# I forget, do we have a general HurricaneDitka Pit thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 6, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952 "2018-01-06T00:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**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:** [May 20, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/881 "2019-05-20T20:46:48Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I know that this old, but I’m confused here. What difference does Ditka’s bravery or cowardice make? The war is either a good idea or it isn’t. If it is we have a professional army capable of waging it. This isn’t a desperate siege where every able bodied adult must take arms and rush to the wall. > > If the war is a bad idea (it is) and Ditka stormed into the recruitment office demanding he be sent to the front lines, would that make it a good idea? > > If the war is a good idea (it isn’t) and Ditka was crying that he’s too young to die, that they should send someone else, would that make it a bad idea? > > No and no. So what difference does his attitude make? Why do you care so much about him. Honestly, reading that thread I got the feeling he was enjoying himself making you dance to his tune. It doesn’t matter at all, except that I enjoy pointing out the cowardice of chicken hawks. This is the Pit - nothing in here makes any difference! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/882 "2019-05-20T21:51:29Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > He seems to have some kind of weird hard on for New Zealand since the massacre. That thread is probably related to his fetish somehow. I believe the point is supposed to be that New Zealand police officers are jackbooted thugs seeking to speak to people, unlike the nice US cops who only seek to shoot them. The problem with New Zealand is that they’re danged libruls who enacted stronger gun control, and furthermore, who seem to have such a responsive legislative system that they enacted in a couple of weeks what the US has been unable to do in a century. They’re a quiet peace-loving country who have taken steps to make sure they stay that way. No wonder Ditka hates them with a passion! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/883 "2019-05-20T22:46:23Z")
Hey, you must’ve clicked his link! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/884 "2019-05-21T02:33:04Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > HD opened a thread on Friday about some dumb video he watched online and so far it’s gotten a whopping 0 replies. Why, because he’s a wanker and no one likes him!😛 > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=875702](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=875702) That’s just cold, man. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/885 "2019-05-21T03:06:52Z")
It deserves to die the true death. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/886 "2019-05-21T03:10:45Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I know that this old, but I’m confused here. What difference does Ditka’s bravery or cowardice make? The war is either a good idea or it isn’t. If it is we have a professional army capable of waging it. This isn’t a desperate siege where every able bodied adult must take arms and rush to the wall. > > If the war is a bad idea (it is) and Ditka stormed into the recruitment office demanding he be sent to the front lines, would that make it a good idea? > > If the war is a good idea (it isn’t) and Ditka was crying that he’s too young to die, that they should send someone else, would that make it a bad idea? > > No and no. So what difference does his attitude make? Why do you care so much about him. Honestly, reading that thread I got the feeling he was enjoying himself making you dance to his tune. True, which is why he’s a troll. However, to your question about why his “courage” matters, HD has taken the position that a civil war between conneds and libs would not be the worst thing, that the conneds would win because they have more guns… and yet a “man” advocating for the outright slaughter of his fellow citizens is too scared to come here and be yelled at. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/887 "2019-05-21T04:22:17Z")
HurricaneDitka is probably from [Hurricane, Utah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane,_Utah) (note the pronunciation, /ˈhɜːrɪkən/) a town which became a suburb of St. George as the latter expanded. My father was from the same sort of small Mormon town in central Utah. We would visit relatives and you get the same sort of asshole conservatives who are racists. Here is [recent news](https://fox13now.com/2019/05/17/racist-repulsive-snapchat-photo-spread-around-hurricane-high-school/) about Hurricane. > [@](#): > > HURRICANE, Utah — A school district is disciplining Hurricane High School students who created and spread around their high school a graphic, racist Snapchat picture. > > Washington County School District responded with “disgust and sadness” to the photo, which involved students and non-student adults, according to the district’s statement. > “No level of discipline can repair the hate, bigotry and ugliness portrayed in that one picture,” the statement read. > > The photo shows a person with a Ku Klux Klan-like white mask over his head, standing in front of a Confederate flag, holding two males with black paint on their faces by the back of their shirts as they played dead. The caption implied that the individual had been hunting black people and had “fill[ed] [his] tags.” ---
**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:** [May 21, 2019, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/888 "2019-05-21T09:19:44Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > HurricaneDitka is probably from [Hurricane, Utah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane,_Utah) (note the pronunciation, /hrkn/) a town which became a suburb of St. George as the latter expanded. My father was from the same sort of small Mormon town in central Utah. We would visit relatives and you get the same sort of asshole conservatives who are racists. > > Here is [recent news](https://fox13now.com/2019/05/17/racist-repulsive-snapchat-photo-spread-around-hurricane-high-school/) about Hurricane. I’m pretty sure his name comes from an SNL sketch. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/889 "2019-05-21T11:04:54Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > True, which is why he’s a troll. > > However, to your question about why his “courage” matters, HD has taken the position that a civil war between conneds and libs would not be the worst thing, that the conneds would win because they have more guns… and yet a “man” advocating for the outright slaughter of his fellow citizens is too scared to come here and be yelled at. It does matter. The reason is that there is a certain kind of person who almost makes a fetish about “hard choices” as a sign of manly leadership. They dismiss anyone who raises humanitarian concerns as weak-willed, deluded, feminine, unwilling to face hard facts. But while they are all about hard choices, they never seem to end up being the person whose going to pay the price: they are always all about how someone else is just going to have to take a hit for the team, but not themselves. Somehow, the logic never works out that way. So pointing out that they are willing to pay in other people’s lives but not their own is showing that they don’t think the cause is worth a life, when the life is “real”; they are just wiling to trade away the lives of others because it isn’t real to them. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/890 "2019-05-21T12:20:47Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > It does matter. The reason is that there is a certain kind of person who almost makes a fetish about “hard choices” as a sign of manly leadership. They dismiss anyone who raises humanitarian concerns as weak-willed, deluded, feminine, unwilling to face hard facts. But while they are all about hard choices, they never seem to end up being the person whose going to pay the price: they are always all about how someone else is just going to have to take a hit for the team, but not themselves. Somehow, the logic never works out that way. So pointing out that they are willing to pay in other people’s lives but not their own is showing that they don’t think the cause is worth a life, when the life is “real”; they are just wiling to trade away the lives of others because it isn’t real to them. Exactly. And words like “coward” and “gutless” are aimed straight at this hypocrisy, using the same sort of language they use to advocate for violence. It’s meant to be harsh – and sometimes being harsh is appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/891 "2019-05-21T19:12:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > It doesn’t matter at all, except that I enjoy pointing out the cowardice of chicken hawks. This is the Pit - nothing in here makes any difference! First, you were arguing with him in the Iran war thread, not just in this pit thread. But more importantly, it’s just a bizarre argument. I’m generally anti-war (Though I thought Desert Storm was at least reasonable) but there is one thing I unequivocally support: Fighting fires. I think fire fighting is necessary and I support the brave people who fight them. But I am not a fire fighter and have never been. Somehow I don’t think that makes me a coward. Nor do I think it makes the tens of millions of Americans who are not fire fighters cowards either. Again, we have a professional military. We should use it judiciously and rarely, but if it comes to it that we need to fight, it doesn’t make me a coward to say so, even if I’m not serving. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/892 "2019-05-21T19:17:07Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > But more importantly, it’s just a bizarre argument. I’m generally anti-war (Though I thought Desert Storm was at least reasonable) but there is one thing I unequivocally support: Fighting fires. I think fire fighting is necessary and I support the brave people who fight them. But I am not a fire fighter and have never been. Somehow I don’t think that makes me a coward. Nor do I think it makes the tens of millions of Americans who are not fire fighters cowards either. I don’t either. This doesn’t contradict anything I’ve said. I’ve only been criticizing those who advocate for dumb wars. Not firefighting or anything else aside from wars. > [@](#): > > Again, we have a professional military. We should use it judiciously and rarely, but if it comes to it that we need to fight, it doesn’t make me a coward to say so, even if I’m not serving. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. And my criticism is not about any “need to fight” – it’s really about those who advocate for the kind of dumb and unnecessary military actions that we’ve gotten into the last couple of decades (and before). We didn’t need to fight in Iraq in 2003, for certain. Nor many of the little operations before and since. But if you really want to discuss this in detail, I recommend you take it to the GD thread I started. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/893 "2019-05-21T20:13:10Z")
I missed that thread, but looking at it I see people are making the same points I did, so I don’t need to repeat myself there. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/894 "2019-05-21T22:56:14Z")
Warned for accusing me of lying: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21655343&postcount=518](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21655343&postcount=518) And I’ve been a good boy and not responded to him the entire thread. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/895 "2019-05-21T23:01:30Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > First, you were arguing with him in the Iran war thread, not just in this pit thread. > > But more importantly, it’s just a bizarre argument. I’m generally anti-war (Though I thought Desert Storm was at least reasonable) but there is one thing I unequivocally support: Fighting fires. I think fire fighting is necessary and I support the brave people who fight them. But I am not a fire fighter and have never been. Somehow I don’t think that makes me a coward. Nor do I think it makes the tens of millions of Americans who are not fire fighters cowards either. > > Again, we have a professional military. We should use it judiciously and rarely, but if it comes to it that we need to fight, it doesn’t make me a coward to say so, even if I’m not serving. As the son - and grandson - of firefighters, I appreciate the sentiment directed at those like them. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/896 "2019-05-21T23:06:14Z")
> [@Georgia governor signs strictest abortion bill in nation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-governor-signs-strictest-abortion-bill-in-nation/833659/517): > > I’m largely indifferent to if he stays or goes, but in general I think it’s going to be difficult to maintain a community that wants to foster robust public debate if many of its members adopt his “shun, deplatform, ignore” strategy. YMMV. It’s mostly just you, dude. Like, step one in improving the discussions here: get rid of this asshole. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/897 "2019-05-21T23:27:08Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Warned for accusing me of lying: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21655343&postcount=518](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21655343&postcount=518) > > And I’ve been a good boy and not responded to him the entire thread. I did (respond to him) and my apologies to all for my temporary weakness. I guess I do it for basically the same reason it’s sometimes interesting to respond logically to a fairly dumb computer program that was built as a half-assed experiment to engage in the Turing test. There is some minor level of curiosity, during a boring moment, about how the dumb thing will respond. Of course it’s invariably disappointing because neither primitive implementations of simplistic AI nor lunatic ideologues respond to logic. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/898 "2019-05-22T00:16:22Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Warned for accusing me of lying: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21655343&postcount=518](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21655343&postcount=518) > > And I’ve been a good boy and not responded to him the entire thread. Hey, I set that 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:** [May 22, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/899 "2019-05-22T00:23:54Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Hey, I set that up! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952/900 "2019-05-22T01:03:22Z")
> [@Georgia governor signs strictest abortion bill in nation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-governor-signs-strictest-abortion-bill-in-nation/833659/528): > > > [@Georgia governor signs strictest abortion bill in nation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-governor-signs-strictest-abortion-bill-in-nation/833659/515): > > > > Have you considered the possibility that maybe the SDMB, with its focus on public discourse, isn’t the right fit for you? > > He holds his own in the Pit. That makes him okay in my book. There needs to be some kind of Oscar/Emmy award/Tony award/Stanley Cup or something for this. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-forget-do-we-have-a-general-hurricaneditka-pit-thread/805952.md?page=46)