Parkergate: The tweet heard around the world!
Posted on June 22nd, 2011 –
You remember Senator Anthony Wiener, right? Sure you do! He’s the guy that tweeted pictures of his junk to a few women, presumably in the hope that he’d be able to hook up with them, and ended up being front page fodder as a result. If you’ll recall, the revelations surrounding his conduct made more than a few headlines and it was really only yesterday that he finally decided to resign, putting that tidbit on most newspapers’ back burners.
Well, if you they thought that was explosive, wait’ll they get a load of Parkergate!
That’s right … Parkergate; just like Wienergate but this time involving a local Toronto politician, John Parker. Well, just like Wienergate, except there was no (visibly) erect penis involved, just the tweet that Parker was surrounded by “hot chicks” while attending a recent plaque unveiling ceremony. Here’s the disgustingly full transcript (you might want to have your kids to leave the room now):
Delighted and honoured to help unveil eight new Toronto heritage plaques and meet hot chicks in the bargain. I love my job.
Can you believe that shit? “Hot chicks”?! What the fuckety fuck?!
The outrage was immediate and palpable. Here’s just a small sampling of the ensuing backlash:
The tweet was erased despite his initial refusal to apologize. Parker, known for his light-hearted tweets, blamed the media for making city hall a place where fun won’t be tolerated.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/06/21/john-parker-hot-chicks-tweet548.html
The insolence!
Although the event went off without a hitch, the councillor made waves later in the day when he expressed his view of the overall event on the popular social networking tool Twitter.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/06/20/toronto-politician-tweets.html
The gall!
Pulled out of a meeting at his City Hall office, Parker said the focus should be on the eight plaques unveiled Monday to honour Torontonians, not something he posted on Twitter.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/20/councillor-tweets-about–hot-chicks
Bastard!
Heritage Toronto communications director Rebecca Carson said, with a laugh, that she believed she was one of the “hot chicks” in question. She said Heritage executive director Karen Carter might have been another.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1011996–heritage-employee-surprised-by-councillor-s-hot-chicks-tweet
Sickening!
Parker (Ward 26, Don Valley West) said the constituents who have contacted him about the flap have been supportive.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1012552–parker-apologizes-for-offending-with-hot-chicks-tweet
Go back to Nazi Germany!
The Don Valley West councillor noted the number of people following his Twitter account has gone up in the wake of the story.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/21/councillor-apologizes-for-hot-chicks-tweet
Scum-sucking troglodyte!
When does a Tweet cross the line? When it involves “hot chicks” and a city councillor.
Arrrrrggggh!!!!! *running out of the room screaming*
Well, thankfully our mayor stood up and took offense right away, calling on Parker to apologize. I couldn’t actually find anyone else that was publicly offended but that’s probably because of the extreme trauma that’s been inflicted on them. I also couldn’t find a reference to who the “hot chicks” were, but obviously…
…ahhh, I can’t do this anymore. It’s soooooooo stupid! The reason I couldn’t find the offended parties is because, for all intents and purposes, they don’t exist. The various women interviewed for articles expressed, at most, surprise, but not much else. Seriously, even if they took offense, who among them would step forward to positively identify themselves as the “hot chicks” in that tweet? Only Rob Ford, it seems. And since he wasn’t there, I can only assume he took exception to not being included in that group. Well, sorry, Rob … maybe if you manicured your bikini line now and again.
John sums this up best: “I think I’ll be aware of the hazards of slow news days.”
Yup.
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