Georgia mayor’s Facebook page confuses nation
March 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsMeet Boyd Austin, mayor of Dallas, Ga. Consider him added to the list of folks who need to realize what many people already know: The Internet was invented to place you in awkward situations.
Yesterday, political blog Wonkette wondered what Austin was talking about when he updated his Facebook status message to say this:
The status message refers to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s recent visit to the United States. Brown gave President Barack Obama a pen holder carved from a magical tree. Obama gave Brown a set of DVDs (come on, we’re in a recession, people!). This pissed off the British media.
I was also baffled by Austin’s status update. Confused as to what I should do, I dusted off my Creative Loafing Employee Ethics Manual, turned to the appendix, and saw that I was supposed to “call the story’s subject.” I was pretty sure that was Austin. The mayor, who identifies himself as such on his Facebook profile, sounded surprised that anyone noticed the status message.
In a phone conversation with CL last night, Austin said “I’ve got some folks who play with my Facebook” and asked me to email him the Wonkette link. He said he’d get back to me. No response as of this writing, though.
Commenters on Wonkette called the quizzical message racist, saying the “quart of the Bull” comment refers to a malt beverage. That’s most likely Schlitz, which features a bull on its label. Its nickname is “The Bull.” Whatever Austin meant to imply is best left for him to explain. Gimme a call, Mr. Mayor!
Austin has since cleared his status, but the questionable update remains on his Facebook Wall. Aside from that message, Austin’s updates usually deal with Republican memes, reminders for friends to vote for Saxby, genuine exclamations of “TGIF,” and thoughts about University of Georgia football. Add some photos of himself with Gov. Sonny Perdue at a fraternity formal and it looks like we’ve got a textbook Georgia politician from the exurbs.
I guess the lesson we learn from this is that it’s best not to let “some folks” have access to your Facebook profile, especially when you’re the mayor of a city. Or at least change your privacy settings. If a Dallas resident were to visit Austin’s profile to try and connect with his or her local government, what would they think of the status message?
(Courtesy City of Dallas’ website)
March 13th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Wow, so now you can be racist for assuming what kind of beer a person drinks. So glad I live in a world full of over-sensitive pussies.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
yawn…
March 13th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Yes yes. Choosing the Bull instead of Bud was simply the result of a random choice of malted beverages with no additional implications.
So glad I live in a world with idiots with blinders firmly in place.
March 13th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Yeah, you are so right, Francois! Stereotypes are always funny and never racist, because we all know that every black person actually loves fried chicken, watermelon, and malt liquor. You must have also read in Dreams from My Father that Obama enjoys those things on a daily basis, right? (idiot)
March 13th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I like malt liquor.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
As a former resident of Dallas, GA I can almost guarantee that Mayor Austin had no idea what “The Bull” is supposed to reference. I’ve never heard that phrase in my life and doesn’t malt liquor come in cans, not quarts? I think it’s more likely that he meant moonshine–if you’ve ever been to Dallas, you’ll know that’s a more appropriate drink for the area.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Imaatlgal:
Should we also assume “pack of Camels” was in reference to a herd of two-humped quadrapeds that are native to Africa?
If you need evidence of malt liquor available in quarts, perhaps you could undertake a fact-finding mission to your nearest “gas station” or “corner store.”
March 13th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Racist, racist, racist. Can we please stop this PC nonsense? Think most rational people see nothing wrong with this FB status. And the DVD gift does show Obama’s political inexperience. Can’t believe this is actually a story.
March 13th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Yeah, he didn’t mean it. I mean its completely rational to see that he wasn’t talking about this fine beverage.
March 13th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
the real pussies are the southerners, you can’t handle dealing with reality; why don’t you shut off your air conditioning
March 13th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Another fat, racist, peckerwood Republican. He needs to get in line with the others.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Of course it’s racist—”Bull” clearly means Schlitz Malt Liquor. Schlitz Malt Liquor is clearly identified with the African Community, and during the Seventies was advertized with commercials featuring noted Black music groups such as The Platters and Kool and the Gang. Watch the classic commercial provided by the link in note2self’s comment above. Notice that everyone in the commercial is Black. And the catch phrase is, “Don’t say beer, say Bull.” This was one of the greatest ad slogans of the 70s, and no doubt stirred sarcastic and scornful feelings in many Whites with racial leanings. So there should be no doubt that this is what Mayor Austin was referring to, and that it was intended to be racist.
March 14th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Let’s all get real…Anyone who knows Boyd or his brother David who is now Paulding Co Commission Chairman…You know that they are rascist. With that much Austin hold on the county…it seems that we are bound to go backwards
March 14th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I agree they are rascist…but they are still ok guys.
March 14th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Camel makes a menthol? :-)
March 14th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Ohhhh, Dale, now ya done it.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Aren’t we being a little hard on the lad? http://www.wedgeorgia.com
March 16th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Thomas Wheatley – I liked it