Twitter Neutralises Don Cheadle

The internet and social networking are great equalisers in this day and age. Any public figure who interposes himself on a Facebook page or publishes his Twitter timeline leaves himself open to his public responding to his words and actions reported in the media.

When Don Cheadle recently stated in an interview that he wanted to see President Obama act more like a "gangsta," the fact that he had a Twitter account, allowed for various members of the voting public - the hoi-polloi, as many would call them, to call out Cheadle's inaccuracies in his perception of the President and to tell him, in no uncertain terms, that any stereotypically racial reference made about the President was wrong - even if a man of colour was making the reference.

These are members of the public, people who enable Cheadle's success by paying to see the films in which he stars. It's the ultimate encounter and living proof that, all too often, the common man knows more than he who has achieved the status of "uncommon."

Credit to Cheadle that he was polite and engaged with those criticizing his words. He didn't block, snark or toss ad hominem at the people telling him of their dismay. Unlike many public figures whose fragile egos cannot take criticism.

Read the chirpstory below. The best bit is when people start referring him to George Clooney for guidance. Twitter ... where every man or woman is equal.