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[BANGS]

Melania basically just plagiarized Michelle Obamas speech

...which was plagiarized from Saul Alinksy...

 

[Grinchy]

None of this makes sense to me. Who cares what race she is, if she looks like a monkey why does it matter if she's black? She didn't say black people look like monkeys, she didn't say this lady looks like a monkey because she's black, she said that this lady looks like a monkey and said lady happens to be black. Why does that immediately strike a nerve? I don't get it...

Lots of people of all different races just have monkey faces, why is it taboo to only point this out if they're black?


Man, I wish I could muster up that kind of cognitive dissonance...

I think Ron Perlman looks like an ape:


I'm allowed to point it out since he's white.

 

[BANGS]

I think Ron Perlman looks like an ape: I'm allowed to point it out since he's white

Exactly my point. He does look like an ape. So does George W Bush. So do alot of people of all different races. It's fucked up that pointing it out makes you automatically racist despite being the only one who's not looking at race...

 

[Trogdor1123]

Implying that Sam Bee is the first and only comedian to ever make incest jokes about Trump and Ivanka.

Also, Ted Nugent called Hillary Clinton a cunt and gets invited to the White House regularly.

Conservatives can eat my entire ass regarding this non-issue.

So everyone and everything is fair game? Really? It's not ok for EITHER SIDE! It's disgusting. None of it is ok. It's petty and actually stops any real discussion of examination of facts and positions. It is completely counter productive and I hate it. Leaders, of all stripes and occupations, are supposed to be better, not worse.

 

[Autoignition]

So everyone and everything is fair game? Really? It's not ok for EITHER SIDE! It's disgusting. None of it is ok. It's petty and actually stops any real discussion of examination of facts and positions. It is completely counter productive and I hate it. Leaders, of all stripes and occupations, are supposed to be better, not worse.

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who refers to either Ted Nugent or Samantha Bee as a "leader."

 

[Trogdor1123]

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who refers to either Ted Nugent or Samantha Bee as a "leader."

No, fair point. I was speaking in broad terms. I assumed it was understood. Should have been more clear.

On a completely unrelated note, my volunteering today has been cancelled in account of weather. Time to take the kids for slurpees!

 

[quickwhips]

Honestly we say to many terrible words on the internet and on tv. I’m guilty of it also.

 

[davepoobond]

Exactly my point. He does look like an ape. So does George W Bush. So do alot of people of all different races. It's fucked up that pointing it out makes you automatically racist despite being the only one who's not looking at race...

It’s almost as if context doesn’t matter! Amazing ability you have there

Here’s the context of the outrage of Samantha bee saying cunt — trump says “grab them by the pussy” as if he is the stalwart of morality in the things you say and it’s samantha bee that should “get fired”

 

[Gold_Loot]

Ah, I was wondering when this talking point would arrive on GAF.

Ah yes, it looks like you were chomping at the bit and bringing such insight such as... err.. uhm..

... well

 

[LegendOfKage]

Let other places be consumed by their own self-righteous rage, happily celebrating when others lose their jobs, their livelihoods, the ability to support their loved ones no matter who they are. Let others pass these kinds of destructive judgments that ultimately are not theirs to make. This, this is not want I wanted newGAF to be like and if we cannot overcome that despicable, hateful mentality that rejoices in the damages brought upon others, this place could just as well have stayed oldGAF, because it would ultimately be the same anyway.

There was a lot to agree with about your whole post, but I wanted to address this part specifically.

I wanted to post this thread to address the level of hate and venom that is becoming typical of politics these days. I find this sort of thing unacceptable, just as I find people like Milo Yiannopulos unacceptable. These people are bigots. They are filled with so much hate for those who don't share their opinions that anything they say about "the enemy" is considered acceptable. In doing so, and by filling their voices with anger and hate, they do as much to build the audience of the opposing worldview, as they do their own audience.

While there may be some calling for blood, who would be happy to see Samantha Bee's career in ruins because of this, I'm not one of them, and I hope you didn't get that impression from my post. A heckler's veto isn't good for colleges, and it's not good for television either. But I believe encouraging less hate and less hypocrisy is a good thing. To everyone, I would encourage you to throw "your people" under the bus whenever they violate your principles. And do not make excuses for them, if you wouldn't make the same excuses for your political opposition.

As to NeoGAF being a hateful site that rejoices in the damages brought upon others, all I can do is what you're doing, which is discourage that mentality. To disagree with it, and challenge those who hold that opinion, usually though pointing out the same hypocrisy that you're referring to.

But I think GAF will be fine as long as the people here do not want to silence others for their opinions on this website. Again, all I can do is discourage that, and do my part to let people know that even when I strongly disagree with them, I have no desire to see them removed them from the discussion.

 

[Moneal]

It’s almost as if context doesn’t matter! Amazing ability you have there

Here’s the context of the outrage of Samantha bee saying cunt — trump says “grab them by the pussy” as if he is the stalwart of morality in the things you say and it’s samantha bee that should “get fired”

I mean if you want to go back in time and fire him from the apprentice, I would be all for it.

 

[pramod]

Did people forget the Bush or Chimp memes? I guess it's only OK to compare white people to animals.

 

[TheMikado]

Did people forget the Bush or Chimp memes? I guess it's only OK to compare white people to animals.

What celebrity did that?

 

[Acerac]

Yeesh, Samantha Bee is such a snowflake.

 

[Unknown Quantity]

She posted a sweet pic of a complete loving family, her with her child when a few days earlier immigrant families were being separated for the crime of seeking refuge, which I think is disgusting. So a very cunty thing to do imo.

John Oliver also talked extensively about Trump wanting to bang his daughter in many episodes.

 

[gunslikewhoa]

She posted a sweet pic of a complete loving family, her with her child when a few days earlier immigrant families were being separated for the crime of seeking refuge, which I think is disgusting. So a very cunty thing to do imo.

John Oliver also talked extensively about Trump wanting to bang his daughter in many episodes.

didn't happen

even if it had, the entire line of reasoning that leads one to believe that it's somehow in poor taste for her to post a picture of herself with her child is just ridiculous

 

[TheMikado]

She posted a sweet pic of a complete loving family, her with her child when a few days earlier immigrant families were being separated for the crime of seeking refuge, which I think is disgusting. So a very cunty thing to do imo.

John Oliver also talked extensively about Trump wanting to bang his daughter in many episodes.

It was bad timing and tone deaf at most; definitely not “cunty” the fact that people want to justify that kind of crap and such crude name calling is absurd. I don’t really understand this Samantha Bee thing as it looks like she’s supposed to be some kind of comedian or whatever and it was supposed to be a tagline in a joke. A crappy joke.

If this is a Roseanne comparison, Roseanne has said plenty of poor and mean things about people that didn’t involve race AND didn’t get her fired.
She crossed a line that her employer wasn’t happy with, it doesn’t make any of their jokes in good taste.

 

[Gold_Loot]

She posted a sweet pic of a complete loving family, her with her child when a few days earlier immigrant families were being separated for the crime of seeking refuge, which I think is disgusting. So a very cunty thing to do imo.

John Oliver also talked extensively about Trump wanting to bang his daughter in many episodes.

Are we talking about those pictures that were proven to be from back in 2014?

It’s amazing how deceptive the far left has been when it comes to today’s presidential family.

 

[I Stalk Alone]

Trump was the first to joke about banging his daughter op. I think its open season when it comes to that. And a woman calling a other woman a cunt. Nothing wrong with that either. I don't think your argument has legs because of these two points. Maybe we should focus on the context of the insults rather than the insults themselves.

 

[KINGMOKU]

Implying that Sam Bee is the first and only comedian to ever make incest jokes about Trump and Ivanka.

Also, Ted Nugent called Hillary Clinton a cunt and gets invited to the White House regularly.

Conservatives can eat my entire ass regarding this non-issue.

So your solution to the degradation of communication between Americans, and political hypocrisy, is to instruct a massive voting base to eat your ass?

How about we just attack the hypocrisy wherever it is without resorting to infantile attacks, name calling, and "they do it too!"

Is that even possible anymore? Has the general discourse just bottomed out and That's it?

"Eat my ass".

Just an amazing insight into the current thought process.

 

[Autoignition]

So your solution to the degradation of communication between Americans, and political hypocrisy, is to instruct a massive voting base to eat your ass?

How about we just attack the hypocrisy wherever it is without resorting to infantile attacks, name calling, and "they do it too!"

Is that even possible anymore? Has the general discourse just bottomed out and That's it?

"Eat my ass".

Just an amazing insight into the current thought process.

It's not my job to provide a solution. It's not my job to coddle people who are manufacturing their own outrage for the sake of "getting back" at a group of people. People are ultimately responsible for their own behavior, and it's not my responsibility to chase after them and rationalize why they should stop being vindictive trolling assholes. Because there's no light at the end of that tunnel. When someone's being vindictive and trolling, they're not going to respond to reasoned rationale.

Maybe if we had any sort of moral leadership in this country at all, we could look to them to set a tone for the discourse in this country. But we elected President Pussygrabber, so yes. Eat my ass. Start with the fattest part.

 

[GAFDooMsDaY]

Why so much fake outrage when Trump himself said he would date her?

 

[Sàmban]

I swear, I'm so f*ckin' tired of this hypocritical hyper-partisan bullcrap. Both comments were stupid and way below an acceptable level of public discourse, but those insults have become par for the course in today's negative campaigning mentality of American political culture. Each election devolves into a billion dollar bipartisan mud slinging contest, with each side gasping in shock when the other side said something insensitive. Since the last presidential election, the American people seem to be locked into a state of permanent political warfare and all this bile is slowly robbing them of all common sense. All this because of a stupid tweet and an equally as stupid TV segment? That's enough to make you ready to destroy somebody?

The proportionality of justice

Yes free speech is a basic human right and yes nobody should be deresponsibilized from the consequences of his words or actions. But the proportionality of justice still applies, the basic principle that conveys the idea that the punishment of an offender should fit the crime. These past few days I've seen people gleefully throwing that principle out of the window, spitefully clamoring for the harshest of punishments while dehumanizing their target upon which they bring their partisan wrath down upon. Not because it is just or fair or right, but because it's happening to a person from the opposite political border. It's outright sickening!

The bipartisan hypocrisy

Time and time again, I've seen people switch sides and apply the same arguments that they've been vehemently denying before, only because this time it fits their narrative. Principles don't mean anything when they are only upheld when convenient but quickly broken when they apply to people you don't like. Hypocritical attitudes like that don't make you good people, it makes you opportunistic sycophants. Don't you ever dare coming to my doorsteps claiming moral superiority through your hollow virtue-signaling. You are the reason why we are in this ever escalating cultural conflict. Or need you remind you of Stephen Fry's wise words?



Do I like Trump? Hell no! But in-between the cracks of your black and white view of the world, dare I express the notion that literally comparing him to Hitler is an affront to the historical atrocities of WWII and the Third Reich. Do I like Hillary? F*ck no! She's just as corrupt as her corporate cronies, but neither do I believe that she's literally Moloch, just another run of the mill career politician radicalizing her voter base for political gains. All this hyperbole does nothing but bring incredible damage to people's perception of reality and their ability to co-exist. In-between these hardened frontlines, people from all walks of life lose their livelihood while being crushed by the overzealous political troopers on social media and other discussion boards. Each victim completely stripped of their humanity with people gleefully celebrating the fallen ones as a victory for their own side.

Rules for thee, but not for me

How many times have I seen liberals and their beloved celebrities hurl insults like "orange baboon", "the son of an orangutan" or a "syphilitic twitter monkey" but suddenly act all sanctimonious when some of that vile bile is hurled back at them? How many times have I seen republicans defend their right to free speech, but are quick to silence those who do nothing else but take a knee? Don't you even dare pointing fingers at the other side, this is the culture that you've helped create, turning a blind eye to the people and their families to whom it brings pain and suffering, all in the name of your righteous cause. And you think of yourselves as the good people? HA! Your sense of civility and humaneness only extends so far as your own tiny social bubble.

The identity game

All your identity games are nothing but a thin veneer to excuse the atrocities of your own side. "Oh, but she's a woman, so her insults aren't as bad" or "that person is oppressed, so it's okay to 'punch up'", you know the deal. Either you promote equality and hold everybody to the same standards, or you don't. There is no in-between, no exception, no special privileges when it comes to public discourse and the dialectic exchange of ideas. Your identity doesn't grant you liberties that are denied to others and all your virtuous posturing for equality means f*ck all, if you keep going down that path.

There is a reason Lady Justice is blind, because the rule of law applies to everybody in an equal manner. Your identity driven sense of justice is nothing but a wicked and distorted abomination of what true equality really means. And for what? Only because you believe that the social contract is a zero sum game, that different social groups must engage in merciless struggle against each other for limited social privileges, jobs, money and resources. For every person you don't like that you can drive out of business, somebody in your favor can grab its place.

The culture war

Let's not kid ourselves, both comments were absolutely inane and below the belt. But this isn't about discussing the quality of these comments, it's not even about what is fair and just. This is about creating pretext in order to ostracize the political and ideological opponent from public view and/or society. All those who came railing against Roseanne, but are now defending Samantha Bee and all those who came to defend Roseanne and are now asking Samantha Bee to be fired, you are nothing but hypocrites eaten up from the inside by your own self-righteous bile and wrath. You may think that you're on the "right side of history", but you are all that is wrong with this world. And of all the people out there, you are the most dangerous ones, because you think that your righteous cause excuses your atrocious and hypocritical behavior.

Let other places be consumed by their own self-righteous rage, happily celebrating when others lose their jobs, their livelihoods, the ability to support their loved ones no matter who they are. Let others pass these kinds of destructive judgments that ultimately are not theirs to make. This, this is not want I wanted newGAF to be like and if we cannot overcome that despicable, hateful mentality that rejoices in the damages brought upon others, this place could just as well have stayed oldGAF, because it would ultimately be the same anyway.

This. NEEDS. To. Be. GAF’s. Anthem

 

[KINGMOKU]

It's not my job to provide a solution. It's not my job to coddle people who are manufacturing their own outrage for the sake of "getting back" at a group of people. People are ultimately responsible for their own behavior, and it's not my responsibility to chase after them and rationalize why they should stop being vindictive trolling assholes. Because there's no light at the end of that tunnel. When someone's being vindictive and trolling, they're not going to respond to reasoned rationale.

Maybe if we had any sort of moral leadership in this country at all, we could look to them to set a tone for the discourse in this country. But we elected President Pussygrabber, so yes. Eat my ass. Start with the fattest part.

Discourse at its finest.

Everyone is part if the solution if we want to move forward as a nation so no one can sit in the corner with their ball and refuse to play.

I really don't think a large portion of Americans have thought thru their end game when it comes to this level of vitriol. Free speech under attack. Right to bare arms under attack. Freedom of assembly under attack. None of this ends well. Both sides are responsible for each other and the sooner folks realize this, the sooner we can move forward out of this era of infantile level discussion and name calling. If not, it will end badly.

 

[AgentP]

Exactly my point. He does look like an ape. So does George W Bush. So do alot of people of all different races. It's fucked up that pointing it out makes you automatically racist despite being the only one who's not looking at race...

All humans are apes and yes chimps and humans can look similar. Is that the point here? Black people have been called sub-human and compared with less intelligent animals since Europe and the west have risen in power. If you lack the historical context or if you are intellectually dishonest, that is something else.

 

[hammysaurusrex]

I don't personally have a problem with the comment themselves. Ivanka Trump is a bit of a cunt and her father does have an incestuous fascination with her. That being said, Ivanka is not responsible for her father's incestuous obsession - so using that to insult her is unfair. I also have zero issue with the advertisers pulling away from her show over the comments, it's certainly their right to do so and it wouldn't change my perception of those companies one way or another.

Also, the comments about "could you imagine if..." are comical. I don't have to imagine. Malia was in the Fox news cycle every other week from some random inane reason that no one other than trailer park trash cared about.

 

[Panajev2001a]

I do not think the following guys would last more than two minutes in U.S. TV (and even some of the latest batch of edgy/brave U.S. comedians like Dave Chapelle are being pushed to quit as too scandalous... this is the country that gave us George Carlin for God's sake... if not even comedians can speak freely... sigh...):

Frankie Boyle
Jimmy Carr
Micky Flanegan

[...]

 

[Musky_Cheese]

I do not think the following guys would last more than two minutes in U.S. TV (and even some of the latest batch of edgy/brave U.S. comedians like Dave Chapelle are being pushed to quit as too scandalous... this is the country that gave us George Carlin for God's sake... if not even comedians can speak freely... sigh...):

Frankie Boyle
Jimmy Carr
Micky Flanegan

[...]

Dave Chappell’s is scandalous? How did I miss that...

 

[EviLore]

Dave Chappell’s is scandalous? How did I miss that...

I'm visibly front row with a ladyfriend during his first Netflix special. Many people account suicided on GAF or generally admonished me because I clapped and laughed at my favorite comedian's jokes.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

I'm visibly front row with a ladyfriend during his first Netflix special. Many people account suicided on GAF or generally admonished me because I clapped and laughed at my favorite comedian's jokes.

Chappell is hated because why?

 

[EviLore]

Chappell is hated because why?

He's not hated in a general sense. He's hated by the same outrage culture that can't tolerate comedians at all anymore. Some folks on here were outraged on behalf of trans people since some of Dave's jokes in that set involved trans people. Some folks on here were furious with Dave for suggesting that Donald Trump was going to win the election, lol.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

He's not hated in a general sense. He's hated by the same outrage culture that can't tolerate comedians at all anymore. Some folks on here were outraged on behalf of trans people since some of Dave's jokes in that set involved trans people. Some folks on here were furious with Dave for suggesting that Donald Trump was going to win the election, lol.

Ok.

I don’t think Dave has hate in his heart for any group of people. But if it’s the outrage culture groups I guess it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

It's not my job to provide a solution. It's not my job to coddle people who are manufacturing their own outrage for the sake of "getting back" at a group of people. People are ultimately responsible for their own behavior, and it's not my responsibility to chase after them and rationalize why they should stop being vindictive trolling assholes. Because there's no light at the end of that tunnel. When someone's being vindictive and trolling, they're not going to respond to reasoned rationale.

Maybe if we had any sort of moral leadership in this country at all, we could look to them to set a tone for the discourse in this country. But we elected President Pussygrabber, so yes. Eat my ass. Start with the fattest part.

I considered making a thread about the white nationalists who are running for office, inspired by #45. This will most certainly rank high in the country's lows.

 

[LegendOfKage]

I don't personally have a problem with the comment themselves. Ivanka Trump is a bit of a cunt and her father does have an incestuous fascination with her. That being said, Ivanka is not responsible for her father's incestuous obsession - so using that to insult her is unfair. I also have zero issue with the advertisers pulling away from her show over the comments, it's certainly their right to do so and it wouldn't change my perception of those companies one way or another.

I was honestly not aware of this whole situation when I started this thread, and now that I've researched things a bit, this is ultimately where I landed on the issue as well. It's pretty common for a mother to say something like "look at my boy, he's so handsome, what woman wouldn't want you as a boyfriend," but Trump took that concept to some creepy levels, especially on the Howard Stern show. I guess Trump is very proud of anything he's ever done, and he doesn't seem like the classiest guy out there, so the idea of people wanting to screw his children is probably something he's happy to encourage.

Maybe to Trump, "If I were to stay in a Hotel, it would be a Trump hotel, isn't it great!" is the same as "If I were to date a girl, it would be a Trump girl, isn't she great!" But yeah, not shutting Howard down and instead agreeing that his daughter is "a piece of ass" was really, truly tasteless. The same goes for the many similar comments he seems to have made over the years.

But I think using that to attack Trump's daughter for daring to post a picture of herself and her child is also tasteless, or 'unfair' as you put it.

Also, the comments about "could you imagine if..." are comical. I don't have to imagine. Malia was in the Fox news cycle every other week from some random inane reason that no one other than trailer park trash cared about.

How about this one: Could you imagine if Samantha Bee, in an act of contrition, in her next episode showed the pictures of immigrant children in cages that happened during Barack Obama's administration (that have been frequently and improperly said to be recent pictures), and then retroactively criticized Michelle Obama for tweeting out a picture of her children around the same time those pictures were taken? Wouldn't even need to use profanity. Just have some some really harsh words for her and her husband. Could you imagine? I think you'll have to.

Aside from that, I'm usually not one to defend Fox News (or watch them), so I don't personally know of anytime they said something even close to this hateful about anyone in the Obama family. If you have some examples of tasteless crap they've said, feel free to share it.

I do not think the following guys would last more than two minutes in U.S. TV (and even some of the latest batch of edgy/brave U.S. comedians like Dave Chapelle are being pushed to quit as too scandalous... this is the country that gave us George Carlin for God's sake... if not even comedians can speak freely... sigh...):

Frankie Boyle
Jimmy Carr
Micky Flanegan

[...]

I think this feels especially frustrating because this is what has replaced the news in this country for a good deal of people, and coming at politics with hate just furthers the divide. In a country that used to have laws about giving political voices on television equal time and respect, it disgusts me that this is what journalism has become. And those laws went away long before the mainstream media became the joke that it is now.

There have been polls in the past that asked how much people cared about their son or daughter hypothetically dating someone outside of their preferred political party, and people used to barely care about that sort of thing. Now you'd think they were asking people how they'd feel about their son or daughter dating a convicted murderer.

There's a difference between a "comedian" and a "comedian with a news program that treats opposing thought as if it were evil." And the more hateful these people are, the worst things get. I hate Fox News for the same reasons. It's often just hateful generalizations and simplifications of opposing opinions. I can't stand any of it. The fact that I have to go to you tube for anything resembling traditional journalism is absurd.

That's not to say I feel this way about traditional comedians. For example, Patton Oswalt is a very outspoken liberal American comedian, and I think he's great. I don't always agree with him, but he's still hilarious, he's very talented, and he's not a replacement for the news. He doesn't present himself as that, and people don't think of him as that. I also love Carlin and Chappelle, and I like the first two British comedians you mentioned. I'll have to check out the third one.

 

[BANGS]

It’s almost as if context doesn’t matter! Amazing ability you have there

All humans are apes and yes chimps and humans can look similar. Is that the point here? Black people have been called sub-human and compared with less intelligent animals since Europe and the west have risen in power. If you lack the historical context or if you are intellectually dishonest, that is something else.

You guys are adding context that doesn't exist. I'm not bringing up a history or racism by pointing out that someone looks like a monkey, you are. I'm just pointing out someone that looks like a monkey, regardless of race...

Again, fucked up that you racists can add that context in there as if every comment has to be racial and somehow it's MY fault and I'LL be labeled as the racist. It's very oppressive to not be able to say such otherwise simple things...

 

[llien]

Or

were

I confess, I have never understood "intersectionality", asked questions about it on pre-showergate gaf, never got a satisfying answer.

What do other people's sufferings from the past (or current suffering, in other countries) have to do with people living today/in other countries?
How does Chechen gay's suffering have anything to do with US's gays?
What does your grandgrandma's lower status (if it was the case) than her husband's have to do with you and your wife today?
(sorry for assuming your gender and status for purely rhetorical reasons)

 

[KevinKeene]

Just for the record: Trump having an incestuous relationship with Ivanka is headcanon to me, ever since he brought her to the White House with him.

... and it might be one of his least terrible decisions

 

[TannerDemoz]

Trump was the first to joke about banging his daughter op. I think its open season when it comes to that. And a woman calling a other woman a cunt. Nothing wrong with that either. I don't think your argument has legs because of these two points. Maybe we should focus on the context of the insults rather than the insults themselves.

Thank you. Context is everything. I think it's really messed up that people are comparing the two and calling them similar. They're not similar.

 

[The Elite]

I swear, I'm so f*ckin' tired of this hypocritical hyper-partisan bullcrap. Both comments were stupid and way below an acceptable level of public discourse, but those insults have become par for the course in today's negative campaigning mentality of American political culture. Each election devolves into a billion dollar bipartisan mud slinging contest, with each side gasping in shock when the other side said something insensitive. Since the last presidential election, the American people seem to be locked into a state of permanent political warfare and all this bile is slowly robbing them of all common sense. All this because of a stupid tweet and an equally as stupid TV segment? That's enough to make you ready to destroy somebody?

The proportionality of justice

Yes free speech is a basic human right and yes nobody should be deresponsibilized from the consequences of his words or actions. But the proportionality of justice still applies, the basic principle that conveys the idea that the punishment of an offender should fit the crime. These past few days I've seen people gleefully throwing that principle out of the window, spitefully clamoring for the harshest of punishments while dehumanizing their target upon which they bring their partisan wrath down upon. Not because it is just or fair or right, but because it's happening to a person from the opposite political border. It's outright sickening!

The bipartisan hypocrisy

Time and time again, I've seen people switch sides and apply the same arguments that they've been vehemently denying before, only because this time it fits their narrative. Principles don't mean anything when they are only upheld when convenient but quickly broken when they apply to people you don't like. Hypocritical attitudes like that don't make you good people, it makes you opportunistic sycophants. Don't you ever dare coming to my doorsteps claiming moral superiority through your hollow virtue-signaling. You are the reason why we are in this ever escalating cultural conflict. Or need you remind you of Stephen Fry's wise words?



Do I like Trump? Hell no! But in-between the cracks of your black and white view of the world, dare I express the notion that literally comparing him to Hitler is an affront to the historical atrocities of WWII and the Third Reich. Do I like Hillary? F*ck no! She's just as corrupt as her corporate cronies, but neither do I believe that she's literally Moloch, just another run of the mill career politician radicalizing her voter base for political gains. All this hyperbole does nothing but bring incredible damage to people's perception of reality and their ability to co-exist. In-between these hardened frontlines, people from all walks of life lose their livelihood while being crushed by the overzealous political troopers on social media and other discussion boards. Each victim completely stripped of their humanity with people gleefully celebrating the fallen ones as a victory for their own side.

Rules for thee, but not for me

How many times have I seen liberals and their beloved celebrities hurl insults like "orange baboon", "the son of an orangutan" or a "syphilitic twitter monkey" but suddenly act all sanctimonious when some of that vile bile is hurled back at them? How many times have I seen republicans defend their right to free speech, but are quick to silence those who do nothing else but take a knee? Don't you even dare pointing fingers at the other side, this is the culture that you've helped create, turning a blind eye to the people and their families to whom it brings pain and suffering, all in the name of your righteous cause. And you think of yourselves as the good people? HA! Your sense of civility and humaneness only extends so far as your own tiny social bubble.

The identity game

All your identity games are nothing but a thin veneer to excuse the atrocities of your own side. "Oh, but she's a woman, so her insults aren't as bad" or "that person is oppressed, so it's okay to 'punch up'", you know the deal. Either you promote equality and hold everybody to the same standards, or you don't. There is no in-between, no exception, no special privileges when it comes to public discourse and the dialectic exchange of ideas. Your identity doesn't grant you liberties that are denied to others and all your virtuous posturing for equality means f*ck all, if you keep going down that path.

There is a reason Lady Justice is blind, because the rule of law applies to everybody in an equal manner. Your identity driven sense of justice is nothing but a wicked and distorted abomination of what true equality really means. And for what? Only because you believe that the social contract is a zero sum game, that different social groups must engage in merciless struggle against each other for limited social privileges, jobs, money and resources. For every person you don't like that you can drive out of business, somebody in your favor can grab its place.

The culture war

Let's not kid ourselves, both comments were absolutely inane and below the belt. But this isn't about discussing the quality of these comments, it's not even about what is fair and just. This is about creating pretext in order to ostracize the political and ideological opponent from public view and/or society. All those who came railing against Roseanne, but are now defending Samantha Bee and all those who came to defend Roseanne and are now asking Samantha Bee to be fired, you are nothing but hypocrites eaten up from the inside by your own self-righteous bile and wrath. You may think that you're on the "right side of history", but you are all that is wrong with this world. And of all the people out there, you are the most dangerous ones, because you think that your righteous cause excuses your atrocious and hypocritical behavior.

Let other places be consumed by their own self-righteous rage, happily celebrating when others lose their jobs, their livelihoods, the ability to support their loved ones no matter who they are. Let others pass these kinds of destructive judgments that ultimately are not theirs to make. This, this is not want I wanted newGAF to be like and if we cannot overcome that despicable, hateful mentality that rejoices in the damages brought upon others, this place could just as well have stayed oldGAF, because it would ultimately be the same anyway.

This glorious wall of text deserves to be quoted again.