The culture wars are going extremely well. Thanks for asking.
Progressives coerced an admission of guilt this week from actor Mark Duplass, who had the temerity to tweet something complimentary about conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
Duplass kicked things off on July 18 by saying in a note to his more than 400,000 Twitter followers, “Fellow liberals: If you are interested at all in ‘crossing the aisle’ you should consider following [Ben Shapiro]. I don’t agree with him on much but he’s a genuine person who once helped me for no other reason than to be nice. He doesn’t bend the truth. His intentions are good.”
The online reaction was as swift and unforgiving as one would imagine, prompting Duplass to delete the offending tweet almost immediately.
“He thinks people like me are delusional, mentally ill monsters who don’t deserve legal protections. But sure, Mark, aside from that, he’s great,” said Upworthy editor Parker Malloy.
E! News’ Natalie Finn added elsewhere, “If you mean he helped you become better at transphobia and mocking the LGBTQ community, then totally.”
These are examples of the calm, even-handed reactions. There’s much more criticism for Duplass’ tweet, and it isn’t pretty.
As the deluge of outrage continued, the actor performed a total backtrack Thursday morning, issuing a full apology for ever having thought it was okay to break from progressive orthodoxy.
“So that tweet was a disaster on many levels,” the actor said in a statement issued from beneath the online dogpile. “I want to be clear that I in no way endorse hatred, racism homophobia, xenophobia or any such form of intolerance.”
He added, “My goal has always been to spread unity, understanding and kindness. But I am going to make mistakes along the way. Sometimes I move too quickly when I get excited, or fail to do enough research, or I don’t communicant myself clearly. I’m really sorry. I now understand that I have to be more diligent and careful. I’m working on that.”
The statement continued, reading like a forced confession recited by a battered political prisoner.
“But, I do believe deeply in bi-partisan understanding and I will continue to do my best to promote peace and decency in this would right now. that said, I hear you. And I want to say thank you to those who reached out with constructive criticism,” he said.
The statement concluded, “I have genuinely learned so much and wish everyone all the best.”
Duplass, if you’re reading this, blink three times if they’re hurting you. No one will think less of you for cracking. Everyone has a breaking point.
