Roger Ebert Tweets Chastisement After Drunk Driving Death

[Kiara]

When you click on someone's profile, up at the upper right it shows how many people they follow, and how many follow them.   Then if you click on a post, over on the right hand side it shows a few replies, and at the bottom how many people retweeted it.  For that post, Twitter said it had been retweeted 100+ times...I think that's as high as they go. 

So I think it was an example of the spread of the Internet.  A few people saw it, retweeted it, and then more people saw it, retweeted....before you know it, a whole passel of people are talking about it.

[blahblahblah]

I completely completely agree with what he said, and if we'd been hanging out together, watching the news, and he made that comment, I would have given him my total stamp of approval. But a semi-joking statement, over twitter, immediately after the death - in combination, those caused his statement to cross the line for me.

I completely agree. The message itself wasn't inappropriate. The delivery, however, was. I've heard people say that Ebert's tweet wasn't meant to be joke-y/punny... yeah, no, not buying it.

[Scuba_Dog]

Drunk or not, driving 130 mph is outrageously reckless, so it makes no difference to me whether he was intoxicated or not because the speed in which he was driving was so disgustingly irresponsible that it's as bad as drunk driving, IMO.  (Although, according to reports, he was twice the legal limit.)

That said, I think it would have been better if Ebert would have put a little more thought into what he was saying and the timing of the comment.  I don't know that I consider it rude as much much as I think it's thoughtless and a bit immature.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family of Zach Hartwell, the passenger who perished in the crash, as well as Ryan Dunn's family & friends.  

[Twik]

I understand one of the group (sorry, don't watch the show, don't know their names) responded in a solemn, dignified way to Mr. Ebert:

"Shut your *$(#(@%ing fat mouth!"

Classy, truly.

[Bibliophile]

Drunk or not, driving 130 mph is outrageously reckless, so it makes no difference to me whether he was intoxicated or not because the speed in which he was driving was so disgustingly irresponsible that it's as bad as drunk driving, IMO.  (Although, according to reports, he was twice the legal limit.)

That said, I think it would have been better if Ebert would have put a little more thought into what he was saying and the timing of the comment.  I don't know that I consider it rude as much much as I think it's thoughtless and a bit immature.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family of Zach Hartwell, the passenger who perished in the crash, as well as Ryan Dunn's family & friends.  

And they're now saying 132-140 mph...  Not a smart move.

[Sharnita]

So would it be more comforting if it runed out he wasn't intoxicated? I would think that finding out he made the decision to drive like that completely sober, kiling himself and a friend in the process, would lead to more grief,anger, etc.  I haven't followed the show or this guy's career but if it comes out he was sober and did that I won't be giving him the benfit of the doubt.  To be honest, I would probably feel less kindly toward him were that the case.

[Scuba_Dog]

I understand one of the group (sorry, don't watch the show, don't know their names) responded in a solemn, dignified way to Mr. Ebert:

"Shut your *$(#(@%ing fat mouth!"

Classy, truly.

That was Bam Margera.  And, no, it's not classy but I think it was spoken in true grief, so I can overlook it.

[Scuba_Dog]

Drunk or not, driving 130 mph is outrageously reckless, so it makes no difference to me whether he was intoxicated or not because the speed in which he was driving was so disgustingly irresponsible that it's as bad as drunk driving, IMO.  (Although, according to reports, he was twice the legal limit.)

That said, I think it would have been better if Ebert would have put a little more thought into what he was saying and the timing of the comment.  I don't know that I consider it rude as much much as I think it's thoughtless and a bit immature.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family of Zach Hartwell, the passenger who perished in the crash, as well as Ryan Dunn's family & friends.  

And they're now saying 132-140 mph...  Not a smart move.

Yeah...  Drunk or not, if you crash at that speed, you are done.

[Twik]

I understand one of the group (sorry, don't watch the show, don't know their names) responded in a solemn, dignified way to Mr. Ebert:

"Shut your *$(#(@%ing fat mouth!"

Classy, truly.

That was Bam Margera.  And, no, it's not classy but I think it was spoken in true grief, so I can overlook it.

That was a public announcement, just like Ebert's. If they are terribly offended by the name "donkey", they shouldn't have chosen it for their production in the first place. If they're terribly offended by the suggestion that the deceased wasn't driving properly, they better come to terms quickly, because they'll be hearing it a LOT in the next few days, and probably in harsher terms than Mr. Ebert used.

If they are offended at the suggestion that, maybe, they could have taken steps to prevent this tragedy, well, let the galled jade wince.

[Wonderflonium]

For the record, toxicology reports show that Dunn's blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit. I'm just posting this because there has been some question as to whether he was in fact drunk.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=654622&GT1=28103

[Bibliophile]

I understand one of the group (sorry, don't watch the show, don't know their names) responded in a solemn, dignified way to Mr. Ebert:

"Shut your *$(#(@%ing fat mouth!"

Classy, truly.

That was Bam Margera.  And, no, it's not classy but I think it was spoken in true grief, so I can overlook it.

I watched the video of his interview - am I right in thinking that the story about him trashing his rental car (before he knew about his friend's death) was a bit tacky?  Yeah, it was an odd coincidence you were trashing a rental car at the same time your friend crashed, but...  

[Poirot]

For the record, toxicology reports show that Dunn's blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit. I'm just posting this because there has been some question as to whether he was in fact drunk.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=654622&GT1=28103

Thank you for posting that, I had not seen it yet.

[Poirot]

I understand one of the group (sorry, don't watch the show, don't know their names) responded in a solemn, dignified way to Mr. Ebert:

"Shut your *$(#(@%ing fat mouth!"

Classy, truly.

That was Bam Margera.  And, no, it's not classy but I think it was spoken in true grief, so I can overlook it.

I watched the video of his interview - am I right in thinking that the story about him trashing his rental car (before he knew about his friend's death) was a bit tacky?  Yeah, it was an odd coincidence you were trashing a rental car at the same time your friend crashed, but...  

I agree, and I saw the interview too. However, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that his display of grief was absolutely genuine. I don't think I know a single person who hasn't said or done something they regret in an extremely emotional period.

I also firmly believe that the incident he described is possible and is similar to many some of us have read in jaxsue's thread. I can relate a similar incident (without the bad behavior) when my brother died.

[Master_Edward]

My thoughts and feelings are pretty much the same as Scuba_Dog's. The man was drunk driving. But even if he hadn't been and was stone-cold sober driving at least 130 miles an hour is a recklessly dangerous and stupid thing to do. But he was drunk and driving 130 miles an hour. What does anyone think was going to happen? I have a very hard time feeling sorry for someone who died that way when it's their own stupid behavior that caused it.

Ed.

[Redneck Gravy]

I completely completely agree with what he said, and if we'd been hanging out together, watching the news, and he made that comment, I would have given him my total stamp of approval. But a semi-joking statement, over twitter, immediately after the death - in combination, those caused his statement to cross the line for me.

I completely agree. The message itself wasn't inappropriate. The delivery, however, was. I've heard people say that Ebert's tweet wasn't meant to be joke-y/punny... yeah, no, not buying it.

I saw the dark humor and laughed out loud. 

I also had a brother killed by a drunk driver when he was 11 - no sympathy here.

Why is it when "stars" post their actions on Twitter/Facebook it's somehow acceptable but when someone calls them on it, it's poor taste ?
 
Ebert's right, "Friends don't let Donkeytails drive Drunk"  where are his friends now