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Minnesota Legislator’s NBA Tweet Was Not a Great Idea

Minnesota Legislator’s NBA Tweet Was Not a Great Idea

The hard thing about Twitter is context. Twitter doesn’t have any. The words you tweet may be the end result of a lot of critical thought in your own mind, but for everyone reading the tweet, it’s a single balloon, floating alone on the Internet, vulnerable to just about any sort of pinprick whatsoever. Such is the lesson Minnesota Rep. Pat Garofalo is learning. Following the offending tweet and a deluge of outrage from NBA fans, basketball players and a lot of people who saw some uncomfortable racial undertones to his sentiment, the Representative has issued an apology:

The NBA has many examples of players and owners who are role models for our communities and for our country. Those individuals did not deserve that criticism and I apologize. In addition, it’s been brought to my attention that I was mistaken and the NBA policy on drug enforcement is stronger than I previously believed.

Regardless of how the apology goes over, here’s a good lesson for all of us to remember: Twitter is not the place for nuance …

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