Gay Apartheid

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Alex

Uh, you may need to read what you write more carefully. You did not say that all RABID right-wingers are ignorant. You said that typical right-wingers are ignorant.

No, Alex, you are incorrect.

I pithily implied agreement with the "typical" statement, but then went on to write (say) my own, separate statement - a clarification which specifically and purposefully included the modifier RABID because that's the point I meant to make.

My "same thing" reply was a bit of snarkiness in response to an obvious* opening for humor, not a statement by me. Sheesh.




* so obvious, I was not the only person to make the same joke.

[Alex]

Remember a while back when we had a discussion about how you were making a joke so often that people began to assume it was the truth of your position?

The "joke" that right wingers are generally idiotic or evil is made so often around here I don't really care if anyone pretends an individual instance of it is meant as a joke. I have hardly any doubt that it is widely considered to be essentially true.

[innerSpaceman]

Well, for a person who is averse to smilies, I respectfully suggest you improve your abilities for recognizing humor without them.


And it's one thing to make that assumption about me when I make a joke over and over.

This was, to my knowledge, the first time I made such a joke about rabid right-wingers, and on top of that ... I don't make any secret of the fact that I hold rabid right-wingers in the highest disregard ... so what's to make any "assumption" about?


Yes, I will say it again RABID right wingers are morons. Not typical right-wingers (whatever that means).

[Alex]

Oh, I have no real difficulty recognizing when you think you're being funny. A smiley wouldn't have helped what you wrote.

So, would you define "rabid right-winger" so we do know who here you may consider an ignorant moron?

[innerSpaceman]

Yes, rabid, as used by me, means frothing at the mouth. If what comes out of their mouth is or resembles mad-dog froth, that's what I mean by rabid.


As for the other picayune problems expressed about me .... really? You've got a problem with, or must find exceptions to "All black people have dark skin?" Really?

I was just using the most generic example I could muster that related to the subject of prejudice. Sheesh. Do you have a problem with "All stars are bright," or is that one ok to avoid your freakishly sensitive generality-avoidance systems?


That's SHEESH with a capital S and H and E and a second E and another capital S and a 2nd capital H. SHEESH!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Alex

Remember a while back when we had a discussion about how you were making a joke so often that people began to assume it was the truth of your position?

The "joke" that right wingers are generally idiotic or evil is made so often around here I don't really care if anyone pretends an individual instance of it is meant as a joke. I have hardly any doubt that it is widely considered to be essentially true.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Yes, rabid, as used by me, means frothing at the mouth. If what comes out of their mouth is or resembles mad-dog froth, that's what I mean by rabid.

So...either your statement applies to basically no one (because basically no one literally froths at the mouth unless they have some sort of medical problem) or it applies to whomever you deem to be "rabid", which sounds rather subjective to me.

If I say "all jerks are jerks" it's not too hard to say that makes sense. If I say "everyone who agree that gay people are evil are ignorant morons" I am giving an exact frame of reference. If I say "all people that say right-wing things to degree x are ignorant morons" leaves x vague and definitely qualifies as a broad-brush, all-or-nothing, us-against-them, hatred and prejudice filled statement.

Whether or not you know any right-wingers (and you DO) painting any group as this or that undermines you. It bears repeating.

I'd like to clarify that I'm not speaking just to iSm, but to JW and anyone else who wants to post hatred-filled bias (and yes, there are plenty among us, including myself, who needs reminding often).

This, I truly believe: There is no solution to our problems, to our divided country, and to the basic ongoing epic struggles humans have faced for all of our existence that involves demonizing the opposition.

You are hurting your reputation, you are hurting your own cause, and you are hurting humankind.

You may call it hyperbole. I do not. Solutions do not begin at the top. They begin at the bottom, in every day conversation, in the small things we repeat to ourselves and to each other.

[BarTopDancer]

VCPM.

[Strangler Lewis]

I know a number of very nice conservatives. Some of them live in my neighborhood. They run small businesses. They teach their children the golden rule. We get along fine. However, every once in a while, in every day conversation, these people will open their mouths and say things that come from a very dark and bad place. It passes, and we go on.

The problem is that when the opinion pollsters come knocking, the dark places answer the door. Talk radio caters to the dark places, and the dark places do the voting. So, for shorthand purposes of discussion, I have no trouble with ISM's generalization, even if it does not portray all self-identifying conservatives with nuanced thoroughness worthy of George Eliot.

That said, I want to cast my vote against some of the gaudier displays of humility and the paralyzing egalitarianism that seem to have infected the political discussions here lately.

[innerSpaceman]

Dear Cadaverous Pallour:

Welcome to the LoT. We are NOT solving humanity's problems here; we are just shooting the sh!t. Relax. If I were a member of the United Nations or so much as a representative of your local bakery, I would not make the same comments.

However, here on the LoT, I feel free ... and I hope you do as well ... to express oneself in a non-politically correct fashion that suits a current mood and outlook and opinion.


With that said, I respect what you wrote and I admire its wisdom and inner truth. But I feel such admonitions are inapplicable to this particular venue ... which I remind you most gently ... is the LoT.


Sincerely,

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Agreed.

So...either your statement applies to basically no one (because basically no one literally froths at the mouth unless they have some sort of medical problem) or it applies to whomever you deem to be "rabid", which sounds rather subjective to me.

If I say "all jerks are jerks" it's not too hard to say that makes sense. If I say "everyone who agree that gay people are evil are ignorant morons" I am giving an exact frame of reference. If I say "all people that say right-wing things to degree x are ignorant morons" leaves x vague and definitely qualifies as a broad-brush, all-or-nothing, us-against-them, hatred and prejudice filled statement.

Whether or not you know any right-wingers (and you DO) painting any group as this or that undermines you. It bears repeating.

I'd like to clarify that I'm not speaking just to iSm, but to JW and anyone else who wants to post hatred-filled bias (and yes, there are plenty among us, including myself, who needs reminding often).

This, I truly believe: There is no solution to our problems, to our divided country, and to the basic ongoing epic struggles humans have faced for all of our existence that involves demonizing the opposition.

You are hurting your reputation, you are hurting your own cause, and you are hurting humankind.

You may call it hyperbole. I do not. Solutions do not begin at the top. They begin at the bottom, in every day conversation, in the small things we repeat to ourselves and to each other.

How am I demonizing by pointing out uncomfortable truths?

I use the term "right-wing" in the same manner that conservatives like to use the word "liberal"; that is, the extreme fringe of that end of the political spectrum. In my opinion, no one here on LoT is what I would refer to as right-wing. Nor do I believe that the majority of conservatives are right-wing, or hold the same insane paranoid views. But by pointing out that the lunatic fringe on the even right exists, I get pilloried. Nice.