Election Night. Gimme My Fix.

[Cain]

The myth of Reagan is all powerful.  Reagan was the closest friend to Israel (despite cutting off strategic aid and voting to condemn them in the UN on several occasions).  Reagan cut taxes (well, except for all those stealth taxes he actually raised).  Reagan deplored Nixon's deal with China (until he changed his mind).  Reagan tirelessly supported freedom movements around the world (except when he refused to embargo Poland in response to the brutal crackdown on Solidarity).  Reagan never cut and run (except from Lebanon).  Reagan never compromised with rogue regimes (except all that backroom negotiation with Iran) and stood steadfast against the demands of the Soviet Union (except when he negotiated arms treaties with Gorbachev).  Reagan stood for strong national security (apart from detesting nuclear weapons) and for cracking down on terrorists (who he considered criminals and should be fought by legal means).

You can see why Reagan is such an inspiration to modern conservatives.  They know nothing about him.

[M. Nigel Salt]

SHe's "not racist". But she's fired. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/denise-helms-california-woman-hopes-obama-is-assassinated_n_2104184.html

I think she's an idiot, but I also have a problem with the mob mentality that accompanied this story. She and thousands (at a guess) of other ignorant rednecks have said stupid, racist, threatening shit about the President on networking media sites... haven't we been laughing about this for the last four years? But people jumped on this particular stupid redneck, formed a screaming monkey mob, and engaged in what I could only describe as harrassing behavior until she was fired.

What concerns me about our (by which I mean the Left's) acceptance of this completely shitty sequence of events is that we are making a statement that we find it morally and ethically acceptable to take someone's words off an ostensibly hidden portion of the Internet, take them to their boss, and apply pressure to get them fired, even after the words were removed and no longer visible to even the limited audience they were intended for.

We all know (or should know) that Facebook isn't really private, regardless of privacy settings that prevent bosses or strangers from seeing the retarded and often overly personal crap we post there. However, I feel that this crosses a big line, and I am actually outright horrified at the general Liberal endorsement of actions that can and you better believe will be used against all of us in the future... especially when you consider that we have things like states that allow employers to fire women for using birth control.

Ook ook, motherfuckers.

[Internet Jesus]

SHe's "not racist". But she's fired. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/denise-helms-california-woman-hopes-obama-is-assassinated_n_2104184.html

I think she's an idiot, but I also have a problem with the mob mentality that accompanied this story. She and thousands (at a guess) of other ignorant rednecks have said stupid, racist, threatening shit about the President on networking media sites... haven't we been laughing about this for the last four years? But people jumped on this particular stupid redneck, formed a screaming monkey mob, and engaged in what I could only describe as harrassing behavior until she was fired.

What concerns me about our (by which I mean the Left's) acceptance of this completely shitty sequence of events is that we are making a statement that we find it morally and ethically acceptable to take someone's words off an ostensibly hidden portion of the Internet, take them to their boss, and apply pressure to get them fired, even after the words were removed and no longer visible to even the limited audience they were intended for.

We all know (or should know) that Facebook isn't really private, regardless of privacy settings that prevent bosses or strangers from seeing the retarded and often overly personal crap we post there. However, I feel that this crosses a big line, and I am actually outright horrified at the general Liberal endorsement of actions that can and you better believe will be used against all of us in the future... especially when you consider that we have things like states that allow employers to fire women for using birth control.

Ook ook, motherfuckers.

You're ultimately right, Nigel, but how are the stupid among us going to get that 1. there's nothing private on the interwebs and 2. While political expression is free, there are some things you just don't broadcast to the world, if a few examples aren't made?

Not that for the current breed of conservative any lesson can ever be learned but hey, hope springs eternal.

[M. Nigel Salt]

SHe's "not racist". But she's fired. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/denise-helms-california-woman-hopes-obama-is-assassinated_n_2104184.html

I think she's an idiot, but I also have a problem with the mob mentality that accompanied this story. She and thousands (at a guess) of other ignorant rednecks have said stupid, racist, threatening shit about the President on networking media sites... haven't we been laughing about this for the last four years? But people jumped on this particular stupid redneck, formed a screaming monkey mob, and engaged in what I could only describe as harrassing behavior until she was fired.

What concerns me about our (by which I mean the Left's) acceptance of this completely shitty sequence of events is that we are making a statement that we find it morally and ethically acceptable to take someone's words off an ostensibly hidden portion of the Internet, take them to their boss, and apply pressure to get them fired, even after the words were removed and no longer visible to even the limited audience they were intended for.

We all know (or should know) that Facebook isn't really private, regardless of privacy settings that prevent bosses or strangers from seeing the retarded and often overly personal crap we post there. However, I feel that this crosses a big line, and I am actually outright horrified at the general Liberal endorsement of actions that can and you better believe will be used against all of us in the future... especially when you consider that we have things like states that allow employers to fire women for using birth control.

Ook ook, motherfuckers.

You're ultimately right, Nigel, but how are the stupid among us going to get that 1. there's nothing private on the interwebs and 2. While political expression is free, there are some things you just don't broadcast to the world, if a few examples aren't made?

Not that for the current breed of conservative any lesson can ever be learned but hey, hope springs eternal.

I have a feeling a few examples are going to be made, very swiftly over the next few weeks.

The thing is, the stupid among us are us, because by screeching in support of this we are tightening the noose a little tighter around out own necks. She said Nigger! She said she hoped the President is assassinated! Burn the witch! And the next time a Republican President is elected, it'll be liberals losing their jobs to the same kinds of mobs, but with different party colors, and they won't even have to say nigger.

[Freeky Queen of DERP]

You make a very good point, Nigel. 

Huh.I hadn't thought of it that way.

[Cain]

Short-sighted and stupid grants of power seem to be a hallmark of American politics for the last few decades.

I won't be surprised if in 2016, we see people arguing "you have to vote for Hillary Clinton...else President Ryan will have you assassinated by a drone!"  And then people will line up and dutifully pull a lever for Clinton, instead of thinking whether a system that relies on the good character on the person in office is actually a desirable state of affairs or not.

[M. Nigel Salt]

A frustrating element of even trying to discuss this with most people is that, relevant to something LMNO said the other day, most people can't stay on the topic of the moral and ethical ramifications of both the mob mentality and the media intervention, and keep slipping over to focus on the rightness of her actions or the actions of her employer.

[Juana Go?]

Yeah, the mobbish response to her post bothered me a little. She deserves to be roundly mocked for being a disgusting human being, but firing her (and the way Jezebel went and informed the schools of a bunch of kids who said things like this, which has resulted in discipline for them) is worrisome.

The myth of Reagan is all powerful.  Reagan was the closest friend to Israel (despite cutting off strategic aid and voting to condemn them in the UN on several occasions).  Reagan cut taxes (well, except for all those stealth taxes he actually raised).  Reagan deplored Nixon's deal with China (until he changed his mind).  Reagan tirelessly supported freedom movements around the world (except when he refused to embargo Poland in response to the brutal crackdown on Solidarity).  Reagan never cut and run (except from Lebanon).  Reagan never compromised with rogue regimes (except all that backroom negotiation with Iran) and stood steadfast against the demands of the Soviet Union (except when he negotiated arms treaties with Gorbachev).  Reagan stood for strong national security (apart from detesting nuclear weapons) and for cracking down on terrorists (who he considered criminals and should be fought by legal means).

You can see why Reagan is such an inspiration to modern conservatives.  They know nothing about him.

[Freeky Queen of DERP]

Yeah, now that it's been pointed out, this is totally messed up. 


But there's still a big part of my brainmeat that's like "TEACH THOSE RACIST MORONS A LESSON! YEAH!"  It seems like racism is coming back (or at least is less reviled), and I wouldn't begin to know where to start teaching people not to be ignorant jackasses without some form of tangible punishment, at least not in the US, that would work.

[M. Nigel Salt]

Yeah, now that it's been pointed out, this is totally messed up. 


But there's still a big part of my brainmeat that's like "TEACH THOSE RACIST MORONS A LESSON! YEAH!"  It seems like racism is coming back (or at least is less reviled), and I wouldn't begin to know where to start teaching people not to be ignorant jackasses without some form of tangible punishment, at least not in the US, that would work.

Another problem with that response is that punishing people for being racist just makes them more racist.

[Freeky Queen of DERP]

Yeah, now that it's been pointed out, this is totally messed up. 


But there's still a big part of my brainmeat that's like "TEACH THOSE RACIST MORONS A LESSON! YEAH!"  It seems like racism is coming back (or at least is less reviled), and I wouldn't begin to know where to start teaching people not to be ignorant jackasses without some form of tangible punishment, at least not in the US, that would work.

Another problem with that response is that punishing people for being racist just makes them more racist.

There is that, too. 

[Uncle Wallified]

I definitely saw an ugly side to Jezebel's approach to the racist twitters. On the one hand, yeah, racists are scumbags, but on the other, they really aren't worth becoming the self-appointed civilian thought police over. And ultimately, that's what it smacked of to me. Punishing the kids for a deviation from acceptable thought, even if said deviation was thoroughly reprehensible. It's like arresting people for making rape jokes.

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

I definitely saw an ugly side to Jezebel's approach to the racist twitters. On the one hand, yeah, racists are scumbags, but on the other, they really aren't worth becoming the self-appointed civilian thought police over. And ultimately, that's what it smacked of to me. Punishing the kids for a deviation from acceptable thought, even if said deviation was thoroughly reprehensible. It's like arresting people for making rape jokes.

It's weird, if a bunch of people just went and fucked with those kid's facebooks a bit, even if it made their life a living hell for a few days, I wouldn't have a problem with it because internet, get tuff, ect. Its only when authority(the school, the woman's job) becomes involved that it feels like punishing a thought crime.

[M. Nigel Salt]

I definitely saw an ugly side to Jezebel's approach to the racist twitters. On the one hand, yeah, racists are scumbags, but on the other, they really aren't worth becoming the self-appointed civilian thought police over. And ultimately, that's what it smacked of to me. Punishing the kids for a deviation from acceptable thought, even if said deviation was thoroughly reprehensible. It's like arresting people for making rape jokes.

It's weird, if a bunch of people just went and fucked with those kid's facebooks a bit, even if it made their life a living hell for a few days, I wouldn't have a problem with it because internet, get tuff, ect. Its only when authority(the school, the woman's job) becomes involved that it feels like punishing a thought crime.

Yeah, exactly. Kind of the old saw about the punishment suiting the crime, and all that. Oh, someone was a douche on the internet! Well, how about let's mock them on the internet? Fits the crime!

Sure, if someone makes what sounds like a threat to the President, they should get a knock on the door from the Secret Service. That's their job. But mobbing their boss with boycott threats is out of fucking line.

[M. Nigel Salt]

You know, the other part of that is, it used to be that we'd have some Facebook friend say something fucking idiotic and we'd screencap it, blot out their name, and be all "get a load of this moron!", not "Somebody is wrong on the Internet, everybody contact her employer!"