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Politics and Social Media Clash: Sam Brownback vs Emma Sullivan

| Feb 06, 2012 | 5 comments

This year I picked a general theme to guide me in blogging. I decided the one thing I needed to do is be more intentional with what I do online to make me the best advocate of the Internet possible. For starters there is a lot of legislation going on in DC that I have been seeing that is going to impact the blogging world in a major way if any of it gets passed even at the most watered down level.

The first thing I want to talk about that shook up the blogging world in regards to freedom of speech was the #heblowsalot maelstrom  that erupted over Governor Sam Brownback getting his panties in a wad over a HS students tweet who said #heblowsalot. I was laid up recovering from a planned hysterectomy over Thanksgiving when it exploded like wildfire. The whole four day Thanksgiving weekend Twitter, the blogosphere and FB not to mention the various news sites out there were slammed with the Governors poor handling of the whole situation. To nail down all the information and present it here would take eons. Just for the term #heblowsalot alone generated 42,700 results on Google.

One thing is for sure is that for once bloggers and journalists came together in solidarity to say we have the freedom to share what we want on the Internet. American bloggers and journalists especially made our feelings known on this issue. Sam Brownback made Kansas a laughing stock once again tho in the eyes of the entire world over this debacle. Of course considering his propensity to keep kicking Kansans when they are down this is just par for the course for him.

I want to admit that I got carried away with my Tweets on #heblowsalot. I did it to prove a point that until our constitution is re written I can still say what I want to due to my protection of freedom of speech as laid out in the first amendment. I don’t jump on the band wagon on anything just to jump on it. I usually have a purpose for getting on that wagon. For me it is all about proving a point and well that point often gets across better using social media.

Really it was like watching a train wreck those 4 days. You didn’t want to watch but you didn’t want to not watch either. I remember thinking that all I needed was a bag of popcorn and then sit back and enjoy the show as Sam Brownback was forced to eat crow. While I don’t condone teenagers treating their elders with disrespect, I do support them when a political figure goes after a teenager using taxpayer money to waste time forcing her to apologize. The way his office handled it was wrong all the way around.

In this day and age of social media and politics merging politicians need to get a thicker skin. If you don’t want your delicate sensibilities offended then don’t become a politician and stay off of social media. This goes hand in hand with the oxymoron of Internet privacy. Which is a whole other post.



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RickPuaPila
RickPuaPila 8 pts

Rashid Ali a college student from Delhi university said whenever there is a terrorist attack he is quick to criticize it, however, when it comes to links related to stories of atrocities committed on Muslims , he prefers to remain silent for the fear that he may be branded as anti national or even Pakistani.He was of the opinion that, though social media sites have the potential to help the moderate section to raise awareness about the correct image of Islam, such voices are far and few. He further added that unless and until main stream media highlights the same or takes some initiative only that could bring a substancial change in the mindset about Muslims, in the masses in general.

URL: http://www.addvalue.com.au

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RickPuaPila
RickPuaPila 8 pts

Clash of Civilizations a theory, proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, says - people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War Era. When America was attacked on 9/11 this theory came to the core and since then has been used to explain the deteriorating image of Islam as a creed among the western powers. Over the period of time Islam has emerged as one of the most misunderstood religion of our times. The community is left with two choices. Either indulge in the blame game, to find who is responsible for the current mess or better try and fix the issue and make a fresh start.

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