Kristen Neel

So a teenage girl from Georgia, Kristen Neel, apparently tweeted an anti-Obama comment, which was supported by some false prepositions: (1) the Australians have a president, (2) the Australians' purported president is male, and (3) the Australians' purported male president is Christian.  As it turns out, Australia's prime minister is a female atheist who cohabitates out of wedlock.  I say "as it turns out" because I didn't know any of that either before this supposed controversy came to light.  (I would be better served to know the name, gender, and relgious affiliation of the governor of my neighbor state, Nevada, but I don't know any of that either.)  My ignorance leaves open the possibility that there was also a fourth false preposition, that Australia's purported president "actually supports what [s]he says."  Only Australians can answer that I suppose.

Even though Ms. Neel was pretty reckless with her tweet (a quick trip to Wikipedia would have at least corrected her on the points she chose to adopt in making her argument), it really isn't the falsity of her prepositions that is newsworthy.  After all, don't people of all political affiliations make completely baseless comments on the internet.  In fact, whacky internet opinions are so common that they are entirely unremarkable.  The real newsworthiness of this episode is the visceral reaction people had to the comment of one teenage girl.  It sort of reminded me of when an insecure relative of mine used to visit and, when we were alone, would berate me with great sophistication; at the time, she was 23, and I was 8.  I'm not sure what attracted such acerbic responses from so many people, probably because it varied from the source of one retorting barb to the next.  Only the people that took a few precious minutes out of their day to show this teenager a thing or two can answer that question.

Amongst all of the possibilities, there must have been one or two retweeters who were so hostile in their response simply because Ms. Neel made herself such an easy target.  The (political) bullies rejoiced as she all-at-once revealed her political affiliation and substantial ignorance.  In one line, she became an easy target and a symbol to all they hate.  Then they rebuked her aggressively and gratuitously, a teenage girl obscurely posting on social media. 

You internet bullies do no service to your cause, whatever it is.  Even though Ms. Neel represents something you obviously hate, you accomplish nothing.  The real target of your ire probably knows their geo-political facts better than this teenager from Georgia.  In fact, you should be ashamed of yourselves.  For those of you with children, may they get treated just like you treated Ms. Neel when they display their ignorance.

I would like to respectfully say something to Ms. Neel as well, perhaps in the way of further education. Unlike Australia's prime minister, Obama is Christian.  He got married to his wife in a church, prays, and even attends services regularly.  I doubt that changes your opinion of him, but at least your next tweet will be more informed.