The New York State legislature may be the most dysfunctional state house in the country. With annual budget meltdowns and federal corruption inquiries, it’s a pity the place doesn’t receive the kind of national mockery the U.S. Congress gets.
So rejoice, Internet, for now Albany’s bizarre squabbles are jumping to social media for the whole world to see. The wife of a state assemblyman is taking to YouTube to fight for her freedom after another state senator unfriended her on Facebook.
What’s the most dignified way fight dictatorial Facebook power? Why, make a YouTube video about censorship and salads, of course!
Nicole Katz, wife of state assemblyman Steven Katz, is enraged that New York Senator Greg Ball removed her as a friend from his public Facebook page. She’d gotten into a squabble with him after he compared Albany’s dysfunctional government to Washington’s. Ball apparently took offense to her reply and removed her as a friend.
A public official like Ball probably shouldn’t delete critical posts from his Facebook page—it hardly demonstrates commitment to open dialog. Then again, it’s his right. Facebook isn’t a public place. It’s private property, owned by a private company.
In her version of the tale, however, when Ball excised Katz from his Facebook friend list, he was attacking freedom.
In the video, titled “Delete this, Greg Ball,” Katz’s friend, Robin Murphy doles out salad at a dinner party. Everyone loves it. Except for Katz, who declares: “This is great Robin, just one thing, I really don’t like black olives. I really prefer green olives.” Murphy takes offense, and immediately duct-tapes Katz’s mouth shut.
The piece ends with the warning: “To silence criticism is to silence freedom.”
The drama! Ball’s Facebook gestapo surely ranks among freedom’s most dangerous foes, and it takes some guts for Katz to publicly embarrass herself to fight him.
For his part, Ball isn’t budging. His office commented on Katz’s fight for freedom with this message to the The Daily Croton: “Right now the senator is proud to have maxed out at 5,000 friends, with over 400 pending requests, therefore we encourage everyone with an interest to simply ‘LIKE’ his fan page and join the dialogue.”
Facebook only allows 5,000 friends? Katz’s next video in the series should attack this far greater threat to freedom. She’ll have to move past salad to a main course. We’re hoping meatloaf or tuna casserole will star.