Brad Pitts Mom Receiving Death Threats Over Anti-Obama Letter
Now, Mrs. Pitt is receiving a barrage of taunts and death threats over her letter. As Twitchy (which has compiled a list of Tweets regarding Pitts letter) notes, some online are advocating that the actors mother eat a dick (among other genitalia) for her comments, with others calling for her to be killed.
WND.com, meanwhile, reports that Mrs. Pitt has been scared into silence by the hate-filled, vulgar and even violent reaction to her letter:
WND spoke briefly with Pitt and asked about the media assault against her for her comments as a private citizen supporting Romney. With inflections in her voice that conveyed fear and despair, she quietly and politely said she was not interested in talking to anyone in the media about the incident.
When she was told WND supported her right to speak her mind and is appalled by the threats against her life, Pitt expressed gratitude to WND for being one of the few news agencies doing so. Even her thank you, however, was said in a subdued manner laden with heaviness of heart.
The report adds that she had every reason to be frightened.
As someone who has written online for a few years now (particularly on a site with political and politicized content), I can offer some insight on this: Mrs. Pitt, you really dont need to be afraid. Disturbed over the response? Disappointed? Disgusted? Sure. But to lend credibility to people who somehow didnt get the memo that its perfectly ok to be offended (And it really is! Its ok! Let your offense warm you and sustain you, people, instead of flailing it around on the internet. You wouldnt want it to unravel before you can use it.) by acting as if words written in anger or frustration hold any real power? Its not worth it. These people are venting. But, by writing a letter about a contentious matter meant for a wide-ranging audience, youve entered into a contract of sorts. You get to express your point of view, people get to love it, hate it, or inundate comment threads with plaintive wails of WHO CARES!
Mrs. Pitts case is an interesting one precisely because it provides several examples of how to deal with offending others and feeling offended, with neither side being able to claim to come out with their hands completely clean. Mrs. Pitts letter does indeed stand to offend. S! he makes a point of using the Presidents middle name and, whatever your thoughts on Obama, I think we can all agree that when people bring up the name Hussein, its for a very specific and calculated reason and paints same-sex marriage as a negative, something to be avoided. And, as someone who is constantly frustrated and disappointed by the speculation, gossip, and misinformation spread about both Romney and Obamas faiths, I know that Mrs. Pitts letter is detrimental to serious, intelligent debate. To lift up one candidate by putting down another might be a widely-practiced (and, as weve seen every campaign season, highly effective) tactic, but it doesnt elevate the discussion. And if someone is going to go ahead and slip down into the muck, its not exactly surprising that shell get muddy.
So dont worry, Mrs. Pitt. The people who wish you harm, the people who hurl sexist slurs your way are either ill-equipped or uninterested in engaging in a serious discussion. They either delight in being offended, or feel incensed because they somehow feel they should be immune to being offended or facing disagreement. But they wont do anything more than talk. The only way to rise above this, though, is to look at oneself, read over ones own arguments and wonder How can I do better? and, more importantly, How am I not doing better?
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