Stefanik has an itchy Twitter finger
A couple of fun posts from the world of sports
The Front Page
Afternoon Update
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
By Ken Tingley
Rep Elise Stefanik once again showed her itchy trigger finger on Twitter this week after several constituents told her office that a Mayfield teacher had been fired because she shared one of Rep. Stefanik’s posts about mask-wearing.
If that is true, it sounds like the teacher’s First Amendment rights may have been violated and we all should be concerned.
Newspapers get calls like this all the time from readers. The first thing they do is check to see if the information is true.
It appears that the first thing that Rep. Stefanik did was post a tweet on Twitter.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 120 people had liked the tweet, another 40 had retweeted it and 106 had left comments.
The tweet caused such a fuss that the Mayfield School District decided to release a statement:
“The information Congresswoman Stefanik posted is misleading and inaccurate. Ms. Stefanik’s allegation that a teacher has been placed on administrative leave for `sharing one of (Representative Stefanik’s) Facebook posts’ regarding the mask mandate also is inaccurate.”
When a newspaper checks on a story like this, it is usually told whether the person in question still works in the district and they will not share further information because it is a personnel issue.
The key information here is that the teacher was not fired, but was put on administrative leave. In subsequent tweets, Rep. Stefanik dropped the “fired” charge, but honestly, how difficult would it have been to say she got it wrong on the first try?
Newspapers post corrections all the time when they make a mistake. That is why so many of their readers still trust them.
Rep. Stefanik also demanded that the school district release all the documentation and communication related to the decision to put the teacher on administrative leave. Anyone familiar with the Freedom of Information Law knows that personnel information and investigations are often off limits regarding FOIL. As an elected official, Rep. Stefanik must know that.
This is another opportunity for her to divide a community and get attention for herself.
This is why so many people don’t trust the politicians who represent them.
Fun on Facebook, Twitter
Two big NFL stories produced a couple of classic pieces of social media this week.
The first came from the Cleveland Plain Dealer after Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and long time Cleveland Browns nemesis Ben Roethlesberger retired. Nice to see a little good-natured fun at the expense of the other team’s fans.
The second came from NBC News in New York after Tom Brady retired. It’s a classic case of burying the lead and making New York Giants’ fans feel good about something. It’s been a long time before they had a chance to feel good about anything with their team.
Thanks to former Post-Star sportswriter Melissa Hebert for posting both on Facebook.
Thankful she will no longer be my Congresswoman if the redistricting holds up
Thank you! I hope we can rid ourselves of her soon.