So, two things:
1. Context is really important when presented with information. And Twitter, because of its message size limits, has only the context of "I've read a lot of stuff by this person, so I have an idea of how they think" to work with. That's pretty easily stripped away when retweeted, esp. ever since Twitter changed how retweets work. Tweeter beware, and take another look at that droll comment you're about to send off.
2. Yeah, it is kind of a creepy practice, apparently (based on the comments) practiced by both parties to get out the vote they think should be gotten out, whether it wants to be or not.
Okay, three things:
3. I think I probably would still have taken this, out of context, as sarcasm. That some others were quick to leap on this to their own ideological ends is certainly, if regretfully, to be expected.
Originally shared by +Les Jenkins:
JoCo tweets a political letter he received he thought was creepy/funny and Twitter goes nuts.
Jonathan Coulton
At first I got a couple replies from my immediate followers and the people I know, most of whom seemed to understand and share my take on it: that the letter was a little weird, ham fisted, and kind of dumb. It had the tone of a mobster threat (“Nice house. It’d be a shame if anything happened …
I received two of those letters last week. One was from an alleged Democratic organization. The other for a group calling itself “New Yorkers Together,” but whose address and the representative who signed the letter, belong to the CWA (Google is a handy tool). I was….peeved, to use more polite language than I might use privately. The letter from the CWA also contained voting information for a woman who is a stranger to me, and who definitely doesn’t live here, nor has anyone by that name lived here for at least 22 years.
These letters abound all over the country from what I’m hearing from friends and relatives. I do hope no one really calls me to find out why I did or didn’t vote, as they threaten in the letters. My answer will be this handy railroad whistle that used to belong to one of the grandkids.