Of course, those weren’t Ehl’s only hilariously un-PC tweets, and as soon as The Stranger asked for comment, suddently every single person in the office was in a very important meeting, and Ehl’s unsavory twats were scrubbed. Also, “she apologized,” according to McKenna’s campaign, but she doesn’t seem to have an actual statement to that effect? Maybe we read too fast. Oh yes, here it is: The Stranger had a hard time finding it, since McKenna’s office apparently has The Stranger on some kind of No Fly List.
There’s insensitive. There’s stupid. Then there’s Kathlyn Ehl, who clearly failed to remember the Prime Directive of the Internet Age: A fool and her Twitter account, left together long enough, will inevitably confirm that she’s in fact a fool.
I can accept that Ehl may simply be guilty of epic, world-class insensitivity and immaturity. Young people do stupid things; we’ve all done it. We admit our screwup, take our medicine, get blind drunk out of remorse, and move on. Of course, few young people are working as aides for a Republican running for Governor of Washington. This adds a whole ‘nother level of insanity to the story, eh? Politics being what they are, common decency would seem to require one of two things:
Ehl would do the right thing, fall on her sword and resign from the campaign to save her candidate further embarrassment, or
The candidate would do the right thing, state unequivocally that he will not tolerate such immaturity and disrespect, and kick Ehl to the curb.
‘Course, her candidate, Rob McKenna, is a Republican, and as you might suspect, McKenna seems to have no real problem with Ehl’s behavior.
“My actions were not just unfortunate, they were offensive,” she told the [Seattle Times]. “It is a lesson to others that social media comments made in frustration not only can hurt others, but they exist long after the moment has passed.” She’ll reportedly keep her job.
If Ehl had maligned rich people, McKenna couldn’t have tossed her out on her keister fast enough. Insult Asians and the elderly and…well, those young ‘uns are SO precious, aren’t they?
Remember, being a Republican means never having to say you’re sorry…or worry about being held accountable for the words and deeds. And can you imagine the hue and cry, the weeping and gnashing of teeth if Ehl was working for a Democrat?
