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[Chichikov]

Far from great is an under statement. And yes, it will be a major part of his record/how he is perceived. There was a general hope amongst many people that he would alter US policy in many ways, specifically with respect to civil liberties and foreign policy. And while we are no longer putting boots on the ground in ME countries, civil liberties are still being shredded; and let's not forget he OK'd the assassination of two American citizens.

Ultimately I think each president following him will get progressively worse on these issues as the power of the executive branch expands. I really don't see anyone on the horizon who will slow this train down.

It will have to come from congress.
But if people don't demand it, congress wouldn't act.

 

[East Lake]

To quote Greenwald -

As we were about to begin publishing these NSA stories, a veteran journalist friend warned me that the tactic used by Democratic partisans would be to cling to and then endlessly harp on any alleged inaccuracy in any one of the stories we publish as a means of distracting attention away from the revelations and discrediting the entire project. That proved quite prescient, as that is exactly what they are attempting to do.​

Like motherfucking clockwork.
They even put it in the title of the other thread, because you know, that's what really important here.

This is all really sad to see.

I don't know. I think he's right with that assessment but there's still an issue with his story. Even if I'm not an apologist I still need accurate information. Exaggerating or failing to properly research a scoop because the cause is right seems like what happened with the IRS scandal. Sure there was reason to screen anti-tax organizations, but lets call it targeting to neuter the IRS.

I'm not sad this all blew up on the NSA because there'll likely be little damage that comes from it, but Greenwald's article reads like the government has goons with laptops sitting around at Google and Apple HQ syphoning whatever they can possibly collect, which doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Link]

Far from great is an under statement. And yes, it will be a major part of his record/how he is perceived. There was a general hope amongst many people that he would alter US policy in many ways, specifically with respect to civil liberties and foreign policy. And while we are no longer putting boots on the ground in ME countries, civil liberties are still being shredded; and let's not forget he OK'd the assassination of two American citizens.

Ultimately I think each president following him will get progressively worse on these issues as the power of the executive branch expands. I really don't see anyone on the horizon who will slow this train down.

Right, it will keep getting worse. We've been losing civil liberties for years, and it's not like Obama is the one who flipped the switch. So no, I don't think this is somehow going to be his legacy.

 

[Chichikov]

I'm not sad this all blew up on the NSA because there'll likely be little damage that comes from it, but Greenwald's article reads like the government has goons with laptops sitting around at Google and Apple HQ syphoning whatever they can possibly collect, which doesn't seem to be the case.

I don't think it does.
But again, what's the harm in extra scrutiny?

Right, it will keep getting worse. We've been losing civil liberties for years, and it's not like Obama is the one who flipped the switch. So no, I don't think this is somehow going to be his legacy.

He's the one who made liberals being okay with that, which I think is a terrible legacy.
Focusing if it's going to be the legacy of his seem kinda pointless.

 

[Owzers]

I'm a huge fan of Bill Maher, but this was a dick move:




http://www.mediaite.com/online/cons...-palin-hopes-kids-kick-mahers-white-wimpy-as/


But...I don't think this response from Palin reads the way she originally wanted it to:

I was trying to read up on this and am getting nowhere, the lack of any actual context is troublesome given the outrage. And seriously, heckling Maher because he makes a halliburton joke and saying the heckling was bubbling up from the previous joke? Really, Halliburton is where you draw the line?

 

[East Lake]

I don't think it does.
But again, what's the harm in extra scrutiny?

None. I'm ok with the scandal in general I just don't think Glen is being entirely forthright, if that makes any sense.

 

[PhoenixDark]

return to politics right quick, I just watched the opening statements from the Gomez/Markey debate...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoCG_28lphw

Gomez sounds and looks like an amateur. Out of breath, nervous, doesn't sound knowledgeable, etc. I suppose comparing him to a 40 year politician like Markey isn't fair, but there are plenty of young, inexperienced candidates who fared far better than Gomez (Obama, Rubio, Rand Paul, etc). No wonder big money GOP donors have stayed away. Gomez has the resume (including his Hispanic heritage) but he just doesn't have "it." Maybe next time bro.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I'm a huge fan of Bill Maher, but this was a dick move:




http://www.mediaite.com/online/cons...-palin-hopes-kids-kick-mahers-white-wimpy-as/


But...I don't think this response from Palin reads the way she originally wanted it to:

I'm all for edgy shit, but making fun of disabled kids crosses the line. And in general I feel like kids of politicians should be off limits, whether it's Sasha Obama or Trig Palin.

 

[Chichikov]

None. I'm ok with the scandal in general I just don't think Glen is being entirely forthright, if that makes any sense.

It does, and when talk about Greenwald's legacy as a reporter that would definitely be a reasonable point to raise.
But right now, I think that focusing on counterproductive, and it's intentionally used to divert the discussion and deflect criticism (I'm not blaming you of doing that by the way).

This is same as the whole "Snowden is a dropout" line of defense, it's just ad-hominem.

 

[Aaron Strife]

return to politics right quick, I just watched the opening statements from the Gomez/Markey debate...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoCG_28lphw

Gomez sounds and looks like an amateur. Out of breath, nervous, doesn't sound knowledgeable, etc. I suppose comparing him to a 40 year politician like Markey isn't fair, but there are plenty of young, inexperienced candidates who fared far better than Gomez (Obama, Rubio, Rand Paul, etc). No wonder big money GOP donors have stayed away. Gomez has the resume (including his Hispanic heritage) but he just doesn't have "it." Maybe next time bro.

Dunno why this was ever considered close. It's clear now that the 2010 special election was an aberration, a perfect storm of a decent GOP candidate, a terrible Dem candidate, and anti-Obama hatred on the right was at its zenith. Even moreso after Warren beat Brown pretty handily after months of tied polls and ludicrous spending on both sides.

I'd say this is the GOP equivalent to Democrats getting excited over winning SC-01, except we at least had a poll showing ECB up 9 before the district corrected itself for its usual partisan lean. The best poll for Gomez still had him losing.

 

[el retorno]

Same thing with a Nevada Congressman's son


Must be something going around

God its gotta be so easy to work at buzzfeed.

Sit around and find stupid people on social media (not hard at all) and make an article about it.

#buzzfeedjournalism

 

[el retorno]

I don't think it does.
But again, what's the harm in extra scrutiny?

I understand what you are saying here, but it comes close to me to almost endorsing the idea of producing really shoddy journalism to provoke outrage to be able to enact your policy goals.

Not that putting a check surveillance isn't a good goal.

But we always yell about conservatives over-blowing stories about welfare, government over reach, the IRS, etc. Where they take something small that Obama did wrong and make it out to be much bigger than it out to be. You could use the same "what's wrong with asking the questions?" defense. There needs to be something that justifies the outrage.

I think there are aspects to this story. My biggest problem is still the wide range of the phone records. The prism stuff doesn't really strike me as something terribly wrong (though there needs to be a better way of have a court that's not just a rubber stamp and done 100% in secret).

 

[gcubed]

It does, and when talk about Greenwald's legacy as a reporter that would definitely be a reasonable point to raise.
But right now, I think that focusing on counterproductive, and it's intentionally used to divert the discussion and deflect criticism (I'm not blaming you of doing that by the way).

This is same as the whole "Snowden is a dropout" line of defense, it's just ad-hominem.

This current line of posts stemmed from PDs woe is me greenwald quote. I think you can have a conversation about both. It's not that the "democratic machine will find things wrong to discredit me" it's the, I said enough things that were clearly wrong and over the top that no one will listen anymore. Being hyperbolic helps no one, and ruins the story. This right after the other 4 scandals being blown up did enough to kill the attention anyone gave it after he had to clarify things.

He ruined the story, not the "machine"

 

[The Librarian]

Nothing I said is inaccurate. Deal with it.

Feels odd agreeing with Empty Vessel but...that's the hand we've been dealt.

I was talking about the link you posted, but blaming Obama without acknowledging the institution the presidency has become makes you inaccurate, so deal with it.

To quote Greenwald -

As we were about to begin publishing these NSA stories, a veteran journalist friend warned me that the tactic used by Democratic partisans would be to cling to and then endlessly harp on any alleged inaccuracy in any one of the stories we publish as a means of distracting attention away from the revelations and discrediting the entire project. That proved quite prescient, as that is exactly what they are attempting to do.​

Like motherfucking clockwork.
They even put it in the title of the other thread, because you know, that's what really important here.

This is all really sad to see.

God, Greenwald is so full of himself. He killed is own story, not any "machine."

 

[Chichikov]

I understand what you are saying here, but it comes close to me to almost endorsing the idea of producing really shoddy journalism to provoke outrage to be able to enact your policy goals.

Shoddy journalism?
Where?
This is good old fashioned example of investigative journalism if you ask me.

But we always yell about conservatives over-blowing stories about welfare, government over reach, the IRS, etc. Where they take something small that Obama did wrong and make it out to be much bigger than it out to be. You could use the same "what's wrong with asking the questions?" defense. There needs to be something that justifies the outrage.

So because some of the criticism of the government is bullshit all of it is?
Come on now.
Again, feel free to defend the NSA on the substance, but the GOP attack of welfare has nothing to do with it.

God, Greenwald is so full of himself. He killed is own story, not any "machine."

So because he made a prediction that came true he's now "full of himself?
Okay.
And the story isn't killed.

 

[The Librarian]

So because he made a prediction that came true he's now "full of himself?
Okay.
And the story isn't killed.

He wasn't right. Greenwald hyped up his own story then slowly had to backtrack after more stuff was found out to be false or greatly exaggerated.

 

[Chichikov]

He wasn't right. Greenwald hyped up his own story then slowly had to backtrack after more stuff was found out to be false or greatly exaggerated.

So you were just got commenting in general unrelated to my post and that quote?
Also, being wrong and correcting yourself is not "being full of oneself"

Also, where exactly did he backtracked?

 

[PhoenixDark]

I was talking about the link you posted, but blaming Obama without acknowledging the institution the presidency has become makes you inaccurate, so deal with it.

God, Greenwald is so full of himself. He killed is own story, not any "machine."

The presidency has become what it is today due to presidents like Obama refusing to ramp down executive power. This isn't Gitmo or some legislative issue. Obama could shut down NSA tomorrow with a phone call. Stop spinning everything as Obama being some helpless player. He's the most powerful man in the world, especially when it comes to matters that don't require congress to vote on.


Greenwald hurt his own story but the overall arc remains. And every day something new is leaked. This isn't over.

 

[TacticalFox88]

The presidency has become what it is today due to presidents like Obama refusing to ramp down executive power. This isn't Gitmo or some legislative issue. Obama could shut down NSA tomorrow with a phone call. Stop spinning everything as Obama being some helpless player. He's the most powerful man in the world, especially when it comes to matters that don't require congress to vote on.


Greenwald hurt his own story but the overall arc remains. And every day something new is leaked. This isn't over.

Are you fucking serious?!

LOL.

Not even close.

 

[Telepathy]

Seriously, listening to KCRW: Left, Right and Center i am seriously enraged with the way Matt (Matthew Miller) and the other guy is ganging up Bob and laughing at his critic of NSA. The argumentation tricks in use by Matt is really ugly.

Matt just came out as a closet totalitarian lover, describing the programmers at NSA as HEROES! He is so insanely naive, its sad, fuck him.

 

[Frank the Great]

The presidency has become what it is today due to presidents like Obama refusing to ramp down executive power. This isn't Gitmo or some legislative issue. Obama could shut down NSA tomorrow with a phone call. Stop spinning everything as Obama being some helpless player. He's the most powerful man in the world, especially when it comes to matters that don't require congress to vote on.


Greenwald hurt his own story but the overall arc remains. And every day something new is leaked. This isn't over.

if congress has created an agency and funded it, it is illegal for the president to refuse to spend money on that agency. he cannot just "shut it down" without getting congressional approval.

this goes for any and all appropriations by congress, as well. people really do think the president has way more power than he actually does. if congress wants to spend money on something, the president has to follow through with it (unless congress gives the president discretion.)

 

[RustyNails]

I'm all for edgy shit, but making fun of disabled kids crosses the line. And in general I feel like kids of politicians should be off limits, whether it's Sasha Obama or Trig Palin.

what about rand paul?

 

[jamesinclair]

if congress has created an agency and funded it, it is illegal for the president to refuse to spend money on that agency. he cannot just "shut it down" without getting congressional approval.

this goes for any and all appropriations by congress, as well. people really do think the president has way more power than he actually does. if congress wants to spend money on something, the president has to follow through with it (unless congress gives the president discretion.)

Then he should direct the nsa to spend money, on high speed rail, fire the top ten people, and sit back s congress refuses to approve any new department heads.

Aka, do what Bush did with the epa.

 

[Link]

My posts last night were surprisingly cohesive considering how drunk I was.

 

[Particle Physicist]

It was for a pretty lame reason, actually. I took some time off to focus on work so that I could save up enough money to bring my mom and brother back to L.A. Unfortunately, it seems I took a little too long, and the University has a rule (actually, I believe many schools do) where if you go past a certain point, you're essentially not a student anymore and have to reapply. As bad as that was, it would be somewhat tolerable if it wasn't for the fact that due to budget cuts, we only have one semester opening every year (which is Fall), and I missed the deadline for this year by the time I found out. Meaning, the earliest I can come back, is Fall 2014. :/

Damn, that really sucks. Sorry about that. At least you aren't really kicked out though. No worries, you'll finish a little later than initially thought, and in the grand scheme of things, it is not that bad. I basically had to do 2.5 extra years of undergrad a few years after graduating just so I could apply to med school. I am one of the oldest people here and it really isn't an issue. Try to take advantage of the time off you have in between and do something fun, different than you normally would. If you can that is. Keep your chin up man!

 

[PhoenixDark]

if congress has created an agency and funded it, it is illegal for the president to refuse to spend money on that agency. he cannot just "shut it down" without getting congressional approval.

this goes for any and all appropriations by congress, as well. people really do think the president has way more power than he actually does. if congress wants to spend money on something, the president has to follow through with it (unless congress gives the president discretion.)

When I say the NSA I don't mean the entire NSA, I mean this program. Congress didn't vote on PRISM

 

[speculawyer]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/arizona-senators-son-used-homophobic-anti-semetic-language-o

Jeff Flake's son goes by the user name n1ggerkiller and posts racist youtube comments under his actual name

L-O-L

The youth of this nation is depressingly stupid. I don't even think they need the NSA spying on people. They'll just give out info

I know he's just a stupid teen-age kid. But n1ggerkiller? Really? That goes beyond just being trash talk and is pretty hateful. I was a teen once and it NEVER would have occurred me to use that kind of language. And another kid of a Congressman did the same thing?

I generally feel that most of the GOP has gotten rid of the racist element but now I'm wondering if I have been giving them too much benefit of the doubt.

 

[sc0la]

what about rand paul?

He is certainly not be disabled in the traditional sense, but objectivism his political philosophies might be an example of a mental defect the sufferer chooses to have.

Wait that's not what you were saying...

 

[speculawyer]

I was trying to read up on this and am getting nowhere, the lack of any actual context is troublesome given the outrage. And seriously, heckling Maher because he makes a halliburton joke and saying the heckling was bubbling up from the previous joke? Really, Halliburton is where you draw the line?

Yeah, all we have is the word of some conservative who got offended. I agree that going R-word is a cheap shot, especially about kids that should not be done. But I'd like to hear the full statement from unbiased source before condemning Maher on this instead of the word of a guy who got offended about a joke about Halliburton.

 

[rocketknight]

Seriously, listening to KCRW: Left, Right and Center i am seriously enraged with the way Matt (Matthew Miller) and the other guy is ganging up Bob and laughing at his critic of NSA. The argumentation tricks in use by Matt is really ugly.

Matt just came out as a closet totalitarian lover, describing the programmers at NSA as HEROES! He is so insanely naive, its sad, fuck him.

Friday's program was really ugh-inducing, even though I more or less agreed that Bob is was worked up. Matt Miller and Rich Lowry (there's an ugh right there) wouldn't stop punching the Snowden bag with all sorts of asinine shit like "he's only 29" etc. Matt even used his final 30 seconds to repeat himself about "most Americans agree" that Snowden is a terrible person because a 29-year old should never question the government. I'm habitually frustrated with the "left" on that show for not really being all that left, though, so I don't ever go in with high expectations.

 

[el retorno]

Shoddy journalism?
Where?
This is good old fashioned example of investigative journalism if you ask me.

So because some of the criticism of the government is bullshit all of it is?
Come on now.
Again, feel free to defend the NSA on the substance, but the GOP attack of welfare has nothing to do with it.

So because he made a prediction that came true he's now "full of himself?
Okay.
And the story isn't killed.

I was just talking about how you used the "what's the harm in extra scrutiny?" line to defend something that might be inaccurate. you seem to be saying you'd be ok with inaccuracies in stories because they'll provoke a debate you want to have. My point about conservative arguments is they use similar tactics, namely with IRS story. They launch articles with inaccuracies to leaps of logic and when they turn out not to be true they hid behind "what wrong with asking questions?" I'm just saying that kinda logic leads to bad journalism.

The guardian walked back the "direct access." Prism seems to be how they collect the data they ask the court for. Not anything completely sinister. The original article as presented by the post and guardian was that they NSA was capturing everything and storing it. that doesn't seem to be the case. There might be problems with the court but there IMO are no new revelations.

Nothing I can see is new besides the phone records story. Greenwald could have wrote these stories without snowden.

My biggest problem is greenwald isn't investigating anything, he's presenting one persons analysis of the data. If he was doing true investigative journalism he never would have ran with the direct access as he would have discovered that wasn't true. He comes to a story with a desire to write something and fits the facts to his desired outcome.

 

[el retorno]

I know he's just a stupid teen-age kid. But n1ggerkiller? Really? That goes beyond just being trash talk and is pretty hateful. I was a teen once and it NEVER would have occurred me to use that kind of language. And another kid of a Congressman did the same thing?

I generally feel that most of the GOP has gotten rid of the racist element but now I'm wondering if I have been giving them too much benefit of the doubt.

I hear that language all the time where I'm from. Its depressing. They hide behind the chris rock "nigga vs. black people" argument. It infuriates me because they're using it to hid their racism and racial angst.

 

[RDreamer]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/arizona-senators-son-used-homophobic-anti-semetic-language-o

Jeff Flake's son goes by the user name n1ggerkiller and posts racist youtube comments under his actual name

L-O-L

The youth of this nation is depressingly stupid. I don't even think they need the NSA spying on people. They'll just give out info

Man if I found out my kid acted like that and used slurs in speech and as names online I'd ground his ass for so fucking long he'd barely know what the internet was anymore. I don't even understand how you raise a kid nowadays that would think it's acceptable to use the name n1ggerkiller. wtf

 

[Half and half]

Jerrold Nadler has apparently clarified his exchange with Mueller:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.co...sa-is-not-listening-to-americans-phone-calls/

The congressman, Jerrold Nadler, issued a statement Sunday to CNN regarding his his exchange with Mueller at the hearing.

“I am pleased that the administration has reiterated that, as I have always believed, the NSA cannot listen to the content of Americans’ phone calls without a specific warrant," Nadler said.

 

[Oblivion]

Sucks. My advice: Knock some of your gen ed requirements out of the way at a community college over the next year. That'll leave you with more time to focus on the "important" classes when you get back to your main school, and save you some money

Yeaaaaaah, except the problem is that I pretty much took every single lower division requirement before I transferred. There's nothing else I can take that's related to my major. :/

Damn, that really sucks. Sorry about that. At least you aren't really kicked out though. No worries, you'll finish a little later than initially thought, and in the grand scheme of things, it is not that bad. I basically had to do 2.5 extra years of undergrad a few years after graduating just so I could apply to med school. I am one of the oldest people here and it really isn't an issue. Try to take advantage of the time off you have in between and do something fun, different than you normally would. If you can that is. Keep your chin up man!

Well, for me it's a little bit more annoying because I'm 28 (going to be 29 in October :/ ), and not only do I not have my Bachelor's degree, but by the time I get back in and finish, I won't get it til I become 32 (31, if I really push it).

Maybe I'll take some Maya or 3DMax classes for a year and try and join Insomniac as a design intern. You know, cause working on Fuse 2 would be pretty awesome (LOL).

Spoiler

Hopefully jstevenson doesn't read poligaf.

Anyway, I'm really surprised this NSA stuff is still going on. That's like 90% of what I'm seeing even on MSNBC. This stuff's boring already, let's move on!


edit:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49263362#52209118

Not really newsworthy or anything, but Martin Bashir's panel totally loses it when Michael Steele tries to defend the Faith and Freedom conference.

 

[speculawyer]

]I hear that language all the time where I'm from[/B]. Its depressing. They hide behind the chris rock "nigga vs. black people" argument. It infuriates me because they're using it to hid their racism and racial angst.

Where do you live?

 

[ISOM]

I hear that language all the time where I'm from. Its depressing. They hide behind the chris rock "nigga vs. black people" argument. It infuriates me because they're using it to hid their racism and racial angst.

Chris Rock said he regretted ever doing that joke ironically.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Man if I found out my kid acted like that and used slurs in speech and as names online I'd ground his ass for so fucking long he'd barely know what the internet was anymore. I don't even understand how you raise a kid nowadays that would think it's acceptable to use the name n1ggerkiller. wtf

He probably heard it from his father.

 

[sc0la]

Chris Rock said he regretted ever doing that joke ironically.

I understand that, but my grandmother used to say the same thing before Chris Rock ever did. It was clearly an existing racist sentiment, he doesn't have to own the literal use of it, it's not on him.

 

[empty vessel]

Man if I found out my kid acted like that and used slurs in speech and as names online I'd ground his ass for so fucking long he'd barely know what the internet was anymore. I don't even understand how you raise a kid nowadays that would think it's acceptable to use the name n1ggerkiller. wtf

Read about Jeff Flake. That's how raise a kid who uses the screenname n1ggerkiller.

 

[Trurl]

Chris Rock said he regretted ever doing that joke ironically.

I've often wondered if he regretted it. Where did he talk about it?

 

[Dram]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/17/60minutes/main674768.shtml

"I guess a routine like 'n------ and black people' is something a ghetto snob would write," says Rock.

This controversial routine on HBO's "Bring The Pain," made Rock a star back in 1996: "There's, like, a civil war going on with black people, and there's two sides. There's black people, and there's n------. And n------ have to go."

Why does he think it got so much attention?

"I think a lot of people were thinking in those terms and hadn't been able to say it. By the way, I've never done that joke again, ever, and I probably never will," says Rock. "'Cause some people that were racist thought they had license to say n-----. So, I'm done with that routine."

 

[Avon Barksdale]

Edit: beaten to the punch

 

[el retorno]

Where do you live?

florida right now. moved back for a bit. probably gonna leave in a few months

I wouldn't say the language is used in an overt racist way. It's not like the people I hear use it hate black people because they're black. Its they hate "ghetto people." Its not that he/she is black its that they act so "uncivilized/immature/etc." Basically the people that say this stuff want all black people to act "white" if they don't, then they're "niggas" Its obviously racist but I don't think the people realize their racist. Because the culture has made literal racism so evil but allowed casual or symbolic racist to take its place which is almost more destructive as it gives plausible deniability to those spouting the racist ideas.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Read about Jeff Flake. That's how raise a kid who uses the screenname n1ggerkiller.

He hasn't really struck me as a horrible republican (he voted to end DADT for instance), whereas I can believe that Nevada republican says racist shit at home which leads to his son repeating it. Not saying Flake is a republican I like, just that he's not one that I dislike.

 

[Gotchaye]

I wouldn't say the language is used in an overt racist way. It's not like the people I hear use it hate black people because they're black. Its they hate "ghetto people." Its not that he/she is black its that they act so "uncivilized/immature/etc." Basically the people that say this stuff want all black people to act "white" if they don't, then they're "niggas" Its obviously racist but I don't think the people realize their racist. Because the culture has made literal racism so evil but allowed casual or symbolic racist to take its place which is almost more destructive as it gives plausible deniability to those spouting the racist ideas.

It's worth noting that this is no different than historical racism. There haven't ever been very many self-conscious racists, who understood themselves as not liking some group simply because of skin color or what-have-you. Biological determinism is much less respectable now, but I don't see that it's meaningfully different from cultural determinism plus a belief that it's extremely difficult to change culture. They're both about assuming that one's broad (negative) perception of a group is likely to apply to almost every member of it one meets and that there's nothing to be done to fix the group's pathologies short of pretty extreme measures.

 

[el retorno]

It's worth noting that this is no different than historical racism. There haven't ever been very many self-conscious racists, who understood themselves as not liking some group simply because of skin color or what-have-you. Biological determinism is much less respectable now, but I don't see that it's meaningfully different from cultural determinism plus a belief that it's extremely difficult to change culture. They're both about assuming that one's broad (negative) perception of a group is likely to apply to almost every member of it one meets and that there's nothing to be done to fix the group's pathologies short of pretty extreme measures.

No doubt. I completely agree.

But it seems many people feel they're not racist because they're not "judging people based on the color of their skin" but in what they perceive to be the "content of their character"

It's almost impossible to convince these people they are racist though because they'll use "model minorities" to deflect criticism. they can't be racist because they love lebron
They'll blame blacks or other minorities for not trying as hard to fit in or adapt. Its 100% racist just with a different justification.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Sarah Palin's solution to Syrian crisis: "Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he is doing... let Allah sort it out!"

....I have no words.

 

[PhoenixDark]

....I have no words.

I support the latter part of that statement

 

[speculawyer]

Sarah Palin's solution to Syrian crisis: "Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he is doing... let Allah sort it out!"

....I have no words.

She is definitely a Limbaugh/Beck/Savage type now, not a politician.

I mean jeez, I even agree with her view of not intervening in this conflict besides maybe an airstrike due to the chemical weapons usage. But 'Let Allah sort them out' . . . you don't say that as a public figure. It is cold-hearted and borderline racist.

The situation is a tragedy but what are we supposed to do? Support a Russian-aligned dictator that has used chemical weapons? Support Jihadi rebels that execute people for blasphemy? But you don't say (let them all die and) 'let Allah sort them out'.


And it is pretty funny how she's taken the polar opposite position of John McCain. I wonder if he is finally going to break-down and bad-mouth her as an idiot. Yes, that will reflect that he made a bad call but everyone already knows that.