Posts by Rich Lock
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
This is just wrong. If you look at page 6 alone of this thread prior to your comment you will see, in reverse chronological order, Lucy Stewart noting that US history of political violence amplified the impact of violent rhetoric, Sacha mentioning the Oklahoma City bombing, and Simon Grigg linking to a time line of political violence in the US.
Your citation of the Simon Grigg link is somewhat undermined by it's earliest cited date being June 28th 2008. Which is squarely within the 2-3 year timeframe I've mentioned at least twice.
Otherwise, your point is valid.
this condescension is really annoying. The condescension lies in assuming that an adult human being in full possession of their faculties and speaking the English language would somehow be unaware of the assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK, and Lincoln, the Oklahoma City bombing, Ruby Ridge, Waco, the militia movement in general, the KKK, etc.
Then we should probably start having a go at Sacha and Lucy for being condescending, too, right?
You do see the irony in getting really quite pissy with me for, as you'd have it, being condescending enough to explicitly mention something as a continuation of an ongoing discussion (rather than assuming it's already at the forefront of everyones mind), while at the same time you're happy to assume a whole bunch of stuff about me and my motivations, to the extent that you're putting words in my mouth I never actually said, to wit:
the really quite offensive implication that we (or the dreaded `some people’) are using this in some kind of sly, underhanded way
leaves me with very little charity.
Accusations like that leave me with very little charity, oddly enough. Still waiting for you to point out where I did that.
As I said then, and to repeat, all those articles, and others, were published within hours of the shooting occurring. All of them laid the blame squarely, and to the exclusion of all other factors, at the door of the tea party and it's rhetoric.
I don't think that's useful, because, as I said before, the overall effect is to drown out nuanced discussion of anything else, like gun control.
It was also quite impossible at such an early stage in proceedings what the cause or motivation was. I would have thought that didn't need pointing out, and in fact, it would be condescending to do so. But apparently not.
-
Or go down to the dairy and buy a can of Harden Up. If they sell it in the massive quantities required, that is.
Viagra comes in cans from the dairy, now?
-
coupled with the really quite offensive implication that we (or the dreaded `some people’) are using this in some kind of sly, underhanded way.
Please show me where I implied that. Otherwise, please apologise and withdraw.
The condescension lies in assuming that an adult human being in full possession of their faculties and speaking the English language would somehow be unaware of the assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK, and Lincoln, the Oklahoma City bombing, Ruby Ridge, Waco, the militia movement in general, the KKK, etc.)
Keir, do you really think I’m mansplainy enough to assume in making my original comment that people aren’t aware of all those things and more?
Until I made my comment, no-one on here (to the best of my recollection) had even mentioned or implied that there might be a context ouside the last two-three years of teabaggery rhetoric. And no-one in the mainstream press had done so, either.
Instead, all of the very first reaction pieces I read, printed almost before the echoes died away, explicity, and to the exclusion of all other context, started talking about the Tea Party/Palin, et al.
And a great many people aren’t even asserting any contextual link here…
So while that may not amount to an explicit contextual link, it does tend to quickly and effectively drown out any other argument, and very strongly imply that there is only one cause. And I don’t think that’s particularly helpful, because it excludes any broader discussion that might otherwise occur – gun control, the marginalisation of the disaffected, etc.
-
Then I felt guilty for being disloyal and mentally sang a rousing round of 'What's The Time Mr Wolf?
Four legs good, Mr Wolf,
two legs bad,
Four legs good, Mr Wolf,
Oh, oh-oh -
Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Keir Leslie,
You know, this condescension is really annoying. The reason everyone took the Tea Party nonsense about Second Amendment solutions and so on seriously is precisely that we knew about America's history of violent politics. I am quite sure that many --- most ! --- of the people saying that Palin and the Tea Party ought have a long hard look at their rhetoric are quite knowledgeable about this stuff:
Would you care to explain to me exactly how that was condescending? And also who this 'we' which you refer to is?
And I would dearly love to share your certainty that most commentators are 'quite knowledgeable'.
Consider this:
The front page of The Guardians website yesterday had links to around 5-6 opinion pieces (such as this one and this one)
Both of these articles: 1) more or less make an explicit link between extremist rhetoric and this shooting, and 2) given the speed they appeared, must have been written while the gunsmoke was still clearing.
I'm not saying there isn't a link, and as more evidence emerges, it seems more and more likely that there is a link. But it also seems to me that more than a few people were quite happy to have a decent excuse to take their hobby horses out for a quick canter round the paddock.
-
some of us are rather enjoying having a tenant in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue who is as smart as his wife, and noticeably more mature than his children.
-
Violence has been an integral part of the political landscape in the US for at least the last 150 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_American_politicians
And that list doesn't even begin to cover the hundreds or thousands more suceeeded or failed attempts (e.g. the attempt on Reagan), or the politically inspired or motivated attempts such as those on abortion doctors.
While it doesn't help, blaming the rhetoric of the last 2-3 years seems a little...short-sighted? Short-memoried?
What is striking about that wiki list is the number killed by guns, though.
-
the anthrax scare that mysteriously faded from public view without anyone being brought to justice.
Well, to be fair, now that the dust has settled (sorry), it does appear to have been the work of a lone nutjob. Just this once, I'm going to be unusually charitable to the press and their handling of the reporting of this, seeing as how it all happened one week after 9/11.
I wonder whether he means mood or melanin? With Holmes it's so hard to tell.
Oh, that's a spicy zinger alright. I'll savour that for the rest of the day.
-
vaguely anarchist t-shirt
What was the slogan?
Property is theft or something!
No Gods, no masters...maybe?
-
if the defence or prosecution don’t like your occupation [as listed on the] electoral roll
Heh. I'm listed as an 'intellectual' on the electoral roll, and on a good day I tend to look like a football hooligan who should be up in the dock with the defendant. So bog knows what sort of synaptic meltdown I might cause as I stroll up to the front of the court.
they call “challenge” before you sit down.
Is there a limited number of challenges for each side, or if one of the legal teams starts taking the piss, does the judge step in?