It’s a pretty short list that encompasses a whole big bunch of people:
There are some liberals that would paint all conservatives as anti-gay, fundie right-wing Christian people who hate almost everything. Those people make my skin crawl. There are some conservatives who paint all liberals as lazy, evil, government-tit-sucking bums. Those people make my skin crawl too.
But I’m not John Kerry*, and therefore didn’t say that.
Seriously speaking, I admit it was very close to the line, but the distinction is that I used the subjunctive in order not to address it directly to you (arguably), whereas you did fire back at me directly.
*Or AM I!?? Who can tell?
Am I the only one who enjoys the irony of Razorsharp’s chosen screen name?
Granted, I’m neither shocking nor named Alberto, but I certainly make no claims to surprise any of you or drag you down to Mardi Gras, as someone named Alberto likely would do.
I think my absolute favorite part of this thread, other than the wonderful mischaracterizations, the false assumptions and the fake indignity shown by Razorsharp, is the complete lack of attention he’s getting. He’s managed to spew his bullshit rhetoric all over the forums, he’s inspired several Pit threads, and everyone’s done just a fantastic job of casually dismissing him as the annoyance he is.
Well done everyone. This is exactly how posters like Razorsharp need to be treated.
Eh, I personally don’t care how much attention he gets, one way or another; it’s not like he’s the only attention whore on this board. I’d be a bit more worried if legions of Dopers were for some inexplicable reason rising to the defence of his hideously poor debating skills, but really, he’s just another crackpot with an obscure, and apparently impossible to coherently articulate, axe to grind.
My only questions are these:
What exactly is a liberal, as Razorsharp defines the term? I ask because from the man’s own writings, the only useful definition seems to be “anyone who happens to disagree with anything Razorsharphas ever posted, for any reason.”
Why does Razorsharp always assume that anyone who disagrees with his rantings is a ‘liberal’ (by whatever definition hes uses) and does so purely on ideological groundds?
As for his list of intolerances:
As Razorsharp is well-known for pointing out what he deems liberal hypocricies, yet completely ignores those of conservatives, I submit this makes him a bit of a hypocrite himself.
Pardon me if I find this not to be the most important of all issues. Personally, I beleive unbuttered toast is the scourge of the nation. Heed my call to arms.
Sorry, haven’t clue what this means. Specifics, please.
I breathlessly await Razorsharp’s ringing denunciations of Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity for their tireless efforts to influence the recent election.
Huh? Are you annoyed that the free press is a little too free, letting them editorialize on political issues? I don’t see the conflict in the statement, let alone cause for intolerance.
Not nearly as much as I enjoyed your ol’ lady bearing her breasts to me uptown on the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Lyons, although there was a bit of body oder that did somewhat taint the experience for me.
Poor debating skills? Impossible to articulate? This from someone that ain’t got the sense to realize that Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter are not officially part of what is recognized as the press. Yeah, I see why you are consistantly befuddled.
Hey look, I’ve been upfront about my objective being the goring of liberal sacred cows.
Well, here’s the kicker: I wasn’t watching CBS when they played the original story and I only heard about the story after the scandal broke and apologies flew. Nobody was forcing me to watch CBS and even if I had been, nobody was forcing me to believe it. Was somebody forcing you to watch or believe something? If not, then why assume some or many of your fellow Americans are less able to distinguish reality than yourself?
CBS screwed up, to be sure. In a quest for ratings, they rushed a story (which even if true, seems pretty trivial 30 years later). If you have a specific hate-on for CBS, by my guest. When you start suggesting that maybe the “free press” shouldn’t actually be quite so “free” when it comes to elections is when you and I start to have a fairly profound disagreement.
Of course, I concluded long ago that you were an asshole, so I don’t expect either of us to lose any sleep over the disagreement.
Thing about that is, neither did John Kerry say it. That was a quote that you fabricated under the guise of John Kerry saying it. So, it really is attributed to you.
I was wondering where that master list of Members of The Press went. Although I’m betting your copy has the word “Liberal” written in crayon next to every name.
I am curious, though, about what exactly counts as being “officially part of what is recognized as the press”.
I’ll tell you what an asshole is, it’s one who takes someone else’s words and twists them into something that was never implied.
And we do have a profound disagreement if you think the press should be free to manipulate and fabricate the reporting of events to favor a particular political party, candidate or agenda.
Oh, wow, that old “Liberal Media” chestnut. I haven’t heard that one in a while. I’m sure you’ve got all kinds of evidence for that, of course.
We can take care of the CBS one right away:
Bryan Ekers got it pretty much right. They’re in it for the money, and instead they got a made-up story and a free crucifixion from their fellow members that are “officially part of what is recognized as the press”. Now, you got something else, or are you just going to scream bloody murder about castrating Dan Rather?
Indeed, it was a hypothetical scenario. Were I X, then Y.
I would have lost the exchange were I not to understand the subjunctive. Something you would do well to look up before you make a further show of your lack of intellect and knowledge.
Well, Jack, you HAD an opportunity to clarify your postion, but your response opened with:
I don’t see how my original question in and of itself (about your putting the phrase “free press” in quotes, which implied to me that the adjective “free” doesn’t or shouldn’t apply, prompting me to ask for a clarification), though I can safely assume that some past conversations of ours have demonstrated the existence of a less-than-loving interaction.
Well, “the press” is hardly a monolithic entity under some central control. Within “the press” are numerous competing reporters, newspapers, magazines, TV networks, etc. and yes they should be free to report what they want. You can argue that they’re “manipulating” the public to follow editorial policy (though I think their first and foremost goal has always been better ratings and revenue) but I disagree that fabrication is an accepted or normal part of the process. When it is uncovered, there are routine retractions, apologies, firings, etc.
Before you expect to be taken seriously, I’d like to see some proposed reforms for “the press” that would apply equally to all journalists (including Hannity and Coultier) and what problems you expect these reforms to solve. It simply isn’t enough that somebody wth a different political agenda than yours pissed you off.