A few of you took umbrage that I posted about Andrew Gillum's presence in a FL hotel room, w a man who was ODing & had a considerable amount of meth. I expressed dismay in Gillum and the response from some of you was that I was unfair to him bc I did not give him the benefit of
the doubt, didn't express sympathy for his potential drug addiction, or otherwise, brought attention to his scandal. A few of you who reached out to me are geniunely confused/upset about that tweet and since you are coming from a genuine place in your criticism/concern, I want to
address it. First, let me reiterate the facts, which are terrible for Gillum. He was not in room "helping a friend" he was hanging w the guy partying & was so intoxicated a different friend had to intercede w life saving efforts for the guy bc Gillum was off puking in the toilet.
Gillum claims he was only drunk ands w/o a drug test, we can't prove otherwise. If he fails to volunteer one, that will be answer enough. Why, if Gillum is a private citizen, should we have a right to judge him? BC Gillum is not a regular "private citizen." He's a man that put
himself forward as leader, once as a mayor, then as a potential Gov of the state, who would have been the state's 1st black gov, and fair or not, w that, comes a special responsibly that transcends the self. Just as I am now living a life that must represent all women in high
profile analysis/journalistic roles, or as Obama was the 1st black POTUS, & as JFK was the 1st Catholic, when you are an ambassador for a group of people, their hopes & dreams rest on you. Things become about more than just you. Its an awesome responsibility & failing it is a
terrible betrayal. Beyond that, how many of you who took umbrage w the story/tweet about Gillum, or who offered caveats, or wait and sees, or equivocations, would have been uniformly aghast & quick to judge had the story been about a Republican politician? I believe if you are
honest w yourself, for many of you, you'll admit, the reaction you have would have been quite different. This is natural. We are humans and we give our in-groups one type of treatment and our out-groups another. I, however, work hard NOT to do this. That said, I have had to teach
myself not to. Finally, many of you are new & I haven't said this in a bit: you follow me to learn what you need to know, not what you want to hear. Sometimes those things will align and sometimes they will not. Challenge yourself to weather through the times it doesn't.
Btw: you can read more about this incident here google.com/amp/s/slate.co…
