With 140 characters to say the most thoughtless remarks, better left forgotten in passing conversation and an awkward silence, careless words live on and are re-tweeted for mass consumption. When former SEAL and American Sniper author, Chris Kyle and his fellow veteran Chad Littlefield were murdered at a gun range on Saturday it was sad and tragic.
The civil and polite thing to do when someone dies is to offer condolences.
And if you can't say something nice... don't immediately tweet a backhanded political message of 'I told you so.'
Former presidential candidate Ron Paul tweeted:
Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense
Coulda-shoulda-woulda -- two days after a heartbreaking tragedy this tweet is out of step and out of line. Don't be so quick to judge treating PTSD at a firing range. Exposure therapy is a technique that helps people to safely face the thing that they find frightening so they can learn to cope with it effectively. When a horse kicks you, they say, 'Get back in the saddle.' Gun ranges are safe places to practice with guns. And who better to work with than Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield?
We don't know what the circumstances that Saturday were and it's impossible to go back in time to prevent what happened. Sticking a knife in the wound does nobody any good. Quoting Revelations is tasteless. Neither Kyle nor Littlefield deserved what they got, but that's exactly what they quote means.
Peter Webber at The Week calls Ron Paul's tweet 'puzzling.'
Twitchy refers to him as 'Ghoulish'
Frankly, I think he's lacks a clue. When he needs to be prompted that manners come first and political bickering is second, he's lost the plot.
PRO TIP: Wait until the man is properly buried before you exploit his death for your own gains. It won't make you less of an asshat, but it will make you sound like less of one.
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