Meet 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.
(more…)