it would not have been so long if you has actaully addressed what I said instead of ranting
random thoughts Send a noteboard - 28/10/2011 10:38:34 PM
Unless you think I have somehow characterized them. And come on Flea Party is at least a little bit funny and nowhere near as insulting or offensive as the tea baggers term which I don't recall you ever objecting to. But hey I guess it easier to get offended but the Flea Party joke than to address the points I made.
If I saw someone calling the Tea Party tea baggers my reaction to their stance would be exactly the same.
Just because I don't agree with everything the Tea Party pushes for doesn't mean I feel the need to insult them, nor to trivialize them or dismiss them.
If you want to debate points like a grownup, you (and everyone else, not just you) can start by not calling people names or attempting to sway opinion through mockery.
You mean mockery like your little post to me trying to throw my reply to danny back in face or by calling me childish? Be condescending or be a hypocrite but try to avoid being a condescending hypocrite. This is the part where you justify your mockery by saying you were only responding to mine.
Get off your fucking high horse. It was light jab and no reason for you to get your panties all wadded up. You can claim they you would have objected to the Tea Baggers remarks but they were made pretty often on this site and you never seemed to suffer from panty wad then. When I objected to people around here calling them tea baggers neither you nor any of the other sensitive type around here rushed to me defense but let someone make fun of a lefty group and suddenly we need “stop all this childish behavior and treat people with respect”. Sorry but my natural reaction to that sort of double standards is fuck that.
Flea Party is more of a joke than an insult anyways, hell I heard it from a friend of mine who is going downtown to support Occupy Dallas this weekend. I don’t know any Tea Party people who think being called racist or tea baggers was funny.
Over and over I see people on this site complain about tone but they never call out people they like or agree with. Greg used to take great pleasure in sharp personal insults only to be gushed over by the same people who want to lecture other people about tone. Mostly it is the female lefties around who behave this way but I will tell you the same thing I tell them. When I see you get offended by over the top statements from the left towards the right and not just like this time when you are indirectly criticizing someone on the left to justify directly criticizing someone on the right I will start taking you seriously.
But sure, let's examine this. You say, it's easier to get offended than to address the points you made. However, I don't see how the points you made have anything to do with what I was saying. You contend that the Tea Party is more organized than the Occupy movement ... which I also said in my original post, so I guess we agree there. This is why in my parody post I portrayed you as arguing with people even when they essentially agree with you.
You ask a question I answered it. Why is that confusing to you? If you don't like the answer say so but please stop with damn sermons. Your question was “how is the Tea Party a group with legitimate concerns, but Occupy is just a bunch of unwashed hippies who don't want to get a job?” I answered that the tea party was legitimate because they behaved themselves in a more legitimate faction. All this crap about objecting to them because of their ideology is really just you assuming I said things I didn’t say. You know in the future you really don’t need to guess about what I saying or try and read some made up stereotype crap into my statements. I am pretty blunt and I can promise you I don’t fit into ant pigeon holes you have be taught to use for people who disagree with you are have the audacity to challenge something you said. Because I hate to break it to but we are not arguing, you would to start responding with to what I said for this to rise to the level of argument. Right now it is mostly pissing moaning and fantasy.
You go on to say that the Tea Party is essentially civilized and following the rules in their protestations, while saying that the Occupy movement is essentially rowdy and lawbreaking. Let's go with that, then. I have no interest in trying to track down sources to argue against that, because you'd just dismiss anything even if I could find it (don't say you wouldn't; you always do). It seems to me that the Tea Party was rowdier in its very early days as well, but probably not as rowdy as the Occupy movement is right now, it's true. But I honestly don't know what I would find if I went looking, whether I would find more evidence to vindicate your opinion or more evidence to doubt your opinion. I don't know, let's accept what you've said and go from there.
Sorry if we are going to discuss this like grownups lets stop this sort of silly" you will just dismiss my evidence that I don’t actually have" argument when we both know (or should) that the Tea Party movement was much more civilized and well behaved affair. The almost complete lack of violence (and almost all of that created by counter protesters) and the complete absence of police needing teargas should be enough to settle that.
You rant on for paragraphs attacking an argument I never made and just dismiss the actual argument because you can’t be bothered to address it. ?????
My question is, does that point matter at all to what I said in my original post? What I said was that quite clearly people are upset, whether they're left-leaning or right-leaning. Both sides think that things aren't being done right. They have different ideas as to what the problems are and what the solutions are, but on a fundamental level what it comes down to is that People Aren't Happy. Not all the people, but enough for two very visible movements to have sprung up.
The Tea Party movement was unhappy about very specific things and more importantly they went about expressing that unhappiness in a much more socially acceptable way. It wasn't this unfocused "screw the man" BS we are seeing from OWS. The Tea Party for the most part knew what they were upset about and had at least an idea of what they wanted done to correct it. (That idea had some serious logical flaws but that is relevant here) I don't see the from OSW people. The idea that I oppose what OSW is trying to accomplish is fairly absurd considering they don’t even seem to know what that is. How can I oppose and idea that the supports can’t even articulate?
So, what does it matter if one of the movements is working within the system and one of the movements is resisting the system? I'm not here to argue with you the merits of each group's beliefs. I haven't even stated what I feel about the Occupy movement's beliefs. It doesn't matter, it's outside what we're talking about, and chances are pretty good we'd just disagree anyway. I have no interest in having an ideological pissing match with you or anyone else.
Why does it matter if one is working inside the system? Well one makes you a legitimate political movement and the other makes you just protesters. Both have their place but they are not the same thing and shouldn't be treated as such. From what I can see the OWS people seem more interested in protesting then trying offer solutions and they seem to think they have the right to interfere with other peoples right and to not suffer consequences for civil disobedience. I guess that is what we get for a generation of students be taught by far left professors that civil disobedience was noble cause in and of it self and that real problem is the rest of society.
But seriously, what does it matter if the two groups are doing things differently?
Speaking on a purely logical level, does the manner in which a person goes about accomplishing a task affect the validity of the task they are trying to accomplish?
No but again I don't believe I have made any statements about their goals outside of saying they were socialist. The methods they should not affect the opinion of their goals but damn should be used to affect the opinion of the group trying to accomplish those goals.
I want you to be honest in answering that. Don't think about it from the Occupy perspective or the Tea Party perspective. Think broadly, think big picture, think in general, think about it for something you have no opinion on. If the Tea Party was being rowdy (this is hypothetical), would that, in your mind, invalidate their beliefs? If the Occupy movement was being 100 percent peaceful and working within the system, would that, in your mind, make their beliefs good?
OK I know stereotypes are really hard for people to get around when they get them deeply imbedded in their thoughts but you need to get over the idea that I am a tea party supporter. I don't like populist movements in general and the tea party is no exception to that. I do have problem with the way they were treated by the media and others. Feel free to continue to claim that you would have called out anyone who called them things like tea baggers but the reality is very few people were willing to defend them. I defend their right to do what they did even if I didn't agree with them on some of their points. I defend the OWS people’s right to protest. I also defend the police’s right to pepper spray them if them will not obey the law. You have a right to protest but you don't have a right to interfere with other people's lives. There are a multitude of legal ways to speak but you they isn't what but you can’t force other people to listen to you.
I'm pretty sure the answer to both those questions is no. The way in which a group goes about accomplishing something is entirely unrelated to the rightness or wrongness of their goals. You could argue that the way they try to accomplish something speaks to their moral character or something like that, but that still has nothing to do with the validity of their goals. If Adolf Hitler started a vaccination program to cure a horrible disease, and he forced every German citizen to get it so that his population would be healthy and he would have more access to soldiers and workers, that wouldn't make vaccinations to cure horrible diseases wrong. And if Ghandi kicked a puppy because it was distracting him from his hunger strike that would eventually go on to help create an independent India, that wouldn't make puppy kicking right.
You seem to be expending a huge amount of energy on this point and I am not sure why since it really is irrelevant. We are discussing the way we treat the groups not if should do what they want. They action of the group should affect how we treat them and our opinion of them. I will say it is naive to think that the actions of group will affect the opinion of that groups goals but I agree we should try and avoid it. If Gandhi had been going around kicking puppies he would have undermined the whole pacifist thing and probably would have undermined his cause. Doesn’t matter if you think that is good or a bad thing and since I never really mentioned the goals of OWS not sure why you seem to focus on it.
Those are ridiculous examples, but what I'm trying to say is that methodology and goals are two separate things. You can disagree with the Occupy movement's methodology and that's fine, and you can disagree with their goals and that's also fine, but you can't say that their goals are invalid because of their methodology.
Please point out where you believe I made that argument.
So that brings us back to the original question. What does it matter that the two groups went about things in different ways? If it doesn't matter, why are you trying to argue with me?
That is not the question the question is do both groups deserve to be treated the same based on the way they have conducted themselves. I still am a little confused where you got this whole "judge their goals based on the actions" argument. Now I do think it is fair to criticize the group on the fact that beyond being disruptive they really don't seem to have much in the way goals or the ability to state what their goals are but I don’t believe I mentioned that in my response to you.
Do you have any thoughts on what I actually said in my original post? I didn't express any opinion as to the validity of either movement's goals. I didn't say anthing about which is right and which is wrong. I said that both movements reflect a general unhappiness with the status quo, even though they have different solutions. I said that neither movement should be dismissed out of hand. Do you disagree with that?
Maybe you should go back and read what you actually wrote. You started by asking a question and I answered that question. I never even mentioned anything about your argument that both sides are angry. That I agree with.
You seem to be confusing the movement with the goals of the movement. It isn't fair to dismiss a group’s goals out of hand based on their action but it is fair to dismiss a movement based on their actions. If another group wants to take over those goals and pursue them in a more coherent and responsible manner that will be a different story then I don’t think we should judge those goals based on the actions of OWS.
If not, then again, why are you trying to argue with me? Do you just like to argue?
Again get the fuck off your high horse. If you don't want your statements challenged keep them to yourself. If you don't want your questions answered don't ask them.
And fuck you with “do you just like to argue” shit. This was a discussion about an issue and I gave my opinion if you don’t like me responding you that is really your problem. Personally I prefer discussing issues with people who have differing opinion but I guess some people prefer echo chambers.
It's possible that you do disagree with the last bit, that neither movement should be dismissed out of hand. Do you think that the Tea Party should be taken seriously but the Occupy movement should be dismissed as irrelevent? And your argument for why this should be done is because of their methods?
If your argument is that the Occupy movement should be dismissed because of their ideology, then I'm sorry but my quotation of yours about shallow understanding of people who think differently absolutely applies. Clearly the people involved in this movement think differently than you. Does that automatically make them wrong?
The irony is the shallow understanding part seems to apply to you here. I posted about their actions but you have been going on and on about the ideology. Yes I did say they were socialist in my very last sentence but the meat of my argument was based on their actions. Which you of course dismissed in order to lecture me about proper debate manners.
If you think they're wrong because of some intrinsic flaw in their thinking (please don't go into detail on all the reasons you think they're wrong; it really doesn't matter to what I'm saying, even though I'm willing to bet you'll think it does), then that's fine, but why does that mean they should be mocked and dismissed? There are people who can detail all the reasons why they think certain Tea Party positions are wrong as well, but that doesn't mean they should be mocked or dismissed either.
I would be willing to bet that you are so focused on what think I believe that you have blinded yourself to what I have actually said. Try being a little more open minded in the future and don’t let your emotions over ride your eyes.
What it comes down to is that I really don't understand what you think we're arguing or why you felt the need to respond to my post with dismissal and mockery of the Occupy movement. Regardless of a person's position, those political mockery names, whether they be Flea Party or Tea Baggers or Faux News or hell, let's call CNN the Communist News Network just to balance it out — all of those things are childish, and you (and everyone, on both sides) could make any actual points you have a lot better without them.
Now stop arguing with me. :p
(All I wanted to do in this post was say that both sides are finding it real easy to point to each other as the enemy when it seems to me that the real enemy is whatever is causing so many people to be upset about the status quo in the first place. Whether you lean right or left, just because someone is trying to apply a completely different solution to a problem than you doesn't mean they aren't trying to solve the exact same issue, and working together would have a better chance at producing lasting results, even though "working together" seems to be some sort of blasphemy in American politics these days.)
All I was trying to do was to point out that both sides deserve to be treated differently because they act differently. And what I get is an arrogant BS that insults me while condemning me for insults and a paragraph long rant explaining why an argument I never made is invalid.
Fox News and Occupy Wall Street
25/10/2011 03:59:30 PM
- 786 Views
In other words your shallow understanding of people who think differently has failed you again
25/10/2011 04:08:09 PM
- 539 Views
Point missed, try again. *NM*
25/10/2011 06:13:17 PM
- 197 Views
Make snide posts, expect snide replies
25/10/2011 06:41:31 PM
- 520 Views
well I did point out your shallow understanding would cause these sort of problems *NM*
25/10/2011 09:35:36 PM
- 203 Views
Ignore it?
25/10/2011 05:39:17 PM
- 515 Views
You're kidding, Right?
25/10/2011 06:15:52 PM
- 486 Views
Why? Am I being ridicuously illogical?
26/10/2011 05:41:29 PM
- 450 Views
Occupy Wall Street fits and therefore serves Foxs narrative;if it did not exist, Fox would invent it
25/10/2011 05:49:34 PM
- 461 Views
There is that.
25/10/2011 06:17:02 PM
- 445 Views
Just the nature of the beast; they hate each other, yet are each others best friend.
25/10/2011 08:57:46 PM
- 634 Views
Fox News vilifies them, The rest of the major news networks sings their praises.
26/10/2011 06:28:26 AM
- 517 Views
In that case ...
26/10/2011 03:37:11 PM
- 550 Views
There is a big difference between the way the two groups went about it
26/10/2011 04:18:22 PM
- 480 Views
"In other words your shallow understanding of people who think differently has failed you again."
26/10/2011 04:41:53 PM
- 519 Views
Nice try but doesn't really apply
26/10/2011 04:56:16 PM
- 411 Views
Dammit, now you've made me type a huge post.
26/10/2011 06:10:09 PM
- 521 Views
It would be nice to think he at least read this post...
28/10/2011 03:35:31 AM
- 448 Views
It would be nice to think he had read what i posted or even you for that matter *NM*
28/10/2011 10:39:10 PM
- 218 Views
it would not have been so long if you has actaully addressed what I said instead of ranting
28/10/2011 10:38:34 PM
- 518 Views
I just read that former Acorn employees are the ones running the show. Color me not suprised. *NM*
26/10/2011 05:50:05 PM
- 200 Views