# Stupid liberal idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 20, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086 "2011-04-20T15:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 242
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4821 "2016-06-19T05:05:56Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > She still comes across as a flake, but without all the OMG RACE ACTIVIST bullshit. Did you watch the whole video? She is a race activist. Unless you think that BLM isn’t racial activism. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4822 "2016-06-19T05:19:54Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > On the other hand, if you interpret the 2nd as extremely broadly as you seem to do, it takes away _my_ rights, as touch upon by “_… insure domestic Tranquility … and secure the Blessings of Liberty …_” in the preamble. The society that gundamentalists crave conflicts with the society that I would prefer, how should we reach accord? To I have to slaughter gun nuts in order to eventually start to feel safe? Because if I threaten their guns, I expect they will be eventually inclined to use them to silence me. > > Also, one might consider the context of the amendment, not, as has been done to death, in terms of the difference in weapons technology, but in terms of availability. A decent musket would have cost you $10~15. An actual rifle 4 to 5 times that. Most Americans would struggle to set aside that kind of money. There were gunsmiths, not so much store shelves loaded with affordable guns. So, in terms of keeping the Second in sync with the times, the aspect of trade is a nontrivial consideration. > > I mean, the Second Amendment very well may protect my right to have SAMs, hand grenades or thermonuclear bombs, but it certainly does not protect my right to get my hands on those kinds of things in the first place. Much less sell them. This isn’t a judicial opinion, but my interpretation is that you have a right to arms commensurate with the threats an average citizen is likely to face. The actual case law is that we have a right to gun ownership, but what kind is left up to the government, within reason. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4823 "2016-06-19T06:20:57Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Did you watch the whole video? She is a race activist. Unless you think that BLM isn’t racial activism. :rolleyes: Gosh, do you mean the kind of person who goes around suggesting that racial justice has yet to arrive? Whatever shall we do about people like that, **D’an**? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4824 "2016-06-20T04:18:15Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Gosh, do you mean the kind of person who goes around suggesting that racial justice has yet to arrive? Whatever shall we do about people like that, **D’an**? And injecting racist politics into a memorial service will achieve her goals? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4825 "2016-06-20T05:30:45Z")
You defined her by her political advocacy, and nothing more. If you meant to criticize people with no sense of civil boundaries and appropriate behavior, perhaps you should have added that detail. For many people, a “racial activist” is not inherently a bad thing. Me, for one. If we differ on that… if for you the term is, by definition, a pejorative… perhaps you’ll explain why. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4826 "2016-06-20T05:41:43Z")
**’luci** , if you expect _anything_ in the way of anything honest and direct from **D’an** , you’re fucking fooling yourself ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4827 "2016-06-20T08:08:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Well, that’s not totally true, you can ban certain classes of devices, but only if equally effective self-defense devices are available. Diamond-studded guns are as effective as guns without the studs, so could we ban the latter? That would help ensure that the “wrong kind of people” don’t acquire guns. 😛 And now five political threads with “gun” in the title have been taken over by the Only Issue That Matters in U.S. Politics. If the guy with short fingers and funny yellow hair wins in November, we already know what his winning issue would be. Hint:It’s that long hard thing much admired by men with short fingers that shoots pellets of surrogate sperm and makes women moan. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4828 "2016-06-20T13:13:55Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > … injecting racist politics … It’s harder when you’re stupid. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4829 "2016-06-20T19:13:51Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > … If the guy with short fingers and funny yellow hair wins in November, we already know what his winning issue would be… “Winning” or “whining”? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4830 "2016-06-20T19:36:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > If we differ on that… if for you the term is, by definition, a pejorative… perhaps you’ll explain why. “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” –Some Chief Justice or someone. :rolleyes: In my opinion, “racial activism” doesn’t help, it hinders. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4831 "2016-06-20T20:13:07Z")
Have they something legitimate to bitch about? Or, to put it more politely, to assemble to petition for a redress of grievances? Racism is over? When did that happen? Because if it isn’t, then, seems to me, that the people thus burdened have every right to complain. You disagree? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4832 "2016-06-20T20:57:37Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Have they something legitimate to bitch about? Or, to put it more politely, to assemble to petition for a redress of grievances? Racism is over? When did that happen? Because if it isn’t, then, seems to me, that the people thus burdened have every right to complain. You disagree? Certainly, they have a right to assemble. But the rest of us have the right to point out that her grievances, such as they are, are overwrought. “I’m afraid of white people” doesn’t add anything to the political conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4833 "2016-06-20T20:59:47Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Certainly, they have a right to assemble. But the rest of us have the right to point out that her grievances, such as they are, are overwrought. > > “I’m afraid of white people” doesn’t add anything to the political conversation. Unlike the white people who complain about their fear of white people? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4834 "2016-06-20T21:35:27Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > “I’m afraid of white people” doesn’t add anything to the political conversation. Yeah, because that’s the sum total of their message. I admit that _some_ of the claims made by _some_ BLM activists sometimes lack nuance, but then i see your posts, which make the activists look like classical philosophers by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4835 "2016-06-20T22:10:46Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > her grievances, such as they are, are overwrought. How do you know? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4836 "2016-06-20T22:17:36Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Yeah, because that’s the sum total of their message. > > I admit that _some_ of the claims made by _some_ BLM activists sometimes lack nuance “I was really nervous to get up here because there’s a lot of white people in the crowd, and that wasn’t a joke”. Lacks nuance? That’s your strongest criticism? The nuance ship has sailed, with her remarks. Presumably, the young lady didn’t grow up in an hermetically sealed bubble. Someone–her parents, family, church, teachers, professors, or even media taught her that nonsense. But people will defend her because she’s supposedly making a “larger point”. Nah! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4837 "2016-06-20T22:20:04Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > How do you know? More importantly, why does he care? It’s the very definition of recreational outrage to be upset about something that doesn’t affect him. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4838 "2016-06-30T06:50:22Z")
Ok, I consider this genuinely stupid. I get e-mails from a well known environmental group. One of the more recent ones had a heart-wrenching story of a grizzly cub hit by a car and the mother bear cradling her dying young one. But then they said that there are only 700 grizzlies left in Yellowstone, down from 100,000. What? There used to be a hundred thousand grizzly bears in Yellowstone? Sorry, no, I am not believing it. The area around Yellowstone for a hundred mile radius might be able to support three or four thousand grizzlies, but a hundred thousand sounds entirely ridiculous. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2016, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4839 "2016-06-30T08:02:24Z")
At first guess I suspect the 100,000 figure covers a wider area - perhaps the whole country, or the whole world - and someone muddled it up somewhere. But yeah - there’d be piles o’grizzlies everywhere at that density. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/4840 "2016-06-30T15:48:29Z")
Today’s update for this thread: > **[Teacher Calls Police After Third-Grader's 'Racist Brownie' Comment](https://patch.com/new-jersey/collingswood/third-graders-racist-brownie-comment-prompts-police-response-new-jersey)** > > Parents say teachers are too quick to call police to handle routine classroom behavioral issues. > **[Why police were called to a South Jersey third-grade class party](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/education/20160629_Why_police_were_called_to_a_South_Jersey_third_grade_class_party.html)** > > On June 16, police were called to an unlikely scene: an end-of-the-year class party at the William P. Tatem Elementary School in Collingswood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086.md?page=241) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086.md?page=243)