[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
How is this OP anything but a pure troll? Has anybody reported this yet?
[/QUOTE]
This from the asshole who blithers about “racist rednecks who deserve a beat down?” From the jerk who told a man grieving over the death of his unborn child to “man up?” Sweet bleeding Jesus, are you just totally devoid of self-awareness?
[QUOTE=Clothahump]
On behalf of conservatives, I thank you for being an asshole and painting us all with a very wide brush. Very, very wide.
[/QUOTE]
Well, as Eric Cartman said, I don’t like conservatives, but I fucking hate liberals.
[QUOTE=Starving Artist]
. She was trying to make a positive difference in the way that seemed most natural to her.
[/quote]
In my opinion, a lot of suffering is caused by well meaning people who can’t think clearly and critically. In this case, she endangered only her self. But it’s not uncommon for foolish crusaders to inflict harm on others.
Also, I think people are being too hard on the OP. The fact is that a lot of people get a certain amount of black-humor entertainment value from some deaths. A lot of people would have chuckled to themselves if Charlton Heston had died by shooting himself accidentally while demonstrating firearm safety. There are lots of discussions online about “Darwin Award” type situations. Unless one is ready to condemn all such posts, maybe one should lay off on the OP a bit.
[QUOTE=brazil84]
In my opinion, a lot of suffering is caused by well meaning people who can’t think clearly and critically. In this case, she endangered only her self. But it’s not uncommon for foolish crusaders to inflict harm on others.
Also, I think people are being too hard on the OP. The fact is that a lot of people get a certain amount of black-humor entertainment value from some deaths. A lot of people would have chuckled to themselves if Charlton Heston had died by shooting himself accidentally while demonstrating firearm safety. There are lots of discussions online about “Darwin Award” type situations. Unless one is ready to condemn all such posts, maybe one should lay off on the OP a bit.
[/QUOTE]
True enough, but I’m not sure that’s an apt comparison. Maybe we should ask, would we have gotten black humor out of Heston’s death had he been brutally raped and strangled by a gun control advocate.
In which case, no, not at all.
Sir Rhosis
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat]
<snip>
This woman died because of her stupidity and vanity. Because of her almost psychotic refusal to accept the fact that the world in which she lives is a dangerous place, and because she saw herself as a beautiful, enlightened soul delivering a joyous message of love, peace and brotherhood to the benighted masses, she recklessly placed herself in harm’s way.
<snip>
I apologize to the people of Turkey for this vain, foolish European woman who came to your country and left you with nothing but problems.
[/QUOTE]
You realize if you said this in your OP, instead of “haha, you’re dead” then only 80% of us would think you’re completely being dick, rather than 99% of us.
[QUOTE=Sir Rhosis]
True enough, but I’m not sure that’s an apt comparison. Maybe we should ask, would we have gotten black humor out of Heston’s death had he been brutally raped and strangled by a gun control advocate.
[/quote]
Was this woman murdered by a political opponent? Or just some random criminal who took advantage of her foolish trust in universal human decency?
I see your point, but still contend that someone dying in a silly black humorous way reflecting on their grandstanding is different than someone being brutally murdered while grandstanding.
Best,
Sir Rhosis
As a flaming liberal, I’d just like to mention that Lonesome Polecat is not a conservative. He’s just an angry, maladjusted, frustrated misanthrope. A pathetic little man, who has zero effect on the world outside your computer screen, and is not worth getting this riled up over. Why feed his martyr complex?
RIP, Bride of Peace.
When the best way to explain your views on anything besides Cheesy Poofs is to quote Eric Cartman, you’ve got bigger problems than the stupid things you say on a message board.
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat]
…But the visceral disgust and contempt for the manner in which they threw away their lives overwhelms any pity I might otherwise feel for them…
[/QUOTE]
Hmmm… OK. If that’s the case then, perhaps apathy might be an appropriate response.
Not this:
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat]
I can’t help feeling she deserved it, and I can’t help laughing.
[/QUOTE]
I repeat my earlier, likely-to-never-be-answered question: What the fuck is wrong with you?
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat]
This from the asshole who blithers about “racist rednecks who deserve a beat down?”
[/quote]
Racist rednecks don’t deserve a beat down?
Wasn’t this in reference to some weirdo (not a poster but only referred to by another poster) who commemorated the anniversary of some chick’s abortion every year as if it was a “birthday” for his “child?”
Yeah, I stand by “man up.”
Nothing I’ve ever said appraches the depravity of laughing at a murder and saying the victim deserved it.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Racist rednecks don’t deserve a beat down?
[/QUOTE]
Not for being racist rednecks, no, they don’t.
[QUOTE=Wheeljack]
When the best way to explain your views on anything besides Cheesy Poofs is to quote Eric Cartman, you’ve got bigger problems than the stupid things you say on a message board.
[/QUOTE]
Can I use this as my sig?
[QUOTE=brazil84]
In my opinion, a lot of suffering is caused by well meaning people who can’t think clearly and critically. In this case, she endangered only her self. But it’s not uncommon for foolish crusaders to inflict harm on others.
Also, I think people are being too hard on the OP. The fact is that a lot of people get a certain amount of black-humor entertainment value from some deaths. A lot of people would have chuckled to themselves if Charlton Heston had died by shooting himself accidentally while demonstrating firearm safety. There are lots of discussions online about “Darwin Award” type situations. Unless one is ready to condemn all such posts, maybe one should lay off on the OP a bit.
[/QUOTE]
There’s black humor, and then there’s rejoicing in someone’s death, as the OP seems to be doing.
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat]
I had planned to just skim over the responses to my OP and let the matter rest, but your post is so egregiously asinine that it deserves some comment.
[/QUOTE]
Mm-hmm. You come in here openly rejoicing over murder, and my post is egregious and asinine. Considering the source, I’ll thank you for the compliment.
I dunno, did you? Because if you did, you sure as shit didn’t mention any of it in the OP. I would think that if you really felt so badly for the poor locals who had to deal with this woman’s murder, you’d be a bit less giddy that it occured.
As to your bullshit analogy, the closest you can come is that both people were partially responsible for their own deaths (or “terminal stupidity” as you so compassionately phrase it). The similarity between the acts ends there, and trying to use a comparison between them as justification for being happy about another person’s death has no logical basis whatsoever, not that logic seems to be one of your concerns.
Oh, please. This has fuck all to do with any of the “sentiments” expressed in your OP. Yeah, this woman did something dangerous and got killed for her trouble. Nobody said it was “heroic and brave” – in fact, nobody said boo about it until you started running your mouth because you started the fucking thread – so, even assuming your OP was supposed to be hyperbole, your bold defiance of social convention by mocking and rejoicing over her death falls rather flat.
Either you’re backtracking now to come off as less of a dick, or your first post – which was utterly devoid of any substance beyond mockery and namecalling – was deliberately inflammatory. Whatever the case, my original comment still stands.
[QUOTE=brazil84]
In my opinion, a lot of suffering is caused by well meaning people who can’t think clearly and critically.
[/quote]
I agree.
[QUOTE=brazil84]
…it’s not uncommon for foolish crusaders to inflict harm on others.
[/quote]
Again, I agree completely.
“Impassioned do-gooders” - and the negative consequences of their actions - have been the bane of my life politically for decades. However, in this particular case her actions weren’t likely to be harmful to anyone (other than, unfortunately, to herself). She simply wanted to draw attention to and promote the idea of world peace, and while simplistic and naive (and as you say, lacking in clear-headed, critical thinking), her crusading was completely benign. Just because certain well meaning do-gooders cause more harm than good it doesn’t justify the condemnation of others who are harming no one.
I also object to the notion that she foolishly “threw her life away” in order to tilt at the windmill of world peace. I’m sure that based upon her previous history of hitchhiking through Europe, and the fact that she was accompanied in the most part by a female companion, she felt perfectly safe. She didn’t throw her life away any more than a woman raped and killed while out jogging could be said to have thrown her life away.
[QUOTE=brazil84]
Also, I think people are being too hard on the OP. The fact is that a lot of people get a certain amount of black-humor entertainment value from some deaths. A lot of people would have chuckled to themselves if Charlton Heston had died by shooting himself accidentally while demonstrating firearm safety. There are lots of discussions online about “Darwin Award” type situations. Unless one is ready to condemn all such posts, maybe one should lay off on the OP a bit.
[/QUOTE]
I’ll simply say that I don’t agree that people are being too hard on the OP and let it go at that.
[QUOTE=Starving Artist]
I recall long-haired, fringe-jacketed hippies insisting that they should be judged by their character and not the length of their hair or the clothes they wear. (But guess how they would react when conservatively dressed and well-groomed me showed up?)
I can recall decades worth of intolerance shown by some of those who evangelize for tolerance; anger and a desire for violence from some who preach pacifism; etc., etc., etc.
Hateful people can be found on both sides of the political spectrum. Also naive people and intolerant people and stupid people. No one side has a greater claim to the moral high ground.
Now, having said that, I, as a conservative, admire this young woman. I also feel sorry for her and I’m pissed about what happened to her. She was an artist. She was trying to make a positive difference in the way that seemed most natural to her. She also apparently had a considerable history of hitchhiking around Europe and, based on that history, likely felt perfectly safe in doing so. She was also accompanied by a like-minded female friend from whom she only became briefly separated.
As someone else said upthread, women are raped and murdered every day while simply going about their normal daily routine. The assholes in this case are the guy who raped and killed her and the OP…with honorable mention to those who would attribute the OP’s sentiments to those of us who are conservatives and/or to conservatism in general.
[/QUOTE]
We seem to have broadened the scope of the discussion here. You may not care to believe this, but I agree with you re the hateful persons on both side etc. For every “hippie” you present here, I can give you a “square” equivalent. I’m not sure just where that’ll get us.
Since I made it clear that I think that this degree of naivety is present on both sides of the spectrum, I surmise that you are scoring points of a kind that mean something to you. This kind of stuff makes me tired. This is why discussing politics here and elsewhere is ultimately boring and futile, IMO–there is no true discussion.
Kudos to you for expressing yourself strongly and well. Nice try on the attempt to paint those here (me included) with the asshattery that is the OP’s sentiment. We dare to point out the inherent naivety in some aspects of the conservative position and we are lumped with the OP by you. Oddly enough, I did not and would not lump conservatives with the OP. He is identified as a conservative. He is better defined as acting like an ass in the instance–I’m not familiar enough with him to know if this is a pattern, but from other links and other posts, it would seem so.
So, if I’m not lumping all the conservatives into the “gee, I’m glad the silly bitch is dead” crowd, why are you heaping scorn on the progressive/liberals? Seriously, defensive much? 
and to show my irritation with the whole damned thing: :rolleyes:
eleanor, you may not care to believe this but I really do like you and I have to say that I really don’t know what you’re on about here.
I didn’t have you in mind at all as I was composing my post other than to point out what I said (and which you just agreed with), which is that asshattery is not exclusive to either end of the political spectrum. How is this a condemnation of progressives/liberals but not of conservatives?
Seriously, you have taken comments I made in terms of a general observation and internalized them as personal insults to you.
You say you don’t lump all conservatives together, but neither do I lump all progressives/liberals together. I would think that my defense of the progressive/liberal subject of the OP would be sufficient evidence of that.
Please note: It has just occurred to me that perhaps the misunderstanding is due to the fact that it might have appeared that all of my post after your name might have appeared to have been addressed to you.
That is not the case and I apologize if so. The only part intended to respond to you was the part about equal asshattery on both sides. The rest was just a general observation made with no particular poster in mind, and most certainly not you. Perhaps I should have used a dashed line to segment my comments so as not to make them look they were all intended for you. Again, my apologies.
[QUOTE=Clothahump]
On behalf of conservatives, I thank you for being an asshole and painting us all with a very wide brush. Very, very wide.
[/QUOTE]
The thing is, it’s not too hard to find similar views expressed by other conservatives in other circumstances. There were plenty of conservatives who responded to the sufferings of the victims of Katrina with: “Screw 'em. It’s their own fault for not evacuating when they had the chance.” There were plenty of conservatives who responded to allegations that inmates at Guantanamo were being mistreated with: “Screw 'em. They’re all terrorists. Let 'em rot.”
Modern conservatism has cultivated a callous attitude toward others. It’s seen as a virtue. It shows that you’re tough and serious, not a drippy bleeding-heart hippie.
In LonesomePolecat we see the endgame of that mindset. Someone so locked into being the tough guy that he can’t even empathize with a victim of rape and murder.
LonesomePolecat and the “Bride of Peace” have a lot in common. She took liberalism to such an extreme that she sacrificed her common sense. But he’s taken conservatism to the opposite extreme. And, in the process, sacrificed his humanity.
[QUOTE=Pochacco]
But he’s taken conservatism to the opposite extreme.
[/QUOTE]
And yet when you say:
[QUOTE=Pochacco]
How conservative of you.
[/quote]
…you paint all conservatives with what you’ve just now admitted is an extreme version of it.
It appears you’ve drunk the leftie kool-aid and believe most if not all conservatives are selfish, uncaring, cold-hearted meanies, and the fact of the matter is that that just isn’t so. It’s a construct of the impassioned do-gooders that we’ve been talking about to paint anyone who disagrees with them - even if for good reason - in this way so as to stifle opposition by making anyone who dares to disagree with them look like villains.