# I Pit Babale **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 7, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738 "2025-04-07T14:59:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 57
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1121 "2026-09-15T15:17:01Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > It basically says Mamdani is being smeared for being a Moslem I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit. Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim. He’s criticized for campaigning with a guy who said that America deserved 9/11. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > For his part, Mamdani denounced Piker’s statement that America “deserved 9/11” and Piker has himself apologized for the comment. This is also untrue. Piker has never apologized for those comments. He has said that he was misinterpreted, and then later said that he had previously apologized. But he never actually did. That HuffPost article is a Piker puff piece, not a serious investigation of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1122 "2026-09-15T15:18:26Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And this somehow enabled you to read his mind? No, but his previous behavior is pretty strong evidence. You know, the same way that we can’t read Trump’s mind, but we can still tell when he’s being racist. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1123 "2026-09-15T15:19:13Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > To be clear, you’re a progressive > > I don’t identify as a progressive. I’m the right wing friend of progressives. (I’m not right wing. But I’m the sort of establishment person who works for the insurance industry and points out that there are actual downsides to having a tower next door that blocks your view of the sky.) Ok, so are your friends Progressives like the 40% of democratic representatives in the progressive caucus, or are they DSA types? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1124 "2026-09-15T15:20:10Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Part of the reason for this is that wealthy Arab states are willing to fund pro-Palestine activity. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that both sides have large and active “PR campaigns” running internationally. …I think it’s unreasonable to suggest that the reason we are speaking up loudly and clearly against the genocide in Gaza is because of any large or active “PR campaigns,” but due to the fact that many of us have reached the unsettling conclusion that for decades we’ve just accepted anti-Palestinian propaganda unquestionably as truth. I put my hand up as one of those people. And you just have to read any of the threads outside of the pit to see how comfortable people are talking about and treating Palestinians as subhuman. Even in this thread Babale will _refuse_ to condemn any atrocities committed against Palestinians. In Great Debates and in Elections people will openly talk about how Palestinians deserve what happened to them, and they don’t care what is happening to them now. I’m reacting to the open bigotry that I’m seeing on display all around me, even right here on these boards. I don’t need a “PR campaign” to convince me. And it hasn’t been PR campaigns that have turned people against the government of Israel and the governments and the people that prop it up. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1125 "2026-09-15T15:21:07Z")
Cite that Piker ever appeared on stage with Mamdani? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1126 "2026-09-15T15:24:24Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Ok, so are your friends Progressives like the 40% of democratic representatives in the progressive caucus, or are they DSA types? This would be the same Progressive Caucus that every DSA member in Congress belongs to, and that voted overwhelmingly to support AOC’s bid to lead the Oversight Committee? ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1127 "2026-09-15T15:24:26Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim. It’s really refreshing to see Babs going full Giuliani here. MAGA welcomes you, Babs! They’ll be happy to deliver you a fresh set of Iran talking points, should you ever find the courage to discuss it again! ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1128 "2026-09-15T15:26:39Z")
When someone says he routinely encounters people denying the Holomodor, and then says “Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim”…I guess he isn’t using the same internet I am. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1129 "2026-09-15T15:26:48Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Cite that Piker ever appeared on stage with Mamdani? You’re right, they weren’t on a stage together, they just campaigned together and then made the rounds together at the election night watch party. I guess that makes it OK to campaign with a guy who thinks that America deserved 9/11? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1130 "2026-09-15T15:27:50Z")
So you were lying above when you said they’d been on stage together? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1131 "2026-09-15T15:29:26Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > When someone says he routinely encounters people denying the Holomodor, and then says “Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim”…I guess he isn’t using the same internet I am. There are obviously right wing assholes who do criticize Mamdani for being a Muslim. I was not saying that no one is doing that, I meant that the criticism about him campaigning with Piker is about his 9/11 comments, not anyone’s religion. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1132 "2026-09-15T15:30:16Z")
Maybe he’s using Four Seasons Total Internet, with Giuliani-approved websites and social media? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1133 "2026-09-15T15:30:42Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > So you were lying above when you said they’d been on stage together? Nope, I misremembered, which is why when you asked I looked it up and corrected myself. Do you feel it makes a material difference whether they were physically onstage at the same time? ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1134 "2026-09-15T15:31:16Z")
Funny how Babs dropped the whole Kraft thing after the facts showed up… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1135 "2026-09-15T15:33:34Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > No, but his previous behavior is pretty strong evidence. And yet it turned out not to be remotely true despite all your irrational “screeching” about antisemitism. You ready to retract your lies yet? > [@Babale](#): > > I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit. Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim. Let’s try some other sources: [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/opinion/mamdani-giuliani-september-11-mourning.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/opinion/mamdani-giuliani-september-11-mourning.html) > [@](#): > > But days before, Mr. Giuliani went on a TV tirade against Mr. Mamdani, demanding that he stay away from the commemoration. “All the Muslims” Mr. Mamdani supports, Mr. Giuliani said, “are murderers.” > **[Some critics cite Mamdani's Muslim faith in demanding he skip 9/11...](https://religionnews.com/2026/09/10/mamdani-9-11/)** > > NEW YORK (RNS) — The mayor — who released 170,000 documents incriminating past city officials for improperly assessing health risks after 9/11 — still plans to attend the ceremony. > [@](#): > > And on Tuesday, the #EndJewHatred movement and other groups held a rally in front of New York’s DSA headquarters denouncing the mayor’s attendance at the event. Reported in , a with the rally depicted Mamdani next to the words, “Islamist ideology was not defeated. It was normalized. In 2001 they needed planes. Today the DSA hands them a platform.” > > “I’m not asking politely to the mayor not to come to 9/11, to that ceremony; I’m demanding that he not show his face at that sacred ground. He does not belong there,” said Vickie Paladino, a conservative New York City Council member, at the rally. > > Paladino — who was the subject of a now-[dropped disciplinary case](https://www.courthousenews.com/right-wing-nyc-council-member-agrees-to-delete-islamophobic-tweets-in-settlement/) after she wrote on social media that Muslims should be removed from Western countries — said the mayor’s public signing of an executive order establishing 9/11 as a day of remembrance alongside Kassem was concerning. “That was a message to each and every one of us, cryptic as it is. But read through the lines what’s going on here in City Hall,” she said. [ETA: clarification posted while I was typing noted] > [@Babale](#): > > You’re right, they weren’t on a stage together, they just campaigned together and then made the rounds together at the election night watch party. I guess that makes it OK to campaign with a guy who thinks that America deserved 9/11? Does he think that, though? > **[Young Turks’ Hasan Piker Says Comment That US ‘Deserved 9/11’ Was...](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/young-turks-hasan-piker-says-154258933.html)** > > The Young Turks commentator Hasan Piker has said that his comments during a recent Twitch livestream, where he mocked Rep. Dan Crenshaw for losing an eye and said the U.S. “deserved” to be attacked on... Piker’s an immature dickhead, to be sure. But he seems less supportive of mass murder than some. Also: [Mamdani, during the debate with Cuomo:](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/caught-wild-stray-hasan-piker-170000161.html) > [@](#): > > During the debate, Mamdani agreed, saying, “I find the comments that Hasan made on 9/11 to be objectionable and reprehensible.” So you agree with Mamdani? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1136 "2026-09-15T15:40:21Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And yet it turned out not to be remotely true despite all your irrational “screeching” about antisemitism. > > You ready to retract your lies yet? Did he actually know about Kraft when he made that tweet? If so, why did he give no evidence? Even a broken clock can be right twice a day. Or maybe he did have some proof that he didn’t think was worth sharing. You might think he deserves the benefit of the doubt; after seeing his costuming choice, I don’t. > [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit. Mamdani isn’t being criticized for being a Muslim. > > Let’s try some other sources: I already addressed that: > [@Babale](#): > > There are obviously right wing assholes who do criticize Mamdani for being a Muslim. I was not saying that no one is doing that, I meant that the criticism about him campaigning with Piker is about his 9/11 comments, not anyone’s religion. Giuliani is a piece of shit. He is also not the only one criticizing Mamdani. I think Mamdani should be criticized for campaigning with Hasan “America Deserved 9/11” Piker but I don’t think he should be barred from going to a 9/11 memorial. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Does he think that, though? Yes, he does. The fact that he went on his uncle’s show to say he was being “satirical” but continues to push the same message to this day does not prove that he doesn’t. > [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > During the debate, Mamdani agreed, saying, “I find the comments that Hasan made on 9/11 to be objectionable and reprehensible.” > > So you agree with Mamdani? Yes, and I’m glad that after lots of handwaving and deflection he was able to make that little concession, but what he has never addressed is why, despite these comments that he apparently finds _objectionable and reprehensible_ he nevertheless considered it appropriate to campaign with Piker. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1137 "2026-09-15T15:41:08Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > There are obviously right wing assholes who do criticize Mamdani for being a Muslim. I was not saying that no one is doing that, I meant that the criticism about him campaigning with Piker is about his 9/11 comments, not anyone’s religion. Puzzlegal’s cite that you made that reply to was about people saying he shouldn’t show up at the 9/11 memorial ceremony. Are you willing to concede that that’s straight up Islamophobia, or is it reasonable that someone might feel that way about Mamdani solely because someone who campaigned for him said something stupid in 2019? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1138 "2026-09-15T15:44:34Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Puzzlegal’s cite that you made that reply to was about people saying he shouldn’t show up at the 9/11 memorial ceremony. I already said that I disagree with that. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Are you willing to concede that that’s straight up Islamophobia, or is it reasonable that someone might feel that way about Mamdani solely because someone who campaigned for him said something stupid in 2019? It could be Islamophobia, or it could be that someone who has a more direct connection to 9/11, such as losing a family member on that day, is more offended than I am by these comments and Mamdani’s refusal to full throatedly condemn the person who made them and his continued campaigning with that person. I am sure that of the people pushing for Mamdani not to come there were representatives of both camps. You _really_ can’t imagine any reason to be offended by Mamdani’s actions other than Islamophobia? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1139 "2026-09-15T15:45:41Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > …going full Giuliani here LMAO Giuliani, Hegseth, Bibi… there is an entire cast of real life villains that live rent free in your head 24/7. Whenever anyone disagrees with your world view in any way, you pull one out of your evil-doer rolodex and characterize them with every single negative attribute. Must be nice to have this nice and simple good-guy/bad-guy view of everyone and everything. _‘Feh! Never heard of this low ratings Piker guy! 400:1!’_ Who needs nuance when simple caricatures are so much easier to assign and argue against. So childish. Do better. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738/1140 "2026-09-15T15:47:55Z")
If you read the article, and not just the two paragraphs i quoted because they mentioned Piker, it was clear that the article was about Mamdani being criticized for being Muslim. Also, you said above that the Mamdani campaign paid to fly piker to his events. (And didn’t reply to my request for a citation.) Now you are saying they weren’t even on stage together. What, exactly, is their connection? Because if it’s just that Mamdani has some embarrassing supporters, well, so do 100% of politicians who make the national news. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-babale/1016738.md?page=58)