The Trump White House released a short statement on Tuesday afternoon:
“It is a longstanding tradition that the children of Presidents are afforded the opportunity to grow up outside of the political spotlight. The White House fully expects this tradition to continue. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.”
This perfectly appropriate exhortation appears to refer to the recent ugly social media attacks on President Trump’s 10-year-old son, Barron. A writer for Saturday Night Live was suspended for one tweet (since deleted), in which she hinted young Barron would be the nation’s first homeschool shooter.
And of course, hers was not the only such tweet to be sent on an Inauguration Day when liberals lost their collective minds with grief. Other tweeters discussed his “bitch face” (that was from a Canadian journalist) and his long history of killing small animals (that was made up, of course, and it came from a sports podcaster).
Remember: This kid is ten years old. He has nothing to be ashamed of. His attackers do. You don’t have to like anything about Trump to recognize that.
When the SNL writer, Katie Rich, was suspended for her tweet, it generated a debate about free speech. But the First Amendment is beside the point. The Constitution doesn’t guarantee a right to continued employment, no matter one’s behavior in public.
Long before there was such a thing as social media, it was common for employees who brought shame upon their employers to be fired or disciplined. Social media doesn’t change that equation, it merely offers one more opportunity for the undisciplined and intemperate to get themselves into trouble.
Tweet carefully, because examples of this abound.
Bill Kintner, a Republican state senator in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature, is now facing removal from that body as early as tomorrow. What he did probably pales in comparison to savagely bullying of a ten-year-old online, but it still brings the legislative body where he serves into disrepute.
Kintner, who had also gotten himself in trouble a year earlier for using a state computer for cybersex, got himself into trouble again, this time on Twitter:
Kintner drew fierce criticism Sunday when he retweeted Los Angeles talk show host Larry Elder, who mocked a picture of three women with signs protesting Donald Trump’s comments about touching women inappropriately. Above the photo, Elder wrote: “Ladies, I think you’re safe.”
Considering Kintner’s pattern of misconduct, his high profile (his poor suffering wife also works for Republican Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts) and the importance of giving Nebraskans confidence in their state government, it’s really not surprising that the legislature may now consider a resolution removing him from office as soon as tomorrow. His fellow Republicans may cast the first stones.
Donald Trump surprised everyone and won the presidency while routinely making what would have been career-ending comments in anyone else’s mouth. He never apologized, and he never backed down, and….he won anyway.
That may seem like an open invitation for everyone else to behave equally shamelessly. Don’t fall for that.
To the extent that shaming is properly practiced, it protects 10-year-olds from online adult bullies. It protects the integrity of government from loudmouth legislators who lack integrity. It protects low-wage workers from bullying by the wealthy and self-righteous. It prevents far more pervasive public harassment of women.
In a riot, shame is often the first thing to vanish. Had it remained in place, it might have prevented the torching of Muslim immigrants’ property by people who lack the patience and self-control required for self-government.
For all the talk nowadays about “shaming” being something negative, it is often the only thing that keeps our society functioning. If all men were angels, we would all always act out of conscience for the common good. In our fallen state, many of us refrain from shameful behavior because we don’t want to face the hard stares of our peers — let alone the potential legal or career consequences.
