# Bobby Fischer speaks out to applaud Trade Centre attacks **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513 "2001-12-02T22:52:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/41 "2001-12-05T12:53:57Z")
If you had simply responded to me with a well-written post like that in the first place, instead of trying to paint me as someone who thinks mental illness sufferers, Parkinson’s patients, etc. are “scum”, we would have been short one flaming in this thread. It is true that without links or any reference material it appears that you were trying to play “armchair psychotherapist” from afar. By presenting more details and expanding such as you have, I don’t argue at all that you have a good basis for saying that he is mentally ill. As to the rest, however, all I see here is a description of how you arrived at the misinterpretation of my points. I see no retraction at all of your accusations and implications made towards me on the issue of mental illness sufferers, Parkinson’s patients, etc. That is most disappointing, and thus we will be continuing this. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/42 "2001-12-05T15:15:07Z")
Oh, big deal. This isn’t news. I’ve been following a bit about Fischer since I moved here to Hungary in 1998. He lived here for a while, but has sinced moved on to South-East Asia (the Philippines, was it?) Anyhow, he used to bathe at the Rudas Baths in Budapest. He was a recluse, but could be found if you really, really tried. Anyhow, he had an interview on Hungarian radio (which was reported in the international press) where he basically went on his fucking Zionist consipiracy rant. At one point, the interviewer said that he thought Bobby was Jewish. Fischer’s reply? “No I’m not. Come into the bathroom and I’ll prove it to you.” The guy’s been a reclusive, paranoid nutjob for the last few decades, why anybody cares what he says now is totally beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/43 "2001-12-05T19:43:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shayna \* > \*\*Please allow me to clarify my statement with regard to Bobby Fischer being a moron. IQ aside, anyone who believes the U.S. had this coming, actually applauds, and is _happy_ about, this violent terrorist act against thousands of innocent civilians and then spouts off about some “international Jewish conspiracy” is a bloody moron. \*\* But there IS an international conspiracy. Every thinking person has at least suspected it. Think about it, no one wants wars anymore, but they keep happening. Steven ---
**Author:** ![ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/44 "2001-12-05T20:05:12Z")
Is there any other country in the world where they publicize the opinions of 15-year-old children as NEWS ITEMS? This is seriously fucked up, and we’re so used to accepting this type of thing as legitimate news, that most of us don’t even realize there’s something wrong with it. My local news had a story on the opinions of the local grade school children last week. They mimicked the opinions of their teachers and parents. I’m sure Church did the same. Her parents’ opinions aren’t any more newsworthy than her own. -L ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/45 "2001-12-06T00:02:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mtgman \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Shayna \* > > \*\*Please allow me to clarify my statement with regard to Bobby Fischer being a moron. IQ aside, anyone who believes the U.S. had this coming, actually applauds, and is _happy_ about, this violent terrorist act against thousands of innocent civilians and then spouts off about some “international Jewish conspiracy” is a bloody moron. \*\* > > But there IS an international conspiracy. Every thinking person has at least suspected it. Think about it, no one wants wars anymore, but they keep happening. > > Steven \*\* Wars happen when conspiracies FAIL and people lack the imagination to conspire effectively. Most of your power monger types don’t conspire for war itself; they conspire for what they want, and if they can get it without war they will. But many of them lack the imagination or resources to do get it WITHOUT war. With successful conspiracies you have “coups” and "takeovers rather than wars. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/46 "2001-12-06T00:37:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SexyWriter \* > \*\*Is there any other country in the world where they publicize the opinions of 15-year-old children as NEWS ITEMS? This is seriously fucked up, and we’re so used to accepting this type of thing as legitimate news, that most of us don’t even realize there’s something wrong with it. > > My local news had a story on the opinions of the local grade school children last week. They mimicked the opinions of their teachers and parents. I’m sure Church did the same. Her parents’ opinions aren’t any more newsworthy than her own.\*\* I agree with you, but I think most respectable newspapers and TV news shows _don’t_ give much shrift to celebrity opinions. That’s usually reserved for the tabloids (or the society pages) and not placed on the front page of the **NYT**. I’m not quite sure where the first link regarding **Church** comes from but the second comes from the **New York Post** , a paper with a long history of tabloidism. Unfortunately we’re going to continually have to hear about celebrities’ opinions until people stop caring. [sub]and unfortunately I get really pissed when I hear ingnorant comments like Churchs’s regardless of where they originate.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Speleophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Speleophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speleophile)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/47 "2001-12-06T04:12:20Z")
> [@](#): > > posted by Anthricite > If you had simply responded to me with a well-written post like that in the first place, instead of trying to paint me as someone who thinks mental illness sufferers, Parkinson’s patients, etc. are “scum”, we would have been short one flaming in this thread. My opening post did nothing to paint you in any particular light whatsoever. I simply expressed the opinion that rather than being scum, Bobby’s ravings might be mitigated by his apparent mental illness. It was flawed in content in that I didn’t reference any supporting data, but the tone was perfectly reasonable. You didn’t like what I wrote, obviously. Would it have been too hard to post something along the lines of, say, “Until you cite some supporting evidence for your position that he’s ‘almost certainly suffering from clinical paranoia’, I’m sticking to my opinion that he’s just scum.”? But no, you chose to change the tone by replying in a dismissive, sarcastic manner. > [@](#): > > ## I’m sorry, but by your own words you admit that you have no actual knowledge of whether he is suffering from “clinical paranoia”. And I sincerely doubt you, or anyone else here, has the professional qualifications to diagnose this in absentia. quote: > > ## The fact that it’s manifested itself partially by buying into the world Jewish conspiracy crap doesn’t make Bobby any less ill, or any more “human scum”. > > First, you don’t know if he is “ill” to begin with. Second, you could just as well claim that the entire organization of the Klan is “ill” as well, for believing in the Jewish World Konspiracy that will exterminate us all, and thus deserve your sympathy as well for being “ill”. And thus they deserve our sympathy. > > Or you could just chalk them up as human scum as well. So I replied in kind. As I pointed out earlier, I took your post to indicate that even if Bobby was ill, you didn’t see that as mitigating your opinion of him as sucm. From the followups, I take it I was wrong, but I stand by interpreting that particular post in that manner. Feeling that it was unfair to judge people by actions they might truly not be able to control or affect, I returned the sarcasm with… > [@](#): > > More disturbing, though, is your apparent belief that people with mental illnesses with an underlying organic malfunction are “scum”. Once leprosy was understood and treatment became possible, it lost it’s stigma, but people’s understanding of mental illness is still pretty much in the dark ages, and people with no control over their disordered, disturbed thoughts are assumed to merely have a moral deficiency. There _are_ plenty of moral sucm out there (like your KKK bunch), but there are also those who brains are, for one reason or another, not functioning properly, and their symptoms sometimes include “crazy” behavior. Seems you can dish it out, but can’t take it. You then went ballistic with… > [@](#): > > Your lying openly… > So fuck you, you piece of shit… > But then, that would make me an incredible asshole, like yourself. > …your Cro-Magnon like mind… > … I sincerely doubt you have the honor to accept it… I’m not dropping to that level. I provided some direction to some supporting evidence for my claim about Fischer’s mental stability, and how I came to intrept your remarks as I did. From your further remarks, I’ll reverse my opinion and now assume that you do not necessarily hold mentally ill people responsible for any vile, rehensible behaviors their pathology might reasonablly be behind. An enlighted attitude I still find many people do not buy into. But **you** , not me, chose to put this on discussion on the sarcastic, personal level. And you, not me, went apeshit when I replied in kind, so I feel no particular compulsion to apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/48 "2001-12-06T20:01:16Z")
It’s neck and neck coming out of the second turn, and Anthracite edges forward. Here comes Speleophile on the outside, but Anthracite holds on. But Speleophile comes on strong, and breaks it wide open. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513/49 "2001-12-07T04:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speleophile \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > posted by Anthricite > > > > First, you don’t know if he is “ill” to begin with. Second, you could just as well claim that the entire organization of the Klan is “ill” as well, for believing in the Jewish World Konspiracy that will exterminate us all, and thus deserve your sympathy as well for being “ill”. And thus they deserve our sympathy. > > > > Or you could just chalk them up as human scum as well. > > So I replied in kind. As I pointed out earlier, I took your post to indicate that even if Bobby was ill, you didn’t see that as mitigating your opinion of him as sucm. From the followups, I take it I was wrong, but I stand by interpreting that particular post in that manner. Feeling that it was unfair to judge people by actions they might truly not be able to control or affect, I returned the sarcasm with… > > > [@](#): > > > > More disturbing, though, is your apparent belief that people with mental illnesses with an underlying organic malfunction are “scum”. Once leprosy was understood and treatment became possible, it lost it’s stigma, but people’s understanding of mental illness is still pretty much in the dark ages, and people with no control over their disordered, disturbed thoughts are assumed to merely have a moral deficiency. There _are_ plenty of moral sucm out there (like your KKK bunch), but there are also those who brains are, for one reason or another, not functioning properly, and their symptoms sometimes include “crazy” behavior. > > \*\* Bravo. You might even convince people, and it appears that BigDaddyO is one of the ones that fell for it, that you are on the high ground here. But… Your post about people with mental illnesses exhibiting “crazy” behavior didn’t stop where your quote stopped. Let’s see that again Frank, in slow-mo. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Speleophile_\*\* > I suppose you’d berate a sufferer of advanced Parkinson’s to “get over it” and show some emotions too, huh? But in spite of the masklike face, Parkinson’s patients do continue to feel the full range of emtion, but their disease prevents the normal physical body language expressions of it. Their patholgoy lies in an area of motor control, not the limbic system. But clearly there are diseases of those parts of the brain that handle emotion, logic, and human interaction, and those with pathologies associated with these areas are no more “scum” than someone with leprosy is “dirty”.\*\* Your suppositions about how **Anthracite** would treat people were remarkably offensive. I think she was justified in her response. **You** got _personal_ not “sarcastic”. While we’re on the subject of “What you should have said to keep me from flaming you.” When **Anthracite** said, in her first reply to you > [@](#): > > First, you don’t know if he is “ill” to begin with. That was when you should have said “Oh, but I do know something about him. Enough to know that he is probably mentally ill. Here is some evidence.” You were capable of it, as you later proved. This was a simple case of miscommunication originally, you are both to blame for escalating it. When tempers start to flare, it is far more productive to step back and ask the person you’re getting angry at to clarify what they truly meant. It may leave you open for one more scathing flame if your interpretation was correct, but it won’t breed ill-feelings like this little tiff probably has. Steven [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-fischer-speaks-out-to-applaud-trade-centre-attacks/96513.md?page=2)