You know, in many respects, I admire former Texas Governor Rick Perry. Heās accomplished so much, despite clearly being an absolute fucking moron that, in Europe, wouldnāt be trusted with a pair of safety scissors.
In the years after landing the top job in Texan politics, Perry has since wrangled his way into President Trumpās cabinet, where, as Secretary of Energy, heās responsible for maintaining Americaās sizable nuclear arsenal.
Oh yeah, and a few hours ago, he posted an image to his Instagram warning about a new change in the companyās privacy policy. This change, unless the user explicitly opts-out by posting the same image, would allow the Facebook-owned image sharing site to use his content in perpetuity.
This particular image macro has circled the Internet for ages, with different permutations for different websites. Iāve seen versions for Twitter and Facebook, shared mostly by, letās face it, confused and incoherently conservative baby boomers.
And obviously itās total bollocks.
Itās also worth noting that the image macro shared by Governor Perry states should Instagram violate his privacy, heāll be able to seek remedies under āthe Rome Statue [sic]ā.
Thatās hilarious for a lot of reasons, not least the fact that the Rome Statute established the International Criminal Court, which the US isnāt a part of, after it declined to ratify its accession in 2002. Even today, itās still not a member, although the US has participated as an observer since 2010.
Youād think Rick Perry would know that, given the ICC has long been a Conservative bĆŖte noire, representing a powerful supranational entity seeking to undermine American sovereignty. But then again, heās an idiot, so maybe not.
In the hours since Perry posted the image, Instagram users have taken to thoroughly roasting the former Governor for his apparent lack of technical savvy.
In response, Perry has tried to feign that the post was merely a joke. Replying to his post, he wrote: āIāll be darned!! First time Iāve seen anything fake on the internet!!ā
"im not owned! im not owned!!", i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a corn cob
ā wint (@dril) November 11, 2011
Obviously, people arenāt buying it. Iām not buying it. Perry is exactly the type of person who would fall for that kind of stale hoax, and has a track record for overall stupidity.
Remember when he ran for President and forgot one of his key policy proposals while on stage?
And remember when he ran for President on the position that courageous gay men and women shouldnāt be allowed to openly serve the country they love?
And now heās the custodian of a nuclear arsenal that could destroy the Earth many times over, transforming our cities and countryside into some kind of Southampton-esque hellscape.
At least, if we all die in a fiery blaze, we wonāt have to hear about Instagramās fucking privacy policy again.
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