One of the most glaring examples of hypocrisy, in a profession that abounds with it, is the way that American politicians decry the negative effects of social media even as they use these sometimes insidious tools to make fools of themselves.
Recently, we had Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill tweet about how a dead body would be a better president than Donald Trump. Coming so soon after Trump survived an apparent assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally, the remark was in astoundingly poor taste. Gill apologized.
Then Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who sometimes seems to exist only on social media, actually believed something he saw posted, a crude hoax that former President Jimmy Carter had died. Lee, without pausing to verify the news, posted his condolences. Oops.
Then Utah Gov. Spencer Cox led a chorus of politicians, from Utah and elsewhere, going out of their way to take deep offense at an image they didn’t take time to understand.
Part of the sensory overload of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremonies was a racy fashion show on the River Seine, several of the models performing in drag. Cox was not the only one who thought a row of runway observers resembled the famous Leonardo Da Vinci painting of The Last Supper, a depiction of Jesus and his disciples.
It was, Cox thundered, “a blatant mockery of a sacred event that my faith cherishes.”
Or not.
Others, including Lee, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams and divisive Utah Board of Education member Natalie Cline posted similar pearl-clutching comments. Anger was widespread, and led to death threats against the woman who played the central character in the presentation.
But calmer heads, including the designer of the ceremonies, saw the tableau as a depiction of hard-partying ancient Greece, pre-Christian birthplace of the Olympics, and were mystified that so much offense was taken by people who seem primed to be offended.
It was not very diplomatic of Cox, visiting Paris as part of Salt Lake City’s successful pitch to win the 2034 Winter Olympics, to insult his hosts. And to portray his state as a place lacking understanding of the classics.
Lesson to be learned: Social media encourages people to speak without thinking, without even trying to understand what is happening.
Those who aspire to be our political leaders should know better.