There is no hiding that the fact that the 2014 Winter Olympics being held in Sochi, Russia has reaped a lot of controversy lately. Whether it is Putin’s anti-gay laws, the live wires in journalist’s hotels or the disgusting yellow water, Sochi has basically been asking for the criticism from the rest of the world.
Despite the estimated $51 billion Sochi spent on this worldwide event, the country’s lack of preparedness has become somewhat of a trending joke on social media. Senior sports staff writer for The Boston Globe Kevin Paul Dupont took it upon himself to comment via Twitter on Friday as well.
@GlobeKPD: Remember, this is the country that sent us the Tsarnaevs. Never forget. Never.
Come on, Mr. Dupont, if you’re going to cross your line of expertise of sports into such a sensitive issue in front of 23,900 followers, at least get your facts straight. For starters, the Tsarnaevs were from Kyrgyzstan, almost 2,000 miles away from Russia. Second, even if they were from Russia, two heinous people from one country do not represent the entirety of its population. Third, stick to sports, Mr. Dupont.
This is not to say that just because Dupont is a sports writer he cannot speak out about certain social issues. He is just as entitled to his 140-character opinion on Twitter as any of the million of other people on the website. However, since Dupont is a prominent figure in the media, his tweet has rightfully and expectedly caused waves of backlash from his followers.
Sumit Judge (@JudgeSumit) responded to Dupont’s tweet and said, “Ludicrous. The Brits and French committed mass genocides in the Americas. Overlook that though right?”
Dupont writes for the city where Whitey Bulger and members of the Irish Mob once roamed the streets, and lives in a country where, according to the FBI, the murder rate is higher than nearly all of the other developed countries in the world. As Chris Cuthbert (@CCtsn) bluntly tweeted in response to Dupont’s tweet, “If we judge nations by their criminal legacies we’re all in trouble.”
Naturally, Dupont is still rattled by the Marathon Bombings just like the rest of the city. But his tweet was just a childish attempt of pointing his finger at someone in order to eradicate some sort of sustaining anger.
Although we are a country of free speech, sometimes things are better kept inside of our heads and off of Twitter — especially when the subject of the tweet isn’t even factually correct.
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