But perhaps buried under so many layers of irony that I haven’t the brains to work it out. But if so, :smack:
Almost right Coldfire, you just got to keep the context. It is never wrong to clarify what one means to say, and it’s not for me to judge what gobear should have said anyway, but were I in his place I would have said something akin to that. A bit more like this :
“Screw you guys. You’re just looking for offence. From the context of the preceding sentence of the post it is abundantly clear I was referring to terrorists. Do you really think I believe or meant to imply that every Palestian is a potential child-killer?”
Yes, but we only kill them for dinner. A Modest Proposal, anyone?
Hmmmm child cutlets
I really don’t need any defenders. I erred in my original post for not writing “Palestinian terrorists” (memo to self: PREVIEW, PREVIEW, PREVIEW) in the second sentence, and so misleading people into thinking that I was calling all Palestinians child-killers, which I most emphatically was not. I absolutely reject anyone, on either side, who thinks that the solution to the problem is to “kill 'em all,” “nuke the towelheads,” or any other damnfool piece of genocidal nonsense. (although I do entertain fantasies of shipping the Israelis and Palestinians to Antarctica, turning all of Israel and the West Bank into a giant Club Med, while the Is and the Ps fight with the penguins)
So, can we blame the Palestinians * en masse* for suicide bombings? The answer, I think, is no. Suicide bombings are the acts of individuals, not government policy, nor even the will of Palestinians as a whole. There is definitely dissension within the Palestinian community over suicide bombings, as the ad in last week’s New York Times, signed by prominent Palestinians who condemned the bombings, attests. In addition, there are many Palestinians who are active in trying to get rid of Arafat and install a democratic government.
I do think it’s possible to discuss societal trends without steroetyping all members of that society, but I think that distinction is too subtle for many Dopers. Certainly, there are apsects of American society that ought to be abhorred by sensible people ( general disdain for mathematics, for example), but that does not mean that all Americans are mathphobes. In the same way, I think we can discuss negative trends in Palestinian or Israeli society without tarring every member of that society.
jjimm, only you really know what your true motive was in letting fly with the labels and rolleyes. If you really really thought - at the time you read the post - that gobear was foaming at the mouth with racist loathing, then you would have (were it not for the small matter of my granny’s cockslot) a full apology from me.
I don’t dispute the statement “It’s pretty clear the Palestinians/Irish/Basques/Martians have no qualms about killing children” can be considered offensive on it’s own. What I am objecting to is the uncharitable removal of context, apparently so that a craving for holier-than-thou sermonising can be satisfied.
And I see on preview that gobear has returned. Defending you was an unavoidable consequence of standing up for what I perceive as right. It was not a motive in itself.
The removal from context in this thread was purely to show him what everyone was jumping on, in response to his “NOT WHAT I FUCKING SAID”. And I clearly said “perhaps you misread what you actually posted”.
That is all. No apology required or desired. Have a nice weekend.
You did it Reuben! You discovered the secret ‘agenda’ by us dopers to stop anyone referring to ‘Palestinians’ as child killers. Hooray for you!!.. Are you feeling that nice glow yet?
I am sure it does, I bet your feeling that nice warm glow now, right?
“Really care”, eh? Well I can’t say that I ‘really care’, or that my caring is up to your standards (I know they are so gosh darn high and all), but I do care mister, honest now (with a cherry on top).
Yeah, but I wouldn’t say ‘bellowing’, more like ‘screaming’. Yeah, ‘screaming’ seems like a better word.
Please do, sometime my computer screen is hard to read off cause your brilliancy is so blinding.
A ‘hoot’, you say?
‘half a clue’ well… the joke I’m thinking of right now is way too obvious.
Wow, you certainly ‘called’ us on it. Allah forbid that the people of the SDMB should be watchful of bigotous comments on highly charged topics such as terrorism, ME conflict, or Palestinians.
Ya know what? We need more people like you, to root out these PC thugs, their ‘wrath’ might spread throughout MPSIMS, then on to GD, GQ, and maybe even one day, to ‘The Pit’. shudder we wouldn’t want them in there with that free reign power, they might start to ‘overreact’, and mock people (who just might ‘really care’ for Palestinians) sarcastically! I for one will not wait for that day. How about becoming a honorary vigilante moderator! cue in nice warm feeling
When reading your responses Reuben, I can say that I did feel something… I don’t think it was a warm feeling though. I think it was sick and nauseous, kinda like that feeling you get when you are about to vomit. 
Well we now have the full story. Right from the (go)bear’s mouth (so to speak).
Yes you bloody should, and good luck to you. I will be the last chap to stand in your way when you actually find a bigotous comment and don’t cry wolf over an obvious typo.
Incidentally I never so much as implied that my ‘caring’ (what a disgusting word that is) was superior to anyone else’s. I was saying that your collective outraged posturing was in all probability way out of proportion to any real sympathy for the injured party.
A) It wasn’t a cry of wolf, it was a legitimate objection to an offensive remark.
B) It wasn’t an ‘obvious typo’ it was a typo.
**
No, I don’t think it was.
I have sort of tried to stay out of this claptrap of a topic lately, but here I must add something.
Reuben, I deduce from your posts that you do not harbor any bigotry against the Palestinians. There are a number of less than well-endowed members on the boards that seem to do that.
Even if they don’t they display a sense of understanding that verges on insanity. That is to say that they are lucid enough to come across as cogent, while lacking in every aspect of subtle analytical capacity.
When gobear made his mistake I am sure that amongst other Caesar’s adoptive son’s namesake did little somersaults of joy at seeing those pesky “anti-Israeli” getting the “truth” stuck in their face by a far more intelligent, verbose and well argued poster who “obviously” agrees with his idiotic black and white view of the world.
I know enough of gobear’s posts to know that he would probably be rather dismayed at engendering support from the loony fringe and the idiots.
It’s not just what we mean, but how we express it that counts, especially in the presence of the infantile and impressionable meek of mind.
Sparc
Thank you for the compliment, Sparc. I don’t concern myself with Brutus’s opinions because they are the inchoate ravings of a bigoted little twerp, and not to flatter myself unduly, but Aquila non captat muscas is an attitude I strive to maintain.
“The eagle does not catch flies”?
Yep, that’s the literal translation. Basically, the meaning of this Latin proverb is that intelligent, strong, capable people (the eagle) need not waste their time competing with, or having much to do with, the intellectually inferior (the fly). In other words, it is far nobler to disregard the imbecilic posts of Brutus than to demean oneself by arguing with him.