Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The words do not have to be perfect.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Come on, man.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

I really should read my own blog.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

He really is that stupid.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

In my day, never was longer.

You are here: Home / Two Things I Really Fucking Hate

Two Things I Really Fucking Hate

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If I hear one more person talking about Baltimore’s missing fathers, I am going to blow a god damned gasket. They aren’t missing. We didn’t misplace them. They didn’t up and disappear or get zapped into the skies by aliens or fall down a well. My mustard is missing. Baltimore’s father’s aren’t missing, we know exactly where the fuck they are. They’re in jail or dead, victims of insane drug laws, institutional racism, lack of opportunity, and their own bad choices made substantially more enticing than they should be by the lousy options from which they had to choose.

Second, if one more motherfucker tells me that unless I stand up and yell “You go girl” every time Pam Geller opens her noxious piehole to spew venom that I am responsible for creeping Sharia and am a hopeless “dhimmi,” I’m going to kick them in the junk with a freedom boot. No, we don’t all have to stand up and provoke crazy people just to prove a point or to be assholes or to further freedom or whatever bullshit you want to peddle. I don’t have to pretend that a bunch of snotty French cartoonists shitting all over people is some sort of heroic endeavor worthy of an award or my complete admiration. You drew a cartoon intending on pissing off crazy people. Congratulations, you pissed off some crazy murderous psychos who reacted predictably. WOO- You! WTF did you think was going to happen? Now, exactly how have you advanced the cause of freedom? And yes, it is horrible that those scumbags murdered people. But are you surprised and what exactly did you accomplish?

I don’t have to pretend that because Geller provoked some loathsome creeps into attacking her backwoods hick hatefest, the first amendment is on the brink of falling and that I’m going to be praying five times a day at gunpoint by next week. Yes, legally, her free speech is protected by the Constitution, but that doesn’t mean I have to act shocked or surprised when some assholes want her dead and it doesn’t mean free speech as we know it is dying. That’s not being a pussy or bowing to the TERRAHRISTS, it’s just common sense. I don’t walk down the street calling women whores and sluts because I don’t want to get slapped in the face. I don’t run around and shit all over religious people just because I can even though I think it’s all just elaborate myths and folklore.

Just because you have first amendment rights guaranteed by the Constitution doesn’t mean that actions don’t have consequences. Crazy people react… crazily. Saying obnoxious things can have real world consequences. Pointing that out doesn’t make me a wimp or a coward, it makes me sentient. But, by all means, if you disagree, march on in to your boss’s office tomorrow and tell her/him to go fuck themselves and that you slept with their spouse. Don’t forget to demand your 1st Amendment rights after s/he fires you.

Reader Interactions

243Comments

  1. 1.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Second, if one more motherfucker tells me that unless I stand up and yell “You go girl” every time Pam Geller opens her noxious piehole to spew venom that I am responsible for creeping Sharia and am a hopeless “dhimmi,”

    You need to expand your social horizons.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    if one more motherfucker tells me that unless I stand up and yell “You go girl” every time Pam Geller opens her noxious piehole to spew venom that I am responsible for creeping Sharia and am a hopeless “dhimmi,” I’m going to kick them in the junk with a freedom boot

    I have no idea what a “dhimmi” is, but “freedom boot” is inspired.

  4. 4.

    Morzer

    I’m going to kick them in the junk with a freedom boot

    John G. Cole: From Mustard-Dhimmi To Valyrian Steeler.

  5. 5.

    jl

    Haven’t read past first paragraph yet.

    ” My mustard is missing. ”

    Still looking for the missing bottle? I’d call it day and buy some more, but maybe that just me.

    OK, I’ll read on. Seems to be a real barn burner of a post.

  6. 6.

    Morzer

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “Dhimmi” (“protected person”) means person of non-Muslim faith who surrenders to a Muslim conqueror and pays the jizya tax imposed on non-Muslims in addition to their regular taxes. Used mostly by right wingers as a pejorative for librul traitors who are imposing sharia in Michigan etc etc.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    “Just because you can” doesn’t mean “you must.”

    Amazing how many people don’t get this.

  12. 12.

    Morzer

    I’m going to be praying five times a day at gunpoint by next week

    Will ISIS or the NRA be more disappointed that this isn’t going to happen?

  14. 14.

    Baud

    No, we don’t all have to stand up and provoke crazy people just to prove a point or to be assholes or to further freedom or whatever bullshit you want to peddle.

    What was the point of this blog again?

  15. 15.

    Morzer

    @Baud:

    Ironically, allowing non-Muslims to have dhimmi status was a fairly enlightened move back in the day. Certainly better than some of the “Christian” alternatives on offer.

  19. 19.

    RSA

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “freedom boot” is inspired.

    Inspired is right. (Echoes of George Orwell.)

    On the general topic, I notice that right-wingers weren’t so big on free speech in the heyday of Piss Christ. Some were clear they just didn’t want public arts funding to support Serrano, but others were all “free speech is fine and good, but this is blasphemy!”

  20. 20.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: There is a point to all of this? I presumed it was some existentialist exercise of the absurd.

  23. 23.

    Lavocat

    I see this shit all the time as an attorney.

    I have one simple saying to deal with it: “With rights come corresponding responsibilities.”

    You want to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theatre? Go right ahead.

    Just don’t bitch & moan when you go to prison for inciting a riot or get your ass sued for all that you’re worth when someone dies in the ensuing stampede out of the allegedly burning theatre.

    Also: “Your 1st Amendment actions can create 2nd Amendment reactions.” As Pam Geller just recently discovered.

    Just sayin’.

  27. 27.

    Morzer

    @Baud:

    The original article does specify that Adam Swift was quipping when he suggested that reading bed-time stories to kids might give them an unfair advantage.

  28. 28.

    Howard Beale IV

    Geller is on the Render No Assistance List. If you see her bleeding profusely in an accident, walk away (unless you are required to by the state you are in.)

  29. 29.

    Morzer

    @Arclite:

    I fear not, although I did wonder how long it would be before someone made the “connection”. Still, a case can be made that it was a seminal institution in taxation history.

  30. 30.

    jl

    So, I was going to ask when the BJ Mohammed Cartoon Contest for FREEDOMSPEECH would begin, but looks like that is off.

    ” I’m going to kick them in the junk with a freedom boot. ” Punching them in the neck not enough?

    Anyway, I agree. Only quibble is that some kind of case can be made that Charlie Hebdo is trying to accomplish somewhat more and something more worthy than this clown crew. Not sure how strong it is, but at least you can make it without laughing out loud.

    TPM had a post on it a couple of days ago.

    A Couple Quick Thoughts on Geller in Texas
    Josh Marshall, TPM

    ‘ Political violence is the greatest corrosive of free and ordered societies. But a hate group is a hate group the day after someone takes a shot at them just like it was the day before. ‘

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-couple-quick-thoughts-on-geller-in-texas

  31. 31.

    srv

    I like it when you get angry without alcohol.

    My mustard is missing.

    Oliver’s still out there dude. Never forget.

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @jl:

    Only quibble is that some kind of case can be made that Charlie Hebdo is trying to accomplish somewhat more and something more worthy than this clown crew.

    I agree.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    I don’t walk down the street calling women whores and sluts because I don’t want to get slapped in the face.

    #LessonsLearned

  34. 34.

    msdc

    @Lavocat:

    Also: “Your 1st Amendment actions can create 2nd Amendment reactions.”

    I thought we weren’t okay with that.

  37. 37.

    Austin Loomis

    Given how the word is pronounced (at least, how the Time Traveler pronounced it to Dan Simmons*), I’d have been tempted to say “kick them in the dhimmies”.

    (* Am I hell going to link to The Time Traveler’s Tale. If you feel the need to inflict it on yourself, google it.)

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    I’m still waiting for someone to “connect the dots” re: Pammycakes bankrolling Simpson and Soofi for that false flag operation. After all, she got EXACTLY what she wanted out of the whole deal – now she has a bigger megaphone for telling the world how Muslims are here to kill the Anglos [sic] in their sleep. Probably with Ebola-laden bullets.

    False flags – it’s what’s for dinner freedumb.

  39. 39.

    SFAW

    @Howard Beale IV:

    Geller is on the Render No Assistance List. If you see her bleeding profusely in an accident, walk away (unless you are required to by the state you are in.)

    Not on the “Modified Triage” List?

    For those not familiar with it, the injured are grouped into three categories:
    I) Will recover without intervention by trained medical professionals
    II) Will die WITHOUT medical intervention; will recover WITH medical intervention
    III) May recover, but being allowed to do so will irreparably harm civilized society, so put a couple of 9mm slugs behind their ears

    Pammy is Class III — a/k/a low class — all the way.

  40. 40.

    Peale

    I miss this Cole. But I worry about his blood pressure, too.

    Also, mustard keeps fairly well. I look forward to the day when it comes home again.

  41. 41.

    Gin & Tonic

    I must not read enough, but the only context in which I have ever encountered this Geller person is in mentions here. Is it possible for someone to be less relevant?

  42. 42.

    jmh

    Just because you have first amendment rights guaranteed by the Constitution doesn’t mean that actions don’t have consequences. Crazy people react… crazily. Saying obnoxious things can have real world consequences.

    I say the same thing about scantily clad women who get raped

  43. 43.

    SFAW

    I don’t walk down the street calling women whores and sluts because I don’t want to get slapped in the face.

    John –
    If that’s the only (or primary) reason you don’t do that, then perhaps you and I (or Anne Laurie or Betty or Siubhan or take-your-pick) should have a chat about it.

    [Not presuming to speak for AL, Betty, Siubhan, of course.]

  45. 45.

    Howard Beale IV

    @SFAW:

    III) May recover, but being allowed to do so will irreparably harm civilized society, so put a couple of 9mm slugs behind their ears

    Why waste perfectly good bullets on her?

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Lavocat: While no underestimates the power of an idiot with a gun, one can, perhaps, deplore that influence.

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SFAW:

    I thought about weighing in on that, and decided to leave it alone. Of course not wanting to get slapped in the face is the least of reasons for John to refrain from walking down the street calling women whores and sluts. DO THE RIGHT THING, JOHN!!

    But at the moment I was more interested in dhimmidom (dhimmihood? dhimminess?).

    AL’s and Betty’s mileage may vary.

  53. 53.

    Betty Cracker

    Geller is just as entitled to her vile opinions as the Phelps spawn are to theirs, and she’s as free to put her ignorance on public display as the Westboro Baptist cult is to hold up their “God Hates Fags” signs. Huzzah for free speech!

  54. 54.

    SFAW

    @Howard Beale IV:

    Why waste perfectly good bullets on her?

    It would only be a waste if your aim was bad. Plus, I don’t think the USofA is in any danger of running out of bullets anytime soon.

  59. 59.

    GregB

    Charlie Hebdo also distributed their satire quite a bit more liberally.

    Gellar and her ilk are in essence reverse ISIS fascists.

    Gellar is a Julius Streicher. She’s Radio Hutu.

    She wants to kill people just like the ISIS shitheels.

  61. 61.

    Morzer

    I don’t run around and shit all over religious people just because I can

    Either John Cole is significantly taller than previously advertised or the religious personnel in WV are a lot shorter than the national average.

  64. 64.

    SFAW

    @east is east:

    Try not to be purposely obtuse.

    You first?

    I had a long-winded reply, submitted before I saw John’s response, which I’ve truncated severely. Etc. Etc.

  66. 66.

    RandomMonster

    Geller has literally called for the extermination of muslims — repeatedly. Charlie Hebdo made jokes at the expense of the religion of Islam. There are grey areas between hate and satire, but not as many as the idiot American public thinks.

  70. 70.

    jl

    @SFAW: The first sentence is an example of ambiguously written English, probably because Cole was furiously typing away in some of his ‘moods’. Anyway, I did not interpret it the way you did.

  71. 71.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @SFAW:

    I read it as Cole saying that he does not run around deliberately insulting people even though he has the legal right to do so. I think you’re conflating his two examples of (1) ways he could insult people and (2) reasons he could insult people.

  73. 73.

    gelfling545

    @msdc: One doesn’t have to be ok with it to acknowledge it as a real possibility especially given our truly messed up gun laws & significant number of seriously disturbed people.

  77. 77.

    Crouchback

    Gellar may be loathsome but the appropriate response is open contempt for her and her allies, not violence. Back when our host was still a Republican, there were plenty of conservatives willing in theory to get violent with liberals whose speech offended them or their dear leader Bush. It was inexcusable then and is inexcusable now.

    That said, it is darkly amusing that the Gellar crowd tried to gloss over that a. it was a cop working as a security guard who stopped the terrorists and b. he was technically outgunned though apparently a much better shot.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @jl: @Mnemosyne (tablet): OTOH, SFAW could be pointing out an ambiguity in Cole’s post and asking for clarification. Cole’s response was “Cut me some slack and give me the benefit of the doubt.” SFAW said okay. Perhaps everyone else should do the same for SFAW.

  79. 79.

    Morzer

    @Crouchback:

    I agree wholeheartedly that the best response to Geller’s screams for violence and hatred is not to endorse her by demanding them as a response to her.

  80. 80.

    tbone

    Nuttin says freedumb like getting an off duty cop shot so you can get publicity.

  82. 82.

    SFAW

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    Except the seconds sentence was about him telling people what he really thinks of them, thus implying that the first was similar.

    Be that as it may, as requested, I’ve cut him some slack and given him the benefit of the doubt – despite the protestations of certain Cheeseheads what think they might be a lawyer or somethin’.

  84. 84.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Morzer: Many people of that height aren’t virgins. Just saying.

    @jl: It is slightly taller than average here in the US. It is quite short in the Netherlands, unless you are of a female persuasion.

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @SFAW:

    It was definitely ambiguous. I was just pointing out the source of the ambiguity so you could see where others might interpret it a different way. I saw them as two different examples contained in the same paragraph, but there was enough ambiguity that it was worth asking the question.

  88. 88.

    jl

    @Omnes Omnibus: I just pointed out the first line could be read two ways. I did not cast doubt on any benefit on the part of SFAW that needed to cut or slackened.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW: Eh, I’ll be a complete asshole to you at sometime in the future, so just put this in the bank.

  90. 90.

    SFAW

    @east is east:

    Try not to be so stupid.

    As before: You first?

    You might consider taking up knitting, instead of making dumbshit comments on blogs. (And, of course, your response can reasonably be “You first?”)

  91. 91.

    scav

    Their pious postering about Reeeeeligious Freeeeeee Speeeeeeech would go down easier were it not for the repeated pious shreiking about the maasaaaannnnndatory use of Ccccccchhhhhhiiiiiiiisssssttttttttmmmmmaaaaaaassssss in all expressions of good will and merriment during the month of December. But Hey, they just want their ‘merica back where not all freedoms are equal, just like not all people before the law or just in general.

  93. 93.

    Mandalay

    @Crouchback:

    Gellar may be loathsome but the appropriate response is open contempt for her and her allies, not violence.

    You are certainly right about the non-violence, but for attention seekers like Geller a far more effective (and appropriate) response is the shrug. Complete indifference would probably bother her more than open contempt.

  94. 94.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Eh, I’ll be a complete asshole to you at sometime in the future, so just put this in the bank.

    You? An asshole? [Sound of me fainting. … Then waking up ]

    No doubt I will be, too.

    Toodles!

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @scav:

    I sometimes suspect that their problem with “dhimmis” is the taxation aspect, not the religious aspect. Because if there’s one thing that sends conservatives flying off the handle, it’s the prospect of paying taxes.

  98. 98.

    some guy

    When will American Jewish leaders denounce Geller’s eliminationist rhetoric? Why the silence on the part of Abe Foxman, Robert Sugaman and malcolm Hoenlein, Ronald Lauder, Mort Zuckerman, Stepehn Greenberg, etcetera. When will the American Jewish community take responsibility for the violent racists in their midst? One might think from their complete silence on the matter that the leaders of the major American Jewish organizations support Geller and her campaign? When will we hear or see their denunciations?

  99. 99.

    BruceFromOhio

    I *could* share my latest proto-vegan performance art piece on your sidewalk at dinnertime (it involves the depiction of slaughter of animal puppets-no animals or humans are harmed in the work) in respect of my First Amendment rights, and you *could* cut me down in a hail of bullets in respect of your Second Amendment rights and expression of Stand Your Ground laws of your state (“I felt oppressed!”)

    All it proves is that we are assholes, one likely dead and the other maybe in a cell and collecting KickStarter teahadist griftcoin.

    I wonder to which side the Atlas Juggs are slanting?

  100. 100.

    danielx

    My mustard is missing.

    Given some of your experiences with kitchen disasters, this may be something less than a tragedy.

    Also, too – a lot of what Gellar and her ilk emit falls roughly into the same category as walking into a shitkicker/biker/cowboy bar and announcing (loudly) “Y’all are a bunch of commie faggots!” You have every right to say it, but if you’re trying to be provocative, don’t be surprised if someone is provoked into giving you the asskicking of a lifetime.

  106. 106.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Meh, I probably have to go soon so I can steel myself for tomorrow’s three-hour road trip with Mom, followed by two days of having my mom as my hotel roommate and the return leg of the drive, also three hours long. At least we’ll have separate beds.

  112. 112.

    scav

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Well, if they were actually clever enough to bother with actual definitions. Judging on how they throw about the word fascist, I tend to rank them at the baseline competant parrotquet stage. Rudimentary ambulatory tape recorders might be closer, judging what we learned about birds yesterday.

  114. 114.

    satby

    @Mandalay: I think more than a shrug may be warranted for free speech specifically designed to incite violence though. And don’t imagine for a second that Geller didn’t get exactly what she hoped for.

  116. 116.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Crouchback:

    Gellar may be loathsome but the appropriate response is open contempt for her

    I’d rather buy Pammy a one-way ticket to Minneapolis to interact with the Somali community. Of course, she’s too chicken to do that as all racists are.

  117. 117.

    SFAW

    @east is east:

    Why are you trying to impugn a genuinely decent person. What is your problem?

    Do you mean you? Or Cole? (I’m being serious: trying to make sure I parsed your comment accurately.)

    Assuming you mean Cole: last I heard, Cole is a good man, but imperfect – like the rest of us. And, were I (for example) to write something, where the implied thought process is not that “It’s wrong to treat people badly,” but rather “I would treat those people badly, but I’m worried about the response/consequences I’d suffer, so I’d better not,” then I would hope someone would call me on it. But – at least for me – the preferred pre-result would be that I’d re-read what I wrote, and fix things. But that rewrite doesn’t always happen, and when it doesn’t, I hear about it.

  124. 124.

    Mandalay

    @satby:

    I think more than a shrug may be warranted for free speech specifically designed to incite violence though.

    Why? Surely that is precisely when the shrug is the best response of all.

  125. 125.

    SFAW

    @some guy:

    When will we hear or see their denunciations?

    Shortly after Obama finishes denouncing anything halfway-bad EVER done by ANY black guy ANYWHERE.

  128. 128.

    scav

    @Morzer: Well, someone’s been running with knitting needles in here, so what did we expect? No wonder there are so many short virgins running about. Or hell, did California finally come through with all our promised 2 25 year old lesbians? (or variants) Did anyone check?

  132. 132.

    fuckwit

    @Baud: Yeh, looks like we haven’t completed the orientation for Cole quite yet.

    You don’t say such shit about women because it is vile and horrible and privileged shit to say, not because you’re afraid of getting slapped in the face for it. Important difference.

    By the way, you don’t shit all over people’s religion to their face for the same reason– because it’s a vile and privileged thing to do– not because you’re afraid they might be psycho fundamentalists who might kill you for it.

    I’m happy to be an atheist. But I feel privileged to be one (for one thing, I’m privileged to live in part of the country where I’m not shunned, fired, or shot for being one). I think religions are silly, but I understand why some people find them comforting and might even need them in order to function.

  133. 133.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @scav:

    Or hell, did California finally come through with all our promised 2 25 year old lesbians? (or variants) Did anyone check?

    FWIW, I think the law requires that they be bisexual – for fairness.*

    *Not licensed in CA.

  136. 136.

    jl

    @Mandalay: Depending on the circumstances I think anything from a shrug, to sharp ridicule, to strong denunciations, or trying to get a court order to stop something like that hate fest could be the best response. Violence if of course never an acceptable response.

    But like Josh Marshall said, a hate group that is never violently attacked is still a hate group; a hate group on the day before a violent attack is still a hate group the day after a a violent attack. It is possible to condemn both in proportion to their respective deserts. There is no dilemma at all in having to make some BS choice between the two, or go on an offensive cartoon contest spree to defend free speech.

  141. 141.

    some guy

    so the Right demands Muslims everywhere denounce every single act of extremism, and yet doesn’t feel the same standards apply to them and their extremists .

    Quelle surprise!

  143. 143.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some guy: Interesting. First you called for condemnation from Jews. Now you want it from the Right? These are separate calls for condemnation, right?

  144. 144.

    FlyingToaster

    @some guy:

    When will American Jewish leaders denounce Geller’s eliminationist rhetoric?

    Never. Because “Geller who?”.

    And I can’t speak for all Jews, but I wouldn’t follow the folks you mentioned if you paid me. No telling where I’d end up.

  146. 146.

    dirge

    @danielx: Exactly.

    I’m seeing the difference between Geller’s crew and these wannabe-jihadi asshats as being pretty much the difference between the prick tolling around the bar trying to get a rise out of everybody, and the asshole who takes the first swing. Which is no difference to me, because I’m definitely trying to avoid any contact with either of them.

    Or to put a finer point on it, the jihadi asshats are at least serious enough to drop the hammer on the people who appear as “mortal enemy” in their delusions of grandeur, while Geller can’t be arsed to do more than egg on other people to draw sophomoric cartoons. If you’re serious about this too, Pam, why aren’t you in jail for shooting up a Mosque?

  147. 147.

    some guy

    Europe is at war, but if its leaders, along with President Obama, refuse to explicitly identify the enemy as “radical Islam” – then it’s a war that can’t be won and “we will lose”. This is the somber assessment of the Anti-Defamation League’s National Director, Abe Foxman. “If French President Hollande continues to say that what happened last week in Paris has nothing to do with Islam, then we’re going nowhere,” Foxman told Haaretz. “If Obama cannot articulate the words ‘radical Islam’, then it’s a lost cause. What are they going to say at this meeting that the U.S. is convening in Washington on February 18? That the subject is radical extremism? If we cannot articulate what it is then we won’t be able to deal with it either.” “One can say that we are dealing with extremist radical Islam or that the religion has been hijacked in a way that does not sully or defame Islam. But if we have trouble saying that this is extremist Islam, why should Muslim moderates speak up?”

    But if we have trouble saying that Geller is extremist Judaism, why should Jewish moderates speak up?”

  150. 150.

    cmorenc

    @John Cole:
    absolutely awesome rant, dude (and well-spoken – not everyone can pull off an articulate, sensible rant.

  154. 154.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some guy: First, as usual, link? Following on, can you explain how Foxman is a Jewish leader? And I would characterize Geller as an fucking kook rather than an example of any kind of Judaism. OTOH, I am not Jewish, so I can’t really speak for the Jews.

  155. 155.

    scav

    @SFAW: Easy to get one’s cables crossed under those circs. I’m surprised so little was dropped in this thread.

  156. 156.

    Morzer

    @scav:

    So long as people don’t get crochety with each other, it’s probably more good than not.

  158. 158.

    some guy

    are you feigning ignorance of A. Foxman’s leadership role, OO, or are you really just that stupid?

  159. 159.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some guy: Christ. you can’t link or reply. I know who Foxman is. Explain how he is a leader of the Jewish community as opposed to someone who heads a Jewish organization?

  160. 160.

    FlyingToaster

    @some guy: Foxman is not a leader of all Jews, moron. He’s the leader of one Jewish organization, most notable for denying that the Armenian Holocaust happened.

    Same with all your other “leaders”.

    I think you’re at the wrong blog. We expect a higher level of troll in this burg.

  161. 161.

    FlyingToaster

    And I have to go on trying to figure out Library Automation Software for WarriorGirl’s school tomorrow, so sleep tight, folks!

  162. 162.

    Redshift

    @RSA:

    On the general topic, I notice that right-wingers weren’t so big on free speech in the heyday of Piss Christ. Some were clear they just didn’t want public arts funding to support Serrano, but others were all “free speech is fine and good, but this is blasphemy!”

    George Lakoff researched a book a while back about the different concepts of “freedom” between conservatives and liberals. What he found was that to conservatives, freedom means “freedom to do the right thing.” If you do the wrong thing, you’re liable to be accused of “abusing your freedoms.”

    I don’t know if Lakoff makes this point, but it seems to me that this is a way of reconciling “freedom” with authoritarianism – because who decides what the “right” thing is?

    (It goes without saying that to non-conservatives, this definition of freedom is insane.)

  163. 163.

    Mike J

    Is there going to be an election day thread? Pretty soon everyone is going to be eating haggis and listening to the Proclaimers. A small price to pay to get rid of Cameron.

  164. 164.

    Jasmine Bleach

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @Morzer: Many people of that height aren’t virgins. Just saying.

    Huh. I thought all 5′ 10″ people were virgins. Isn’t that like a rule or something?

  166. 166.

    some guy

    let me make sure I am understanding you, Flying Toaster, your claim is that the past and future Presidents of the “Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations” are in no way, shape, or form leaders of the American Jewish community?

    pretty bold claim, but the distinction between community/organization is just the kind of hair-splitting one comes to expect from your typical hasbara.

  169. 169.

    Brachiator

    Meanwhile, around the world. Netanyahu forms his coalition government. His partners oppose a Palestinian state. Canada and France are voting on laws to increase spying (it ain’t just fear in the USA).

    The UK looks to be headed for another hung parliament. The only good thing about this is that the dumbass Lib Dems are headed for the dustbin of history. Dopes.

    Aristocrats and plutocrats are having more sex, hoping ultimately to pop out more daughters to eventually provide play mates and ladies in waiting for Princess Charlotte.

    Carry on.

  172. 172.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Brachiator: Do you have a point you would like to make or would you rather just insinuate that this post is missing issues of importance?

  173. 173.

    SFAW

    @some guy:

    A. Foxman’s leadership role

    Geller’s a fucking nutjob, scared to death of the scary brown Moooslims. That she happens to be Jewish is just a sideshow.

    ETA: And, no, Foxman doesn’t have to condemn every Jewish nutjob. His organization is the Anti-Defamation League, not the Ride Herd on Jewish Wackos League.

  175. 175.

    eemom

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    But I think it’s all overdone. Exaggerating this and exaggerating that, they don’t have no FUN.

    /remission of Soft Cell sins

  177. 177.

    Omnes Omnibus

    The weird antisemitism that popped up on this thread surprised and disappointed me.

  178. 178.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    surprised and disappointed me.

    Disappointed I can understand.

    But, surprised? If you’re old enough to remember Tom Lehrer, you might reflect on his related comments.

  179. 179.

    some guy

    @SFAW

    So do as I say, not as I do.

    does this Foxman Rule only apply to Muslim extemists and not Jewish extrmists? Is this why Jewish moderates are afraid to speak out against Jewish extremists?

  182. 182.

    Brachiator

    @Omnes Omnibus: The important thing is that the Clippers lost and will have to work harder to bounce back.

    Aside from that, there is not a new open thread yet.

    Rave on.

  183. 183.

    some guy

    OO thinks that if he keeps shouting Anti-Semite enough sooner or later someone will buy his bologna.

    It is very tasty bologna, not like the rancid bologna he was peddling last week. No, this bologna is very very good

  185. 185.

    some guy

    OO seems perturbed. Won’t somebody please help the poor bologna salesman out, those shit sandwiches ain’t gonna make themselves

  186. 186.

    dirge

    @some guy: So, a claim that Foxman speaks for a Jewish organization is obviously correct, but it would be helpful to caveat such claims with information regarding which Jewish organization he speaks for. Otherwise it sounds like you’re trying to say Foxman speaks for Jews, which is obviously absurd.

    But if we have trouble saying that Geller is extremist Judaism…

    I have no trouble saying that. I think it’s quite obvious, really. Do you agree or disagree?

    It seems to me that the problem we have is with extremists, and that if we want to examine that further, we find that Islam and the Middle East have more of a problem with extremists than other religions or regions. It doesn’t follow at all that we should therefor address Islam or the Middle East as problems in their own right, at least for that reason.

    If you’d like to say that “in addressing the problem of extremism, our focus should fall primarily on Islam and the Middle East, where that problem is most acute,” I doubt you’ll find too many people disagreeing with you. If you’d like to say instead that “in addressing the problem of extremism, we should focus on Islam to the exclusion of other religions, because Abe Foxman said so, and he speaks for all the Jews,” you’re not going to find too many takers, even, or even especially, amongst Jews.

  187. 187.

    Renie

    Geller wanted to have ads posted on NYC mass transit trains and/or buses about Hamas killing the Jews. MTA didn’t want it – so it want to Court and Judge ruled they should run the ad. So MTA turned around and just voted to ban all political ads. Geller now wants to appeal.

  188. 188.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some guy: You still can’t link, can you, bitch? If you want a discussion, then start one. Don’t make random accusations against Jews that sound like you are buying into the Protocols of the Elders of Zion..

  189. 189.

    SFAW

    @some guy:

    Maybe because Pammycakes (or Tom Nardini) did not go on a bender with an AR-15, AK-47, H&K MP5, or something similar? She just tried to start a fight, and succeeded.

  190. 190.

    Mandalay

    @some guy: He generally becomes more drunk, more hostile, and more abusive as the night progresses. This evening is no exception.

  191. 191.

    dirge

    @dirge: Ah. It appears I may have entirely misunderstood @some_guy’s trolling agenda. Just imagine that was a faux-patient response to an entirely different sort of troll, and I think it’ll make sense.

    Guess I should spend more time tracking comments before chiming in.

  192. 192.

    PurpleGirl

    I’ve loosely followed Pamela Geller. She has never struck me as being particularly observant of her religion. She is a nutjob but not because she was born Jewish; she’s a nutjob because she sees life and the world in a particularly weird way. From that standpoint she is an extremist, but not a Jewish extremist. Just an everyday political nutjob. And she speaks for herself and very few other people. She’s lucky she was able to get the divorce settlement she did because that’s where her money comes from (Including the boob job that earned her the nickname ‘pammycakes’).

  193. 193.

    gah

    …but Gellar’s financial value went up at least by $15 million by successfully provoking other idiots. She’s just doing her part as one of those poor, mis-understood job creators that I hear so much about.

  194. 194.

    gah

    @PurpleGirl:

    Yes, Geller’s issues have little to do with her “religion”. She’s just sort of a natural uber-fascist. If her parents had happened to have been Muslim, she’d currently be a propagandist for ISIS. If she were born in 1920’s Germany, she’d have outted every Jewish person within 50 miles of herself. If she’d been born in 1840’s New York, she’d have actively attempted to return every black person she saw to slavery in the south.,,,

  195. 195.

    Morzer

    @PurpleGirl:

    It’s also not as if Judaism is one clearly defined thing. There’s a pretty broad spectrum ranging from the ultra-Orthodox to the very liberal Reformed, with an impressive range of individuals and small groups and loose affiliations in the mix. Her partner in hate, Robert Spencer, is a member of the Greek Melkite Catholic church (a pretty exotic denomination in itself), which suggests that picking one specific religion out as the cause of Islamophobic nutjobbery isn’t really helpful or accurate. Some people just are hate junkies – and this season’s special hate flavor is Islamophobia. If Geller had been around earlier, she’d probably have spent her time denouncing her neighbors as Communists.

  197. 197.

    PurpleGirl

    @Morzer:

    It’s also not as if Judaism is one clearly defined thing.

    Yes, you’re right about that. I have friends who attend a Reconstructionist congregation outside Baltimore; when they still lived in NYC they attended a Reform congregation, and their wedding used a Reform liturgy. My girlfriend had an Orthodox conversation so as to ensure any children they had would be accepted as Jewish. (She was raised Episcopalian but always felt she had a Jewish soul.) Over the years, she and I have had many conversations about religions and the various flavors of Judaism.

  198. 198.

    Amir Khalid

    For what it’s worth, I’m not sure if there’s all that great a difference between Geller’s actual hate for Muslims and Charlie Hebdo’s mere mockery of Islam. Both are undeniably within their rights of expression. Both stand to elicit the same undesired but predictable consequence: a violent reaction from certain of the hated/mocked group. Nether can be held entirely free of responsibility for the consequences of provocation.

  199. 199.

    Joey Maloney

    I’d be happy to attend one of Pam Geller’s cartoon exhibitions, but I’d do it wearing a tshirt with a cartoon of her being joyously assfucked by Mohammad while rubes tossed money at her. Hey, free speech!

    And I’d do it wearing a kippah.

  200. 200.

    Morzer

    @Amir Khalid:

    I have yet to see Charlie Hebdo express the same desire for violence against Muslims that pervades Geller’s public appearances. Yes, Charlie Hebdo mocked aspects of and groups within Islam, but it also mocks extremists of every persuasion, plus such relatively apolitical things as Francois Hollande’s sexual athleticism. I really don’t think that Charlie Hebdo and Geller are on the same path at all, tasteless as some of Charlie Hebdo’s utterances and images may be.

  202. 202.

    SFAW

    @PurpleGirl:

    Including the boob job that earned her the nickname ‘pammycakes’

    “Balloon Juice – come for the trolling, stay for the trivia?”

    Who knew? (Well, outside of you, of course.)

  205. 205.

    sm*t cl*de

    Also, mustard keeps fairly well.

    I have concerns about any condiment so disgusting that even bacteria and fungi won’t touch it.

  206. 206.

    grascarp

    I saw lightning bolts flashing out of that first paragraph . Thanks John, great post.

  209. 209.

    SFAW

    @sm*t cl*de:

    I have concerns about any condiment so disgusting that even bacteria and fungi won’t touch it.

    Mustard prefers to think of itself as “badass,” not “disgusting.”

    Anthropomorphically speaking, of course.

  214. 214.

    Bystander

    @SiubhanDuinne: Me, too. Somehow I feel certain we’ll hear “jizya tax” again, and won’t we all be glad we won’t misunderstand the expression?

  215. 215.

    Bystander

    I would have thought that trolls had their convention under the GW Bridge. BJ, huh? Who knew?

  219. 219.

    RSA

    @Redshift:

    What he found was that to conservatives, freedom means “freedom to do the right thing.”

    Thanks for the Lakoff pointer. Interestingly, I remember having a conversation on this exact point when I was a kid, talking with a nun in a Catholic elementary school.

  220. 220.

    Another Holocene Human

    @SFAW: That was my thought exactly although you really wouldn’t need it to happen, and how many times has she done idiotic stunts without stochastic terrorism, etcet…

    Creepy Koran Terry kept trying to bring on the angry Mooooslims but he only attracted the attention of law enforcement.

  221. 221.

    SFAW

    @Another Holocene Human:

    That was my thought exactly although you really wouldn’t need it to happen

    I originally “proposed” the whole false flag concept as a half-joke, since it fits so well with what every Alex-Jones-wannabe spews, and thought I’d throw it back at them.

    But, as I said above, I’m (somewhat) of the opinion that the failed attack was EXACTLY what she wanted. Were it not, she wouldn’t be doubling down on her “All Moooslims must be killed” grift.

    Of course, Occam’s Razor would say that it’s because she’s evil, hate-filled, and fucking nuts — not because she planned it out.

    However, as we are wont to say around here: “Is it irresponsible to speculate? It’s irresponsible NOT to.” And make her deny it. Every fucking day.

  222. 222.

    Nashville_fan

    I have been screaming that first paragraph at the TV for two weeks . . . glad I am not the only one who was able to solve the “mystery of the missing fathers” . . . we have for-profit prisons built to incarcerate them . . . and the owners of those prisons pay to elect the folks who write the “laws” that sends them to prison/the plantation.

    And the second paragraph? Welcome to the new world folks . . . the “constitution” only applies in America . . . and then only when convenient . . . it is very biblical in that way. . . the world has not yet agreed to the “right to free speech” . . . much as it grieves us . . . everyone does not pay by our rules.

  223. 223.

    Chris

    @Morzer:
    @Amir Khalid:

    The thing I didn’t see commented on nearly enough in the CH murders is that France actually *has* laws against hate speech. Which made it somewhat more complex than an exercise in American First Amendment jurisprudence.

  224. 224.

    Nashville_fan

    I just noticed that I may be the only person who commented on the first paragraph of this rant at all . . . not sure what to make of that . . . hmmmmmmm

  225. 225.

    SFAW

    @Nashville_fan:

    I just noticed that I may be the only person who commented on the first paragraph of this rant at all . . . not sure what to make of that . . .

    That you are the real racist? (Kidding.)

  226. 226.

    Nashville_fan

    @SFAW:

    lol . . . obviously! ;o)

    P.S. Post 206 invalidates my observation somewhat . . . kind of . . . carry on . . . guess everyone decided to “bury the lede” . . . lol

  227. 227.

    0bama

    Oh yeah, after decades of black democrat party rule Baltimore is in such trouble because negro thugs are being mistreated!

    They are nothing more than parasites.

  228. 228.

    different-church-lady

    My mustard is missing.

    Dude, just buy another jar of mustard already.

    …I’m going to kick them in the junk with a freedom boot.

    DOOO EEEEET!

    …Geller provoked some loathsome creeps into attacking her backwoods hick hatefest…

    Q: Am I bad person for sarcastically wishing the cops had cut down the gunmen five minutes later than they did?

    A: Yes, I am a bad person for that.

  230. 230.

    Ray Ingles

    And yes, it is horrible that those scumbags murdered people. But are you surprised and what exactly did you accomplish?

    As Daniel Fincke put it, “And when you say “the murder is wrong but the speech was offensive” you are minimizing the murder. Because if you didn’t want to minimize the murder, you could have said “the speech was offensive but murder is wrong”… which one you put after the “but” shows which you think is most important. It’s the difference between “she was dressed provocatively but no one deserves to get raped” and “no one deserves to get raped, but she was dressed provocatively”.”

  231. 231.

    Nashville_fan

    @0bama:

    I love the way you say “democrat” . . . and “thug” . . . you are a trolls troll yo . . . word.

  232. 232.

    SFAW

    @0bama:

    They are nothing more than parasites.

    Whoa! Why drag the Kochs and the other .001-percenters into this?

    After all, THEY are the ones sucking at the teat of their peons, and reaping the fruits of the quasi-slave-labor employees they “employ,” all the while collecting tax breaks from that EEEEVIL US Government.

  237. 237.

    Dissatisfied Customer

    “My Mustard Is Missing” should be a category unto itself.

    An inspired rant, also too.

  238. 238.

    socraticsilence

    On the second point– seriously, its like calling (gonna go Neo-Godwin here) the Nazis heroes for marching through Skokie.

  239. 239.

    socraticsilence

    @jl:

    Well yeah, I mean they weren’t considered all that witty or funny (and prior to the attack Pammy Cakes would have probably called them anti-Semites) but Hedbo was/is an all purpose satirical magazine they literally attacked everyone judging by their archives.

  240. 240.

    marianne19

    Cole, calm down. Grab a puppy. You can’t fix the stupid in the USA, it’s who we are now.

  241. 241.

    The Raven on the Hill

    “…snotty French cartoonists…Congratulations, you pissed off some crazy murderous psychos who reacted predictably. WOO- You! WTF did you think was going to happen?”

    He went on to explain that Charlie Hebdo sees itself as “political”, meaning that in its satire it espouses a number of principles, which he listed: “Fighting against racism, fighting against all discriminations, discriminations against minorities, against women, against gay people, against weak people, socially weak people, poor people.” He added: “And we always fight the right wing, and the extreme right wing, even more than the Catholics, even more than religions.” It is the political use of religion, he repeatedly emphasized, that offended Charlie Hebdo.—Hebdo editor-in-chief Gérard Biard

    Hebdo’s offices were bombed back in 2011 and they kept drawing and publishing. Sounds like courage to me.

    I recommend the Guardian. They aren’t crazy.

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