About "Whataboutism"

[B_J 2,752]

Many things are complicated—but not everything. If you condemned the Antifa/Black Lives Matter violence that took place around the country in 2020, as all conservatives did, then you must condemn the Trumpist riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Period.

Suppose, however, you spent last summer applauding the riots, or dissembling about them, or dismissing them. In that case, to deplore last week’s violence credibly is not so simple. If you demand that your political adversaries adhere to a principle, but exempt people whose cause you endorse from having to comply, then that preference you enjoy boasting about is not really a principle. It is not a standard of conduct applicable to all, in other words, but just another rhetorical device used for political combat.

https://www.city-journal.org/about-whataboutism-and-political-hypocrisy

[Dashinka 24,594]

I always admire Dr. Sowell and this seems to dovetail with the above.

 

Is Truth Irrelevant?

By Dr. Thomas Sowell

 

It is amazing how many people seem to have discovered last Wednesday that riots are wrong — when many of those same people apparently had not noticed that when riots went on, for weeks or even months, in various cities across the country last year.

For too many people, especially in the media, what is right and wrong, true or false, depends on who it helps or hurts politically. Too many media people who are supposed to be reporters act as if they are combatants in political wars.

Someone once said that, in a war, truth is the first casualty. That has certainly been so in the media — and in much of academia as well.

 

https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/21/is-truth-irrelevant

[B_J 2,752]

Dr. Sowell is one of those rare people that I truly admire.  

[spookyturtle 9,466]

41 minutes ago, B_J said:

Dr. Sowell is one of those rare people that I truly admire.  

Besides me. 

[B_J 2,752]

Just now, spookyturtle said:

Besides me. 

Well, yeah, of course.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

2 minutes ago, B_J said:

Well, yeah, of course.

 

How have you been? I hope all is well with you and your family.

[B_J 2,752]

Doing good, no complaints at all.  Been on VJ a little lately since current events have been so exciting/crazy.

 

Everything good with you?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

1 minute ago, B_J said:

Doing good, no complaints at all.  Been on VJ a little lately since current events have been so exciting/crazy.

 

Everything good with you?

Things have been good for me. I’ve been on VJ a bit recently too. It’s nice to see a few people still here from the good old days. 

[B_J 2,752]

The newer people seem to be pretty nice. 

 

The older ones all seem rather cranky.  

[spookyturtle 9,466]

3 minutes ago, B_J said:

The newer people seem to be pretty nice. 

 

The older ones all seem rather cranky.  

Probably because we’re old now. 

[Orangesapples 1,954]

It's dishonest to pretend that attempting to murder or abduct democratically elected officials that are certifying a democratic election is similar to a regular root. What the idiots storming the Capitol did was not just a violent act against certain individuals, it was an assault on democracy. I'm sorry, but wanting to hang the vice president and abduct the speaker of the House is not remotely similar to rioting in a city. All violence is unacceptable but trying to overthrow the will of the people using deadly force is unprecedented in modern US history 

[B_J 2,752]

I'm not sure what a regular riot is but there were riots this summer that were extremely violent.  Setting fire to a police care while an officer was inside.  Attempting to use quick dry cement to trap officers in the station while setting it on fire.  It's hard to imagine something more violent than an attempt to burn someone alive.  And it shouldn't matter if the victims were elected officials, police, or an ordinary citizen.  

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

20 minutes ago, B_J said:

I'm not sure what a regular riot is but there were riots this summer that were extremely violent.  Setting fire to a police care while an officer was inside.  Attempting to use quick dry cement to trap officers in the station while setting it on fire.  It's hard to imagine something more violent than an attempt to burn someone alive.  And it shouldn't matter if the victims were elected officials, police, or an ordinary citizen.  

They also seized parts of cities, violently instituted "autonomous zones", attacking police whenever they came around, violently attacking journalists, and so on.

 

They forcefully entered a City Hall, tried to burn down courthouses with people inside.

 

But you know, "regular riot". What a croc.

 

These were the very people quiet about Antifa, when not playing games about it, and the only rational conclusion one can come to is they agree with it, actions speak so much louder than mere words. Bill was spot on when referring to it as "pearl clutching".. I have much harsher words for it.

Edited January 13, 2021 by Burnt Reynolds

[Ban Hammer 13,403]

1 hour ago, Orangesapples said:

It's dishonest to pretend that attempting to murder or abduct democratically elected officials that are certifying a democratic election is similar to a regular root.

so that would be an irregular riot then?

[Orangesapples 1,954]

1 hour ago, B_J said:

I'm not sure what a regular riot is but there were riots this summer that were extremely violent.  Setting fire to a police care while an officer was inside.  Attempting to use quick dry cement to trap officers in the station while setting it on fire.  It's hard to imagine something more violent than an attempt to burn someone alive.  And it shouldn't matter if the victims were elected officials, police, or an ordinary citizen.  

It's not just about the violence, which is always wrong. It's about the assault on democracy. A mass shooting is horrific for example but it's not a coup. 

 

But an assault on elected officials is not about the individuals affected (I'm not going to cry over Mike Pence for example). It's an assault on the will of the people who elected them. This is how dictatorships start. You can't have a functioning democracy if elected leaders are violently removed. It's even worse that the assault happened because the mob wanted Congress to overturn the results of a democratic election. This is crossing a very serious line that I honestly never thought would be crossed in the US. I'm glad the coup failed but the fact that insurgents could get inside the building is horrifying. 

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Orangesapples