The twitter poster claimed it was a prom photo of a class giving a Nazi salute. That seemed absurd to me. Looked like a class giving a wave but certainly with some whose outstretched arms looked like a Hitler salute. But the balance of probabilities that a group of high schoolers are doing a Nazi salute versus just an awkward picture appeared to me to clearly tilt towards awkward.
It looked to me like the poster had simply hit the trolling jackpot with a bad photo. There have been a handful of instances over the past two or three years when I have seen people accused of making a Nazi salute which turn out to be unmistakably awkward waving when seen from a different angle, or from the full video. It is established as one of those obnoxious gotcha's that is at least novel the first time but anemic thereafter.
In this instance, it looked like the poster hit the trolling jackpot with several stiff arms at the same time.
But that was all there was to it. An awkward wave. I dismissed it.
Apparently that wasn't the end of the story. Social media was all outraged. For those who want to see Nazi's everywhere (what's the modern SJW equivalent of the McCarthyite "reds under the bed" paranoia?) this was Exhibit 1 of the pervasiveness of white supremacy everywhere in America. Here's a sample from twitter.
Apparently NBC reached deep into their bucket of ignorance and paranoia and ran a news report.
Double click to enlarge.
The young adult news site Vox is worried that youth are failing to learn history and have forgotten the evil of the Holocaust. This is the same site founded by Ezra Klein of the confusing-constitution-which-is-more-than-a-hundred-years-old fame.
Really? Was I that mistaken? Was this a real incident of the illusive white supremacy? Poe's Law indeed.
Well, now there is a report from the photographer who took the picture. Wisconsin boys' Nazi salute was actually a wave to their parents, photographer says.
The photographer who took a picture of boys from Baraboo High School giving what appears to be a Nazi salute says he simply asked the students to wave goodbye to their parents.Awkward photo?
Pete Gust told community journalism website Madison 365 that the pre-prom photo, which has been shared widely on social media, was innocent. He says he asked the boys to give him a "high five" for the photo taken in May on the steps of the Sauk County Courthouse in downtown Baraboo, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee.
Gust has removed the photo from his website, Wheel Memories, where it had been posted since May, and wrote "To anyone that was hurt I sincerely apologize."
The Baraboo School District and police are investigating the photo.
Stupid prank?
Real white supremacy?
Who knows. Can't count on social media for reliable reporting. Can't count on mainstream media for reliable reporting. You have to work at getting to the truth. If this turns out to be simply an awkward photo, as seems increasingly likely, it is one more nail in the coffin of MSM credibility.
UPDATE: I see Althouse has a similar take. With the bonus of a picture of a bunch Nazi saluting journalists as well.
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