NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence
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@jon-nyc said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
This is a shame. The only people who didn’t get the joke were being dishonest.
That's how it goes, nowadays. People don't like edgy, except when it's a big, flabby edge they're comfortable with.
@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@jon-nyc said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
This is a shame. The only people who didn’t get the joke were being dishonest.
That's how it goes, nowadays. People don't like edgy, except when it's a big, flabby edge they're comfortable with.
Edginess is a serious and credible threat to democracy. Even if it sometimes wears furry bull horns.
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Madonna: "I have dreamed about bombing the White House."
Depp: "When's the last time an actor assassinated a president?"
Those were jokes too, right?
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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It wasn’t per se.
This wasn’t “let’s kill Pence. Haha just kidding.”
The obvious joke was about how the more Trumpy right grew to dislike him since the election.
"You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from."
-Cormac McCarthy -
Madonna: "I have dreamed about bombing the White House."
Depp: "When's the last time an actor assassinated a president?"
Those were jokes too, right?
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
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There was tons of openly expressed murderous hatred against Trump by the haters on the left, just that I personally saw, in person, not online. It's a thing. Of course it was a thing, they felt the weight of the culture behind them, and their little hatreds. Meanwhile, Trump was the one allegedly creating all the dangerous impressions. What with furry horned people taking selfies after entering the unguarded doors of the Capitol.
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It wasn’t per se.
This wasn’t “let’s kill Pence. Haha just kidding.”
The obvious joke was about how the more Trumpy right grew to dislike him since the election.
@jon-nyc said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
It wasn’t per se.
This wasn’t “let’s kill Pence. Haha just kidding.”
The obvious joke was about how the more Trumpy right grew to dislike him since the election.
You yourself found huge rhetorical fuel behind the threat to democracy finally established after the election. Why not be charitable and think the "more Trumpy" right saw what you saw?
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@jon-nyc said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
It wasn’t per se.
This wasn’t “let’s kill Pence. Haha just kidding.”
The obvious joke was about how the more Trumpy right grew to dislike him since the election.
You yourself found huge rhetorical fuel behind the threat to democracy finally established after the election. Why not be charitable and think the "more Trumpy" right saw what you saw?
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It's an obscure joke, because Trump supporters who now hate Pence are an obscure tribe. I welcome you to find something written on the internet somewhere to establish a widespread idea along those lines.
Therefore I declare it not a funny joke, in that it has so little truth to it, and I am offended by its unfunniness.
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Madonna: "I have dreamed about bombing the White House."
Depp: "When's the last time an actor assassinated a president?"
Those were jokes too, right?
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.
Obviously, it was a really stupid thing to say, even as a joke.
I was only joking
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@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.
Obviously, it was a really stupid thing to say, even as a joke.
@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.
No, the left wants to convince people that the right thinks Pence is a really bad man.
Education is extremely important.
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@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.
No, the left wants to convince people that the right thinks Pence is a really bad man.
@horace said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.
No, the left wants to convince people that the right thinks Pence is a really bad man.
Anybody who previously wanted to blame Pence for ruining the day of rapture knows otherwise now.
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Why exactly do we give a shit about this guy?
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Why exactly do we give a shit about this guy?
@lufins-dad said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Why exactly do we give a shit about this guy?
I don't think anybody does, to be honest.
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This affair has produced several hypocrisies. First, if the Niskanen Center "draws the line at statements that are, or can in any way be interpreted as, condoning or promoting violence," then it would have to fire its president. Taylor has arguably used Twitter in a manner that suggests he condones violence. He rooted for antifa to punch out Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who waved their guns at protesters encountered on their private street. "If I were in that march, and these racist lunatics were waiving [sic] guns at me, I'd like to think I'd rush them and beat their brains in," said Taylor. "And I wouldn't apologize for it for one goddam [sic] second."
Unlike Wilkinson's tweet, there's little reason to assume this was meant in jest. And unlike Wilkinson, Taylor is the president of the organization and sets the tone for what is permissible. If the boss can tweet an unapologetic call to "beat their brains in," his employees might very well think that edgy humor is okay. Perhaps that's why Taylor deleted his statement regarding Wilkinson's firing—he realized that it impugned him as well. (Neither Taylor nor a spokesperson for the Niskanen Center responded to a request for comment. Wilkinson declined to comment.)
Another hypocrisy concerns the conservative news outlets that wrote about Wilkinson in the first place. Both The Federalist and The Daily Caller complain constantly about cancel culture, and favorably cover those who criticize it. They are often right to do so. (In fact, I have been quoted in The Federalist, The Daily Caller, and even a Niskanen Center report, about the perils of cancellation.) But when the time came to show the exact sort of mercy they otherwise would have called for had the subject been a victim of left-wing activists or the mainstream media, these elements of the right poured gasoline on this fire without any hesitation.
If you only criticize cancel culture when it's your side being canceled, then you aren't really attacking the concept—you're just playing defense for your team. That's why it's important to speak out on behalf of those facing social media mob justice, even when the victim is not a member of one's own ideological coalition.
Indeed, given that I am primarily known for criticizing cancel culture, Wilkinson—who once tweeted "Cancel culture, lol" and also suggested I branch out to "slightly more important stories"—may be the closest thing I have to an ideological foe. In that spirit, I oppose his firing, and encourage his employers to reconsider.
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@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.
No, the left wants to convince people that the right thinks Pence is a really bad man.
@horace said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:
Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?
The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.
No, the left wants to convince people that the right thinks Pence is a really bad man.
My neighbour's Trump-Pence sign is still up, with the Pence crossed-out. It makes me laugh every time I see it.
I was only joking
