Joan Ball is a business professor at St. John’s University in New York and the author of Flirting with Faith: My Spiritual Journey from Atheism to a Faith-Filled Life.
It does if Terry Moran (Moron?) tweets it.
So, the civility debate rages (ironically) on. And as everyone’s buzzing, the president’s now caught up in it, having remarked off the record in a CNBC interview that he thought Kanye West was a jackass after Kanye’s Taylor Swift-boating stunt at the VMAs. ABC reporter Terry Moran tweeted the comment indiscreetly, then deleted it, and is now finding himself and his network among the legions of apologists cropping up after they blurt out inappropriate remarks in various media outlets.
Question: is President Obama also now to be lumped among the uncivil cretins at whom we wag shocked moral fingers? Or, was his comment, whether you agree with it or not, acceptable because it was never meant to enter the public discourse?
Off the record ought to mean off the record, no? So, is it a crime to mutter your opinion, just a minor rookie mistake on the part of the prez, or a real moral flop on the part of reporter Moran?
Or is it the technology we ought to blame for our loose lips? With Twitter making indiscretion almost too easy, blurting out thoughts without, well, thought, seems to be becoming all too common.
What do you think? Who’s the jackass here? (And don’t say me, OK?!)
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posted September 15, 2009 at 11:54 am
I would have to say that the reporter is at fault in this situation. Too many have loose lips and no regards for the results that become the final result. “Off the record” meant just what it states. The president deserves his right to privacy on his personal feelings, just as the rest of us. The world of reporting blows so many things up and out of proportion, all in the name of giving people the scoop. This reporter should step back and think how they would like what they did to be done to them. The answer is simple: they wouldn’t. Let us not forget that age old saying, “do unto others as you would want others to do to you.” Private feelings and thoughts should remain just that-private. That is the problem with today’s world. Everyone has to be in each other’s business. Kanye was way out of line that night. What kind of example did he set for the younger generation? Thank goodness Boyance had enough morals to make a positive out of a very negative situation. She is one classy lady.
posted September 15, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I believe they all are at fault. The reporter for her lack of ethics, in keeping off the record, off the record. The President for even adding to the fray.If he wanted to keep his privacy, he could have also kept silent, or framed it better,saying it was unfortunate, that West stole Taylors spotlight.