Behind The Big E

If you’ve ever been confused about what exactly the term “ironic” means, this is possibly one of the best examples I have ever seen. I came across this while watching episodes of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and they had a story about Andrew Shirvell, the assistant attorney-general in Michigan.

They were talking about how Shirvell was making the claim of being harassed online about a blog he had started about Chris Armstrong, a student at the University of Michigan. At first we find this kind of funny, because Shirvell is supposed to be aiding in the fight to prevent cyber bullying, but not long into the interview, it becomes apparent that the situation is much more ironic.

As discussed on the November 1st episode of The Daily Show, and in a CNN interview, we find that Shirvell’s blog is actually attacking Armstrong. Why? Well, in the interviews we are told it is because Armstrong is known to be openly gay, and Shirvell has said that he does not believe that a “gay nazi radical” should be student assembly president at the university, which is the position that Armstrong currently holds. So basically it’s because Shirvell is a homophobic “bigot”, as he was so nicely labeled on CNN.

Now, because I watched this on a comedy program before seeing this anywhere else, I was convinced that it was a joke, and really, how could you not? It’s just too unreal. But when I realized that this was actually happening, I was speechless… and then proceeded to laugh and cry simultaneously.

The amount of irony in the whole situation is ridiculous. Here we have a political figure, whose job is to prevent cyber bullying, who is first off claiming to be victim of cyber bullying, but then is revealed to be doing it himself to a college student. Even better, he is publicly admitting that he has picketed the student’s house and also claims that he believes he is “Satan’s representative”.

Of course, now there are tons of groups and such that are trying to get the assistant attorney-general fired, which I think he should be, and mainly try to get his blog “Chris Armstrong Watch” off the net, where he has a number of outrageous photos trying to depict Armstrong as a radical, even though his “radical” ideas are mostly movements to modify the school’s regulations on sex coordinated residences. I mean, would make sense for him to do. Why shouldn’t gay residents of opposite gender be permitted to share a dorm?

In any case, I would recommend that you watch the interviews (linked above), because it is just too funny.