Re: Idiotic Post on RowingIllustrated.com

On Jun 4, 4:12 pm, KC <kc_s...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl Douglas wrote:
KC wrote:
<Silliness snipped>

I care not how many inanimate objects you list that you don't like.  
In fact it's kind of further insulting that you classify your dislike
of French and Americans on the same level as your dislike for coconuts
and raisins in cereal.

But wasn't it Americans who castigated France for being populated by

Yes Carl, it was - every single individual American did that.  You
should hate us all.  :-/

"cheese-eating surrender-monkeys" & made a huge thing over what normal
folk call simply "chips" & Americans (whose PR people never use 1
syllable when 2 or more will do) used to call "French fries" but now for
some peculiar reason (but it has 3 syllables) call "freedom fries"?  How
d'you get free by eating chips?

There's one restaurant chain, to which I used to like to go once in a
while when I wanted a good burger & shake 50's style, that *still* has
fries labeled as "freedom fries" on its menu.  I haven't been to Johnny
Rockets since they changed it.  Mel's Dinner is better anyway.







Of course, all nations do the similarly bigoted things - we Brits have
never yet forgiven France for re-taking Calais, speaking French & being
on t'other side of the Channel, & modern British bigots resent modern
Germans for nastiness long past.  BTW, I don't hear too many kind
mentions here about the Boston tea party.  And as for nearby UK-resident
Americans celebrating 4 July by letting off fireworks - Grrrr!

  Most normal (non-bigoted) humans find it distasteful
and offensive when people classify an entire race or ethnicity or
country of FELLOW HUMANS as a target for disdain.

But, as above, that's what we all of us do.  And there are still an
awfully large number of white Americans (& white Brits) who, deep down
or on the surface, still think a blacker skin means you feel less pain
than them.

Indeed that's true, and it should be the duty of every open-minded human
to publicly censure such ideology so that gradually, the concept that
such opinions are okay for anyone to have is eroded away into a past not
unlike the Boston Tea Party - i.e. we know of it only from textbooks.

Racist white Americans, while they still exist, must now-a-days keep
their views largely secret, if they want to operate and succeed in our
modern society.  There was a time when the reverse was true: if you were
NOT racist, you had to keep that opinion largely secret, else you be
labeled a "Ni**er lover" and have a hard time getting any business done
in this country.

I think that's progress.  It's slow progress -too slow- but progress
nonetheless.  One way to continue that progress, one way to not slow
that progress, is to be intolerant of intolerance.  A necessary irony,
if you will.

Yesterday as we were making dinner, I turned on the TV to watch
Jeopardy, our dinner-time ritual.  Instead we were greeted with live
news coverage that for the first time in our nation's history, a black
man has been (presumptively) nominated for the office of the President
of the USA.  What a wonderful moment.  I pray that he goes all they way
and wins the general election.

I actually voted for McCain when he last ran for Prez in the 2000
primary.  I admire him, and think he would be a drastic improvement over
the current Prez (not hard to do - my dog Stinson could do a better job
that W., at least Stinson listens when people say something to him.)
But despite the fact that my politics are now more in line with Obama's
than McCain's, I hope Obama wins for reasons other than his policies.  I
hope his election also serves as another slap in the face of bigotry.

Best way to progress past bigotry is to laugh it off, war being far too
costly these days.

That's one of the most contradictory statements I've ever seen.  Yes,
war *is* too costly.  But if we only "laugh off" bigotry, and not face
it head on, and stop it when & where we can, we only enable it to
continue.  Why don't you just laugh off Caustic and his statements?  Why
are you so passionate about buoyancy in boats?  Why do you carry that
torch?  Make your boats buoyant and keep to yourself, the rest is not
your problem, you've done your part with your boats: your conscience can
be clear.  Is that true?  I don't think so.

A lot more people have been killed or hurt by bigotry than by sinking
boats (especially rowing shells), I think.

Imagine this attitude: "hahaha - oh that Osama, such a maverick.  Leave
him be... he's of no consequence.  MOST people do not agree with him...
so no need to worry about his crazy ideas."  Oh, whoops.  Now we're at
war.  And why?  Not only because of OBL's bigotry, but because of our
own as well.  Hate breeds hate.  It's a viscous cycle and I can't stand
it, and I'll call it out when I see it.  We're now at war in a country
who didn't even do anything to us, just because we were so hateful and
vengeful that we needed to lash out.  God bless the French for keeping a
level head.  Too bad we didn't listen.  (Too bad Rumsfeld's ego and will
were bigger and stronger than W's, but that's another topic.)

-KC



btw have you had your blood pressure checked recently? it might be a
little high right now, just a thought

I'm cool as a cucumber: 113/67 @ HR50 just yesterday in fact.  You?

Now that's what I like to hear!

Cheers -
Carl- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

what a viscous cycle? is it a big wheel make of really gooey sticky
stuff like treacle?

yours, A Pedant

ps carl, I always chuckle whenever my mum tells me how much she hates
the english (she still comes back here for dental treatment and free
eye tests) and she laughs when I tell her how much the french annoy me
whenever i go there by not learning to speak english properly like
good, well mannered people. FYI she is french. anyway if we can both
laugh it off and not give a crap and get over each others personal
likes and dislikes then why can't everyone else? i suppose you could
say we are both tolerant of each other's 'intolerance' or something
like that.
.

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