# I dunno what's saddest... (AR school board member and really anti-gay commentary) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630 "2010-10-28T06:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/41 "2010-10-29T02:45:24Z")
Appologizing for _saying_ it, or appologizing for holding the immoral beliefs in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/42 "2010-10-29T02:50:06Z")
Tell him not to? I mean, if he is the genuine article, he repents, he was wrong and he knows how to own up to it, man up and fly right …maybe he should stay. Maybe thats the kind of example we want for our kids. I have it on good authority that repentance and forgiveness can be a very positive influence. Of course, this depends entirely on whether hes for real. Not saying at all we shouldn’t keep a sharp eye on him, make sure he knows this is probationary. Now, I’m not sold on this idea, maybe because I’m inclined to be a bit pessimistic. But if I could be convinced he ain’t bullshitting us, that he truly means to turn himself around…I’d be inclined to give him his chance. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/43 "2010-10-29T04:03:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Tell him not to? I mean, if he is the genuine article, he repents, he was wrong and he knows how to own up to it, man up and fly right …maybe he should stay. Maybe thats the kind of example we want for our kids. I have it on good authority that repentance and forgiveness can be a very positive influence. > > Of course, this depends entirely on whether hes for real. Not saying at all we shouldn’t keep a sharp eye on him, make sure he knows this is probationary. Now, I’m not sold on this idea, maybe because I’m inclined to be a bit pessimistic. But if I could be convinced he ain’t bullshitting us, that he truly means to turn himself around…I’d be inclined to give him his chance. You ever met a bigoted leopard who changed his bigoted shorts ? You ask me, the only lesson he learned was “I better keep that shit to my thereself from now on”. Which is ironic but… yeah. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/44 "2010-10-29T04:19:26Z")
Well, yeah, sure I have, some of my kinfolks, down in Texas. Not all of them. But I guess I’ve got an impossible condition, I’d have to be totally convinced of his sincerity, and I don’t see how that would be possible. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/45 "2010-10-29T05:48:32Z")
To the credit of the Arkansas Department of Education (and I’m not being facetious in saying that), they condemned his actions in pretty straightforward unequivocal terms: > [@](#): > > he Arkansas Department of Education strongly condemns remarks or attitudes of this kind and is dismayed to see that a school board official would post something of this insensitive nature on a public forum like Facebook. Because Mr. McCance is an elected official, the department has no means of dealing with him directly. However, the department does have staff who investigate matters of bullying in schools and we will monitor and quickly respond to any bullying of students that may occur because of this, as we have with other civil rights issues in the past. Anderson is pretty [pissed in this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP4QicpjS4A). Not that he would ever come out or anything to send a message gay’s nothing to be ashamed of or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/46 "2010-10-29T06:43:56Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > You ever met a bigoted leopard who changed his bigoted shorts ? You ask me, the only lesson he learned was “I better keep that shit to my thereself from now on”. Which is ironic but… yeah. Robert Byrd of West Virginia George Wallace of Alabama ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/47 "2010-10-29T07:45:15Z")
> [@Ionizer](#): > > It’d be fine with me if he drew some pictures of that Islamic god and then had one of those ‘kill him for that’ things (fatwa??) issued so he fears to even show his face in public. Underline mine. If you mean Mohammed, he’s not God, he’s a prophet; if you mean Allah, He can not be pictured. And yes, the spelling is fatwa but your notions of them seem to be on the narrow side, a fatwa is a legal decree issued by an Islamic religious leader but that covers a much wider ground than “wanted dead or alive posters”. This is the Pit, why am I playing Teachers’ Aide in the Pit! I’m supposed to be yelling at things, not explaining Religious Culture 101! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/48 "2010-10-29T07:55:37Z")
[QUOTE=Clint McCance] “No because being a fag doesn’t give you the right to ruin the rest of our lives. If you get easily offended by being called a fag then dont tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that shit to yourself. I dont care how people decide to live their lives. They dont bother me if they keep it to thereselves. It pisses me off though that we make a special purple fag day for them. I like that fags cant procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids and die. If you arent against it, you might as well be for it.” [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t have thought that 15-year-olds could get onto the school board. Fascinating. Next he’ll be regaling us with a tale of how he totally snuck some booze at Joey’s party the other night. I’m honestly less bothered by this one guy’s rant and more bothered that someone this immature could get into a position of authority. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/49 "2010-10-29T12:51:36Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > I’m honestly less bothered by this one guy’s rant and more bothered that someone this immature could get into a position of authority. If it’s a typical smaller town he got into the position because of the people he’s friends with and his kinfolk. The next question would be, of course, what are the odds that his friends and family didn’t know his feelings on such a matter? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/50 "2010-10-29T13:35:25Z")
> [@Mekhazzio](#): > > I’m honestly less bothered by this one guy’s rant and more bothered that someone this immature could get into a position of authority. Maturity is relative. Perhaps in his community, he represents a well-developed and thoughtful cognitive style. I find Facebook fascinating in terms of the expression of political and other beliefs. It seems to me there is a general cultural norm there that you don’t challenge other people’s beliefs. Recently, there was a guy who had gone to my high school who was on my list of friends. He would post (or paste, more accurately) these long Obama rants with titles in all caps. Really crazy stuff about Obama having confessed to be a Muslim and so on. Essentially the only feedback he would get was supportive. One other friend of his and I would actually challenge his thinking, but that seemed like some kind of social faux pas, and he would edit out these comments. Finally, he unfriended me when I posted a comment saying something like "In the words of John McEnroe: ‘You cannot be serious!’ " On Facebook, I think people, particularly stupid people, can get a false sense as to how acceptable their crazy ranting might be just because there’s a tendency for others not to comment to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/51 "2010-10-29T13:37:17Z")
A mother \*\*\*\*\*\* in AR want to kill five kid. My pary are with the father who lost his chrilden. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/52 "2010-10-29T13:48:35Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > On Facebook, I think people, particularly stupid people, can get a false sense as to how acceptable their crazy ranting might be just because there’s a tendency for others not to comment to the contrary. This is absolutely true, and one of the things I hate about facebook. People seem to think that their crazy should go unchallenged, and get pissy when you challenge it, and even non-crazy people tend to take an attitude of “It’s his facebook page, he can post whatever he wants.” Well sure, but it is public, and why post it if you don’t want discussion? Not that I’m not guilty of letting it go myself. I used to try to reason with people. Then I decided to stick with simply refuting what was easily refutable. Now I just hide them, because there’s way too much stupid on facebook for me to fight alone, I’m not made of time or patience. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/53 "2010-10-29T13:58:29Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Finally, he unfriended me when I posted a comment saying something like "In the words of John McEnroe: ‘You cannot be serious!’ " > > On Facebook, I think people, particularly stupid people, can get a false sense as to how acceptable their crazy ranting might be just because there’s a tendency for others not to comment to the contrary. That’s just the Internet. Spend 15 minutes playing any online game and then marvel about how often you’re yelled at for being a ‘cheating nigger’ or a ‘fucking fag’ by someone who seems perfectly normal at any other time. On Steam my “friends” list (apart from some actual friends) is what I consider my “not a jackass” list. If I play a couple games with you and you’re not a team-killing mic-spamming moron I’ll probably put you on that list - and it’s amazing how often someone comes off that list for stuff like the subject of this thread. Being a shrieking homophobe racist doesn’t necessarily evidence itself as a lack of maturity. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/54 "2010-10-29T14:05:03Z")
Apparently McCance later told Cooper he would indeed resign. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/55 "2010-10-29T14:06:41Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > A mother \*\*\*\*\*\* in AR want to kill five kid. My pary are with the father who lost his chrilden. Huh? Dude, finish the cup of coffee before you hit “Submit.” [QUOTE=Merijeek] Being a shrieking homophobe racist doesn’t necessarily evidence itself as a lack of maturity. [/QUOTE] But it’s a safe bet. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/56 "2010-10-29T14:09:44Z")
Are school board members paid? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/57 "2010-10-29T14:14:13Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > > [@Merijeek](#): > > > > Being a shrieking homophobe racist doesn’t necessarily evidence itself as a lack of maturity. > > But it’s a safe bet. No, the point is that people can seem mature in some contexts and yet still be shrieking, etc. Or, indeed, be very immature and yet not a homophobe or racist. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/58 "2010-10-29T14:19:05Z")
Gotcha. Let me finish my coffee. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/59 "2010-10-29T14:50:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Gotcha. > > Let me finish my coffee. 😃 I look forward to your caffeine-fueled abject apology and groveling. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630/60 "2010-10-29T14:51:56Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > A mother \*\*\*\*\*\* in AR want to kill five kid. My pary are with the father who lost his chrilden. But how is babby formed? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dunno-whats-saddest-ar-school-board-member-and-really-anti-gay-commentary/558630.md?page=4)