Saturday, March 03, 2012

Disappointing.

So, the other day my roommate did a post about the disturbing mindset behind that spittle-on-the-screen rant (and its cheering commenters) about how Republicans were the subhuman goat-raping source of all the evil on the planet, and how that "Two Minutes' Hate" mentality was an ill omen. It's no longer disagreeing with someone's positions, beliefs, or actions, but with their very existence; it's not a plan of attack, it's a scream of incoherent rage. It's the script of the fag-bashing, the lynch mob, the einsatzgruppen; the kind of othering that leads to the "group monkey dance".

Charles Hill at Dustbury linked to her post as his "Quote of the Day" and, perhaps unfortunately, opened it with a sentence containing the word "civility".

Bill Quick, proprietor of the blog Daily Pundit, apparently read the word "civility", bounced ahead to the word "pogrom" in the linked quote, threw his word processor into four-wheel-low, and mashed the gas on Standard Anti-Civility Rant #27. This despite the fact that nowhere in Bobbi's post are to be found the words "compromise", "civility" or... well, pretty much everything else that Bill was railing against.

Since Mr. Quick had lectured my roommate about not being afraid of deeply-held disagreements, she promptly had one with him, which was, to my way of thinking, entirely understandable. I mean, if I got swung at from left field by a complete stranger for things I hadn't even said, I'd probably be a bit miffed too.

In closing, since Mr. Quick is an author of Speculative Fiction, I would like to drop an appropriate quote by another writer in the same field:
"Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind, it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate--and quickly."
-R.A. Heinlein

14 comments:

Bubblehead Les. said...

Just did a long comment over at your Roomies, but how can one have "Civil Discourse" when the Other Side wants you to go into the Ovens? We make fun of it being the "Crazy Years," but there wasn't a Good Ending to them as I recall.

It's not looking Healthy out there.

JD Rush said...

Tam
He quoted you yesterday too. Right above a TTAG post.
http://www.dailypundit.com/2012/03/02/ruling-class-rinos-suckered/

Tam said...

JD Rush,

I know. I've never had any problems with Bill; I get a lot of linky-love from him, which was part of what made this sequence of events such a head-scratcher.

I can understand how he'd trigger pretty easily on certain topics, living as far behind enemy lines as he does...

CGHill said...

Apparently "civility" has been promoted (or demoted, depending on your perspective) to dog-whistle status: the connotations now exceed the original denotation. In which case, I plead guilty to temporary deafness.

Anonymous said...

I was starting to think I was seeing things because I read her post and saw "nothing" for which he should have ranted about. Perhaps the pressure of owning a Taurus "manly" gun is getting to him.

Reno Sepulveda said...

Can't we all just get along

NotClauswitz said...

In an attempt to illuminate the nearby corner of his world that I was familiar with I had a brief go-around with him that went substantially nowhere, while he insisted that what he heard I said was supporting what I had not said - it was essentially someone was Wrong on the Internet.

Roberta X said...

Yeah, he's a nitwit.

Cincinnatus said...

I had a run-in with Quick years ago. He's not a person with integrity in my mind. He's only got any attention because Glenn throws him links.

NotClauswitz said...

More than a nitwit, questionable judgment: he moved from gun-paradise Indiana and bought property in gun-hatin' California, in the most indefensible and seamy-of-nasty places: Bayview/Hunters-Point - just so's he could be in San Francisco?
So he could complain about the neighborhood being full of crack ho's, drunks and actual gang-bangers while listening to gunshots at night? Was tenement property in the Tenderloin among the heroin addicts and winos too expensive?
Or was he gonna do an edgy Speculative Fiction rap-album with Notorious B.I.G. or Tupac - was he there to hunt-down their killer?
I could understand if he was gay and bought tastefully into Noe Valley or the Upper Castro (but that requires big bucks), and yeh it's already a big cliche and all, but well gentrified by those with good taste, money, and few dependents - but it's still fault-line city of the Oh-So Hipper than Thou uber-Progressives.
It's like moving to today's Detroit because it's so urban chic and Woot-edgy! And besides, it's Gosh-Darn Inexpensive! Or the war-zone part of Boston...
As a local I simply have inverse respect. The logic is missing.

Alan J. said...

Regarding the original rant by Troubadour, which begins with "Murdering, Lying, Thieving, Rat-F***… you are garbage, and you are traitors." And then ends with, "...you are not welcome in this country anymore." I wonder if Troubadour can see or even detect the irony that arises when one simply replaces Troubadours' use of the word 'Republican' with...take your pick...Blacks, Hispanics, Indians, Jews, Catholics, Chinese, Italians or any other person, race or group that has ever been maligned or victimized simply because of who they are or what they believe.

Roberta's right, Troubadour's kind of rant should be challenged and held in contempt by everyone, and especially by those with the wit to understand what lies at the end of the road that Troubadour wants the country to travel.

Justthisguy said...

When crossing verbal swords with Miss X, one would be well-advised to have all his postulates and syllogisms lined up properly, and that might not even save him, if she takes a dislike to said postulates. I could have warned the guy.

Justthisguy said...

Heh. When I read "monkey dance", I immediately thought about Rory Miller, famously of Chirontraining.blogspot.com.

Sgt.(ret.) Miller is one of my favorite fellow half-aspies on the Web. He has made a life's work of studying how the normals act and the ways in which they are violent, and made a good and respected living as a jail guard controlling the violent normals.

I am a bit prejudiced here. When I think of a male neurotypical, I think of a thug, or bully, or sports-fan, or cop, or manager. When I think of a female neurotypical, I think of a silly bimbo who is sexually excited by high-status rich guys, and does not notice the perfectly-good normal steady guys who are all around her.

I have been fortunate enough in my life to have engaged with, both socially and physically (mucous membranes, etc.) some neurally-divergent wimmin, and we all had great fun.

The world needs more Aspichix!

MauserMedic said...

For the rest of my life, I will have trouble not smirking when middle management "negotiates" with each other, as I'll be think "monkey dance!".

One of the better examples of applied practical psychology I've seen, as compared to what passes for understanding behavior in most places these days.