Tag Archives: social media

UT won’t penalize professor for tweet that ‘offended many’

The University of Tennessee College of Law Dean Melanie D. Wilson said Tuesday that no disciplinary action will be taken against Glen Reynolds, one of its law professors and a contributing columnist for USA TODAY and the News Sentinel for a tweet urging motorists to run over demonstrators blocking traffic in Charlotte, N.C.

Further from the News Sentinel:

“The tweet was an exercise of his First Amendment rights,” Wilson wrote in a post on the law school’s website.

“Nevertheless, the tweet offended many members of our community and beyond, and I understand the hurt and frustration they feel.”

The law school had begun an investigation after a Glenn Reynolds’ tweet.

Twitter briefly suspended Reynolds’ account after he responded to a tweet from a TV news station Wednesday night in Charlotte that showed protesters — angered by the police shooting of a black man — on Interstate 277.

“Run them down,” he wrote.

Reynolds, the creator of the Instapundit blog, tweets from the handle @Instapundit.

Wilson wrote that the law school’s investigation included “an examination of the facts, policies in the university’s Faculty Handbook, and the law.”

She said she also talked to Reynolds, university leadership and the general counsel as well as students, staff, faculty, Alumni Council and Dean’s Circle.

“In short, no disciplinary action will be taken against Professor Reynolds,” she wrote.

Rep. Lynn’s tweeting gets critique

State Rep. Susan Lynn, who distributed anti-Muslim material in the Legislature earlier this year, now now being criticized for Twitter comments, reports WSMV TV.

Lynn retweeted a CNN article with the headline “Khizr Khan: Donald Trump has a ‘black soul.'” She added her own comment, which read, “Well if a Muslim doesn’t want Trump, then we should.”

At least one colleague isn’t happy about the post. Chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party Mary Mancini said she was disgusted.

“I think it has a bigoted undertone against all Muslims. Absolutely 100 percent,” Mancini said. “To disparage a family who lost their son fighting for their country based on their religion, it’s the very definition of what it is to be a bigot.” Continue reading →

McCormick bemoans Clinton, Trump as worst since 1856

House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, on his Facebook page Wednesday, declared that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the “worst major party candidates since 1856.”

That election featured Democrat James Buchanan and Republican John Fremont, in addition to Millard Fillmore, who was the American Party’s candidate. Buchanan, who is frequently considered one of if not the worst president the country has ever had, ended up winning the race.

The Tennessean talked with him further on the matter:

When reached Wednesday evening, McCormick, who was a delegate for Marco Rubio, said he hoped Trump would be able to “get it together.”

“He needs to back off the statements he’s made about veterans,” McCormick said, pointing to the real estate mogul’s criticism of former Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son was an Army captain killed in Iraq.

…Although McCormick cautioned that under no circumstances would he vote for Clinton, when asked what he would do in the event that Trump doesn’t fix his ways, the House leader said, “I will vote for Chuck Fleischmann for Congress and for myself for state rep, and I’m not sure how many other places there will be on the ballot.”

Rep. Daniel responds to Cassius Clay Twitter flap (not by tweet)

State Rep. Martin Daniel says some of his recent Twitter commentary on the death of Muhammad Ali – the legislator referred to the famous boxer by his birth name, Cassius Clay — was posted by a staffer who has since been reprimanded.

Daniel also told the News Sentinel Monday night — after a forum appearance with three reelection opponents — that he has closed his Twitter account because it had become “too active.”

“I received death threats and derogative comments. There were threats made against my family,” he told the News Sentinel, after the West Knox Republican Club meeting,

In an earlier telephone discussion Monday, the Knoxville Republican also complained at some length that a “hit job” report on his Twitter commentary had been published (previous post HERE) without him having a chance to discuss the matter further. (Daniel says he returned a call from yours truly seeking elaboration and further comment — and he has repeatedly responded to other inquiries on other matters in the past. It was not received. He did not respond to email inquiries sent at the same time.)

Daniel, now campaigning for reelection against three opponents in the August Republican primary, said he views the Twitter remarks as “only personal comment” and not related to his role as a state legislator.

“I could care less about Cassius Clay – or Muhammad Ali – or any other athletes or celebrities” in relation to his work as a legislator, Daniel said. “It was not part of my official duties.”

In his initial tweet on Saturday, June 4, Daniel wrote: “Cassius Clay was a skilled, great boxer, but failure to enlist in the US military when the call was made is (a) black cloud on his character.” The legislator said he had posted that thought as a personal opinion, but not some of the subsequent posts, which were made by the reprimanded “staffer,” not identified.

Daniel appeared in a Monday evening forum with his three challengers on the August GOP primary ballot.

The earlier report had inspired a letter from Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, published by the Commercial Appeal (HERE). It begins::

In reference to the offensive tweets about Muhammad Ali issued by state Rep. Martin Daniel, it has recently become evident that I work with some of the most hypocritical, grandstanding, headline-grabbing politicians in the nation.
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Further from the News Sentinel::
When asked by the News Sentinel to comment on Daniel’s tweets, two of (Daniel’s opponents) said they wouldn’t have made such comments.

Former state Rep. Steve Hall, defeated by Daniel two years ago after serving two terms, said Ali was an honorable person and he didn’t think criticism the day after he died was appropriate.

“Just because of his religious beliefs (Muslim), I don’t believe all Muslims are enemies,” Hall said.

Lawyer James Corcoran said when a state representative is speaking as an official, “he is speaking for as many individuals as you can.” Ali’s death was not a time to be critical, he said.

The third candidate, Bryan Dodson, was unavailable after the meeting. He had made a point during the meeting to say he followed the 11th commandment of the late President Ronald Reagan — not to criticize fellow Republicans during a campaign.
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Note: This expands, updates and replaces an earlier post.