Just don't tell Tony Clement he can't spell

The local CBC morning radio show here, Ottawa Morning, did a little segment today on politicians on Twitter. As usual, Treasury Board President Tony Clement was cited as one of the most successful and prolific cabinet ministers on social media. In a tweet (naturally), Clement told host Robyn Bresnahan the three-word secret  to his Twitter success: "Authenticity, dimensionality and engagement."

But near Parry Sound, Ontario, there's a 15-year-old  lad  named Keith Pettinger (Twitter handle @KeithPettinger) who might want to add a fourth word to Clement's list: profanity.

Young Mr. Pettinger got into a bit of a spat with Clement on Twitter over the weekend, over spelling mistakes, of all things, and the Treasury Board President, in a direct message, called him a "jackass."

Clement acknowledges the outburst and has apologized for it, saying in an email:

"The message was a private communication. That said, in hindsight, I could have been more polite. I apologize for offending him."

Here are the screen shots of the conversation, supplied by Pettinger: 

Comments

[Eric]

I had a similar spat with Mr C before the election.. Clement or some minion with is twitter password is pretty snarky.

[inge]

The amount of time and energy that Clement devotes to social media would seem to indicate that he has nothing better to do. It seems that activity takes priority over running his department or is that totally being run by the PMO?

[Scott_G]

I am glad Tony told him.
It was that 15yr old that insulted him. Who cares if someone is a good speller.
I can't spell worth beans. I have a Patient, Build large well done homes, and have great Ideas. I play the piano, and went to school for years. So, and I will never be able to spell as well as some others. Some people who spell very well are idiots, jerks, can't build a shoe box, are not creative, can't play anything and are on welfare. So blow it out your ear. I will spell poorly any time I want.

[Gabby in QC]

As snarky as Bob Rae was here?
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/12/14/bob-rae-twitter-bs-young-liberals_n_1149155.html

[Darwin O'Connor]

It is inevitable that you will encounter some jerks on the Internet. How you deal with them is the true judge of character.