I commented to a co-worker today that it seemed like the U.S. getting a year older has brought with it a certain senility.

So here's the low-down. Some guy made a gif where they superimposed the CNN logo on someone during a WWF appearance by Trump, and it shows Trump pummeling them. El Presidente then retweeted the image from his personal account and @POTUS. This is presumably in reference to CNN having retracted a story about Trump campaign ties to Russia.

The reddit user in question turns out to be very racist. CNN was apparently pissed off, and tracked down the user. Meanwhile, the user writes an apology for the whole thing, which is later removed. The user has 86ed his account since all this as well.

What has most people rather disturbed is this bit from CNN's story on the issue:

CNN is not publishing "HanA**holeSolo's" name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same.

CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.

(Emphasis mine). It's been widely viewed as a threat, while some have kind of seen it as a reap-what-you-sow kind of thing.

I understand both points. The anonymity of the internet is part of the reason people can be so toxic on it. That said, there's a certain creepiness in the idea of people being outed for unpopular opinions. So I overall come down on the "CNN is out of line" side, but it's not a slam dunk.

Discuss.