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[Teggy]

I don't love this response, honestly, because it's very important to distinguish between theory and practice. People often celebrate America as they believe it should be. Responding by critiquing what America actually is is really talking at cross purposes.

I can see that, but I think when this is coming from a rich white person who doesn't really seem to do much work on the ground (wrt racism) the response is understandable.

Also, fun account: @YesYoureRacist - basically just names and shames racists who go out in public.

 

[Box of Kittens]

I may not agree with them but I support there rights. The problem I see now and I hate to say it, but the left extreme is encouraging vilonce. These racists used to be local news only and laughed at. Now these guys get front page because counter protesters have a larger group most times and a mob mentality. And sad thing is everyone wants to see a fight break out.

No.

 

[barber]

I may not agree with them but I support there rights. The problem I see now and I hate to say it, but the left extreme is encouraging vilonce. These racists used to be local news only and laughed at. Now these guys get front page because counter protesters have a larger group most times and a mob mentality. And sad thing is everyone wants to see a fight break out.

Anti-fa has always been going against fascist / hard right protests. The problem is that those groups have been reinforced since last year due to certain politicians. Extreme left may be sometimes prompt to violence BUT in most cases the initiator is the extreme right. Look at today, who was injured and sadly died? not the fascists.
Edit: limits to freedom of speech due to hate speach is not something that bad, as long as the limits are well defined and not changed to satisfy the party in power (so yeah, never happening in USA)

 

[Poodlestrike]

I don't love this response, honestly, because it's very important to distinguish between theory and practice. People often celebrate America as they believe it should be. Responding by critiquing what America actually is is really talking at cross purposes.

Basically my thought. On the flip side, can't fault folks for being disillusioned right now, or for trying to counter program against the significantly more common issue of people conflating that theory with the reality.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

I may not agree with them but I support there rights. The problem I see now and I hate to say it, but the left extreme is encouraging vilonce. These racists used to be local news only and laughed at. Now these guys get front page because counter protesters have a larger group most times and a mob mentality. And sad thing is everyone wants to see a fight break out.

That you decided to describe counter-protesters to neo-nazis as the "left extreme" is very telling.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I may not agree with them but I support there rights. The problem I see now and I hate to say it, but the left extreme is encouraging vilonce. These racists used to be local news only and laughed at. Now these guys get front page because counter protesters have a larger group most times and a mob mentality. And sad thing is everyone wants to see a fight break out.

The Nazi's committed 100% of the violence in the past 24 hours, including driving a muscle car into a crowd of peaceful protesters. The reason you didnt hear about them before is because Trump made them feel so empowered that they dont even need to wear their hoods anymore.

63 million americans told them that this is ok.

 

[AntraxSuicide]

I don't love this response, honestly, because it's very important to distinguish between theory and practice. People often celebrate America as they believe it should be. Responding by critiquing what America actually is is really talking at cross purposes.

Yeah, the ideals of the US have never been fully achieved, from day one, but those ideals are still something to hold onto.

 

[Suikoguy]

If i were a modern day politician i'd be terrified of putting anything in the constitution that allows the censorship of the media. "Ok lets ban Nazi propaganda" will turn into "MSNBC and the Washington Post are fake news and will be banned from this NATION BLESSED UNDER OUR ONE AND ONLY ALMIGHTY GOD! #MAGA"

I dont know what else to do though, Hard right propaganda clearly pushed republican voters to the right over the last 20 years, and republicans choose to just move to the right with them rather than trying to reign them in and keep them sane, now things have gotten so bad that we have Trump as president and the KKK feels so emboldened that they dont even wear their hoods anymore.

Very considerable. An administration that apparently cannot bring itself to condemn literal neo-nazis would not hesitate for a second to criminalize eg Black Lives Matter rhetoric as hate speech against cops.

My underlying argument is: It's ultimately possible, put very much a pipe dream since it requires a const amendment. Other countries limit speech in certain ways without it going too far, but it requires a functioning judicial system and properly designed ammendment to work.

It is already illegal to utter "fighting words" under federal law. How much farther do you want to go?

Huh?

 

[Spoiled Milk]

Huh?

It is illegal to incite violence toward groups in the United States. What, specifically, do you want to make illegal beyond that?

 

[GoldenEye 007]

It's the same fundamental problem with "America is already great." Clearly not.

That's more than fair. But Hillary also was much more forceful than many politicians in directly calling out racism too. Not sure if you were referring to those comments coming from Hillary or in general.

 

[Dominican Power]

Hurricane season is right around the corner. No doubt Trump is gonna look like an idiot.

 

[callhitman]

That you decided to describe counter-protesters to neo-nazis as the "left extreme" is very telling.

Lol telling. I'm an Indian guy that lives in a post 911 world. I'm not saying they are the same. It's The fact that you have two sides that don t like one another that are ready to go. It only takes one person to set another off. Don't matter if it's this or two sports teams. And yes there are people on the extreme left as well that are just as nasty in this world.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Lol telling. I'm an Indian guy that lives in a post 911 world. I'm not saying they are the same. It's The fact that you have two sides that don t lime one another that are ready to go. It only takes one person to set another off. Don't matter if it's this or two sports teams. And yes there are people on the extreme left as well that are just as nasty wasn't here Nazi's.

No.

 

[jtb]

That's more than fair. But Hillary also was much more forceful than many politicians in directly calling out racism too. Not sure if you were referring to those comments coming from Hillary or in general.

All of the above. It just wasn't a good message to counter Trump's racism and MAGA (as evidenced by the election lol).

 

[Teggy]

Jack Gillum @jackgillum
My reporting tonight: car in #Charlottesville crash registered to 20yo James Fields of Ohio; man w/ same name, age, town booked for murder
8:10 PM · Aug 12, 2017

.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Lol telling. I'm an Indian guy that lives in a post 911 world. I'm not saying they are the same. It's The fact that you have two sides that don t lime one another that are ready to go. It only takes one person to set another off. Don't matter if it's this or two sports teams. And yes there are people on the extreme left as well that are just as nasty wasn't here Nazi's.

No, only one side wants hate and white supremacy to prevail. Just one. Resisting that is not in the wrong.

 

[Wilsongt]

So the white house is under going renovations... I wonder how fucking gawdy it'll look when it is done.

 

[royalan]

You know what? I would rather Obama didn't tweet at all and deleted his fucking account if all he's going to do is tweet some kumbayah shit while people are literally dying in the streets due to the resurgence of white nationalism, the klu klux klan, and racial hate.

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

Hmm.

James Fields of Ohio rings a bell for some reason.....

 

[UberTag]

I turn on CNN and I see David Gergen talking about what Trump should do, how he could turn it around, and I'm thinking when the fuck are these people gonna take the gloves off? He's irredeemable human trash, just say that already. Make it your goddamn mantra.

Your first mistake was turning on CNN.
Your second mistake was holding them to some expectation that they will EVER take the gloves off.
You're projecting your expectations of what a responsible news service would do on a network that has no inclination to be one. They're entertainment media.

 

[Box of Kittens]

The reason these people are violent is because they're literal Nazis, not because someone set them off.

 

[Xando]

It is illegal to incite violence toward groups in the United States. What, specifically, do you want to make illegal beyond that?

IIRC that only counts if your words incite an immediate danger.
Something like „i‘m gonna kill some blacks right now“ might be able to be covered.

Something like „All blacks should be gassed“ would not be covered.

Compare this to germanys hate speech laws(Volksverhetzung) which covers this:

Whosoever, in a manner capable of disturbing the public peace:

incites hatred against a national, racial, religious group or a group defined by their ethnic origins, against segments of the population or individuals because of their belonging to one of the aforementioned groups or segments of the population or calls for violent or arbitrary measures against them; or
assaults the human dignity of others by insulting, maliciously maligning an aforementioned group, segments of the population or individuals because of their belonging to one of the aforementioned groups or segments of the population, or defaming segments of the population,
shall be liable to imprisonment from three months to five years

Now even with these laws it’s still extremely hard to get someone convicted for hatespeech in germany and it often goes to the Supreme Court which ultimately defines what’s hate speech and what’s not.

 

[Teggy]

My president

This way too reserved. Should have been: "I told you assholes! I did a whole fucking speech on these people!"

 

[AntraxSuicide]

It is illegal to incite violence toward groups in the United States. What, specifically, do you want to make illegal beyond that?

There's no teeth to this though.

 

[Wilsongt]

LOL. Literally read a Facebook comment saying they should have left the statue, some heritage/history stuff, and he ended the post with literally GEORGE SOROS

 

[shadow_shogun]

Holy shit! A fellow maumee Resident!

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Your first mistake was turning on CNN.
Your second mistake was holding them to some expectation that they will EVER take the gloves off.
You're projecting your expectations of what a responsible news service would do on a network that has no inclination to be one. They're entertainment media.

It's the first time I've turned it on in weeks, and it's like, you assholes are still doing this? You're right though, it's not surprising.

 

[Plinko]

Just got back in and saw today's news. What a gutless president we have. I'm embarrassed to be an American. Hillary was 100% right with her "deplorables" comment.

 

[thefro]

You know what? I would rather Obama didn't tweet at all and deleted his fucking account if all he's going to do is tweet some kumbayah shit while people are literally dying in the streets due to the resurgence of white nationalism, the klu klux klan, and racial hate.

A Nelson Mandela quote is some "kumbaya shit" now?

 

[AntraxSuicide]

LOL. Literally read a Facebook comment saying they should have left the statue, some heritage/history stuff, and he ended the post with literally GEORGE SOROS

Half of the posts that do this are trying to game Google search results and other data sweeps.

 

[Teggy]

Holy shit! A fellow maumee Resident!

Congrats!

 

[Wilsongt]

I am still stunned that the fucking President of the United States of America literally went "both sides" today.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I am still stunned that the fucking President of the United States of America literally went "both sides" today.

I was fully expecting him to blame this on Obama. So it actually wasnt as bad as i thought it would be, but he didnt even mention any of the victims which i figured was a sure thing. And nobody from the white house has said the word White supremacist, Nazi, or even Terrorist.

 

[Plinko]

John McCain's statement is fantastic. Basically everything a competent leader should say.

I am still stunned that the fucking President of the United States of America literally went "both sides" today.

I'm not sure why. It's the man in the position that should have not made this a surprise.

 

[Box of Kittens]

I mean, Trump threw in a dog whistle about cherishing history to let the Nazis know he has their backs. How much worse could it be?

 

[Teggy]

I was fully expecting him to blame this on Obama. So it actually wasnt as bad as i thought it would be.

I did think that "before Obama" line was really weird. Not sure if it was ad libbed or what.

 

[excelsiorlef]

You know what? I would rather Obama didn't tweet at all and deleted his fucking account if all he's going to do is tweet some kumbayah shit while people are literally dying in the streets due to the resurgence of white nationalism, the klu klux klan, and racial hate.

Seriously Sanders calls them Nazis, Clinton calls them White Supremacists and Obama tweets like an Inspiration Tweetbot...

 

[Plinko]

White House was asked three separate times by the same reporter to denounce white supremacists and all they would come back with was "we condemn all violence." Not even hiding it.

 

[excelsiorlef]

A Nelson Mandela quote is some "kumbaya shit" now?

Nazis just roamed through a US city and one of them ran over a bunch of people, killing one and Obama is tweeting about teaching people to love... yeah in this context it's kumbaya shit

When John fucking McCain is speaking bolder than you yeah... it's a problem.

 

[Box of Kittens]

White House was asked three separate times by the same reporter to denounce white supremacists and all they would come back with was "we condemn all violence." Not even hiding it.

This needs to be called out, loudly and repeatedly.

 

[King Tubby]

You know what? I would rather Obama didn't tweet at all and deleted his fucking account if all he's going to do is tweet some kumbayah shit while people are literally dying in the streets due to the resurgence of white nationalism, the klu klux klan, and racial hate.

Given how much the morons on the right try to blame him for "dividing the country" I am fine with his tweets. It's kind of a "fuck you" to them and a great contrast between him and Trump.

 

[Teggy]

Nevada students discover one of their classmates is a nazi

https://mobile.twitter.com/bayymontana/status/896442120508026880

Also, the stupidest man in the world is at it again

https://mobile.twitter.com/KT_So_It_Goes/status/896445078687948800

 

[royalan]

A Nelson Mandela quote is some "kumbaya shit" now?

Within the context of what's happening today? Yes.

I mean, he might as well have posted the quote as a mediation meme with some tulips and streams and shit in the background.

 

[Y2Kev]

Hillary and trump are the same part 900

 

[LostMyNarbles]

Given how much the morons on the right try to blame him for "dividing the country" I am fine with his tweets. It's kind of a "fuck you" to them and a great contrast between him and Trump.

At some point it would be nice to hear Obama get angry and loudly condemn these kind of events instead of taking the moral high road so he doesn't hurt the feelings of Nazis.

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

At some point it would be nice to hear Obama get angry and loudly condemn these kind of events instead of taking the moral high road so he doesn't hurt the feelings of Nazis.

I think it's more that he doesn't want to validate their perception of "angry black man president" than to avoid hurting their feelings

 

[KirbYuuYuu]

At some point it would be nice to hear Obama get angry and loudly condemn these kind of events instead of taking the moral high road so he doesn't hurt the feelings of Nazis.

There's a part of me that wonders if he realized how chained he is to say something because he's black.

Let white people do the talking.

 

[excelsiorlef]

I think it's more that he doesn't want to validate their perception of "angry black man president" than to avoid hurting their feelings

Who fucking cares at this point.

Do it for the people who believe in him...

 

[LostMyNarbles]

I think it's more that he doesn't want to validate their perception of "angry black man president" than to avoid hurting their feelings

That's exactly the problem though. It feels like Obama refuses to be blunt or get angry in situations like this because he's too wound up in thinking how Republicans are going to react to what he has to say. It'd be nice if he cared less about what racists will think because the fact is that the right is going to pummel the Obama drum regardless of what he says or does, just like they have been doing for the past 8 years. It feels like a McCain moment in a way in that people are suffering and all Obama can say is that he is slightly concerned (If he even says that).

 

[Maengun1]

Obama has been the living embodiment of grace, class and restraint his entire life, and they still act like he's a raving lunatic boogeyman. I got why he kept his cool through his presidency, but there is no reason he can't unload at this point. He should be scorching Trump with daily speeches IMO. Someone has to.

edit: not that he hasn't earned his retirement too, lol. But I don't get what being nicey-nice is achieving when he does speak up.