# Just when you think that people are decent... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 26, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167 "2011-08-26T12:26:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/21 "2011-08-26T15:32:55Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > What? Typical rightard bullshit. “You’re claiming to be the tolerant one. You should therefore be tolerant and be okay with all sorts of bad things. Because you’re _tolerant_. If you’re not being tolerant of my love of throwing puppies into a chipper shredder you’re a hypocrite for not being tolerant!” -Joe ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/22 "2011-08-26T15:36:09Z")
BTW, when someone _did_ call me a kike and a Jew boy, back in college days, I felt I had no choice but to go with punching, even in the face of a highly significant size and number disadvantage. OTOH when the Nazis wanted to march in Skokie I argued for their right to do so, but to have a circus as a counter protest to demonstrate that they are clowns. My own take is that silence is tacit approval or at the least concurring with a postion that such speech is arguably acceptable. If such is not what you think then know that you are silent either out of acknowledgement of its being within the acceptable range (or actual approval) or out of fear. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/23 "2011-08-26T15:40:26Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wish I could do that with football ! 🙂 I wish I could do that with all the stupid tvs. I want to talk with my husband as we eat, not watch him watch tv. Anyway, I’m curious how this would play in Canada, where our freedom of speech doesn’t extend to hate speech, which that bumper sticker would be classified as. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/24 "2011-08-26T15:43:24Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Yes, because people should keep their opinions to themselves, especially when they run contrary to yours. Bigotry is not simply an expression of an opinion. There are a million ways of expressing disapproval of Obama without bringing race into it. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > IOW, it seems he’s OK with someone being a racist, as long as they’re discreet about it. Reading the rest of the OP, it is obvious that **Drain Bead** is not OK with closet racism. She says: > [@](#): > > I thought things were getting better, that our country was becoming more color-blind and accepting of differences. She should clarify her post, but I think she is apalled at the implied acceptance of this jerk’s attitude, rather than the fact he is publically racist. That’s why she is talking about general decency instead of a singlular asshole. She may be reading too much into it, who knows if his friends and family have spoken to him about it or not? I think your posts are a strawman of her actual position. If the pickup truck is being parked at work, the letter writers may be doing the restaurant owner a favour by bringing it to his attention. Regulars would quickly work out the vehicle belonged to an employee. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/25 "2011-08-26T15:43:56Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Typical rightard bullshit. > > “You’re claiming to be the tolerant one. You should therefore be tolerant and be okay with all sorts of bad things. Because you’re _tolerant_. If you’re not being tolerant of my love of throwing puppies into a chipper shredder you’re a hypocrite for not being tolerant!” > > -Joe Ah, but where does tolerance end and indignation begin? Where does the love of throwing lefttards into chippers fall in this scheme? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/26 "2011-08-26T15:46:42Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > …hate speech, which that bumper sticker would be classified as. It is, however, uncleverly disguised. I’d hate to see syntax and definitions are argued by a court. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/27 "2011-08-26T16:02:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It is, however, uncleverly disguised. I’d hate to see syntax and definitions are argued by a court. I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t think the courts would have a hard time seeing the bumper sticker for what it is. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/28 "2011-08-26T16:13:31Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > A Mexican restaurant near my house always had Fox News on two giant TVs when I went in there. One time the family and I got there a bit early and Glenn Beck was on. It was too much for me, so we turned around and left. My wife was both annoyed and amused. > > So, when we got home from the a different Mexican restaurant a little farther down the road I wrote a letter to the first restaurant. I pointed out that the next time I walked into the place and Fox News was running I’d turn around and walk out. > > Hasn’t been on since. > > -Joe Years ago, when my husband was still in the military, I had to have out-patient surgery on my wrist. I reported to the hospital at oh-god-thirty, where they took my clothing, gave me a hospital gown, paper slippers and a blanket - then directed me into a room with about 30 other people dressed in paper slippers, hospital gowns and blankets. Rush Limbaugh was on the TV. When I was called in to have vital signs taken, the guy told me “The doctor may not want to do your surgery; your blood pressure is very high”. I replied “You’ve got me sitting practically naked in a room full of strangers with nothing to listen to other than Rush Limbaugh - of course my blood pressure is high!”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/29 "2011-08-26T16:15:32Z")
A point of clarification. Free speech does not imply all views must be welcomed. You have the right to call somebody a nigger. And the rest of us have the right to call you a brain-damaged inbred short-dicked racist moron. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/30 "2011-08-26T16:17:25Z")
Your problem was in thinking people are decent. My method is to think people are idiots and assholes. I’m rarely disappointed and sometimes surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/31 "2011-08-26T16:22:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A point of clarification. Free speech does not imply all views must be welcomed. > > You have the right to call somebody a nigger. And the rest of us have the right to call you a brain-damaged inbred short-dicked racist moron. I don’t think anyone has suggested otherwise. The points of contention seem to be on the merits of assault, vandalism, and boycotting of an employer. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/32 "2011-08-26T16:23:13Z")
There’s no disguise, clever or not. The bumper sticker has one meaning: don’t elect that nigger again. “Re-nig” is not a thing that means anything else. Renege is spelled renege. And yes, people should feel physically threatened over their use of nigger in that kind of straightforward derogatory way, for the same reason they should feel physically threatened over using violence of their own. Americans have proven that they need to be dragged kicking and screaming into any semblance of a racially equal society. People who want to use the language that recalls the era when it was OK to violently oppose that process should be reminded that it did in fact go on without their approval. I don’t think anybody should be punched in the face for holding a belief, but that doesn’t mean everyone should feel like fomenting racial hatred is _safe_. If it were safe, these people would keep doing it. You can feel safe in your beliefs when your beliefs are distinguishable from terrorists’. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/33 "2011-08-26T16:59:09Z")
I’ve got no problem boycotting a business that hires openly racist employees. Violence or vandalism is going too far but there should be societal consequences for being an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/34 "2011-08-26T17:06:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Ah, but where does tolerance end and indignation begin? Where does the love of throwing lefttards into chippers fall in this scheme? > > 🙂 Honestly, I don’t know. I’m big enough that people have the sense not to try it when I’m around. -Joe ---
**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:** [August 26, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/35 "2011-08-26T17:08:11Z")
It must be black pickups. I saw one outside a pizza joint last week that had “Shoot them at the border” across the back window, very professionally done. Here’s hoping his job, his wife’s job, and every job his family has or could ever hope to have are taken by Mexicans. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/36 "2011-08-26T17:15:34Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > I’ve got no problem boycotting a business that hires openly racist employees. Violence or vandalism is going too far but there should be societal consequences for being an asshole. This. I am a shy person, but I absolutely would confront someone sporting that bumper sticker. It’s bad enough there are closet racists in the world, but no way in hell should it be socially acceptable to be open about it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/37 "2011-08-26T17:15:42Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Honestly, I don’t know. I’m big enough that people have the sense not to try it when I’m around. > > -Joe So you’re right because you are bigger than I am? Sound logic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/38 "2011-08-26T17:15:54Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It must be black pickups. I saw one outside a pizza joint last week that had “Shoot them at the border” across the back window, very professionally done. > > Here’s hoping his job, his wife’s job, and every job his family has or could ever hope to have are taken by Mexicans. Maybe he’s not racist. Maybe he’s referring to Canadians. The thought of **Sam Stone** coming across the border kind of makes me want to buy a bumper sticker too. Did you ever think he might have meant Canadians? Of course not. You’re not _tolerant_. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > So you’re right because you are bigger than I am? > Sound logic. 🙂 No, it’s just amazing how people are so much more polite when they feel like there might be consequences for their actions. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/39 "2011-08-26T17:19:50Z")
I am shocked. SHOCKED! That the first reaction is to assume the bumper sticker was racially oriented. I think it speaks volumes of the reader, personally. Possibly to some pent-up racist tendencies of his own. “Nig” could just as well be short for “niggardly” giving the sticker a whole new meaning as a reference to a desire for increased government-originated economic stimulus. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/40 "2011-08-26T17:32:27Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > No, it’s just amazing how people are so much more polite when they feel like there might be consequences for their actions. > > -Joe You’ve lost me there. It appears to mean that someone isn’t tolerant and you don’t realize consequences. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167.md?page=3)