The opinion that the military is evil? Sure. That an officer directly kills babies? Not even Der Trihs makes that claim. It has to be hyperbole of some kind.
Though I agree that seeing it as a hyperbolic swipe is as tenable as a joke, if you didn’t know the poster’s previous history.
I took it as a joke along these lines…
It was a common meme during and after the Vietnam War. Returning soldiers were sometimes accused of being baby killers. I had a woman on an Amtrak train ask me how I could be “involved in the killing of children”. I told her I only killed as many as I could eat. Yeah, it’s gallows humor, and I would have read the thread comment as such.
Interesting. I almost added “I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect the mods to see if a given poster had a history of making similar, serious posts in the past in order to determine if he was joking or not”. Anyway, I didn’t think it was a joke because it “didn’t work” as one. But joke or not, it could easily have derailed that thread.
I would have agreed with that statement. I don’t think anyone should post with the expectation that a moderator is going to do that, or that a moderator should do that. I don’t feel like I had any such obligation. It became a point of curiosity with me this morning because of this thread, because the comment seemed so out-of-the-blue to me, and because I had the time to look into it. Once I had the information in my hands (meaning, I didn’t find any other such instances of that type of post), I decided act on it.
I don’t think this case absolves anyone of the duty to consider how their posts read as they’re being composed.
OK, that’s just wrong. Haven’t you read the Mod Manual?
I’ll almost certainly be assigned to scrub the mod bathroom (do NOT go in there!) for the rest of the month after that comment.
You know, when one makes outre “jokes” like that, a “smiley” would help a lot*. I think Asimovian did the right thing here- twice.
*(they wouldnt be magically funny, no, but we’d at least know you were making the attempt.)
Or click on the link to the thread in the single post screen.
Note to self: Unless your name is Chris Rock or Steve Martin, best not to make jokes in GQ without a smiley attached.
Cool! Thank’ee!
Well, it’s like the humor in Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” It’s deadpan, but it’s humor. It’s bitter, nasty, dark, vicious humor…but it is humor.
Without any other context - it doesn’t come off that way.
In the right context (see the quote from FMJ above) - it can - but as just a ‘flat statement’ with no other clues or in thread reason for it - it just doesn’t.
IMHO, of course.
Yes, it’s exactly because the thing is “just so 1970s” (here) that marks it as irony/joke/sardonic comment-opinion.
Similarly, “Yes, and my brother Moishe uses blood from Goyim to make his matzah.”
Which usually is clear.
But you never know. “Zionists kill children and harvest their organs” is not uncommon in the Mid East press and, in variations (the “child-murdering” part) as a not uncommon meme.
Nah, you get to handle Great Debates when Tom and I go on vacation.
Damn. That’s cold.
Why exactly do you find it surprising? The Dopers are an intelligent bunch.
You know how they say it’s fun to watch other people’s children because you can just stuff 'em with sugar and then send 'em back home to their parents?
So anyway, let me know when you’d like me to handle that assignment for you.
Wait, they let Tom and you get vacations???
Someone keeps forgetting to lock them in their cages at night.
Technically, that’s an 'escape’and not covered under out indentures