# False equivalence of the day, Rep. Scalise edition **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 2, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799 "2015-01-02T20:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/21 "2015-01-02T23:55:49Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [Bill Clinton praised a Holocaust Denier](http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/31/bill-clinton-once-praised-an-undercover-holocaust-denier-for-keeping-the-lessons-of-the-holocaust-alive/?advD=1248%2C276772&bt_alias=eyJ1c2VySWQiOiI5Y2MxYWRjYi1iZWFkLTQ5NGMtOTIwMy0xYzk5MzMwNmU2YjQifQ%3D%3D#mnetint) Sounds like Clinton didn’t realize he was praising someone associated with Holocaust denial. Weak. Bill Clinton is a sleazebag who I would be appalled to have marrying my daughter. But I don’t think he’s much of a Holocaust denier. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/22 "2015-01-02T23:58:31Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > Sounds like Clinton didn’t realize he was praising someone associated with Holocaust denial. Weak. Why do you accept that Clinton didn’t realize it but Scalise, speaking to Jefferson Heights Civic Association, knew that he was in the same building with the supremacist group? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/23 "2015-01-03T00:03:06Z")
I know it’s early, but I’m ready to call 2015 as the dumbest motherfucking year in the history of ever. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/24 "2015-01-03T00:08:00Z")
Accepting the assumption that Rev. Wright and Al Sharpton are the left’s equivalent of a white supremacist group is just falling into the right wing trap. No matter who you dissociate yourself from, they’ll choose someone else to tar. There’s not actually anything wrong with having conversations with Al Sharpton. He isn’t an African-American mirror image of David Duke. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/25 "2015-01-03T00:14:14Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Why do you accept that Clinton didn’t realize it but Scalise, speaking to Jefferson Heights Civic Association, knew that he was in the same building with the supremacist group? I knew who David Duke was long before this speech took place and I was a teenager then. So did the rest of America and so did Scalise. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/26 "2015-01-03T00:25:57Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > David Duke says there nothing at all wrong with Scalise speaking to his group. > [@Club\_33](#): > > I knew who David Duke was long before this speech took place and I was a teenager then. So did the rest of America and so did Scalise. Exactly. David Duke _also_ said that while it _is possible_ that Scalise didn’t know who he was speaking to, he didn’t think it was too likely. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/27 "2015-01-03T00:40:16Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Why do you accept that Clinton didn’t realize it but Scalise, speaking to Jefferson Heights Civic Association, knew that he was in the same building with the supremacist group? Because the very article you so kindly provided suggests that the former didn’t, and had no reason to, and the latter should have and did? Because you have such a clear history of knee-jerk and irrational hatred for “liberals” that anything you say about a Clinton is entirely suspect and can be dismissed as the diseased rantings of a damaged mind? . ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/28 "2015-01-03T00:41:10Z")
> [@Club\_33](#): > > I knew who David Duke was long before this speech took place and I was a teenager then. So did the rest of America and so did Scalise. Did Scalise talk to David Duke? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/29 "2015-01-03T00:42:43Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Because the very article you so kindly provided suggests that the former didn’t, and had no reason to, and the latter should have and did? Ok do explain. You’re invited to talk to Jefferson Heights Civic Association. Can you explain how you should know that it is meeting in the same place (though a bit earlier) as a white supremacist group? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/30 "2015-01-03T00:47:26Z")
If I’m invited to speak to the Greater Munich Community Service League by Herr Goering, I can safely assume that there’s some connection to Adolf Hitler and the NSDP. Kenny Knight isn’t some nobody from Podunk, LA. He’s Duke’s right-hand man, and any Louisiana politician who DOESN’T know that is too stupid to live, let alone get elected. It doesn’t matter WHAT ostensibly innocuous organization he’s inviting you to speak in front of, it’s tainted. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/31 "2015-01-03T00:50:49Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Ok do explain. You’re invited to talk to Jefferson Heights Civic Association. Can you explain how you should know that it is meeting in the same place (though a bit earlier) as a white supremacist group? Kenny Knight’s participation in both. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/32 "2015-01-03T01:02:51Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Did Scalise talk to David Duke? Scalise is a Louisiana politician. So is David Duke. Knight was working for Duke. Your defense is that Scalise was simply too stupid to realize that Knight was working for Duke? I do, in general, accept Scalise’s apology. He at least is not trying to pretend that he had no idea who Knight and Duke ever were. Your defense of the speech, however, is febrile. You’d do better to defend the meaning of his apology. ---
**Author:** ![Lemmytheseal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lemmytheseal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemmytheseal2)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/33 "2015-01-03T01:13:24Z")
The disturbing thing is, conservatives really do think that Sharpton, Wright, et al are as bad as David Duke. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/34 "2015-01-03T01:36:27Z")
> [@Lemmytheseal2](#): > > The disturbing thing is, conservatives really do think that Sharpton, Wright, et al are as bad as David Duke. From what I’ve seen in this thread, some people think that Sharpton, Wright, et al are as bad as David Duke, and David Duke isn’t. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/35 "2015-01-03T01:44:58Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > We aren’t baffled by it at all. Liberals are hypocrites - this is news? > > Regards, > Shodan Could you expand on this? Do you mean every liberal on earth is a hypocrite, or just that some are? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/36 "2015-01-03T01:48:10Z")
> [@Lemmytheseal2](#): > > So you can’t see the difference between punching up and punching down? These people can’t see the difference between the responses of marginalized, oppressed groups, and the actions of a domestic terrorist death-squad that seeks to enforce white supremacy. The working poor/middle class whites who vote GOP have a narrative where rich white elite liberals take their hard earned money and give it to undeserving minorities who are destroying their culture. From their perspective they are punching up. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/37 "2015-01-03T01:49:07Z")
> [@Lemmytheseal2](#): > > The disturbing thing is, conservatives really do think that Sharpton, Wright, et al are as bad as David Duke. Yep. This is the gem here – some conservatives really believe that Al Sharpton is equivalent to a white supremacist. White supremacism is way, way worse than anything Sharpton or Wright have been connected to because it’s been vital to the worst atrocities in American history. Nothing Sharpton or Wright have said or done comes close to advocating for the key rationalization for slavery. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/38 "2015-01-03T01:51:58Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > From what I’ve seen in this thread, some people think that Sharpton, Wright, et al are as bad as David Duke, and David Duke isn’t. So Sharpton is as bad as Duke and Duke isn’t. Isn’t what? As bad as himself? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/39 "2015-01-03T01:53:40Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Kenny Knight’s participation in both. Cool. A few days ago, did you know Kenny Knight’s association with David Duke? How was Scalise supposed to know? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799/40 "2015-01-03T01:54:48Z")
> [@Lemmytheseal2](#): > > The disturbing thing is, conservatives really do think that Sharpton, Wright, et al are as bad as David Duke. Sharpton and Wright are worse. Duke’s racism is rejected by almost everyone. Sharpton and Wright’s racism is thriving. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-equivalence-of-the-day-rep-scalise-edition/708799.md?page=3)