Twitter is a fascinating place. Atlanta Brave legend and future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones can attest, after his “just kidding” tweet suggesting that Florida gators can be shipped to the Rio Grande to “stop the illegals” hit the national media (LR reported it first early yesterday morning, thank you, NBC Latino) and led to a Twitter apology by Jones’ Twitter profile.
In the grand scheme of things, Jones’ tweet is just one of the millions of stories that happen each day on Twitter. It just happens that Jones is a baseball legend, and he should know that expressing personal opinions, even framed in context of a “joke,” will get attention.
Interestingly enough, there are those who defended Jones and those who basically called him out. Such is the world of opinion and Twitter. Two takes about the Jones’ tweet reflect what we suspected all along: opinions will be varied and they will be complete polar opposites of each other, especially when it comes to immigration.
Case in point, read what The Hater wrote for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Don’t see what the big deal is here. Everybody knows if you append a statement with “JK” then it totally negates whatever negative connotation might be drawn from the preceding statement.
Besides, Chipper’s gator-river idea is clearly within the bounds of serious political commentary.
Herman Cain, another Georgia icon and fine American, proposed an alligator-filled moat as a deterrent for illegal immigrants when he was running for POTUS. But Cain would have added an electrified fence to kill the illegals as well as station military troops to shoot them. This means Chipper’s gator-river-only proposal is actually well to the left of a GOP presidential candidate.
Too bad Chipper didn’t stand his ground against the PC types who are contributing to the wussification of America. They are denying him his Constitutional right to say whatever he wants without being harshly criticized by those with differing views.
The Hater actually used Herman Cain as his example. Herman Cain. Dear Hater, your post was a bit moronic, and it missed the point. JK.
The Houston Chronicle’s José de Jesus Ortiz was a bit more rational about Jones’ tweet. Here is what he had to say:
Many people die each year trying to cross the border in a desperate attempt to improve their lots in life, and I simply don’t find it funny when athletes attempt to dehumanize immigrants by joking about them as though they’re some sort of prey.
Whether you agree or disagree with the U.S. immigration policies, I would assume we all agree that we must treat each other with respect and common decency. Chipper Jones is no John Rocker, and I’m glad Jones decided to apologize in another tweet tonight.
“I realize that my tweet yest was offensive and distasteful. An attempt at humor was a terrible mistake. Please accept my heartfelt apology!” he tweeted.
Chipper Jones has always been a class act when I’ve dealt with him, and I hope this was just one silly mistake. We all say stupid comments that we ultimately regret from time to time. Jones recognized his mistake, and hopefully he learned from it.
In this instance, we side with Ortiz. It’s not even close.
