It was a joke. For which he’s been sent to prison.
A political joke online.
Admittedly, it wasn’t very funny. It certainly wasn’t new. That is, the general idea has been floating around for as long as there have been ballot boxes.
The ur-form of the joke is “Hey, [political opponent], why don’t you deposit that ballot right here in this handy receptacle [trash can]?”
The specific joke that got Douglass Mackey into big trouble sported an image of a smiling black woman in front of a white-on-blue “African Americans for Hillary/President” sign, along with the message: “Avoid the line. Vote from home. ¶ Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925 ¶ Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.”
It arguably flirted with dirty tricks of the sort honest people don’t engage in. But a lot of partisans do that sort of thing, not just Mr. Mackey, who posted the joke to his now-defunct “Ricky Vaughn” Twitter account. A better version of the joke about the same time was not only never prosecuted, the link to it’s still on Twitter (X). It just so happens, however, to have been made by a Democrat … against Trump voters.
Trolls flirting with Dirty Trick status are not criminals; there is the First Amendment. But what Mackey was successfully prosecuted for (he was sentenced last week to seven months) was “Election Interference.”
Tellingly, ZERO is the number of voters stepping up to testify that they were tricked into texting 59925 and then not voting by his lame meme. If there were any, they might understandably be too humiliated to bear witness.
Curiously, the law he violated does not mention misinforming a person as a criterion for criminality.
A country that selectively prosecutes this sort of thing — can it be said to be free?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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5 replies on “Memester to the Pokey”
Libprogs don’t do humor,
Don’t understand it.
Can simulate it while causing others pain.
But not really grasping the concept.
The fact that no one was fooled by this is irrelevant. Attempted bank robbery is still bank robbery. I would also say that all prosecution is selective to the extent that prosecutors have to pick the case which they feel fits best. It would be a huge task to go through all of the incidences which were not charged and list all the specific differences and similarities in the cases. That’s a job for somebody. I understand how the word selective infers that there is a nefarious motive. This may be another one of those examples of overestimating the talents and abilities of the enemy.
How many conservatives have posted the following over many decades?
“Don’t forget: Republicans vote Tuesday — Democrats vote Wednesday”.
I’ve never heard of anyone ever being arrested for that.….….….….….….….…
This is nothing more than political prosecution.
It is the selective prosecution which is concerning for when the population comes to believe that the justice system not impartial the potential of a free society lost.
Paul Jacob, when you tell us that a similar meme was posted on Twitter by a Democrat, and that he wasn’t arrested for it, then you should POST the LINK to that meme so we can see it!