MANATEES AND OUTRAGE

[Disclaimer: this is not a political post. What is at issue is critical thinking in general, something in which it seems we all could use a refresher course regardless of political allegiances.]

Last Monday I came across several people on Twitter enraged over viral video of a Florida manatee which, according to news sources, "had 'TRUMP' carved into its body". Although the water was somewhat murky, the offending word was clearly visible in large letters spanning the length of the animal's back. 

One tweet regarding the manatee that caught my eye in particular was comedian Jim Gaffigan. I've always liked Gaffigan's standup routines about food and such. He seems so mild mannered and likable. But on Twitter, he rages over anything Trump related.

He wrote: "Did you ever think you'd have to pace your outrage tweets about all the horrifying things Trump/his enablers/Cult members have done? Well, I sure do. If you have any information on the monster(s) who did this, please contact authorities. Accountability before unity."

First of all, as author Andrew Klavan says, "Anger is the Devil's cocaine". We are suffering from an epidemic of self-righteousness in the U.S. currently and the constant outrage is the number one symptom. Rather than "pacing" it, we need to give up this constant anger that is so incredibly unhealthy for us physically and socially.

Second, Gaffigan implies that if one Trump supporter did this, it is somehow representative of all Trump supporters. So any group can be collectively judged by its worst members? That sounds similar to the definition of "bigotry". 

Gaffigan further implies that calls for national "unity" must be set aside until this one person is brought to justice. 

Some sample responses to Gaffigan's tweet:

"I'm rage-crying right now."

"Whoever did this ... MUST BE FOUND."

"This is how serial killers behave."

"These people are HORRIBLE."

"It's very challenging not to hate all Trump supporters when I see this. But, I'm sure there are many that do not support this."

Several called for life in prison for the perpetrator(s). 

Sadly for all his followers rage-crying at home, Gaffigan never got around to tweeting the punchline later revealed elsewhere: Turns out that no knives or sandpaper were involved. Rather, "TRUMP" was written on the manatee's back by simply rubbing some algae off the creature's skin. 

There's quite a difference between "carving" and "rubbing". This manatee belongs on the long list of stories labeled "Not exactly true and not exactly false".