This came across my feed today, from three different people. As some of you may have guessed, many of my friends and acquaintances are Left leaning to some degree. I see this thing come up every election season, basically. Today, I spent 20 minutes staring at it, trying to decide whether to reply. I eventually decided it wasn’t worth it, and moved on. Then I went back, snagged the image, and came here.
Let’s see. I personally have my human right to exist challenged fairly regularly. As someone who is pansexual (which is the new bisexual), for years I was put down by straight people as “just needing to find the right man,” and by gay people as, “just confused and unwilling to come out of the closet.” When you’re bi, everyone hates you. That challenge happens daily, for the most part, not just at election time. I wonder if some of the people who posted this have considered that.
As to watching people vote against my right to exist, well yes… it happens every election season. It happens on BOTH sides of the great aisle we’ve created. I see the Left voting down my right to free speech (their hatred of hate speech). I see the Left voting down my right to carry (second amendment). Both the Left and Right are guilty of raping the fourth amendment (that’d be the right to be secure in my person and against unwarranted and unreasonable searches and seizures, something both sides have eroded in their own ways). The fifth amendment is a mess, because (again for different reasons) Left and Right have decided some things are okay to “hold someone to answer for” without Grand Juries, and due process is a joke these days. The right to a speedy trial is not possible most of the time because of the ultimate mess of our legal system, so that’s the sixth down, though I don’t know that the gutting of the sixth is due to Left or Right… it’s just people in general. Excessive fines and cruel punishment seems to be the darling of the Right.
And the ninth… I don’t think anyone at all even remembers that one anymore. There are hundreds, thousands of rights. Not all of them are written down in the Constitution. Our Framers chose to highlight and protect certain rights because they were That Important, and yes, I recognize and appreciate that. But it doesn’t mean they granted me a right. No one grants me a right. If it’s something you were granted, then it’s a privileged, and it can be taken away. Women didn’t “win” the right to vote, they fought to have an already-present right recognized by a recalcitrant populace. Rights simply are. They exist because WE exist. No one can take them away, though if we don’t guard them, tyrants can restrict them and stop you from practicing them. But they don’t go away.
And on and on. Yes, I know the fear of my rights disappearing, not from the Right, not from the Left, but from both sides. From all sides! The pandering and downright bullshit mind twisting you have to do to think that only one side or group is guilty is mind boggling. I can’t even.
And as an aside, someone in commentary said they wondered why I said “sx” and “abse” instead of sex and abuse. That’s because on some social media, which I also write for, if you use those words you become censored, and can lose accounts. I sometimes forget that this is one of the places I can say things out loud. I won’t apologize for it, and you’ll probably see it again, if only because I will forget. But I do appreciate that here, at least, it is recognized that I have a right to free speech.
Hagar,
who’s angry today.
You address what I call a societal illness which is progressively becoming worse. Today’s political volatility doesn’t allow objective reasoning. A person is not allowed to see the good and the bad on both sides of the political aisle. To do so is a crime of treason, leveled against you from both sides….at the same time. This will continue to escalate and will eventually lead to all-out war. You’ll be labelled a ‘Fence Rider’ which both sides will demand that you stop doing and chose a side……or else.
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Truly a sad day in this ever-increasing insane political environment. There is no room for a peace maker.
Honestly, if I thought that a civil war would *fix* things, I’d be all for it. But all I think it would do right now is polarize things to the winner. We need to grow, and the extremes on both sides are holding us back.
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IN MY OPINION (not yelling, just emphasizing), the Left has a much larger group of extremes, because they tend to group-think. The Right has a much smaller group, but that group of extremists is a) in charge of a lot of things and b) very, very loud. Both extreme groups have a tendency to push their view of stuff as being the ONLY view, and it is really damn offensive.
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All that said, I’d love to continue being offended, because it means freedom of speech has not been suppressed. But I’d like to see consequences being put back in place, too. Argh.
Hagar, I believe consequences are coming, but not like anyone imagines. No one will be ready for the proverbial downhill train that has no brakes.
See my comment below, and watch the video/talk. It is very enlightening about the mindset of a leftist.
Is it guaranteed correct? Nope, but the explanation fits the observed evidence.
A person is not allowed to see the good and the bad on both sides of the political aisle. To do so is a crime of treason, leveled against you from both sides….at the same time.
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I’ve often found it “interesting” (for some anthropological definition of “interesting”) that both sides claim to be seeking “middle ground” while actively nuking any semblance of “middle ground”.
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I’ve gotten all the same accusations of being a “fence sitter”, “wishy-washy”, or flip-flopping my positions. None of that is true; my guiding political principle is — and has been for a long time — the Constitution. It’s just that the political waters are constantly shifting — from the perspective of someone adrift in the restless ocean, the person standing on dry land seems to be moving.
Archer, well said.
In a similar vein, my principle is the individual and how can any given thing support an individual’s freedom and absolute autonomy.
I came to the conclusion a long time ago that I don’t want someone forcing me to do things I don’t want to do, that is why the individual is paramount to me. The individual knows what is best for themself and is the absolute foundation of any group, collective, government, etc that can form.
“A person is not allowed to see the good and the bad on both sides of the political aisle. To do so is a crime of treason, leveled against you from both sides….at the same time.”
Is it really that?
Or is it just the next step in politics as we know it. Take for example:
https://youtu.be/Xkyn3JaLrcw?si=6_E5DW80sASV9ile
Evan Sayet gets it pretty much right when talking about the left. They are so trained/ingrained to avoid discriminating in any way, they are practically forced to elevate the wrong and cut down the right in order to avoid saying one thing/country/philosophy works better than another.
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And, while I do not have a snappy video to support it handy, there are plenty on the right that take an equally incorrect/unproductive approach. I have done so myself.
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Escalating is normal human behavior. What you are escalating, and where you started out from is where the real problem lies.
The level of hypocrisy and corruption is deeper than anyone is able to define. The result is that no matter where you start, no matter what you escalate, and no matter where you head toward, the end result will not be predictable, and will go wrong along the way for reasons you nor I will be able to accurate define.
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And if you can’t define failure, you can’t fix it. I submit to you that this is a cancer that can’t be diagnosed. A wrong, correcting a wrong, which was built on a wrong, which began with a deceptive lie, dooms all who faithfully attempt to work with it. You end up with a billionaire outsider non-politician arrogant narcissistic bombastic moron, that both sides are presently tearing to pieces so that no one else like him will even try what he did.
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I know name calling lowers me to unrespectable depths but then again, we are talking American Politics……..aren’t we? (Going back to my Bucaramanga coffee and Davidoff limited.)
Crap like that pic/graphic are nothing more than playing the victim card.
As you point out, so well, the politicians are always cutting down the rights and freedoms of the population, all in favor of their ever growing power.
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Does the alphabet crowd have it any worse than everyone else? Maybe in specific situations, but across the board? Nope, about the same. Do blacks/POCs have it worse? Same thing.
And, do white straight males have it just as bad? Yep.
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Victimhood is way too powerful of a weapon for the average “cause” to give up. And, the pic you shared is proof.
Couldn’t have said it better, damn straight.
That graphic is rubbing me the wrong way for some reason.
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It is typical of liberals to want some utopia where everyone is respected, wealthy, happy…
Whereas, conservatives live in the real world, where other humans will screw you over for less than idealistic reasons.
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May you never live in a world where (insert normal human trait) exists, and may you never know the (pain/disappointment) of watching loved ones (act exactly like everyone else on the planet.) and make a choice that is not in your best interest. (Ignoring the fact that their choice IS in their best interest. But, you are special and everyone should always have your feelz in mind whenever making any decisions)
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Want to live in some idealistic world where you will never feel the sting of an insult, or feel the disappointment of a family member making a decision you disagree with? Good luck. Not happening any time soon, no matter how many times you whine about it, and how many of your friends and relatives you block on social media (or in real life).
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Hagar, I absolutely understand why this rubbed you the wrong way. It did me as well.
The Left wants Star Trek. I will admit, I want Star Trek as well. I would love to have a world where money is never an issue, where people work at jobs that make their hearts sing, where you’re free to love who you want, and be who you want. I do not live in that world now, and I don’t know if humans will ever achieve that world… but it’s a nice goal. But it’s just that, a *goal*, something to work toward, so that when we fall short we’re still making forward progress.
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That desire to live in a better world doesn’t stop me from realizing this is not that world. People are going to get hurt. I can’t tell you how many times this week I have pointed out to people that here in America, your right to be an asshole is Constitutionally protected. As is the right to rebut that assholishness.
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I was talking a bit about this over on the Book of Faces, and one of my friends commented that they have a similar situation. They see people on the Right willing to look and say, “Hey, I hate that you’re gay, but you’re a good person and I appreciate that.” People on the Left tend to reject the entire person for any perceived flaw: “I thought you were a nice person, but you flew a Gadsden Flag, so now I hate you.” The Right accepts more nuances, whereas the Left tends to be more lockstep.
The left does want Star Trek, the problem is they are demanding the human race act like it is already the 24th century and all our societal ills are resolved. Now. Not three centuries from now.
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Star Trek is a laudable goal, but it flies in the face of human nature. Even Star Trek has its villains. No, not the Klingons or the Romulans, Star Fleet officers who manipulate the system for their own personal gain.
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The path toward a better, more accepting society is not meaningless claptrap like that graphic, that is a step in the wrong direction. The words on that poster are not uniting, they are dividing, they lead to more hatred and distrust, not less. I know of several left leaning folks that are not talking to their parents because of how they vote. That is the inevitable outcome of propaganda like that. And, it is perhaps the most disturbing thing I have ever heard.
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The path toward a more accepting future is to be adult, mature. Realize that not everyone will like you and accept you. And, forcing yourself on them is not going to make it better. Scott Adams was deleted from the internet because he said the truth. If a majority of blacks do not want whites living in their neighborhood, whites should not insist on moving in. Apply the same logic to every other demographic, gays, trans, asians, jews, etc… What would the fight for trans rights look like if there was not a contingent that was demanding, insisting they be accepted… no… celebrated by any and all?
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(The very same statement applies to the gun rights folks who think carrying ARs into fast food joints is moving their cause forward, as well as pro-life folks in front of abortion clinics, etc…)
“When you’re bi, everyone hates you.”
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Er, no. When you’re bi, most people won’t really care … unless and until their attention and approval is incessantly demanded.
I lived through the 80s. I *dated* through the 80s. I never asked for anyone’s attention or approval then, and I don’t now. I still got (and get) shit on a fairly regular basis. It’s less now, but still present. I have lived my life the way I wanted… but I do NOT scream things from the rooftops. I ask myself, “Would a straight white woman say this?” If the answer is no, then I don’t say it. So while I won’t announce from the rooftops that I’m bisexual, I don’t hide it, either. I’ve had girlfriends in the past, and boyfriends, sometimes at the same time. If someone wants to ASK me what’s going on, I’ll answer, but my assumption from the start is it’s none of their business. I don’t feel the need to lie about it, but I’m not volunteering anything, either.
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So yes, people notice even when you aren’t demanding attention. Yes, people throw hate your way. I know; I have lived it. I *do* live it.
Hi, Hagar, I am travelling for work with a personal phone and work laptop, so I will reply in more detail in a few days when I’m home with a personal keyboard bigger than a postage stamp. I look forward to continuing the conversation. Best regards.
It was suggested that I misunderstood what you said. I read what you said as, “Anyone who’s experienced what Hagar experienced obviously demanded attention.” If that is not what you meant, then I apologize.
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Few things… First and foremost, I have had too many episodes (both overall and recently) of people telling me that I’m wrong when I’ve described things I, myself, experienced. As in, “I have pain here,” being responded to with, “I doubt that, because XYZ.” I took your words to mean the same, and it made me extremely grumpy. I’m told I jumped the gun on that, and you were NOT saying that, so I am very sorry. 🙁
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Second, I don’t know if I made it clear, but the majority of those people telling me that being bisexual or pansexual was “not real” or otherwise being nasty to me over it, were Leftists. There were a handful of (excuse the term but) Jezuz freaks (I use that term to differentiate between them and people who sincerely do their best to follow and adhere to the teachings of Jesus) who exorcised me or verbally ripped into me in public. They were the exception, not the rule. In the 80s and 90s where I lived, the gay and lesbian community frequently treated bisexuals as if we were diseased. It sucked. These days, in the part of the world I now live in, it’s much better and I don’t get the same reaction.
Hi, Hagar, given the time delay I have no expectation you will read this…
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To start with, no, I didn’t mean to say that anyone who experienced what you did, must have demanded attention. Rather, reverse it: if someone incessantly demands attention and approval of whatever (I can tell you stories about this happening in a research lab, for instance), it’s not surprising people get sick of dealing with them.
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Unfortunately it can also lead to some nasty feedback/reinforcement loops, and those can then begin to manifest even when people meet for the first time, e.g. the “chip on the shoulder,” that can also lead very quickly to someone effectively self-isolating and feeling bad.
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Anyway, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry you had the experiences you had, simply for being who you are. I am in no position whatsoever to assess your friendships and relationships; but part of being friends, usually, is to accept your friends as they are. There’s also a world of difference between telling someone they’re not feeling what they think they’re feeling, and suggesting that perhaps the situation causing those feelings might be viewed in a different light. Of course that comes with a bit of perspective compared to, say, 20-year-old me.
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On a closing note, there truly are people out there who genuinely have no interest in what other people’s sexual orientation happens to be. I’m one of them, and that attitude extends to my friends as well as colleagues, and people in general. It’s not that I don’t care about my friends, or don’t want them to find pleasure, happiness, etc.; it’s just that, generally, unless we’re thinking of sleeping together, it’s not something I find particularly relevant to the friendship most of the time. But then I’m an odd duck, so maybe this is just me being me.
Hi Boris… You lucked out – I read it. 😉 Just very, very late.
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I am sorry I jumped to a conclusion that was incorrect. Again, my *personal* experiences with this kind of thing have been pretty rough, prior to moving to where I currently live. Here, the majority of people really don’t care what you’re doing, so long as you aren’t doing it to kids. I’m mostly cool with that. 🙂
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My friends today are pretty awesome people. As a youngster living on the west coast, I was very involved in a lot of drama. Luckily I walked away from most of that when I matured.
On a F*cebook page for my work union (that I won’t name), someone posted up that meme with the guy holding the sign, “The reason you don’t think you’ve been lied to, conditioned, and brainwashed, is because you’ve been lied to, conditioned, and brainwashed!” I’m sure everyone here has seen those around, often on conservative-leaning sites, referring to the Left. But one of the comments was how it’s so true of Trump supporters (they used different words, but referenced people who “support the previous POTUS” — so Trump supporters).
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What that comment said to me was that both sides are so convinced the other side is [wrong/stupid/insane/brainwashed/evil/etc ... take your pick], that neither side is willing to do the slightest introspection and discover that they’re falling for the exact same bullsh!t, just slanted their preferred direction.
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And as I said above, both sides are so busy nuking the middle while claiming to seek “middle ground”, that nobody’s making any headway.
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And I have no idea what could possibly be done to fix it.
Archer, you’re right. The main problem (again IMO) is that people don’t like to look at themselves. It’s painful, and so they avoid it. There’s also this push from the extremes that paints an opponent as inhuman, a non-person. It’s easier to be nasty to a non-person, right?
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I’m not perfect, by any means. But I try to look at every situation with wide open eyes. I try to see the biases and pre-conceived notions, and the underlying purpose of actions. I go out of my way to remind myself that the person or people I’m talking to are human beings, just like me, and like me, they have good parts and bad parts. I work VERY hard to RE-humanize people.
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I look at 2A people, and I get it. We have a right, and some people are trying to take it away. I look over at the Left, and my immediate assumption is NOT that they’re godless communists out to make me live in a commune, though. I see they’re scared. I ask myself why? I look at their actions and reactions. I see that a lot of people on the left have been educated to not have personal responsibility or self control, not in the way most right leaning people bring up their kids or were brought up. Consequences are not always obvious to the left (and that’s not an excuse, just an explanation). So when they fear the person carrying a firearm, I ask myself, why? And the answer is, they know that they would not have the strength of person not to shoot someone out of spite or anger or in a knee jerk moment, and so they assume that’s also true of the person with the gun. Now, I can see why they are so upset. Does it make it right? Not at all. They are still 100% in the wrong. But it humanizes them, and I can understand their fear. Now that I understand it, I can actually address it.
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I think it was Penn, of Penn & Teller, who said, “I kill as many people as I want every day. It has nothing to do with laws. The number of people I want to kill each day is zero.” That’s me. I have both the verbal and the fire power to damage others on a daily basis. I choose not to. I choose to be a good person. I do so not because of a law, or a “Papa in the sky” (or in my case Mama in the sky). I do it because I’m choosing to be a good person. If the only thing keeping you from shooting up a school or taking out your neighborhood HOA is an edict from a 2000 year old book, or a law some dude in another state wrote, then there’s a bigger problem than the gun.
“Rights simply are. They exist because WE exist. No one can take them away, though if we don’t guard them, tyrants can restrict them and stop you from practicing them.” Ya can’t say it better than that, Hagar. I just wish people would recognize that through their own feeble attempts to limit what someone else does, they’re only ultimately cutting themselves down. Shit would be a lot better if folks minded their own business and stopped worrying what others are doing.
“Excessive fines and cruel punishment seems to be the darling of the Right.”
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Sure thing. Tell that to the January 6th people. Twenty two years for someone who wasn’t even in DC? How many hundreds are still rotting in jail waiting for a trial on non violent charges? Charges less than those that were dismissed against hundreds of violent rioters arrested while committing rioting, arson, and attacking police on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017.
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NY State AG Letitia James has Donald Trump and Trump Corporation in court this week to punish them for “loan fraud” where no one can identify any damages from the supposed fraud. There were no missed payments and no defaults. No one lost any money. But NYS wants to seize about a billion dollars in Manhattan real estate as punishment for the somehow heinous crimes.
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Somehow the evil mastermind Donny “Two Scoops” Trump was able to bamboozle the rubes and boobs, the hicks from the sticks of that backwater burg named New York City. He schemed and he lied, he even mesmerized, those unsophisticated bumpkins at those tiny, unsophisticated multinational trillion dollar NYC banks that the properties he owned in the very financial center of the entire world were grossly inflated in value, and no one from the banks had any possible expertise to perform their own independent valuations. The poor, naive innocent banks were completely unaware of the blatant fraud and manipulation by that lying b@st@rd Trump.
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How could they? It isn’t like they handle trillions and trillions of dollars in real estate transactions every year now? Somehow though, all that money those foolish banks loaned to the Criminal Trump Crime Syndicate were paid back in full and on time.
Tell me again how “Excessive fines and cruel punishment seems to be the darling of the Right.”?
Otherwise? I agree with, or don’t strongly disagree with just about everything else you said. But claiming the right has a monopoly on excessively punitive lawfare? No. Just No.
I suspected someone would bring that up. I absolutely abhor the (imo) unlawful imprisonment of people who did very little or nothing wrong. I still don’t think the Left tends to prosecute as much as the Right, though. I stand by it. Once in a while, especially among congresscritters, they do. But as a rule, that’s a Right thing, not a Left thing.
Meh it depends on the party de jour IMO. The ones in power will always prosecute the ones not in power. We are also talking about the right and the left like it is still 1992 in some cases, this I think is one. I agree though that historically the right being the law and order party at some point in history would conceivably be prosecute more.
I vehemently disagree.
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I also note you have not said a word about the witch hunt after President Trump using “Novel and Ground Breaking Applications of existing laws,” in multiple states and federally.
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Everyone else gets “Prosecutorial Discretion,” except Trump and his Republican allies, even a corrupt addict soliciting bribes for his VP Daddy, evading millions in US taxes, advocating for foreign governments, losing laptops, drugs, and l guns, all while smoking crack and banging underage prostitutes on video. Anyone else discovered with pictures of naked 16 year olds performing sex acts on him on his own personal laptop would be arrested, and his perverse crimes would be major international news. As it is, about the only place you can see any coverage of the facts, or even “the controversy” are in small US news sites, or British, French, and other foreign news outlets.
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The Left is waaaay too happy to go against their enemies and excuse their friends. As far as I can tell, the only people that were arrested, charged, and convicted in the George Floyd riots in MN were police, and a few actual arsonists convicted by the feds, not the state.
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You see the same inequality of enforcement of the laws by the wholesale blanket releases of and “millions of dollars in restitution” to violent protesters in NYC, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc. But for some reason, the FBI and DOJ are sparing no efforts, even pulling agents out of other areas to investigate only certain specific crimes in the January 6th Protests for redress of their grievances. Has the FBI even explained why they have not arrested the RNC and DNC Bomber, even though they know his cellphone and can track his movements through Washington DC on January 5th? Why they have pulled dozens of agents out of child sex crime and terrorist investigations to keep investigating NON VIOLENT Participants in January 6th protests? Why the FBI is still arresting them?
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There was never a wholesale reevaluation of the arrests of January 6th people, and decisions not to prosecute like there were in multiple other much more violent riots in Washington DC in the years surrounding it? Don’t ever tell me Left is not gleefully and vengefully using Lawfare to crush their enemies.
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Name one RECENT prosecutorial excess by Republicans.
(No, Snowden and the like were bi-partisan.)
I just want to be left alone, so I am quite sure who is bullshitting whom.
Hagar:
Thoughts on this fiasco?
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/10/04/sunak-steps-in-it-a-man-is-a-man-and-a-woman-is-a-woman-n582395
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If the left really wants to live in a Star Trek tolerance level of society, why the automatic leap to “hate” and “…phobe?” It is almost as if the left cannot imagine anyone can disagree with them unless they “hate” them. Someone misgenders you, and it is apparently the end of the world. Why? Because the allure of power is too overwhelming, and shutting down the UK PM over a statement he made is power.
Granted, I see that from the right as well, but not as frequently. (Then again, my personal biases may be at play)
Look for an article on this, coming soon.
Who wouldn’t want to live in Star Trek? We just don’t have replicators and nearly free limitless energy.
“And as an aside, someone in commentary said they wondered why I said “sx” and “abse” instead of sex and abuse. ” Thanks for touching on this, it was me who asked. I see it frequently for two reasons, self censorship for social media, which IMO is forgivable but not acceptable; I get why it is done though. The absolute hypocrisy of social media is why it isn’t acceptable IMO, they run the most egregious boomer click bait tier adds all the time and will monetize and not censor the corporate media who also says and runs things way more content unfriendly than any frank and honest discussion. I have increasingly declining respect for many content creators who get on their knees for monetization. Forgivable because I understand for strategic purposes, we must sometimes play by the rules.
The other time I see this type of censorship is for a variety of “woke” reasons ie triggering words, naughty words, being nice, the words are racist/sexist/some other ist meaning (actual or otherwise) behind it, etc. This is both unforgivable and unacceptable because you cannot discuss serious matters and accusations without using the words for those matters and accusations. This breakdown of language and communication is literally Orwellian; it doesn’t matter if it is done on purpose, is accidental, or some well meaning useful idiot is doing it. That I cannot abide and will die on that hill.
Social media will be the end of civil social discussion/discourse for exactly the reasons you mention.
God forbid someone is “offended” by something said by a total stranger.
Besides, the cancel culture is a very powerful weapon. It can, and has been used to destroy people for BS reasons.
Just ask Scott Adams.
I’m not into “trigger warnings” for most stuff. I admit, I’m glad of the warning I get on FB before they show me animal violence and such (I will look, I just want a moment to gather myself and not be shoved head first into it), but other than for really over the top stuff, it just makes no sense to me. We’re all going to be offended at some point. It’s good for the blood, to be honest. Learning how to talk with people you don’t like, or who disagree with you, is a vital human skill.
I think a warning for graphic content is perfectly acceptable. Censoring the content so it is indigestible especially when it is evidence to an accusation is not acceptable. We see that all the time by the regular news; “so and so politician did a racism on twitter” news fails to elaborate or show the tweet. I am never taking anyone’s word for it, especially not the media’s; my lying eyes need to see it for themselves.
Oh, I totally agree. I am one of those people who will actively go out and look for both the left and right take on a given topic, so that I can get an idea of what’s actually happening.