# Evil Trump supporter tweets a strobe at Kurt Eichenwald **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 17, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963 "2016-12-17T19:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/41 "2016-12-18T09:24:07Z")
I think he’s saying that criticizing the torture-supporting rapist Trump is like asking to be mugged because Trump’s supporters are the same as criminals and can be expected to behave as such. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/42 "2016-12-18T10:03:25Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > You know, this reminds me of a point I read somewhere a while back. We often see stories of people doing stuff like biking to every MLB stadium, or walking the country for charity, or hiking from Canada to South America or what have you. They’re almost always guys, not just because women need to be worried about what could happen to them traveling alone, but also because they’d immediately be assigned responsibility for what happened to them, despite it being something that dudes can do and no one so much as shrugs, even if something bad does happen. > > It’s kind of sad to think about, really. Not so sad when you consider the reason for it, which is that men are far less likely to be the focus of sadistic sexual predators than women are. And women aren’t always blamed when something bad happens to them. There have been a couple of cases recently where women were assaulted and killed while out jogging and I haven’t read a word or recrimination aimed at them. But jogging and attempting to take care of your health in broad daylight is a bit different than staggering blind drunk out of a bar or nightclub full of what you already know are sexually predatory men out to get laid. In the former case no blame at all is laid on the victim. In the second, tiger pen. The bad guy is still the bad guy, but a modicum of judicious intelligence would have deprived him of the opportunity to be a bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/43 "2016-12-18T12:59:16Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I really don’t care whether Tucker Carlson is a liar or not. He’s merely a talking head on a network known to be biased, just like his counterparts Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews at MSNBC. I care more about whether Kurt Eichenwald is a liar because he is alleged to be a journalist, even though he writes for _Newsweek_ and _Vanity Fair_. 😉 > > What galls me about Eichenwald is the way he refuses to either acknowledge or deny the existence of an occurrence he reported as having happened, claiming all the while that he’s being denied the opportunity to answer, when every time he says that it’s in response to having been given the opportunity to answer. > > And while I’m here I’ll state categorically that I utterly reject the notion that victimhood automatically and always relieves the victim of all responsibility for what happened to them, and that they are therefore never complicit in any way in the misfortune that happened to them. Stupid is as stupid does, and it’s just as stupid to go walking down a dark alley with money hanging out of your pockets, or if you’re a woman to throw caution to the wind and get passing out drunk with no thought as to the possible consequences, as it is to climb into a tiger pen at the zoo. The argument against victim blaming is well-intentioned and it serves a worthwhile purpose…up to a point. But taken to such an extreme that it completely absolves the victim of any and all responsibility for their own behavior is not only irresponsible and ridiculous, but dangerous as well. You don’t get it. Responsibility for one’s own behavior is fine. But responsibility for the behavior of others, barring a direct order? Not fine, and never fine. Criticize this journalist all you want for the things he’s said. But he didn’t cause anyone else to do anything at all. Bad behavior is the responsibility of the one who does it, end of story. ---
**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/44 "2016-12-18T15:56:07Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I really don’t care whether Tucker Carlson is a liar or not. He’s merely a talking head on a network known to be biased, just like his counterparts Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews at MSNBC. I care more about whether Kurt Eichenwald is a liar because he is alleged to be a journalist, even though he writes for _Newsweek_ and _Vanity Fair_. 😉 > > What galls me about Eichenwald is the way he refuses to either acknowledge or deny the existence of an occurrence he reported as having happened, claiming all the while that he’s being denied the opportunity to answer, when every time he says that it’s in response to having been given the opportunity to answer. > > And while I’m here I’ll state categorically that **I utterly reject the notion that victimhood automatically and always relieves the victim of all responsibility for what happened to them** , and that they are therefore never complicit in any way in the misfortune that happened to them. Stupid is as stupid does, and it’s just as stupid to go walking down a dark alley with money hanging out of your pockets, or if you’re a woman to throw caution to the wind and get passing out drunk with no thought as to the possible consequences, as it is to climb into a tiger pen at the zoo. The argument against victim blaming is well-intentioned and it serves a worthwhile purpose…up to a point. But taken to such an extreme that it completely absolves the victim of any and all responsibility for their own behavior is not only irresponsible and ridiculous, but dangerous as well. So much for personal responsibility… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/45 "2016-12-18T16:06:00Z")
Has a point. It is absurd for “victimhood” to relieve a responsibility that never existed in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/46 "2016-12-18T17:30:19Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > What if someone broke into Starving Artist’s house, broke his TV and computer, took a shit on his carpet, and raped his dog? He’d still have a smartphone to post from, so we’d be subject to dozens of lengthy posts discussing a) how no one ever shat on carpets back in the '50s, when people were more civil and knew how to dress, and b) the dog couldn’t have been raped because of the human/dog height mismatch. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/47 "2016-12-18T17:39:50Z")
And the dog was asking for it, walking around with his/her tail stuck up in the air, inviting negative attention. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/48 "2016-12-18T18:08:02Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Not so sad when you consider the reason for it, which is that men are far less likely to be the focus of sadistic sexual predators than women are. > > And women aren’t always blamed when something bad happens to them. There have been a couple of cases recently where women were assaulted and killed while out jogging and I haven’t read a word or recrimination aimed at them. But jogging and attempting to take care of your health in broad daylight is a bit different than staggering blind drunk out of a bar or nightclub full of what you already know are sexually predatory men out to get laid. In the former case no blame at all is laid on the victim. In the second, tiger pen. The bad guy is still the bad guy, but a modicum of judicious intelligence would have deprived him of the opportunity to be a bad guy. It’s funny to watch you shart circles around yourself in attempt to be right at any cost no matter what you say. Those gymnastics must come in handy when you defend your pedo interests. And you must be right then, there’s no room to back off from holding that line. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/49 "2016-12-18T18:11:04Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Only stupid people think that. So, you agree? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/50 "2016-12-18T18:17:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That’s pretty fucked up but I doubt it will be the worst thing that will happen to a Trump critic at the hands of Trump supporters in the next four years. > > I give it a little less than 2 years from inauguration that a Trump supporter kills a Trump critic. > [@Okrahoma](#): > > So far the only incident that resulted in a fatality involves a [“Trump critic” killing a “Trump supporter”](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3943180/Man-shot-dead-outside-Atlanta-bar-joking-voting-Trump.html). > > Previously there was a [non-fatal shooting of a “Trump supporter” by a “Trump critic”](http://abc30.com/politics/vietnam-vet-shot-for-being-trump-supporter/1446896/). And Trump supporters are totally non-violent? [Yeah, right.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/03/02/a_list_of_violent_incidents_at_donald_trump_rallies_and_events.html) ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/51 "2016-12-18T19:24:12Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > It’s like the old saw about how a person deserves to be able to walk down a dark alley in expensive clothes and jewelry with money hanging out of his pockets and not be disturbed, but the reality is that anyone stupid and foolish enough to do so is very likely to get results he would have avoided if he’d behaved in a more intelligent fashion. So we now live in a country where the logical consequence of criticizing the president elect is that one of his minions is going to actively cause you personal injury? Where censoring out all criticism of the leader is simply a prudent measure to preserve personal safety.? It is certainly possible that Trump has pushed things to the point this point, but I would hope for the sake of Democracy that you are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/52 "2016-12-18T19:27:51Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Somebody tried to do that to me they’d be in for a serious asskicking. I’d make sure that person would regret it. > (Mind you, flashing lights don’t bother me – I don’t have [photosensitive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosensitive_epilepsy) epilepsy. I’d still be seriously fucking pissed) Damn right. I’d be actively looking for him, WITH the police in tow. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/53 "2016-12-18T19:29:46Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Eichenwald … Perhaps … And as for you, you really are a piece of work. ---
**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/54 "2016-12-18T20:47:12Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Eichenwald is a lying, dishonest prick and in a more moral era would be an embarrassment to his publishers. [Witness his ridiculous behavior on Tucker Carlson’s show](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-asking-very-simple-fox-154539629.html) when called on his claim that Trump was hospitalized in 1990 for a nervous breakdown. Time and time again when asked by Carlson to state yes or no as to whether Trump had indeed been so hospitalized, Eichenwald refused to answer by claiming Carlson wouldn’t allow him to answer it. Repeatedly Carlson then would say go ahead and answer, and Eichenwald’s response yet again would be to claim he wasn’t being allowed to answer. He was phony, dishonest and dissembling the whole way through. > > Plus so far as I know there’s no reason for him to stay off Twitter. The strobe (whose posting I don’t agree with) was in the form of a GIF, which you have to click to get it to animate. It’s not like simply opening the site is going to suddenly inundate you with flashing strobe lights. Perhaps if he weren’t such a lying, obfuscating and obnoxious twit he wouldn’t inspire people to do things like that to him. That’s BS. You don’t have to click a GIF to get it to animate. [https://twitter.com/NateSilver420/status/809867061816082432](https://twitter.com/NateSilver420/status/809867061816082432) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/55 "2016-12-18T21:09:33Z")
I stand corrected then. Every one I’ve ever seen had to be clicked on first though. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/56 "2016-12-18T21:12:32Z")
And while we’re on the subject of this manipulative, lying, dishonest faux-journalist, does a flashing light on a computer screen really have the same effect on an epileptic as an in-person strobe light? I’m asking because I really don’t know, but I do know I’m disinclined to take that guy’s word at face value on anything. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/57 "2016-12-18T21:14:28Z")
> [@CatandMouse](#): > > That’s BS. You don’t have to click a GIF to get it to animate. > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/NateSilver420/status/809867061816082432) It’s device, app, and settings dependent. On my android using Firefox with uBlock Origin, I actually needed two clicks to see that. (In addition to clicking your original link) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/58 "2016-12-18T21:16:09Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Eichenwald is a much better person than you are. Hell, so was Eichmann. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/59 "2016-12-18T21:51:57Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Hell, so was Eichmann. Eichmann, Eichenwald, who can tell the difference nowadays? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963/60 "2016-12-18T22:30:56Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > And while we’re on the subject of this manipulative, lying, dishonest faux-journalist, does a flashing light on a computer screen really have the same effect on an epileptic as an in-person strobe light? I’m asking because I really don’t know, but I do know I’m disinclined to take that guy’s word at face value on anything. What does Carlson have to do with this ongoing conversation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-trump-supporter-tweets-a-strobe-at-kurt-eichenwald/774963.md?page=4)