This is a bit of personal folderol, but so offbeat, unexpected and weird, and ultimately funny, that it’s worth retelling. It begins by helping to know who Clint Watts is. I suspect that most people who watch MSNBC do know, since he’s on often as a former FBI agent who’s testified before Congress and serves as the network’s analyst. He’s straight-forward, objective and no nonsense. Here’s some video footage in case you need a reminder or introduction. On Tuesday, Mr. Watts was again on MSNBC, talking from home about something critical – I believe it was the January 6th insurrection – and he did it in his as-always serious manner. Except there was one minor thing very different which leaped out, and was so surprisingly funny that I thought it deserved to be mentioned, and so I sent out a tweet about it. I wrote – “I just love that the always serious, profoundly objective, deeply staid former FBI agent Clint Watts is now on MSNBC with a ‘GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY’ whiteboard behind him.” It was hard to miss. As he spoke in his low-key, but blunt and forceful way about the critical topic, he’d put up a large whiteboard behind him and handwrote his message about this weekend’s big Army-Navy football game in very big letters. To make it even more surprising, a few minutes after I posted my note, I saw that it had gotten “Liked” by – Clint Watts. And then it was immediately followed by another public tweet from him to me that simply read, “#Go Army #BEAT navy.” Not what I expected from Clint Watts. Nor did I expect the adventure that was to follow from my benign, complimentary tweet. What happened was that shortly after, there was a responding tweet to me and Clint Watts from somebody chiding me, saying that the last thing they would ever describe Clint Watts as was “dull.” Okay, yes, it missed the point of my good-natured observation, but – c’mon, I didn’t call Clint Watts dull. I said he was always serious and profoundly objective. In these days of recommending to drink bleach and believing JFK is coming back from the dead, that's almost as high praise as I can give someone. Yes, I also said he was “deeply staid,” but the very definition of... Well, as I was pondering this, another similar note came in reply to me and Clint Watts, taking me to task for my description of him. And then, even Clint Watts jumped in, saying to my burgeoning dismay something like how that was his thought, too. Which struck me as a bit odd since he’d “Liked” my initial tweet. No one seemed actually upset, it was still at the kidding-around level, but kidding about something I not only hadn't said, but wouldn't dream of saying and opposite of the point I had made. I felt I had to do something, not wanting a single misunderstood word to insult someone whose career protecting the United States was truly estimable I was praising, so I responded individually to everyone who’d replied by writing “To clarify, ‘dull’ is only the *second* definition in my dictionary of ‘staid’ But the FIRST definition is – ‘Characterized by dignity and propriety.’ That's what I was going for -- the FIRST definition.” I thought that would resolve things at last. But the way Twitter works, people can see the first tweet alone, and not necessarily your replies and clarification that scroll by later. And a few more did come in. And the other previous respondents kept commenting on it to themselves. At last, I felt that I had to make another effort to stop the bleeding. (Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but my initial benign little note was getting out of hand, especially towards someone I admired. So, I wrote directly to Clint Watts -- And I also decided to take preventative action so that this all didn’t spread further out of control. So, I deleted my initial tweet and instead wrote a new note that said “Since one adjective in an earlier tweet has been misinterpreted by some, I replaced it” – and then reposted what I'd originally written...but instead of the word “staid,” I used “dignified.” And that seemed to do the trick to end the barrage, though not for the "Ohhh, okay, I get it" reason I thought. Rather, and most importantly, these other folks seemed to realize my moderate distress and so, it also brought about explanations about what had been going on. It turned out that all these people I thought had been chastising me were, in fact, longtime friends of Clint Watts, and they were really ridiculing him. As one of the correspondents wrote -- Well, that was certainly a relief. I had not insulted someone, even mildly, who was pretty heroic. I wrote back, "Thanks much, I appreciate it. And I completely understand private jokes with good friends. (And I'm glad to have been able to start it off, even if unknowingly...) I'm sure you can understand why, as an unawares recipient, I wanted to clarify I was trying to be complimentary." Which got a "Like" in return from him. And pretty much the same in exchanges with others. But the best came from the Mothership himself, since he had been following along with all the others. It was indeed a "Phew!" moment. All the more so when he also noted, "No worries. I love being staid!” In fairness, I knew I hadn't written anything incorrect or remotely insulting -- but I also knew that it had been misinterpreted by others just a bit, including by the subject of it all himself who (even though he had "Liked" the comment) deserved a great deal of respect. Most especially because I'm sure he has been vilified relentlessly over the past few years for his harsh, public criticism of the lawlessness by the Trump administration -- not to mention what he's dealt without throughout his career. And so, I wrote back that, "As you can imagine, I'm pleased no faux pas was committed, & that I was able to be the catalyst of the exchange between good friends...even if I had no idea what on earth I was doing. I suspect these days, any public figure being called a "wonderful" adjective is a rare relief." Which, happily, he "Liked." Which I liked. And yes, as I said, the whole thing was so offbeat, unexpected and weird. And ultimately funny. And Shakespearean -- since all's well that ends well.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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