Nitpick: I reject this stereotype of “the left” as largely inaccurate, but I will admit that there is a quite vocal minority of what used to be called “bleeding-heart liberals” who do get so absorbed in the effects of systemic and societal influences on individual behavior that they often seem to be entirely ignoring the importance of individual choices.
As I’ve noted, conservatives these days aren’t doing a particularly admirable job of modeling personal responsibility either, but that doesn’t excuse that subset of liberals for not paying sufficient attention to it.
Other than that, yeah, I basically approve your message.
No, you got pitted for lying repeatedly. And now you’re lying about the fact that you were lying.
The question of whether an actual laptop existed was never the point (although I’m sure one can find a few people advancing that argument, because one can find people advancing any argument on the internet). The question was always whether the contents of the laptop were as damning as the right persistently claimed them to be, or whether those claims were substanceless disinformation. And the reality appears to be “substanceless disinformation” (or if you prefer, a “pile of horseshit”).
But here you are, insisting that the mere existence of the laptop proves that you were right about everything, even though it has been explained to you over and over and over again why this is not so.
Likewise, the claim that “the Steele dossier was a pile of horseshit” is also false, given that many of its contents turned out to be true and many of the others remain unsubstantiated. Even FoxNews admitted this at one point. But here you are, lying about it like the lying liar you are.
I look forward to your next post blaming everyone else for your fundamental disingenuousness. And on that note…
The irony here is that on this board that argument is almost exclusively the province of right-wing posters like Sam and others past and present. It’s always everyone else’s fault that he’s lying, everyone else’s fault that he’s been revealed to be lying, and everyone else’s fault that he’s being held accountable for lying. One has only to consider the many “conservatives on this board are being persecuted” threads to encounter that attitude.
Conversely (and again, while one can find anyone advocating any position on the internet), the left’s contextualization of bad behavior is more often fact-based than not. Quite a lot of rich people have benefited from the system, have worked to rig the system in their favor to the detriment of others, and did inherit wealth from their parents. Institutional racism in the education system is absolutely a problem. These may not apply in specific circumstances but it’s not wrong to say that they’re common.
The right’s promotion of the just-world fallacy does not negate any of that, nor does Kimstu’s accurate comment about the bleeding-heart fringe.
I fully agree with this. The problem has always been that Sam is, at a minimum, extremely careless with his posts. That was what started this thread. I noticed that the stuff he was posting was pointed out as factually wrong over and over, and Sam struck me as a pretty smart guy. So I legitimately wondered whether he had considered different sources. And his reply really sums up everything. He didn’t see anything he had posted as being factually wrong despite people pointing out the facts being wrong. You can argue a lot of things, but you cannot argue facts. He probably still doesn’t see any problem. In fact, he clearly doesn’t based on his most recent posts. He does not understand that this entire issue is of his own making. What can you do?
The existence of the laptop is somehow a Holy Grail for serial fabulists like @Sam_Stone. Somehow it doesn’t matter to them that it had nothing newsworthy on it. It’s like Hillary’s emails – “what about her emails?” Doesn’t matter that she didn’t have anything indicating criminal behavior on her emails – it was the implication. And unfortunately, it worked in 2016 – it kept a pall of criminality on her campaign that probably cost her the presidency. “What about the laptop?” is the straw they have left to grasp at for Biden, but they can’t accept that it’s not working.
Sam, why do you still harp on the laptop? Why do you think it matters? Porn isn’t a news story. There’s nothing newsworthy on the laptop. So why do you think this somehow scores any points for you?
It sounds like you’re experiencing mental anguish and lashing out. Which, okay. Start being more mindful of double-checking your claims. You won’t find the insults vanish, but they’ll drastically decrease. This is in your control. Your refusal to take this simple, clear advice is also in your control.
Act in a way that gets you the results you want.
Your way of posting–where you post long, complex, confident arguments complete with cites, only the cites don’t say what you claim they say–is maddening.
I was watching Justified last night, Season 4 Episode 1. Raylen is arresting a murderer who keeps going on about how his behavior–from pulling a gun on his ex-wife to murdering two drug dealers–isn’t his fault. If you want to watch it, the scene starts at 11:28.
Raylen’s a terrible mess of a cop, but sometimes he’s real perceptive.
Assholery isn’t confined to the right. There are plenty of leftist assholes, and some of them are on these boards, and will insult @Sam_Stone even if he starts behaving better. The insults won’t vanish entirely. But people like me, exasperated with his chronic mendacity, won’t be taking him to task any more.
That’s true. I meant more of the taking him to task type reactions.
Like you, I’m just so tired of his BS. I find it extremely frustrating, precisely because I know he can do better because he does generally better on technical subjects.
I think the problem is that Sam has gone down the right-wing media rabbit hole (in a way that, say, Sage Rat hasn’t) and is not aware of it. So, he’s constantly being lied to and, after a while, he fell for the lies. Then he comes here ready to go with arguments based on lies (not his lies) and gets pushback. So, he goes looking for cites that seem to agree with him, and they don’t (if they’re good cites), which adds to the frustration of those trying to engage with him.
If I had known about that 20 year old thread, then I probably wouldn’t have started this one. He’s clearly never going to change. I thought that he was, as you said, somebody who was sliding down into the right-wing cesspool of misinformation and lies, and not somebody who has been there the entire time.