# Explicitly saying the Jews are vermin earns a note and not a Warning. WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 13, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028 "2014-04-13T18:28:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/41 "2014-04-14T02:56:24Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > So how many of these types of “jokes” do they let slide without warning then? More than for some other poster, simply because **BPC** is one warning away from being banned? Agreed. If he’s one warning away from a ban, there doesn’t need to be any super infraction that breaks the camel’s back. Any garden variety should do. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/42 "2014-04-14T03:19:07Z")
My imagining of the mod discussion on this: Mod1: They expect us to be _consistent_? With _each other_? _Over time_? 5 mods simultaneously: Screw this - I’m outta here! Disclaimer: I’ve read many mod posts in which they explain the lengths to which they go in attempts to do precisely these things. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/43 "2014-04-14T03:57:48Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > No. I get it. You’re just wrong. > > Meta-humor without context isn’t meta-humor, it’s just racist drivel. > > I love the fact that you’re tying yourself into a pretzel trying to defend this comment. > > Let’s propose a thought experiment: > > In the middle of a discussion about Obama’s health care law, someone comes in and, out of the blue, says “Obama’s just a dumb n_gg_r. He only wants to see white women’s boobies. That’s why he made the law–to get boob pics. He should be lynched. /jk :D” > > Meta-humor or racist threadshitting? That you can’t see the difference isn’t surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/44 "2014-04-14T04:08:47Z")
The fact that you can’t see a difference isn’t surprising either. The example perfectly fits your silly defense of BPC’s “edgy” so-called meta-humor. You apparently just don’t _get_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/45 "2014-04-14T04:12:28Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Good lord, why? > > It was a stupidly condescending and vacuous post there. How does reposting it here help you? > [@Lobohan](#): > > It explains the situation for people who don’t get it. Like you, I guess. > [@Fenris](#): > > No. I get it. You’re just wrong. > > Meta-humor without context isn’t meta-humor, it’s just racist drivel. > > I love the fact that you’re tying yourself into a pretzel trying to defend this comment. > > Let’s propose a thought experiment: > > In the middle of a discussion about Obama’s health care law, someone comes in and, out of the blue, says “Obama’s just a dumb n_gg_r. He only wants to see white women’s boobies. That’s why he made the law–to get boob pics. He should be lynched. /jk :D” > > Meta-humor or racist threadshitting? > [@Lobohan](#): > > That you can’t see the difference isn’t surprising. > [@Fenris](#): > > The fact that you can’t see a difference isn’t surprising either. > > The example perfectly fits your silly defense of BPC’s “edgy” so-called meta-humor. > > You apparently just don’t _get_ it. **Moderator Note** **Fenris** and **Lobohan** , enough with the personal remarks. If you want to take pokes at each other, take it to the Pit. Drop this now. Colibri Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/46 "2014-04-14T04:34:34Z")
My parents and grandparents are Jewish. I was learning for a Bar Mitzvah before my 10-year-old self got impudent and decided I couldn’t be bothered to learn the language. This was obviously a stupid joke rather than any attempt at actual racism - I even made it clear that that was the case, and then wrote an actual pest. I don’t know why it’s getting this response. I don’t even think it was the first joke of that type in that thread; you definitely get jokes like this in a lot of such threads (someone else wrote “Politicians” too). It didn’t even disrupt the thread - if it had, I would have pointed out that it was a bad joke and apologized. Hell, I’ll do that anyways - I’m sorry I made a dumb, antisemitic joke. I do think this response is somewhat overblown. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/47 "2014-04-14T04:40:50Z")
Glad you showed up to defend yourself. I was going to send you a message that you were being pitted … in _ **ATMB** _ ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/48 "2014-04-14T04:42:26Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > **Fenris** and **Lobohan** , enough with the personal remarks. If you want to take pokes at each other, take it to the Pit. Drop this now. > > Colibri > Moderator You have to be shitting me. One side is stating that making jokes, about a people that were actually considered vermin and exterminated as such, is worse than \*'Dude! You don’t get edgy humor. \* I’m don’t belong to the ‘_Let’s bash Dope Mods Club_’ but you guys have royally stepped on your dicks with this one, ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/49 "2014-04-14T04:51:34Z")
> [@simster](#): > > In other words - trolling - and admitting as such. Not necessarily. I think it’s more a sense of _“I’m going to say this even though I know it will offend some people”_ rather than _“I’m going to say this because I know it will offend some people.”_ ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/50 "2014-04-14T04:53:10Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > My parents and grandparents are Jewish. I was learning for a Bar Mitzvah before my 10-year-old self got impudent and decided I couldn’t be bothered to learn the language. This was obviously a stupid joke rather than any attempt at actual racism - I even made it clear that that was the case, and then wrote an actual pest. I don’t know why it’s getting this response. I don’t even think it was the first joke of that type in that thread; you definitely get jokes like this in a lot of such threads (someone else wrote “Politicians” too). It didn’t even disrupt the thread - if it had, I would have pointed out that it was a bad joke and apologized. Hell, I’ll do that anyways - I’m sorry I made a dumb, antisemitic joke. I do think this response is somewhat overblown. I had never heard “EdgierThanBismuth” so I googled it. Ironic that the first entry was another case of [someone using it in association with a racist remark](http://www.reddit.com/r/4chan/comments/1a0dpj/neither_of_them_know/). ---
**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:** [April 14, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/51 "2014-04-14T04:59:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > **Fenris** and **Lobohan** , enough with the personal remarks. If you want to take pokes at each other, take it to the Pit. Drop this now. > > Colibri > Moderator I certainly didn’t intend to be snarky. \<3 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/52 "2014-04-14T05:04:56Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > You have to be shitting me. One side is stating that making jokes, about a people that were actually considered vermin and exterminated as such, is worse than \*'Dude! You don’t get edgy humor. \* I didn’t issue the note for their opinions on the matter, but for their taking personal swipes at one another. There’s a difference. > [@](#): > > I’m don’t belong to the ‘_Let’s bash Dope Mods Club_’ but you guys have royally stepped on your dicks with this one, **Moderator Note** This is ATMB, not the Pit. Let’s keep the discussion civil. ETA. As TubaDiva says, the matter is under discussion. You might save your outrage until a decision has been taken. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/53 "2014-04-14T05:35:19Z")
Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/54 "2014-04-14T05:37:06Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > You have to be shitting me. One side is stating that making jokes, about a people that were actually considered vermin and exterminated as such, Er, that’s where the humour comes from? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/55 "2014-04-14T05:44:00Z")
Ha HA Ha, that’s a real gasser! ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/56 "2014-04-14T06:04:03Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Ha HA Ha, that’s a real gasser! Yeah, pretty much. Wouldn’t be edgy humour otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/57 "2014-04-14T06:17:59Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Even if it was a joke, it’s not a clear line. Had he said, say, ‘niggers’, I think the inherent hostility of the word and the baggage it carries would have crossed a different line. Had he said something along the lines of ‘people who talk on their cell phones while in line’, it would have been extremely distant from any line. IMHO, ‘Jews’ is pretty far from the former, but a good ways past the latter. No, it is not “pretty far from the former.” As far as vicious, hateful and destructive speech goes, “Jews = Vermin” is right up there with “niggers” if you know anything about history. Equating Jewish people with vermin is precisely the filthy slur used to explain why it was necessary to exterminate them. It’s _still_ used in certain unsavory circles. It’s possible, barely, that a skilled comedy writer (and I ain’t talking Jimmy fucking Carr–maybe Armando Iannucci) could craft a joke out of this, but it would likely be put in some appropriate context, and would come from the mouth of a repulsive, tone-deaf character and intended to make him the actual source of the joke. **Budget Player Cadet** ain’t no skilled comedy writer. And this was not the right context. Although “repulsive” and “tone-deaf” do describe the comment. I’m not saying this should be a reason to ban him–if he’s that close to the line, then maybe a suspension is in order. But a warning? Hell yes, that’s the least that post deserves. **Ellen** is one of the most reasonable mods, but I do think this was poorly done. _Especially_ considering the whole “close-minded” kerfuffle. C’mon, _some_ consistency here? Happy freaking Passover. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/58 "2014-04-14T07:01:26Z")
Again, I’m sorry. It was a tasteless joke. I read the thread title and and thought “man, this is just begging for a throwaway one-liner gag”. I figured that I wasn’t the only one who thought that. I probably should have known better, but this is the kind of throwaway gag my friends here in Munich (my friends who are _not_ racist, anti-Semitic or the like) are liable to throw out there when we’re sitting around shooting the shit. Anti-Semitic humor is actually rather common here in casual settings - not because Germans hate Jews, but because it’s so clear that any _real_ anti-Semitism will lead to society telling you “go fuck yourself, we don’t want your kind” in no uncertain terms that nobody feels particularly bad about it. It’s like joking about gay stereotypes in your local GSA meeting. Which I think is a healthy attitude. There’s nothing wrong with some throwaway racist jokes so long as the actual racism doesn’t rear its ugly head and everyone understands that it’s, well, a throwaway racist joke. I apologize for offending some sensibilities, and I realize that the language of that particular joke pushed it a little further into “malicious” territory than is generally welcome on this board. (On a side note: this wasn’t me trolling. I was looking for a reaction, but that reaction was “Haha, funny joke” not “OMG YOU RACIST JERK GDIAF”. The latter is trolling; the former is telling a joke.) ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/59 "2014-04-14T07:29:47Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Anti-Semitic humor is actually rather common here in casual settings - not because Germans hate Jews, but because it’s so clear that any _real_ anti-Semitism will lead to society telling you “go fuck yourself, we don’t want your kind” in no uncertain terms that nobody feels particularly bad about it. FWIW, one of the funniest lines I ever heard IRL was delivered by a German in Munich. We were ribbing him about how his evil country had killed millions of Jews, and he seemed to consider that for a moment, looked up completely deadpan and says, “Well yes, but at least we did it _efficiently_” ---
**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:** [April 14, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028/60 "2014-04-14T08:06:23Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I probably should have known better, but this is the kind of throwaway gag my friends here in Munich (my friends who are _not_ racist, anti-Semitic or the like) are liable to throw out there when we’re sitting around shooting the shit. I can understand someone making the erroneous assumption that posts on this board are the on-line equivalent of “sitting around shooting the shit” with friends, but that’s not really the case. A possible rule to consider might be: “Is what I’m about to post something I’d feel comfortable saying to a bunch of strangers at a bus stop”? I’m not saying that should be the only consideration, but it does marginally reduce the chances of succumbing to foot-in-mouth disease. And then there’s the problem that one never knows when tasteless jokes may end up unfortunately coincidental with [actual, tragic events.](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/14/suburban-kansas-city-shootings-suspect/7689607/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explicitly-saying-the-jews-are-vermin-earns-a-note-and-not-a-warning-wtf/686028.md?page=4)