Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Every single police department needs an independent prosecutor who only prosecutes police officers and other government officials. This will never happen, of course, because the system is set up the way it is set up specifically to shield government wrongdoers from any kind of accountability. Hell, prosecutors don't even want to admit when they've got someone locked up who clearly didn't commit the crime.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...nvictions.html

TM

The adversarial system has outlived its usefulness. On the civil side as well.

But what can replace it?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Yeah, but you want to see something racist, stupid and lacking in empathy take on whole new dimensions, you really want a cognitively impaired person to espouse it, right?

Or, as Penske would say:

QUAD-FECTA!!

It's a welcome break from all of those nimble minded, thoughtful racists. They've ruined the library, and don't even get me started about what they've done to the symphonies and art galleries.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

The idea that this is really about some misunderstanding or confusion or different expectations -- that's basically a load of crap that is convenient for assholes to hide behind.

While I don't generally disagree that the assholes who know they're doing wrong use "misunderstanding" as a bullshit defense, what do you think of the Aziz Ansari story?

https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Why doesn't Trump just own his racism? Why does he feel a need to hide it?

This is a question for the ages. And it does not apply to just Trump. Whenever people say the most racist shit possible, why do they then feel the need to say, "But I'm not racist." Is it the act of being labeled that is so hard to endure?

"Obama isn't American. He wasn't smart enough to get into Columbia. He's a secret Muslim. Countries with black people are shitholes. We need more Norwegians. I'm the least racist person in the world!" What?

And his brain-dead supporters do the same.

"He says what people like me think."
"Racist shit?"
"No! I'm no racist. I just think black people are shiftless, lazy niggers who leech off of the government. I'm just speaking my mind."

If you're okay expressing those thoughts. Why the fuck would you care if someone calls you racist? I do not understand.

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

I'm only drinking on Friday/Saturday nights for the entire month of January and it's the worst decision ever made. EVER. Even worse than that one time I agreed to meet Thurgreed for coffee.

That wasn't coffee. That was sushi. You may be confusing me with patentpara. Happens all the time.

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I only know Thurgreed from basketball. He wants to take EVERY SHOT, literally!

1. Only when you're on my team.

2. You won, didn't you?

3. Weren't we supposed to play 1-on-1 for your paycheck?

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

He called me fat.

What about what I said about your hair, though?

I never get credit for anything.

TM

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

What about what I said about your hair, though?

I never get credit for anything.

TM

The last time I was supposed to meet Thurgreed and another famous ex-GA for drinks, I instead ended up on an emergency evening conference call about last minute changes to the most boring expert report imaginable. I was pretty pissed at the world at the time, but now realize that I narrowly escaped an evening of body shaming, and feel grateful.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by SEC_Chick

At the risk of re-engaging Sebby on the topic, I found much of the reporting about Aziz Ansari to be deeply irresponsible.Who among you hasn't awkwardly propositioned sex from a date? (Except for Flower who doensn't have to solicit) And how is a guy supposed to know that she's not into him if she gives a BJ when asked?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.0557f48b100c

Agreed. And in what sense did Ansari have power over her?

Not sure I agree with the decision to publish the original piece, and everyone writing about it afterwards is exploiting the salaciousness of the topic while ostensibly covering the controversy.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I'm not engaging on this one. I'll just note, this is exactly the confusion to which Deneuve's letter was pointing. The sort of confusion regarding boundaries of behavior that a few people here said did not exist.

Two very blurry boundaries are being considered. First, where does harassment/abuse start? Second, where does license to accuse start?

Good luck with all of that.

I think we need to nail down the precise timing of that Aziz Ansari date so that we know how to blame #metoo for it.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

And in what sense did Ansari have power over her?

He's a dude. (Also older, richer, more famous, etc)

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I think Trump's comment was appalling. It demonstrates severe mental issues and insensitivity. Who the fuck does that? (Well, Trump does it... that's who.)

But I think one can be disturbed that kind of remark and at the same time critical of some of the overwrought responses to it. I see people freaking out at this and do feel a bit of, "Really? You realize this is Trump we're talking about here. You're upset he's acting like an assh--, er, uh, himself?"

Goldberg, of course, doesn't do both. He uses the over-emotional responses to it to duck the issue: The President is an ass, an uninformed bigot, and has no judgment.

It's disingenuous to act shocked at Trump. He's a man in search of a nadir he's never going to find.

Do you understand that the reaction people are having to the President of the United States labeling a whole fucking continent, among others, a "shithole," isn't about shock that Trump said it? No. Clearly you don't. It's about where we are as a country. It's about the abandonment of what we all believed this country was built on. It's about actual fucking policy that seems to be guided by nothing more than racism and elitism. It's about our standing in the world. It's about people of influence explaining it away as "How people talk." It's about a thousand things, none of them good.

Your ability to look past all of that so that you can focus in on an overreaction to someone who constantly says stupid and racist shit would be absolutely unbelievable if it weren't you.

TM

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Adder

He's a dude. (Also older, richer, more famous, etc)

If being a dude means your are in a position of power over a woman, then there can never truly be consensual sexual relations. Which some would argue is true -- I'm hoping you are not.

In less boring topics, Mueller subpoenaed Bannon. What's Trump's next move? Buddy up to Bannon again, or continue to attempt to discredit him as a lunatic who never actually set foot in the White House? Maybe both?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

While I don't generally disagree that the assholes who know they're doing wrong use "misunderstanding" as a bullshit defense, what do you think of the Aziz Ansari story?

https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355

TM

I'm sorry that it was the worst night of Grace's life, and her story certainly makes Ansari sound unpleasant, but it doesn't sound to me like she was assaulted, nor does it sound like Ansari exploited any power or control over her. She hoped he and it would be something else, but that is different. Caitlin Flanagan makes some goods points in response, and some bad ones too.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Do you understand that the reaction people are having to the President of the United States labeling a whole fucking continent, among others, a "shithole," isn't about shock that Trump said it? No. Clearly you don't. It's about where we are as a country. It's about the abandonment of what we all believed this country was built on. It's about actual fucking policy that seems to be guided by nothing more than racism and elitism. It's about our standing in the world. It's about people of influence explaining it away as "How people talk." It's about a thousand things, none of them good.

Your ability to look past all of that so that you can focus in an overreaction to someone who constantly says stupid and racist shit would be absolutely unbelievable if it weren't you.

TM

Stop being so overwrought. It's unseemly.