Why does Aldebaran get so much stick?

[FinnAgain]

@ZombiesAteMyBrain

I would then suggest that perhaps 99% of all Christians should condemn Bush’s genocide of the Iraqi people - which he has said is done on his God’s instructions. Then perhaps we would see fewer dead Iraqi civilians.

To the extent that Bush uses religion to justify bombing, then yes, Christians should denounce him. Especially since the Muslim world thinks that we’re waging a ‘crusade’ (gee, wonder why they think that…)

then again, if this article is correct (I haven’t taken steps to verify it), the Pope thinks Shrub is the anti-Christ

…"God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.

Yep, that’s the thought-pattern of a lunatic.

Personally I think that Christians in this country should vote Shrubco out of office for taking God’s name in vain in order to justify a war-of-choice-for-profit. But that’s just me.

[Creative_Munster]

Hey, Liberal, why do you expect every Muslim to apologize for the terrorists, and Aldebaran in particular? Why are you demanding that every Muslim scream from the rooftops and flagellate themselves for what terrorists have done?
No matter what you write, this is the type of response you are going to get. It doesn’t matter if it has anything to do with what you wrote.

[ZombiesAteMyBrain]

@FinnAgain

To the extent that Bush uses religion to justify bombing, then yes, Christians should denounce him. Especially since the Muslim world thinks that we’re waging a ‘crusade’ (gee, wonder why they think that…)

At the risk of being obvious - perhaps because Bush, Cheney and their minions have used the word ‘crusade’ so often to describe this war … they aren’t at all shy about it.

Yep, that’s the thought-pattern of a lunatic.

I found the following quote pretty scary - in the context in which it was spoken

Apparently he talked to the wrong father. Reports Woodward and 60 Minutes:

**Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? “I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, ‘Well no,’ and then he got defensive about it,” says Woodward. “And then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, ‘He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.’ And then he said, ‘There’s a higher father that I appeal to.’” **
Perhaps Bush believes that he has a pipeline to God, that he can ask God for advice about which wars to launch. By all accounts, however, his real father"the earthly one, not the imaginary one in the sky"was against the war. Or, perhaps Bush mixed up God and Dick Cheney. Woodward makes it startlingly clear that Cheney was the driving force behind the Iraq misadventure. But for Bush, war in Iraq wasn’t Cheney’s will, it was God’s:

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10267

Personally I think that Christians in this country should vote Shrubco out of office for taking God’s name in vain in order to justify a war-of-choice-for-profit. But that’s just me.

Careful, FinnAgain, by saying such a thing you could be seen, like Aldebaran, as, not just disagreeing with the word of POTUS, but also as going against the word of God himself [as revealed to GWB].

[duffer]

@Aldebaran

Now I’m wondering how on earth I could overlook this pearl of duffer-wisdom

Care to back this up, you lying insect?

Since you can’t back up this stupid yet still disgusting attempt to spread such vile and disgusting lies about me, I suggest you read carefully the following quote from the thread ** SDMB registration agreement as of 3/24/04.**

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247049

Salaam. A

Wow! I guess you put me in my place! You’re trying to make a point with the rules of the SDMB while violating said rules in the fucking quote you use?

<defamatory, innacurate, abusive, hateful,

[duffer]

Hit submit too soon from another window, but you get my point. You violated every fucking rule you quoted in your post. I hated you a few months ago, but realized you might have had a different posting style. I let it slide (hell, there are posts rjung,** Reeder ** and **lissener ** have made that I agree with), thinking you were giving a Muslim viewpoint that didn’t involve wanting to kill my Pugs. Obviously I was at fault for affording you such a concession.

I wanted to think you were back with a new way of posting your Pro-Muslim, anything- goes type of style, but apparently not. I really wanted to jump to your defense based on what your recent posts were.

Based on you pretty much trying to call me a t****, go fuck yourself.

[Desmostylus]

@duffer

Based on you pretty much trying to call me a t****, go fuck yourself.

He actually pretty much tried to call you a “lying insect”. In fact, now that I look back, I see that he explicitly did you a “lying insect”. The best defense against that would be to show that you were not, in fact, lying. Oh, and maybe post a photo that shows you look nothing like this.

[Liberal]

@Creative_Munster

Hey, Liberal, why do you expect every Muslim to apologize for the terrorists, and Aldebaran in particular? Why are you demanding that every Muslim scream from the rooftops and flagellate themselves for what terrorists have done?
No matter what you write, this is the type of response you are going to get. It doesn’t matter if it has anything to do with what you wrote.

You are obviously correct.

[Liberal]

@EddyTeddyFreddy

And if a murder is committed by a middle-aged Caucasian New Englander, must I rise up in righteous wrath and condemn all middle-aged Caucasian New Englanders who commit murder, or be taken to tacitly support their actions?

If the murder is one of countless worldwide murders, bombings, and kidnappings by a worldwide network of terrorists who claim each and every fucking time to be fighting the cause of Middle-aged Caucasian New Englanders, then you bet your sweet ass you must rise up in righteous wrath and condemn them. Otherwise, you’re a public relations idiot, not mention a black-hearted human being.

[duffer]

@Desmostylus

He actually pretty much tried to call you a “lying insect”. In fact, now that I look back, I see that he explicitly did you a “lying insect”. The best defense against that would be to show that you were not, in fact, lying. Oh, and maybe post a photo that shows you look nothing like this.

Aren’t you just too sweet?!

I’d get pissed over your posts, but I’ve grown to learn to be slightly amused by them.

I do have to thank you though, for making me better equipped to hit the SDMB threads knowing I’m not the biggest idiot here.

[Aldebaran]

@Ilsa_Lund

Those are all threads you have started about politics.

I didn’t look at all these links, but even if some of them go about politics, it has nothing to do with what I refer to in my reply on the remark

@Colophon

Note to SDMB as a whole: Aldebaran is not a spokesperson for the Muslim world. He doesn’t make policy

However - and since you never came across as a half-lunatic to me - I suppose you know that well enough. (If not: try some reading glasses and then read again what Colophon posted and my reply to that post).
Salaam. A

[Bruce_Daddy]

@Aldebaran

I didn’t look at all these links, but even if some of them go about politics, it has nothing to do with what I refer to in my reply on the remark

WHAT?

Salami. B

[FinnAgain]

@ZombiesAteMyBrain

At the risk of being obvious - perhaps because Bush, Cheney and their minions have used the word ‘crusade’ so often to describe this war … they aren’t at all shy about it.

yah… sorry… there’s no sarcasm tag, but I know, that was part of my point.

[kaylasdad99]

@Bruce_Daddy

WHAT?

Salami. B

I would be nice if some people didn’t feel a need to demonstrate their sophistication by offering only oblique follow-ups.*

Aldebaran stated above that he tries to stay out of politics. It’s not a huge intellectual leap to infer that he means, in the real world, he avoids political activity, and politically-charged situations. This is not inconsistent with posting his own perspective in political-themed threads on this message board.

*And as long as I’m making wishes. can I get anyone a pony? Not you, ETF, don’t get greedy. How about a Rocky Road pie?

[ZombiesAteMyBrain]

@Jeff Olsen

I’m not sure but I think he’s referring to the 11-year-old Human Bomb thread.

I read through that thread, and it seemed to me that there was some confusion about what really happened with that bomb, and that Aldebaran was speculating, as were others, about differing reports. This was followed by accusations that Aldebaran supported suicide bombers [something I didn’t see in the thread] and some personal insults against him. For example

And just looking at the names on the posts and the quoted exerpts, I can see the obvious commentator has shown up to defend the indefensible.
Why people insist on engaging in dialogue with fecal matter is beyond me.

I don’t see where in that thread that comment is justified, as I can’t find the part where Aldebaran “defends the indefensible”. Perhaps someone could point it out?
On pretty much any thread that he posts on [that I have seen] someone posts some insult or other. Is it because he is an Arab?

[CLedet]

[QUOTE=Creative_Munster]
Hey, Liberal, why do you expect every Muslim to apologize for the terrorists, and Aldebaran in particular? Why are you demanding that every Muslim scream from the rooftops and flagellate themselves for what terrorists have done?

Here’s a start.

[asrivkin]

Why does Aldeberan inspire so much ill will? Easy:

1. He takes offense at the slightest provocation, or indeed at no provocation at all (for instance, post #25 in the thread http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255994 or #11 in http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=232722).

2. He claims to be the last word on any number of issues both related to the EU and ME, and has never deferred to anybody who might actually know better. This ties in to the “My post is my cite” attitude.

3. He does not respond when contradictory evidence is not on his side (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4444566#post4444566 and following), either ignoring the evidence, moving the goalposts, or claiming that those disagreeing with him should “start another thread”.

4. Most aggravatingly, from my personal point of view, is that every freaking thread he enters ends up centering on him as a result of the previous three points. Instead of discussing the original topic, it degenerates into Aldeberan complaining about Americans, how bloodthirsty we are and how we’re trying to force him to buy objects with subliminal Christian messages on them, or how disgusting it is that we apparently commemorate American dead from September 11 while “disregarding” non-Americans ( http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=275497).

That is a small taste of why Aldebaran gets the reaction he does.

[peri]

@duffer

Based on you pretty much trying to call me a t****, go fuck yourself.

You fucking hypocrite.

[El_Kabong]

Hear, hear, asrivkin; that’s the best summary I’ve seen yet as to what makes Alde so infuriating to some of the people around here. I used to think he was the biggest asshole on these boards, but then I realized that would probably be me :D. Actually, for some reason, I now find his posts mostly hilarious rather than annoying.

Now I just think of him as the Angriest Man in the World, glowering over his computer screen as he composes his next enraged screed in an Internet Cafe in Abu Dhabi or some such place. Or maybe he’s the SDMB’s very own Emily Litella, forever getting the wrong end of the stick in any conversation, flying completely off the handle for no apparent reason, and turning 95% of the threads he posts to into instant trainwrecks. The only thing missing is the plaintive “Never mind” at the end.

[Jackmannii]

@Dead Badger

harmless Muslims.

But of course…Band Name!

[Evil_Captor]

I think part of the reason Aldeberan gets so much stick is that although he has in fact evolved into a poster who can communicate clearly and rationally on matters relating to Islam (most of the time) to many of us his words represent an attempt to put a civilized mask over extremely uncivilized behavior.

I know that besides Aldeberan there are many thoughtful and civilized Muslims in the world who hate terrorism as much as or more than we do. But there are many, many more Muslims who secretly, and sometimes not-so-secretly (who can forget those videos of Arabs dancing joyfully in the streets after 9/11?) support terrorism. While we are willing to debate Aldeberan and others in the manner they deserve, it’s hard not to forget all the violence – almost invariably directed at the innocent – that Muslim terrorists employ, and the attitude of many Muslims that this is a just and good thing. Explanations or apologies for such behavior, no matter how civil or rational, tend not to go very far.