Labrador staffer fired for ‘Me Likey Broke Girls’ tweet gets some sympathy

http://twitter.com/#!/PhilHardy/status/298241901797195776

Phil Hardy is the communications director for GOP Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho.

Or rather, he was.

The exact text of the tweet above accidentally appeared on Rep. Labrador’s official Twitter account by accident. It was deleted after 14 seconds, but of course, Twitter is forever. The Idaho Statesman newspaper broke the story and news of Hardy’s firing over the reference to a racy Super Bowl ad for the TV show, “2 Broke Girls.”

Idaho’s Labrador fires spokesman for bawdy ‘2 Broke Girls’ Super Bowl ad pole-dancing tweet. Hardy was flack since 2010.bit.ly/WNd4YB

— IDS_Politics (@IDS_Politics) February 6, 2013

As word spread of Hardy’s firing, so did some sympathy among political watchers and journos.

The idea that you’d fire someone for a very minor twitter blooper is crazy. washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-pol…

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) February 7, 2013

@buzzfeedben Hardy was a very good spokesman too. Accessible, responded after hours, answered q’s quickly.

— Daniel Walters (@danielwinlander) February 7, 2013

Raul Labrador seriously fired his spokesman for a tweet that he deleted after 14 seconds. Wow, really!? washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-pol…

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) February 7, 2013

Everyone makes mistakes . . . was this really a fire worthy offense? In today’s digital age I really don’t think so. bit.ly/XoN042

— Francesca Chambers (@fran_chambers) February 7, 2013

There’s always someone who sees racism, of course:

Impressive that the reporter & every commenter think this tweet’s problem is “bawdiness”, not “racially offensive” bit.ly/TPPVET

— Francis Lam (@Francis_Lam) February 7, 2013

Weighing both sides:

On the one hand, I’d hate to be fired for a single Twitter mistake. OTOH, the guy’s job is PR. wapo.st/Wxc8YM

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 7, 2013

@baseballcrank1) there but for the grace of God goes every modern PR person. 2) that congresscritter deserves NO loyalty. Overreaction.

— Michael Krempasky (@krempasky) February 7, 2013

Don’t think firing was necessary damn RT @mashable: Hill Staffer Fired for Tweeting ‘Me Likey Broke Girls’ on.mash.to/XTmWxZ

— CorinaCorina (@CorinaCorina) February 7, 2013

What do you think?

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2013/02/07/labrador-staffer-fired-for-me-likey-broke-girls-tweet-gets-some-sympathy/

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