What others say: Lynching by Facebook

  • Sunday, March 15, 2015 5:33pm
  • Opinion

“If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.”

So said Cardinal Richelieu, the de facto ruler of France in the early 17th century. These days, one can’t help but wonder what he would have done with Facebook.

In the past few weeks, Alaskans have seen enough examples of what their own fellows have done with social media.

Last month, Alaskans saw Jeff Landfield’s nomination to the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct dropped after pictures circulated in the Capitol from his Facebook page. Some of the “disrespectful images,” to use the words of a spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Walker, featured Landfield clad in a thin Speedo with women in Las Vegas. One showed him with his hands on a woman’s breasts.

This week, it was Craig Fleener’s turn.

Fleener has been nominated by Walker to be third in the state’s line of succession, but at a confirmation hearing Monday, lawmakers were greeted by a letter and a printed Facebook post. “Great advice!” Fleener declares in the post, which has a delicately posed picture of an apparently naked, intertwined man and woman and a link to a Huffington Post article entitled “Five reasons you should have sex with your husband every night”.

A wag on Twitter quipped: “Is it the content they’re angry about, or the fact that he apparently reads (the Huffington Post)?”

If this seems ridiculous, it is. More often than not, confirmation hearings seem to be stages for the confirming — not the confirmed — to showcase their rhetorical talents and demonstrate they are tough on whatever we’re being tough on this week.

Still, the confirmation process has its purpose. We suspect the failed McCain presidential run in 2008 might have wished it did a little more fact-checking before its vice-presidential confirmation.

Facebook, too, has a place in confirmation. A politician is not only his or her stance on the issues. He or she has a life experience — a sum total of events and relationships that are the building blocks of what they stand on today, and may stumble upon in the future. Looking at all those building blocks is necessary.

That look must have context, however.

A Facebook post — or Richelieu’s “six lines” — can be taken out of context and easily twisted. At a confirmation hearing, where an interrogator’s mind may be decided before he or she enters the chamber, this danger is particularly great.

Examining a candidate’s social media activity may seem silly, but it must be done. More than that, it must be done carefully, or else an innocent person might be the one being hanged.

— Juneau Empire,

March 5

More in Opinion

Promise garden flowers are assembled for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Let’s keep momentum in the fight against Alzheimer’s

It’s time to reauthorize these bills to keep up our momentum in the fight to end Alzheimer’s and all other types of Dementia.

Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., questions Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Sept. 14 on Capitol Hill.
Opinion: Music to the ears of America’s adversaries

Russia and China have interest in seeing America’s democracy and standing in the world weakened

Dr. Sarah Spencer. (Photo by Maureen Todd and courtesy of Dr. Sarah Spencer)
Opinion: Alaskans needs better access to addiction treatment. Telehealth can help.

I have witnessed firsthand the struggles patients face in accessing addiction care

Former Gov. Frank Murkowski speaks on a range of subjects during an interview with the Juneau Empire in May 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Need for accounting and legislative oversight of the permanent fund

There is a growing threat to the permanent fund, and it is coming from the trustees themselves

(Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Imagine the cost of health and happiness if set by prescription drug companies

If you didn’t have heartburn before seeing the price, you will soon — and that requires another prescription

Mike Arnold testifies in opposition to the use of calcium chloride by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities on Kenai Peninsula roads during a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Votes: Civic actions that carried weight

Watching an impressive display of testimony, going to an event, or one post, can help so many people learn about something they were not even aware of

The Kasilof River is seen from the Kasilof River Recreation Area, July 30, 2019, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Helicopter fishing a detriment to fish and fishers

Proposal would prohibit helicopter transport for anglers on southern peninsula

The cover of the October 2023 edition of Alaska Economic Trends magazine, a product of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. (Image via department website)
Dunleavy administration’s muzzling of teacher pay report is troubling

Alaska Economic Trends is recognized both in Alaska and nationally as an essential tool for understanding Alaska’s unique economy

Image via weseeyou.community
5 tips for creating a culture of caring in our high schools

Our message: No matter what challenges you’re facing, we see you. We support you. And we’re here for you.

The Alaska State Capitol is photographed in Juneau, Alaska. (Clarise Larson/Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Vance’s bill misguided approach to Middle East crisis

In arguing for her legislation, Vance offers a simplistic, one-dimensional understanding of the conflict

A rainbow appears over downtown as residents check out rows of electric vehicles at Juneau’s EV & E-bike Roundup on Sept. 23. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: We should all pay more for the privilege of driving

Alaska has the lowest gas tax in the country

tease.
Opinion: Sports saves

ASAA has decided to take a vulnerable subgroup of these youth and reinforce that they are different and unwelcome