# Sodomy is constitutional - AND STROM THURMOND DIES!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 27, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696 "2003-06-27T03:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/241 "2003-06-29T14:37:52Z")
I’m pretty sure he _does_ understand. But some assholes just enjoy bear baiting. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/242 "2003-06-29T14:41:21Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s the Monster Mash playing in the graveyard! Let’s go twist and shout! Let’s not. I am relieved and glad that Strom Thurmond, longtime racist and homophobe has died. As much as **[Scylla**, **Tars Tarkas** , **Dewey** and others wish us to mourn him, I will never do so. Thurmond’s legacy was one of a longtime support of institutionalized racism. He never recanted his views on race, although he had to hide them after blacks in SC got the vote. He continued to vote for anti-gay legislation, and I will never mourn anyone who sought to keep me a second-class citizen. Of all the posters who have chided me in this thread, **Dewey** is the only one who deprecated Strom’s racist, homophobic views. The man is dead, but it is grossly offensive to me that he should be treated as a dead hero, when he was nothing but a bigot and hatemonger his entire career. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/243 "2003-06-29T14:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*And if we had shown up at his funeral with signs celebrating his death, you’d be absolutely right. But expressions of relief at his death on a message board are not the same thing. That you do not understand this is perplexing. \*\* The expressions of some in this thread go well beyond relief. They amount to pep-rally-style cheering. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/244 "2003-06-29T14:47:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*As much as **[Scylla**, **Tars Tarkas** , **Dewey** and others wish us to mourn him, I will never do so. \*\* Please point out where anyone said you should mourn him, or say nice things about him, or otherwise praise the man. All we’ve suggested is that you not act like a drunken frat boy during Mardi Gras. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/245 "2003-06-29T14:55:24Z")
Excuse me, gobear? Look, it’s not a matter of Strom, it’s a matter of character. Yours. It’s… not the done thing, it’s just not correct to show glee over the death of another living being. At least, I feel that way. I can be pleased that he will no longer be an obstacle to enlightnment, that his age is over, but that he is dead… I really find that an uncouth thing to cheer. I hope you understand me… it’s not about him, it’s about what it shows about _you_. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/246 "2003-06-29T14:55:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Please point out where anyone said you should mourn him, or say nice things about him, or otherwise praise the man. What you have said repeatdly is you wish us to be silent, to maintain a respectful silence, in effect to act like mourners. And I refuse to to do so. All we’ve suggested is that you not act like a drunken frat boy during Mardi Gras. [/quote] And how is saying , “He’s dead, good!” anything like being a drunken frat boy during Mardi Gras? And you whooshed right over my post where I said that if John Lewis was ready to let it go, then so would I. I was ready to stop. Then **JD** and **Tars Tarkas** continued attacking me and that was that for dropping the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/247 "2003-06-29T15:09:04Z")
gobear: I don’t think you show show any respect for someone you don’t respect. That would be hypocritial. On the other hand, I do think that you shouldn’t demonstrate glee over someone’s death. That’s kind of creepy, to say the least. And it’s kind of inhuman. You can always hold him up (not literally, of course {speaking of creepy}) as an example of how someone shouldn’t have been when you continue to campaign against those who still think like he did. Be better than him. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/248 "2003-06-29T15:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I can be pleased that he will no longer be an obstacle to enlightnment, that his age is over, but that he is dead… I really find that an uncouth thing to cheer. What’s the difference? Hos death means that he is no longer an obvstacle to enlightenment, so we’re pleased about the same thing. But, judging by this thread, Strom’s age is not over. Not one pro-Strom poster even considered _why_ there have been expressionf of relief and gladness at Strom’s death. The “let Strom die with dignity” have entirely ignored the fact that Strom would not let us live in dignity. As long as you ignore the reasons why we feel as we do, as long as you treat the history of intolerance against gays and blacks as inconsequential compared to preserving Strom’s “dignity,” we have nothing to talk about. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/249 "2003-06-29T15:24:13Z")
To all that have criticized gobear and myself for being DAMN happy that Strom is Six Feet Under… you’ve made your points clear. I am not swayed. You can choose to be silent. I choose not to be. All the words of guilt, manipulatiion, and condemnation are going to have the same effect that Strom did in life: they piss me off and make me very consious to not bow down. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/250 "2003-06-29T15:29:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Sure I did; one less homophobe and racist to contend with. This is what kind of scares me. I mean, there are uncounted (okay, around six) billions of people whom I would not mourn if they died. Yeah, I’m a callous bastard. But anyway, just because I wouldn’t care if they died does not mean that I want them do die. It seems to me that there is a very long, shallow, sticky, but still going downwards slope from being happy that nature killed someone with whom I disagree to believing that the deaths of more of such people are not to be regretted. Example: one of my friends is a homophobe. He is quite open about the fact that he finds the concept of homosexuality rather icky. Would you be relieved at his death? Incidentally, I might add that my friend realizes that this is an incredibly stupid gut reaction of his, and is bang along full equal rights, etc. Basically, I’m wondering why there is so much vitrol at Strom. Is he being Pitted (sorry, but it’s an appropriate phase and I have no coffee) for holding his views, or for legislating them? And if it is for the legislature, can’t you (y’all) be happy he’s not legislating them anymore and leave it at that? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/251 "2003-06-29T15:29:06Z")
Only you can piss you off, Mockingbird. I am not pro-Strom. I am pro-human. I find it inhuman to take a morbid & macabre delight in someone’s death. You complain about Thurmond’s inhumanity to you and then display inhumanity yourself. Exactly how, then, are you different or better than he? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/252 "2003-06-29T16:05:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*Only you can piss you off, Mockingbird. > > I am not pro-Strom. > > I am pro-human. > > I find it inhuman to take a morbid & macabre delight in someone’s death. > > You complain about Thurmond’s inhumanity to you and then display inhumanity yourself. > > Exactly how, then, are you different or better than he? \*\* Others can lead one to feel very pissed off. Others can act as an external catalyst. Or do you have no responsibility for what you say? Y’know… I really do not give a shit what it supposedly says about my humanity. I am not Mother Theresa, I’m not Martin Luther King, and I am not Malcolm X. I do not have to be perfect every moment of my life and be a good role model. What I am being is very human. You and others want to quash that because your social over conditioning seems to take presidence. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/253 "2003-06-29T16:08:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*What you have said repeatdly is you wish us to be silent, to maintain a respectful silence, in effect to act like mourners. And I refuse to to do so. \*\* Virtually every mention of Thurmond’s death was accompanied by a recitation of his segregationist past. Showing a little class is not the same thing as refusing to acknowledge historical facts. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/254 "2003-06-29T16:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > **But, judging by this thread, Strom’s age is not over. Not one pro-Strom poster even considered _why_ there have been expressionf of relief and gladness at Strom’s death.** This is utterly and incontrovertibly false. No one in this thread is unaware of Thurmond’s past, and most have noted it in their comments. I also take exception to the “pro-Strom” label. Arguing for a little civility and dignity over a public figure’s passing is not the same thing as favoring that public figure or the policies he endorsed. ---
**Author:** ![DeskMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DeskMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeskMonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/255 "2003-06-29T16:17:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mockingbird \* > \*\*Others can lead one to feel very pissed off. Others can act as an external catalyst. Or do you have no responsibility for what you say? > > Y’know… I really do not give a shit what it supposedly says about my humanity. I am not Mother Theresa, I’m not Martin Luther King, and I am not Malcolm X. > > I do not have to be perfect every moment of my life and be a good role model. > > What I am being is very human. You and others want to quash that because your social over conditioning seems to take presidence. \*\* Fine. Then I don’t ever want to hear you complain about Fred Phelps again. He’s celebrating (and you did use the word “celebrating”) for the same reasons you are. He finds a certain type of behavior as despicable as you do. Just because you don’t agree on what that behavior is doesn’t make his contempt any less real than yours. He’s human, after all, and some humans just ain’t got no class. Let the man express his relief, maybe a little glee, that one more person who goes against his grain is dead. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/256 "2003-06-29T16:19:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > > * * * > > The Iraqis were cheering their liberation. You have received no benefit frm Strom’s death. > > \*\* > > I’ll ask you again. Did this happen to you? Because if it didn’t you have no more clue than you claim I do. \*\* Bull shit. I really see you far too often to be a spoiled brat with a very limited perspective telling others how their experiences are. I have had others attempt to sway me on a personal level that you aren’t the asshole I have thought you to be. Then you come forth with a pile of shit like this. Have I had cops come into my bedroom: no. Have I been treated by a different standard by cops: yes. When a former boyfriend and I were pulled over in Milwaukee, he couldn’t figure out what he had done. Not only did he take his liscence, the officer took mine. Then we sat there for 45 minutes while he “processed” them. Officers took longer to respond to calls for gay bars when they were needed. How did we guage that? By the straight bar across the street which got them right away. We saw the bartender’s come out to call the cops on a cell, and the response was rapid. There is not equal protection or response where police are concerned through out the country. That _is_ the police coming into my bedroom. The members of the police force that take their idea of what my sexual preference inmto account when they decide how to respond and treat me are coming into my bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/257 "2003-06-29T16:20:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeskMonkey \* > \*\*Fine. Then I don’t ever want to hear you complain about Fred Phelps again. He’s celebrating (and you did use the word “celebrating”) for the same reasons you are. He finds a certain type of behavior as despicable as you do. Just because you don’t agree on what that behavior is doesn’t make his contempt any less real than yours. He’s human, after all, and some humans just ain’t got no class. Let the man express his relief, maybe a little glee, that one more person who goes against his grain is dead. \*\* I don’t call for him to be silenced. So go fuck yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/258 "2003-06-29T16:23:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\*This is utterly and incontrovertibly false. No one in this thread is unaware of Thurmond’s past, and most have noted it in their comments. > > I also take exception to the “pro-Strom” label. Arguing for a little civility and dignity over a public figure’s passing is not the same thing as favoring that public figure or the policies he endorsed. \*\* Nah… you’re just pro control freak. You aren’t going to get your need for control met here. ---
**Author:** ![DeskMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DeskMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeskMonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/259 "2003-06-29T16:23:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mockingbird \* > \*\*I don’t call for him to be silenced. > \*\* Really? Well, you should. His behavior is downright despicable. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696/260 "2003-06-29T16:25:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeskMonkey \* > \*\*Really? Well, you should. His behavior is downright despicable. \*\* No, I shouldn’t. His ability to speak insures mine. He has spoken against my rights to speak and exist. I do not and have not spoken against his rights. Never have I spoken for him to be silenced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sodomy-is-constitutional-and-strom-thurmond-dies/184696.md?page=14)