: who makes up the majority of the inmates. Exactly.” (for a screenshot of the remarks, see City Hall News article)
Ms. Landor was asked to resign in the wake of her comments after they circulated through the local political community. This follows a similar incident from Audra Shay, the newly elected president of Young Republicans of America. Shay was criticized for laughing at a comment made by someone else on her Facebook wall in which a racial slur was used to refer to President Obama. Shay’s wall comments were made just before the YRA elections and while many speculated it would taint her candidacy, she was, nonetheless, still elected as the group’s president.
Is it right that Landor was forced to resign? Maybe we should all seek comfort in the knowledge that an elected Democrat considered Landor’s Facebook faux pas an actionable offence while Republicans rewarded Shay by electing her to a leadership position. Conversely, is it reasonable to assume that what one chooses to post on Facebook is a private matter? Either way the definitive answer seems to be that what is posted on the internet/Facebook is fair game, especially when you are representing an elected official. One is most certainly entitled to his or her personal views but a public forum is, perhaps, not the best place in which to express them.
So, aspiring politicians, beware the interwebs!
