# 100% "Disabled" Boston Fire Inspector partcipates in bodybuilding contest. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988 "2008-07-28T22:03:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/81 "2008-08-08T18:34:20Z")
[QUOTE=muttrox] I’ve already explained it, I’ve already shown it, and I’ve already shown it. Miller has explained it also. You continue to throw up “rebuttals” that have no basis in fact or logic, just your own opinions. I think we’re at a dead end. I’ve explained my thinking, Miller has explained it, for some reason you think we haven’t. I can’t think of anything to say that hasn’t been said. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. I think Danceswithcats has the right idea, this horse has been killed and starts kindergarten next week in a bottle of Elmers glue. [/QUOTE] You have not broken down the logical links. Sorry, you simply have not done that. I have. If you’d like to abandon this, fine. Can’t say I blame you. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/82 "2008-08-08T18:37:03Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] You have not broken down the logical links. Sorry, you simply have not done that. I have. If you’d like to abandon this, fine. Can’t say I blame you. [/QUOTE] Yes, he has. As have I. Repeatedly. I’m genuinely confused as to how you can not see this. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/83 "2008-08-08T18:45:29Z")
[QUOTE=muttrox] Fine, I’m responding, we’ll repeat ourselves to death. It is just as logical to see the firefighters actions in context of a culture of cheating and corruption (he did cheat, and he was corrupt [as was the doctor]) as seeing it in a context of entitlement (he took advantage of entitling policies). It is just as logical to tie a culture of cheating and corruption to the right as it is to tie a culture of entitlement to the left. [/QUOTE] Oops. I didn’t notice that you had two posts back-to-back. My apologies. Okay, we have this entity called a culture of cheating and corruption. But what you really mean here, because this is where you go, is that we have a culture of cheating and corruption with Republican politicians. That is the meme that exist, and that is what you were tapping into. Fair enough. What **Weirddave** did was to tap into the meme that liberals have created a culture of victimhood and entitlement. I think that we can agree that whether these memes are accurate or fair is not the issue, only that they exist. Even if only in certain circles. But **Weirddave’s** comment was tied tightly to what was in the story. We had a man, a firefighter, who assumed the banner of victim and them took advantage of what he saw and can fairly be referred to as an entitlement. You would have been a similar ground if the person was a Rep politician. He, in concert with his actions, would have been naturally tied to the meme you were tapping into. But he wasn’t. So your comment was at least one step removed. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/84 "2008-08-08T18:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] But **Weirddave’s** comment was tied tightly to what was in the story. We had a man, a firefighter, who assumed the banner of victim and them took advantage of what he saw and can fairly be referred to as an entitlement. You would have been a similar ground if the person was a Rep politician. He, in concert with his actions, would have been naturally tied to the meme you were tapping into. But he wasn’t. So your comment was at least one step removed. [/QUOTE] Why would **muttrox** ’s post only have been appropriate if the person in question was a politician? Why is **Weirddave** ’s post not inappropriate because the person in question is not a politician? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/85 "2008-08-08T18:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Yes, he has. As have I. Repeatedly. I’m genuinely confused as to how you can not see this. [/QUOTE] Ditto. Seriously. And I really don’t see where you broken things down. And you bringing up Catholic Charities is still utterly baffling to me. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/86 "2008-08-08T18:53:50Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Ditto. Seriously. And I really don’t see where you broken things down. And you bringing up Catholic Charities is still utterly baffling to me. [/QUOTE] Well, I can’t help you with that. There’s a lower limit to how obvious I can make an explanation, and I seem to have bottomed out in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/87 "2008-08-08T18:57:11Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Why would **muttrox** ’s post only have been appropriate if the person in question was a politician? Why is **Weirddave** ’s post not inappropriate because the person in question is not a politician? [/QUOTE] Because the meme **muttrox** was trying to tap into (corruption) was one that revolves around Republican politicians. The ones that **Weirddave** brought up (victimhood and entitlement) did not. It is a meme attached to liberals in general. The firefighter demonstrated both victimhood and a sense of entitlement for that victimhood. I agree that this is absolutely secondary to him being a thief and a cheat, but he did demonstrate those qualities, too. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/88 "2008-08-08T18:59:07Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Well, I can’t help you with that. There’s a lower limit to how obvious I can make an explanation, and I seem to have bottomed out in this thread. [/QUOTE] Ditto, again. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/89 "2008-08-08T19:01:57Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Because the meme **muttrox** was trying to tap into (corruption) was one that revolves around Republican politicians. [/QUOTE] Who says it only applies to politicians? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/90 "2008-08-08T19:09:50Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Who says it only applies to politicians? [/QUOTE] That’s the meme, isn’t it. Are you saying that there is a meme that all republicans, including republican firefighters, are corrupt? Corruption seems to be tightly tied to political office, no? Or maybe CEO. It implies some degree of power, does it not. Fir instance, I don’t think I’d call this firefighter “corrupt”. A liar, a cheat, a thief, a scumbag, yes. But corrupt doesn’t naturally apply to him. Again, they were each trying to attach a meme to this guys behavior. One fit rather easily (not to say that it is necessarily correct), the other didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/91 "2008-08-08T21:14:58Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] That’s the meme, isn’t it. Are you saying that there is a meme that all republicans, including republican firefighters, are corrupt? [/quote] In as much as there’s a meme that all liberals are entitled faux-victims, sure. > [@](#): > > Corruption seems to be tightly tied to political office, no? Or maybe CEO. It implies some degree of power, does it not. Fir instance, I don’t think I’d call this firefighter “corrupt”. A liar, a cheat, a thief, a scumbag, yes. But corrupt doesn’t naturally apply to him. Again, they were each trying to attach a meme to this guys behavior. One fit rather easily (not to say that it is necessarily correct), the other didn’t. I think they both fit about equally well. Which is to say, _neither_ fits particularly well. There is a rather distinct difference between entitlement and outright fraud. Any system can be gamed for an unfair advantage. It doesn’t matter if its a liberal social security program, or a private religious charity. This guy didn’t become a fraud because liberals created a society of victimhood. If we had a hardline Libertarian society where all aid to the disadvantaged came strictly from private donations, he _still_ would be a fraud. He’d just be defrauding a different type of charity. Connecting this act to liberal politics is as stupid as connecting it to conservative politics. Neither school of political thought had any influence on this guy’s actions. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/92 "2008-08-08T21:58:42Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Connecting this act to liberal politics is as stupid as connecting it to conservative politics. Neither school of political thought had any influence on this guy’s actions. [/QUOTE] This is where we disagree. **Weirddave’s** comment was gratuitous. But it least there was a direct connection—that some might believe to be true—as there is (I hate this word and can’t believe I’ve been using it so much) meme that exists that liberals foster a culture of victimhood and entitlement. The firefighter tapped into both those attributes. **Muttrox** countered with a meme having to do with the right, but one that has to do with Republicans in power, i.e., politicians, CEOs, etc. A group which the firefighter did not belong to. But we’ve been over this enough now that I think we’ll to agree to disagree. Once again. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/93 "2008-08-08T23:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] But we’ve been over this enough now that I think we’ll to agree to disagree. [/QUOTE] I disagree! ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/94 "2008-08-09T03:14:18Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] I disagree! [/QUOTE] Nice. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![greatshakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greatshakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatshakes)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/95 "2008-08-09T03:32:18Z")
I can’t believe the heartlessness displayed here. The firefighter in question was in a video, but it wasn’t the bodybuilding competition, it was at his doctor’s office. He’s obviously in pain, and the contortions and convulsions that’s he’s experiencing should move us all to tears, not to political discussions. Shame! ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/96 "2008-08-09T06:05:19Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Bullshit. You just lashed out because he hit a nerve. And now you’re trying to justify your nonsense. I hate to be the one to break it to you an all, but it ain’t workin’. [/QUOTE] You still think this? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/97 "2008-08-09T07:48:23Z")
John Buonano, register of probate (Middlesex County) was charged with stealing thousands of dollars from the copying machines at the county courthouse. His defense? He needed the money to buy office supplies! Also, his lawyer says that John is “depressed”. This is SOP in Massachusetts-possibly the most corrupt state in the Union! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/98 "2008-08-09T08:40:05Z")
Goddamned liberal cops and firefighters, ruining our country! By the way, does anyone else get the impression that Magellan01 doesn’t actually believe the shit he says, and his posting history is just an elaborate prank? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/99 "2008-08-09T20:00:46Z")
Gee now that the topic is back on track (for the moment), I’d also like to add two other interesting facts about the Boston Fire Department’s retirement/disablity abuses. Even before this 100% disabled bodybuilder made the news, the fire department’s practices were already under a lot of suspicion. • Boston’s Firefighters went on 100% disability at a rate twice as high as the national average. • Also, a great many firefighters who have gone on disability, did so while they were filling in for a superior. In that way, they could get their disability pay _for life_ at their superior’s higher rate of pay. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988/100 "2008-08-09T22:29:08Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] By the way, does anyone else get the impression that Magellan01 doesn’t actually believe the shit he says, and his posting history is just an elaborate prank? [/QUOTE] It’s a coping mechanism. Like that employed by casualties in the aftermath of God’s twister, faltering vacant-eyed through drifting dunes of sediment where their homes and lives used to be. “This can’t be real,” they murmur into the reporter’s jutting microphone. Eventually they reconcile that the horror in front of them is real. And so, eventually, shall you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-disabled-boston-fire-inspector-partcipates-in-bodybuilding-contest/457988.md?page=4)