I wasn’t going to weigh in on this but, Hell, I changed my mind.
I don’t find Lib’s parodies all that funny. He seems to have lost a couple of steps, and I would ask him to think twice before posting another parody. He needs to take a minute and ask “Is this really funny?” Or at least relevant?
However, and this is a big however, his comedic misfires don’t deserve this much attention. The title of this thread says it best. Don’t like it? Well, don’t read it then. And sure as Hell don’t comment on it. There is nothing like seeing an OP dive straight to the bottom of a page to hone one’s comedic instincts.
He’s a smart guy, and he can be funny at times. His parodies of late haven’t really shown that, but hey, who am I to judge? Again, the title itself says it all. If you don’t like 'em (and I frequently don’t - even though I like his other stuff) just let 'em be.
There are lots of excellent topics for a parody thread , and i could not wrap my brain around Libertarian’s last parody thread. I was not amused, and had the notion that Lib was coming off like a putz.
Advanced Weaponry and the Nightmares-BAND NAME![sub] I always did want to do that.[/sub]
The problem, as I see it, is that Lib has only one way of calling out posts he has a problem with: hauling out another parody. This is why I referred to him as a One Trick Parody Pony, because he is incapable of expressing himself otherwise. And when people point out that his efforts have either missed the mark, or that his quality has dropped off precipitously, he starts a whiny new thread telling everyone, “If you don’t like my parodies, don’t read them.” Lib, you seem like a smart guy, but Jonathan Swift you ain’t. Is it that difficult to admit that (at the very least) this effort was a flop?
Well, I don’t mind if Libertarian is “more clever and more smart than” I am, or even if he just thinks he is, whatever the actual state of affairs might be. (He probably is smarter, in my case, although I might have an edge on clever.) I don’t actually think that is his intent, though.
When you hear an argument that is so dismally ill conceived, so firmly grounded in utter nonsense, and so passionately proclaimed without the tinniest bit of perceptible logic, you need to answer. Now, it becomes obvious after the first seventeen attempts that information based responses are not going to work. Logic fails, as well, and even impassioned pleas for understanding, or tolerance. What is left? Parody, of course.
So, perhaps it comes down to parody rather often. It’s a shame information and logic are not more effective. And, of course, there will be some that are offended that you do not take the argument seriously. Sorry. Tried that. Now I laugh, so that I might not weep.
I will be in the forefront of those who find that Libertarian takes subtlety and obscurity beyond common limits. But then, that’s sort of the point, you know, from where he is coming from. Yeah, I think he expects his allusions to be illusory in a lot of cases. That may be more of an emotional refuge, than a rhetorical implication, I think, although I can never be sure. Tenacious, too is a word that I might use to describe him, or dogged, or unrelenting. Those are strong character traits in our allies, and faults in our opponents.
And on the subject of logic; if you bring it up, bring your dictionary and at least three good references on information theory, because he has his memorized, and if you use a term that mathematical logicians have defined, he will assume you meant it that way. (Yeah, I know, you didn’t, and no one else assumed you did, except maybe Erislover. But, that’s not the point. It is a defined term of logical analysis, and “I don’t thing it means what you think it means.”)
Of course, not reading his posts is always a possibility. I continue to read them, although I have stayed out of the pit a lot more than I used to, so I have missed the plethora of parody threads others have noticed. If I get bored with them, I will probably page down past them.
Tris
“The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards.” ~ Alexander Jablokov ~
Yes and no. As with everything else, it depends on context. If it’s an MPSIMS thread titled “The funniest thing happened to me today!” and whatever it was turns out not to have been particularly funny, dropping in to say nothing more than, “This is stupid,” is flat-out jerkish behavior. I’d like to see the mods pay more attention to this sort of thing, because between banning trolls, tracking down sockpuppets, averting board wars, wrestling with the creaky servers, and reading an endless succession of threads that aren’t half as interesting as the OP thought it was, I think they’re clearly underworked and have too much time on their hands.
On the other hand, when it’s something like the linked thread, I think the rules are a little different. Lib’s thread, for example, wasn’t just a joke: it was a flame. And when someone starts a flame thread, I think it’s useful to have third parties weigh in with their opinion about the attack’s validity, wether it be “Yeah, that guy’s an asshole, and his dog is ugly, too!” or “How dare you say that about such a sweet, wonderful, caring, veritable Christ-like person!” I guess what I’m saying is, I see flame threads as a debate, or perhaps a poll. The topic is “I think Poster X sucks. Who’s with me?”
The really fun part is when it turns out no one is with them.
As for Libertarian’s parodies in general, I don’t think they’re half as funny as his actual opinions. Which is, of course, why I seldom read them.
Since Tris brought up logic, I decided that maybe reason was the best way to address this. Sometimes, bias and other predispositions can create mistaken perceptions and false memories.
Disregarding my last three threads, one a parody, another an apology, and the third this appeal to skip my parodies if you don’t like them, my most recent Pit threads, listed unabridged, map out like this (they are in order of their last post date, but the date that I give is the date they were opened):
This was a rant about how the television drama series, Seventh Heaven, has morphed from a Little House on the Prairie type feel good, sweet tears show about a functional family to a Married with Children disaster about a bunch of whiners and whores who are nearly as dysfunctional as the Osbournes.
This was an ad hominem flame directed toward someone whom I had perceived as homophobic, based on their remark (which they later said was joke) that one of the best things about gays serving in the military is that some of them would be killed.
This was a rant about the political pep rally in Minnesota that was disguised as a memorial service for Senator Wellstone, about whom I had previously opened an MPSIMS thread to announce his death and express my admiration for him.
This was a rant about DavidB, whom I had perceived as derailing the debate with White Nationalists by behaving very much like their own senior moderator, Muadib. They were the same blustering, bellowing, bull in a china shop type posts.
This was a discussion of board policy and an appeal to permit the White Nationalists to debate here so long as they abided by board policies. An administrator did in fact spell out the rules, and they were invited to debate. The debate spanned two threads, and eventually, they were beaten and retreated.
This was a rant about a post in General Questions that painted libertarians with the brush of white supremacist patriots holed up in Idaho, and advocating overthrow of the federal government. I pointed out in GQ that the Libertarian Party, in fact, expressly requires that you sign a statement indicating your opposition to the initiation of force for political goals in order to join, and then I posted the rant here.
This was a rant about news people talking over speakers at news conferences with redundant and superfluous introductions instead of simply cutting away and shutting up.
This was a rant about the policy at another board, which entailed relegating anything at all having to do with gay people into an ominous area of the board that had adult only access. In protest of the policy, and after expressing my displeasure there and appealing there for change, I left the board and never returned.
I don’t really want to call this a rant. It was, rather, an outpouring of my emotional pain over a Great Debates thread that sought to mitigate the holocaust of my ancestors at the hands of Indian Hater Jackson. If I could choose only one post among my thousands here at Straight Dope, this is the one I would select to stay and let all the others go.
Finally, in September, I posted a parody of Ann Coulter’s screed about the two Muslim medical school students who were accused by a paranoid Georgia woman and accosted by federal and state officials, who shut down a busy interstate highway for most of the day, blew up their book bag, and wasted millions of dollars only to find out that they were talking about bringing their car down to Florida. This was not a parody of a Straight Dope thread.
So the perception that I am a one-trick pony or that I post a parody a week is obviously false. The overwhelming majority of my Pit threads have been rants.
Some of you have given what I believe to be reasonable advice to limit my parodies to special situations, where the thread that I’m parodying is so outrageous that a parody is warranted.
The fact is that that advice had already been given to me quite some time ago, and I have been mindful of it ever since.
The reason I chose to parody the thread about involuntary home inspections is that, as a libertarian, I find the whole idea so utterly repugnant, bilish, and disturbing that I was moved to equate it with something equally as absurd.
It was Kal, I think, who observed in the original Great Debates thread that he wished he could have seen the look on my face when I read the Opening Post. My response to it there was simply, “Dear God”.
Out of the thousands of people here at Straight Dope, there might be very few who enjoy when I post a parody from time to time. And that’s true of nearly every topic or thread; seldom is any thread by anyone of universal appeal.
The idea is to get into the spirit of the thing. Join in the fun and compose your own agreement or rebuttal, but in the manner of supporting or opposing the views in the Opening Post. Not in the manner of someone who is intent on ruining the fun of a few people just because they don’t like the thread or the person who opened it.
Anyway, in the words of the Austrian Emperor, “Well. There 'tis.”
Oh get over yourself. I don’t have a problem with you, and was at pains to tell you I didn’t. If anything I think you are extremely smart but your parody is overused and bordering on the obscure. And if it is all in the spirit of fun, open your threads in MPSIMS and make them lighthearted. If you want to post them in a public forum, you should expect some people not to take issue with them and some to comment upon it.
Lib, you could make an exceptionally great point if you directed your energy into trying to make yourself understood, rather than giving examples of your great wit and hoping people get your humour.
I didn’t actually see the parody in the thread all this is about. sure, you were copying the OP for the thread you linked to. but enev then I still couldn’t see what your point was. And after you had been asked for clarification you continued in the same vein. It wasn’t until then that I commented.
I would be the last person to say that all you do is parody. Evidently you offer much much more. I make no secret that I don’t find your parody threads funny. That could just be me. Maybe everyone else is laughing, and I just dont get it. Such is life.
But drop the persecution. It isn’t becoming of you.
Just bringing it here because it amuses me when the pot calls the kettle black. By the way, allow me to point out the key between the colon “:” and the “Enter” or “Return”. We call this an “Apostrophe”. It is used when we utilize “contractions”. I hope this explanation was useful.
No, I want to insult you by comparing your mental capacity to those with Down’s Syndrome. But then, if you weren’t so fucking dim you would have understood that.
Therein lies the problem. It was an issue you yourself found absurd, and absurd issues deserve parody. But it’s an effective parody only when most people also view it as an absurd issue, or if it’s a longstanding issue with which everyone’s familiar. If they don’t know what the hey you’re talking about or don’t agree with your position, the parody’s effect is limited.
That would be either. Down Syndrome is the PC term. Similar to calling people like you “mentally challenged” as opposed to fucking idiots. http://www.bartleby.com/64/C006/046.html. So sorry, would you like to play again?
I’m assuming your link displays the accented final e. Sorry, but this computer can’t display (or input) extended ascii characters or certain other characters because being in Korea, in interprets them as Chinese or Korean characters.
See, I am actually. But apparently, you’re not over me.
After I proved wrong the assertions that I’m a one-trick pony and that I post parodies frequently, all you could come up with is lifting a single sentence fragment, interpreting it in the worst possible way, and flaming me for it.
For the record, I wasn’t appealing for consideration for myself, but for the two or three who matter just as much as you, and who happen to enjoy my parodies. In fact, I invite you to open your own thread, and title it “Lib, you’re a shit head.”
Otherwise, we would like to play. And anyone who crashes the party for the purpose of spoiling everybody’s fun is the person with the problem. Not me.
You’re operating on some sort of made-up image of me. This is evident because you keep harping on things that are demonstrably false — another example of which was your appeal that I open light hearted threads in MPSIMS.
And before you accuse me of not admitting when I’m wrong (another false perception that a search will prove to be false), please consider here who is not admitting what.
The use of the apostrophe was in no way grammatically incorrect. Would you care to invent another excuse now? Nevermind. Checking the time you’re probably already out the door and putting a shine on the bar.
All your cites are from sources which as a matter of course must use the politically correct term. Trisomy-21 is Mongolism, Down’s Syndrome or Down Syndrome. Just because cripples are now “physically challenged” in no way alters the accuracy of the term “cripple”. Obsolete or not. Its called language. You speak one.
