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Post by celawson on Feb 21, 2019 10:56:03 GMT -5
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Post by Optimus on Feb 21, 2019 12:31:52 GMT -5
I'm patiently awaiting the "Smollett has been struggling with mental illness and depression" story from Smollett's lawyers. And I think faking this sort of stuff should maybe be more of a crime, but I'm not sure if that's feasible. Beyond that, I was actually impressed by the number of people who doubted Smollett from the get-go or at least withheld judgment. I was surprised by a number of posts of this sort on FB from people (left-leaning people, to be sure) who, well, tend toward outrage. I'm waiting for the "okay, yeah he lied, but it was to illustrate a larger point..." or "...but it speaks to the larger issue created by Trump and Pence..." types of explanations. There will be some who will make excuses for him no matter what, and view him as some sort of heroic martyr no matter what.
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Post by Vince524 on Feb 21, 2019 12:45:13 GMT -5
I can't link it here, but KC Johnson pointed out how Kristin Gillabrand is holding off commenting now until the facts are in, while she had no issue commenting before when the case first appeared.
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Post by Vince524 on Feb 21, 2019 12:57:23 GMT -5
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Post by Optimus on Feb 21, 2019 13:07:19 GMT -5
I can't link it here, but KC Johnson pointed out how Kristin Gillabrand is holding off commenting now until the facts are in, while she had no issue commenting before when the case first appeared. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, who both immediately and breathlessly tweeted how this was a "modern day lynching" and it was evidence that Congress should pass Booker's anti-lynching legislation (because lynching is such a huge, modern day problem, I guess) are now suddenly saying that they're "waiting on more facts to come out" before forming an opinion. Uh huh. Funny how when the (bullshit) story fits their narrative, they have no problem believing it and trying to leverage it to their ideological advantage, but once it appears that "bullshit story was bullshit," suddenly they want to act responsibly. Here's the video of Harris being asked about her "modern day lynching" tweet, and her reaction is very interesting: Not only does she look like a deer in headlights, she gives the expected "wait for more facts to come out" response. But, her shocked, surprised response is so pronounced and awkward that it makes me wonder if she even wrote that tweet in the first place. She seemed like she wasn't even aware of her own tweet from her own account. Many politicians' Twitter accounts are run by staffers, so I wonder if one of her staffers knee-jerk tweeted out the "lynching" soundbite, as if they'd coordinated that soundbite with whichever staffer is also running Booker's Twitter page. Kind of a "this is the narrative" response that was circulated among some politicians staffers, and the staffers tweeted this crap rather than the politicians themselves. I'm not sure, but it seems plausible.
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Post by robeiae on Feb 21, 2019 15:18:50 GMT -5
That's acting, bitches!
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Post by robeiae on Feb 21, 2019 15:19:55 GMT -5
Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, who both immediately and breathlessly tweeted how this was a "modern day lynching" and it was evidence that Congress should pass Booker's anti-lynching legislation (because lynching is such a huge, modern day problem, I guess)... I think it qualifies as a National Emergency...
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Post by robeiae on Feb 21, 2019 16:47:07 GMT -5
The full proffer from the bail hearing: dig.abclocal.go.com/wls/documents/2019/022119-wls-smollett-proffer-doc.pdfWe can talk about due process, people having their day in court, and getting judged by a jury of one's peers--and all agree, I think, that those are things accused people deserve--but it looks like the CPD has this nailed down and then some. I think the chances of Smollett going to trial are just about nil. He'll cut a deal.
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Post by nighttimer on Feb 21, 2019 20:40:38 GMT -5
Okay, so everyone who held off on rushing to judgment about Jussie Smollett looks like a genius and everyone who didn't looks like an dumb-ass. Yay. Let's take our victory lap and savor the moment of how smart and restrained we are and how we don't follow the blindness of the crowd or their supposed leaders (which includes Donald Trump as much as it does any of the Democrats who cried themselves to sleep about the beatdown-that-never-was. All the right people look really silly and stupid and that's always fun. One side likes to throw rocks at the other and I like throwing them as much as anybody. But what's it really mean? Besides Jussie Smollett's career on a TV show few-to-any of us watch is pretty much cold, dry toast. Yeah, Chicago PD gets a "win" and after some of the real bad things they've done lately, they could certainly use one. Then again, you didn't exactly have to be Miss Marple to find the bullshit in Smollett's fairy tale. I really don't care about Smollett. He was just a guy with a funny name who made no impression on me the few times I did see Empire walking through the living room as my daughter watched for the first season or so. Maybe he'll get some jail time, but probably he won't. Who cares? It doesn't affect me and it doesn't affect you. Who it does affect are all the other Black gay men who don't have Smollett's resources, high profile and famous supporters to fall back on. That's who is affected by Smollett's appalling and disgusting act of fraud. He was selfish and stupid and since he was making $100,000 an episode but wanted more, let's add greedy to selfish and stupid. Jussie Smollett is cancelled. He can't come to the barbecue and he can't have any of the potato salad. Buh-bye. I'm about to create a thread on this board about something I really care about, but somehow nobody else seems to even know about. I'm pretty sure it's not going to draw flies as far as interest go, but that's no reason not to bring up the matter. The alternative is to go to CNN and it's Jussie Smollett, Jussie Smollett, Jussie Smollett saturation coverage. I imagine Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity will be all over it like a dog on a meatball and I don't care about that either. Sooner than later Trump will say or do something moronic and vicious and we can all circle back to that sort of distraction. This one will do for now. Thanks. I'm full.
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Post by Christine on Feb 22, 2019 0:07:53 GMT -5
I really don't care about Smollett. He was just a guy with a funny name who made no impression on me the few times I did see Empire walking through the living room as my daughter watched for the first season or so. Maybe he'll get some jail time, but probably he won't. Who cares? It doesn't affect me and it doesn't affect you. Who it does affect are all the other Black gay men who don't have Smollett's resources, high profile and famous supporters to fall back on. That's who is affected by Smollett's appalling and disgusting act of fraud. He was selfish and stupid and since he was making $100,000 an episode but wanted more, let's add greedy to selfish and stupid. Yeah, he is. And just a comment to the public in general: note that literally any white straight guy, no matter how famous, who committed a similar act of fraud, would not be considered selfish or stupid, because he wouldn't have had the weight of the white straight community on his shoulders. He wouldn't be seen as representative of them. Not to mix threads, but this is another way privilege works. Stupid selfish white people's shit doesn't rub off on other white people. Lucky for white people.
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Post by Vince524 on Feb 22, 2019 8:35:01 GMT -5
I really don't care about Smollett. He was just a guy with a funny name who made no impression on me the few times I did see Empire walking through the living room as my daughter watched for the first season or so. Maybe he'll get some jail time, but probably he won't. Who cares? It doesn't affect me and it doesn't affect you. Who it does affect are all the other Black gay men who don't have Smollett's resources, high profile and famous supporters to fall back on. That's who is affected by Smollett's appalling and disgusting act of fraud. He was selfish and stupid and since he was making $100,000 an episode but wanted more, let's add greedy to selfish and stupid. Yeah, he is. And just a comment to the public in general: note that literally any white straight guy, no matter how famous, who committed a similar act of fraud, would not be considered selfish or stupid, because he wouldn't have had the weight of the white straight community on his shoulders. He wouldn't be seen as representative of them. Not to mix threads, but this is another way privilege works. Stupid selfish white people's shit doesn't rub off on other white people. Lucky for white people. And the bolded is based on what? The Covington thread where people were happy to call for expulsions, doxing, and death threats for a white teen for smirking? Or Rosanne who many have pointed out that she was fired for a racist joke. (That's not a defense of Rosanne, what she said was unacceptable, and she was the brand of the show. But there was no hesitation there.) When the incident was first reported, people like Booker and Harris talked about it as an issue with racist white America. But now that it appears to be a fraud, it's just the one guy. (It is just him and the 2 idiots he paid with a check fault)
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Post by Christine on Feb 22, 2019 9:18:51 GMT -5
My point is that Smollet's stupid/criminal act is being used by many on the right as evidence that gay/black people make false claims about bigotry/racism. Because it feeds into their narrative that basically bigotry and racism don't exist anymore.
If a white/straight person does something stupid/criminal, it doesn't affect the reputations of white/straight people. I mean, honestly, do you feel judged by the left when white straight men do stupid or criminal things?
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Post by robeiae on Feb 22, 2019 9:26:55 GMT -5
Disagree. So many serial killers, so many mass murderers, so many school shooters are white men and that point is hammered home whenever there is a new one. And ditto for sexual assaults ala Weinstein and others (though then it's more about men, in general).
So yeah, I feel--to some extent--judged all the time because I'm a straight white male. I'm not wound up about it, but I know it's happening.
That said, I also think it's true that the cost to marginalized groups from stupidity like Smollett's is more pronounced and more damaging, so I take nighttimer's point.
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Post by Christine on Feb 22, 2019 9:42:23 GMT -5
It is very curious to me that white men would feel they are lumped in with serial killers, mass murderers, and school shooters. But I'm not a white male, so okay.
I can see the sexual assault angle a bit better with the climate being what it has been over the last few years.
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Post by Vince524 on Feb 22, 2019 9:44:52 GMT -5
What Rob said. I feel like if a straight white male or guy in general does something, we get a collective blame. Toxic masculinity and all that. And if you call it out, you're told to 'not all men'.
At the same time, minorities, especially men get it harder. This can feed into the 'see there's no racism' trope which is absurd. But also, while people won't usually say it, if a black male beat someone up, if reinforces the 'scary black guy' narrative that exists. Both can be true at the same time.
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