Arizona is a blasted hellscape

User avatar
Lyrai
Posts: 617
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:34 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Lyrai » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:24 am

Image

User avatar
Blossom
Posts: 2297
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:58 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Blossom » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:34 am

Thad wrote:Classy as always, TA. Classy as always.




You can fuck right off with the respectability politics bullshit.
Image

User avatar
Thad
Posts: 13165
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:05 am
Location: 1611 Uranus Avenue
Contact:

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Thad » Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:57 am

I wrote something snarky here but thought better of it. I'll try and add something sincere later.

User avatar
Thad
Posts: 13165
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:05 am
Location: 1611 Uranus Avenue
Contact:

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Thad » Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:26 pm

OK, real talk.

TA, I like you. I've known you for, what, 13 years now? I consider you a friend. And I agree with you on most things.

In case it's not already abundantly clear at this point, when I criticize you for a character failing, about 75% of the time it's something I see in myself, and don't like very much. (The other 25% is a subject for another time.)

In this particular instance, the trait I'm calling out, while worrying that it's one we share, is a mismatch between the compassion you preach in your politics and the lack of compassion you consistently show toward individuals. And not just public figures who you've got deep and fundamental disagreements with; you're pretty much nasty to everybody, all the time. You show a lot more sympathy for abstract groups of people than you do for specific individuals; you seem to like people a lot better in theory than in practice.

And you spend a lot of time justifying the moral rightness of being an asshole.

I don't know what "respectability politics" means; I'm not up on you kids and your Twitter slang. But it sounds like the latest variation on "PC", "SJW", "tone policing" -- a derisive catchphrase designed to mock people who tell you not to be an asshole.

I'm not defending McCain's politics or behavior -- in fact, you'll find that I don't like the guy very much. I'm just saying, hey, maybe don't be such an asshole. Mocking somebody for having cancer is a shitty thing to do. Even if HE'S an asshole.

And if you really believe that if another person shows indifference to people's suffering, then that justifies being indifferent to HIS suffering...well, think through the logical conclusion of that premise.

By all means, criticize McCain for his politics, and feel free to point out the hypocrisy in his receiving the kind of medical care that he would deny to others. Those criticisms are valid! But is there a way to express them without mocking an octogenarian for having brain cancer? Yes. Yes there is. And given the choice between two different ways of doing something, generally the one that doesn't involve mocking an octogenarian for having brain cancer is the better option.

When you preach compassion and decency but never seem to demonstrate any yourself, that undermines your message. It suggests hypocrisy and insincerity. It suggests that, contrary to the lofty ideals you espouse, you really only care about yourself. I gather you don't care much about how other people see you, and that's laudable up to a point, but maybe in this instance you should care at least a little.

I'm sure you've got a tweet-sized response all set to tell me why I'm wrong, either in your own words or in somebody else's. Believe me, I get that; it's always tempting to say something pithy and then pat yourself on the back for your own cleverness. (Hell, that's exactly what I did in response to your post. This is me trying to be better than that. It's taking all my self-control not to close with a movie quote.) If that's all you really want to do, then that suggests your motives aren't as pure as you claim they are.

Or maybe I'm just a verbose, holier-than-thou bloviator. Fuck if I know. Introspection is hard, and it's an eternal work-in-progress. But I recommend it.

User avatar
Büge
Posts: 5440
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:56 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Büge » Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:16 pm

From TT:

Westerhof wrote:Then don't think about your enemies. Think about your friends. People who have lost close loved ones--a parent or grandparent or sister--to brain cancer, and when they see us say "I hope he dies slowly and painfully" are forced to relive what that's like. Hate the evil the man has done, and leave the evil that's being done to him out of it when doing so as a mercy to those around you.
Image

User avatar
Bal
Posts: 761
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:13 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Bal » Thu Jul 20, 2017 8:15 pm

McCain has been a fantastic advocate for the state of Arizona, and the people who live here owe much to him, even the ones he probably doesn't like. He's also a legit war hero, who displayed levels of courage as a captive I'm sure I couldn't match. The nice things having been said however, he's a staunch advocate of just about everything I am against and I hope someone from the incredibly anemic Arizonan left somehow manages to replace him instead of fucking Martha McSally or whoever.

User avatar
pacobird
Posts: 796
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:25 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby pacobird » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:52 am

Yeah, Up Simba pretty much sums up my feelings on McCain and he has done literally nothing since the 2000 election to change that view
Image

User avatar
pacobird
Posts: 796
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:25 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby pacobird » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:10 am

FTR while on some level I feel inclined to the smugness I felt when Scalia died because here, too, is a man who is making life actively worse for a large number of people simply through inertia (IOW, retire bitch), there are two mitigating factors

1) McCain is a legit war hero whereas Scalia never did a damn thing to help anybody, and

2) McCain now faces a terrifying struggle that will end in a painful death, which is a real reminder of the mortality we all face, whereas Scalia died after being smothered by a hooker during chokeplay at a resort and that shit is hilarious
Image

McDohl
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:45 am

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby McDohl » Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:15 pm

So, John McCain excoriated both sides about the lack of a normal process to this health care thing.

DEMOCRATS WERE SHUT OUT OF THE WHOLE THING BY MITCH MCCONNELL YOU OLD PERSON, PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR HOSPITAL BED AND CONTINUE TO FIGHT YOUR BATTLE WITH CANCER INSTEAD OF RISKING YOUR LIFE TO KILL MILLIONS OF AMERICANS FOR FUCKS SAKE

User avatar
Mongrel
Posts: 21290
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:28 pm
Location: There's winners and there's losers // And I'm south of that line

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Mongrel » Thu Jul 27, 2017 7:10 pm



This was in Phoenix.

No one hurt, thank god.
Image

McDohl
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:45 am

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby McDohl » Mon Jul 31, 2017 3:12 pm


User avatar
Lyrai
Posts: 617
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:34 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Lyrai » Tue Aug 01, 2017 1:39 pm


User avatar
IGNORE ME
Woah Dangsaurus
Posts: 3679
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:40 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby IGNORE ME » Tue Aug 01, 2017 3:48 pm

I know it's the wrong thing to think that THAT'S why pro-choice is a good idea, but man is it tempting.

User avatar
Thad
Posts: 13165
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:05 am
Location: 1611 Uranus Avenue
Contact:

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Thad » Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:42 pm

The best rundown I've heard of the Arpaio contempt conviction, and the circumstances that led to it, is over at KJZZ, my local NPR affiliate. Audio only, no transcript.

Thanks and congratulations to Melendres and everybody else who helped this happen (by the end, the class covered by the class action suit had expanded to "every Latino who drives a vehicle in Maricopa County").

What seems to have clinched the conviction, ultimately, is the very braggadocio that made him so popular: he claimed he didn't intentionally violate the court order, and the prosecution was all like "Uh you went on TV and bragged about how you were intentionally violating the order, dude."

This is not the first time I've pointed out similarities between Arpaio and Trump, and it won't be the last. This has been, ultimately, the most comforting thing about Trump's presidency: he does not have the self-control to keep his fucking mouth shut, and enjoys publicly bragging about potentially criminal acts.

User avatar
Mongrel
Posts: 21290
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:28 pm
Location: There's winners and there's losers // And I'm south of that line

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Mongrel » Mon Aug 14, 2017 5:23 pm

Welp.

Fox (yes, I know): Trump "Seriously Considering" pardoning Arpaio.

God.

Damn.

It.
Image

User avatar
Joxam
Imperisaurus Rex
Posts: 1003
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:23 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Joxam » Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:28 pm

Had to make sure that when he was forced to call out racists he also signaled to the racists he was still on their side.
Image

User avatar
Thad
Posts: 13165
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:05 am
Location: 1611 Uranus Avenue
Contact:

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Thad » Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:07 am

Honestly, it doesn't bother me. His political career is over, because we voted him out of office by double digits, because all his shit finally caught up with him. Whether his slap on the wrist gets unslapped or not is purely symbolic.

User avatar
Bal
Posts: 761
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:13 pm

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Bal » Thu Aug 17, 2017 1:17 am

I would still like him executed by being literally thrown under a bus, however. Send him off with the poetic touch we all deserve.

User avatar
Mongrel
Posts: 21290
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:28 pm
Location: There's winners and there's losers // And I'm south of that line

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Mongrel » Thu Aug 17, 2017 1:18 am

I'd be happy hearing he rotted away his last days in prison.

I guess we'll see. With any luck Trump will have forgotten that Arpaio even exists next week.
Image

User avatar
Thad
Posts: 13165
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:05 am
Location: 1611 Uranus Avenue
Contact:

Re: Arizona is a blasted hellscape

Postby Thad » Thu Aug 17, 2017 10:22 am

Mongrel wrote:I'd be happy hearing he rotted away his last days in prison.

He's been convicted of a misdemeanor. The worst he's going to get is six months, and there's a good chance he'll get house arrest.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 31 guests