I've been thinking a lot the past few days about a couple of old journalism axioms.
I'm thinking maybe new state Rep. Danielle Friel Otten has, too.
The first is two simple words: Speed kills.
We do things so damn fast today. Every thought that comes into our head does not - and should not - be "published."
That used to be a much easier concept when all we did was print the news once a day.
Now we push out news every five seconds. We are hellbound to push our every thought immediately on Twitter and Facebook, at times providing information and little glimpses into our lives that we no doubt will regret just a few minutes later.
We often don't take the time to process the message, to think about what we are saying - and the consequences.
Believe me, I know.
Every morning I write this blog, and work on our website, without much in the way of backup. I liken it to the famous Wallenda family - the high-rise acrobats who worked without a net. I know how they feel.
There was a time when nothing got published in the newspaper without several sets of eyes seeing it. Those days are long gone. Today every person with a phone is a publisher. All of us are starring in the latest remaking of "The Fast and Furious," sharing news, beliefs and even our intimate thoughts.
In my business, speed is an essential element of what we do these days. Not always with the best results. I make errors that wind up online just about every day. One of my favorite things about the Internet is that mistakes disappear with just a few keystrokes, even if someone no doubt has a screen shot and is more than willing to email it to me to remind me of my failings.
The second axiom is just as old - and just as important.
Every write, no matter how good, needs a good editor.
We need someone to "kick the tires," go over the copy, catch any mistakes, and question what we are about to tell the world.
And something else - a question every person who is about to Tweet, post to Facebook or Instagram, or update a blog or website should ask themselves as their finger hovers over that "Send" button.
"Do I really want to do this?"
One of the things I miss most about the changes in my industry are the people - not newspeople - who we used to work with every night. They worked in the composing and press rooms. Yes, I am dating myself.
Whenever I was working on an especially inflammatory front page (and I've done more than my share of them), I would show it some of them first. If they recoiled, I knew I likely had gone too far. News people are not a good gauge, they are not necessarily like readers. We build up a fairly crusty exterior. It takes a lot to shock us. Not so with most readers.
I used to call it the "wince factor." If someone winces when they read something, it's usually a pretty good sign you might want to rethink it.
That's why I can tell you the first time I read the now-famous Tweet from Friel Otten, I winced.
Friel Otten is a Democrat, part of the wave of new faces that rolled to big wins and headed to Harrisburg last November. She represents a chunk of Chester County, including the area where the contentious Mariner East pipeline project traverses. She made it a crucial part of her campaign. She knows all about the problems with Mariner East, Energy Transfer Partners, the Texas-base company that is building it, and its local affiliate Sunoco Pipeline LP.
Residents in both Delaware and Chester counties have mounted a vociferous campaign to stop the project. They shake their heads at the notion of moving hundreds of thousands of barrels of volatile liquid gases every day through densely populated neighborhoods, close to schools and senior centers.
They have protested the project for months.
They were doing just that last weekend in Friel Otten's neighborhood.
Eventually Friel Otten wound up engaging in an online debate on Twitter with some folks who support the pipeline.
That's when she managed to touch the third rail, using a word you just can't use.
A pipeline supporter had objected to the protest, saying Friel Otten and others were "defying safety warnings to prevent 30 workers from doing their job."
To which Friel Otten replied:
"The Nazis were just doing their jobs too."
That was me wincing.
Wondering what she was thinking at that moment? If she asked anyone else to look at that Tweet before she sent it? To at least take a deep breath before she jammed her finger down on that "send" button.
It did not take long for the Tweet to blow up, even though Friel Otten deleted the Tweet.
Too late. It's kind of like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. Believe me, I know.
A spokesman for the state energy industry, as well as several union officials, called on her to apologize. Probably not a bad idea.
It would only escalate from there.
The Anti-Defamation League criticized her use of the word and urged her to apologize.
And, not surprisingly, politics quickly entered the picture.
Val DiGiorgio, the chairman of the state Republican Committee, called on her to resign.
And it wasn't just Republicans. State Rep. Dave Delloso, also a new state rep and also a Democrat, who just happens to be a Teamsters leader who represents the 162nd District here in Delco, called it a "poor choice of words" and unfair smear on workers.
Delco state Sen. Tom Killion called her choice of words "disgusting and completely unacceptable."
Let me be clear.
Yes, I winced the first time I read the Tweet. But I don't think Friel Otten was specifically calling the workers Nazis. I think she was instead simply trying to liken the notion of workers blindly following orders.
But that doesn't matter. The word is too volatile, meaning too many hurtful things to too many people. You simply can't use it.
Friel Otten should have known that, even more so for an elected official.
Yesterday, after what was no doubt a most uncomfortable couple of days, Friel Otten went back on Twitter.
This time to apologize.
"Earlier this week, I tweeted a reference to the Mariner East pipeline in my community," Friel Otten wrote. "The language I used in that tweet was insensitive, and I sincerely apologize for my choice of words and to all who were hurt by my post.
"I am deeply sorry that my choice of words detracted from the work we are doing together. Please accept my humble apology and my sincere commitment to continue to stand for all of us in Harrisburg.
"Our community's collective frustration with Sunoco/ETP and the regulatory loopholes and lack of oversight that have allowed this travesty to occur are not in any way directed at local union members."
Good for her.
That should end the story.
It won't.
How do I know this?
It's called politics. A few hours after I started Tweeting about this incident yesterday a fairly prominent Delco Republican responded to me on Twitter. His take?
"You mean DEMOCRAT State Rep, you wouldn't know that till the third paragraph, you seem to forget to mention what party she was. She should step down, a difference of opinion should NOT draw words such as these. The pipeline and the work in the refinery's supply good-paying jobs."
I am well aware that Friel Otten is a Democrat. The story represented that. And I have written countless times of the economic benefits of the pipeline project.
But I don't think it's especially important whether she is a Democrat or a Republican. I know my GOP friends no doubt will get a chuckle out of that notion. They see everything I do as tilting toward the Dems.
They live in a red and blue world. They think I reside in the blue world - and it shows up in everything I do.
Maybe they're right.
What I do know is what Friel Otten tweeted was wrong.
She apologized and that was the right thing to do.
But we have not heard the last of this.
That's the thing about this "publishing" business.
It's forever.
Welcome to my world, Rep. Friel Otten.
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