A member of the Lebanon school board was forced to resign after posting on inflammatory remark about President Obama on his Facebook page.
This all started when Rick Mase was watching the presidential debate on October 3 and posting his thoughts about what the candidates were saying on his Facebook.
At the next school board meeting a week later he was approached by other members asking him to resign because of his comments.
"I was firing off a bunch of comments about the debate on Facebook and I let one out that I shouldn't of," Mase told us.
Rick Mase was elected to the Lebanon School Board less than a year ago and after the comment posted on his Facebook, other members of the board asked him to resign.
"Barack Obama said something which I spotted right away as a Marxist comment and I was really angry and I just said to the effect of he's a communist and he should be dead," Mase explained.
Rick acknowledges that he wasn't thinking enough about what he was posting but he believes that the situation is being blown out of proportion.
"I think if somebody says something that may be slightly tainted the wrong way or not politically correct, it’s a big deal you know people should be able to say more without having to watch too much about what they say," Mase believes.
While Rick didn't mean to offend anyone local social media experts say you have to be extra careful when you post online.
"Even though people think they're making private comments, maybe private comments to small groups of people or small groups of friends, it's really a public channel," cited Dr. Joel Kline, Associate Professor of Digital Communication at Lebanon Valley College.
Dr. Kline says that if you don't want anyone to read what you post in the future never post it.
"You really shouldn't post anything that you'd be embarrassed for your mother to read," Kline advised.
Rick hopes that he can move past this and people can let it go.
"I think most people are inclined to just allow me to say I screwed up I apologize and let it go," Mase concluded.
We spoke to people who know Rick and they say he's a really nice guy and that his Facebook comments should not change anyone's views of him.
This all started when Rick Mase was watching the presidential debate on October 3 and posting his thoughts about what the candidates were saying on his Facebook.
At the next school board meeting a week later he was approached by other members asking him to resign because of his comments.
"I was firing off a bunch of comments about the debate on Facebook and I let one out that I shouldn't of," Mase told us.
Rick Mase was elected to the Lebanon School Board less than a year ago and after the comment posted on his Facebook, other members of the board asked him to resign.
"Barack Obama said something which I spotted right away as a Marxist comment and I was really angry and I just said to the effect of he's a communist and he should be dead," Mase explained.
Rick acknowledges that he wasn't thinking enough about what he was posting but he believes that the situation is being blown out of proportion.
"I think if somebody says something that may be slightly tainted the wrong way or not politically correct, it’s a big deal you know people should be able to say more without having to watch too much about what they say," Mase believes.
While Rick didn't mean to offend anyone local social media experts say you have to be extra careful when you post online.
"Even though people think they're making private comments, maybe private comments to small groups of people or small groups of friends, it's really a public channel," cited Dr. Joel Kline, Associate Professor of Digital Communication at Lebanon Valley College.
Dr. Kline says that if you don't want anyone to read what you post in the future never post it.
"You really shouldn't post anything that you'd be embarrassed for your mother to read," Kline advised.
Rick hopes that he can move past this and people can let it go.
"I think most people are inclined to just allow me to say I screwed up I apologize and let it go," Mase concluded.
We spoke to people who know Rick and they say he's a really nice guy and that his Facebook comments should not change anyone's views of him.