Young Republicans learn political behavior from older Republicans, and it's clear Cassie and Lauren (and maybe the rest of the club) are following in the footsteps of the divisive, the racist, the fact-avoidant, those who confuse sound-bites with facts, rumors with truth, insults with cleverness, and whose behavior is roughly on the level of third-to-fifth grade mean-girls' cliques. They expect their behavior to be excused--to be laughed off indulgently--because they are who they are. They don't expect to be held accountable (and it's hard to hold a Republican accountable...you cannot get most of them to face facts and add two and two.) (It is worth noting that the Elephants are exquisitely sensitive to criticism from the other side, and cry foul and politicizing as if their toenails were being pulled out.) But still--these young women aren't children anymore, and they should be learning how to assess sources, how to assess the logic of someone's argument, etc. Beyond that, they're plenty old enough to learn that some forms of discourse make diverse communities stronger and some do not. They're old enough to find for themselves (since their parents and culture so far have not handed one on) a value system that puts the health of a community above the giggle-content of a snarky remark. They have had, in college, the opportunity to learn to think...and clearly they have not.
Lauren Pierce did issue a rather weasel-like apology for her tweet (saying it was "tasteless"--no, dear, it was actionable if you'd said it in a line at an airport. Where joking about things like shooting presidents or wanting to shoot presidents gets you yanked off your flight and into a windowless room.) She gets five points out of a hundred for that, though, because it was probably the best she could do. Cassie Wright, so far, has no points on the board. She's not saying anything (and nor is the student Republican club...you'd think someone would have the guts to say something.)
So here's the thing, Misses Pierce and Wright: it's past time to grow up. Understand that you don't live in the protective bubble of Elephantine isolation when you engage in social media. You can say whatever you want--but others can say whatever they want about what you said. Not just other Elephants patting you on the back for being clever, but...everybody.