Brittney Cooper, an associate professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Rutgers University, is doubling down on her prior public comments denouncing Trump supporters and alleging a conspiracy to kill black people. She notably has invoked her tenure status with the latest tweet attacks: “I have tenure. Rutgers won’t be firing me for tweets.” As many of you know, I have long taken the same position on the free speech rights of faculty on social media and public comments. However, schools have been less than consistent in punishing or investigating faculty based on the content of their views. Cooper declaring “F— each and every Trump supporter” obviously would include many students in the university. She blames “white depravity” and claims “when whiteness has a death wish, we are all in for a serious problem.” As previously discussed, it is doubtful that these same attacks directed against African-Americans or other groups would be treated in the same fashion.
This week, Cooper tweeted “F— each and every Trump supporter. You absolutely did this. You are to blame” for the pandemic. She brushed off past criticism and declared “I said what I meant. And I curse cuz I’m grown. I have tenure. Rutgers won’t be firing me for tweets.”
Brittney Cooper
✔@ProfessorCrunk
So I said what I meant. And I curse cuz I’m grown. I disdain every person who thought and thinks he’s a good leader, because that thinking has had material consequences for far too many of us.
Brittney Cooper
✔@ProfessorCrunk
Just know a couple of things: 1.) I report threats to law enforcement and have had committed law enforcement support for many years now. 2.) I have tenure. Rutgers won’t be firing me for tweets. That is all.
Brittney Cooper
✔@ProfessorCrunk
I feel like most Black people are clear that this utterly absurd to push to re-open the country is all about a gross necropolitical calculation that it is Black people who are dying disproportionately from COVID.
Brittney Cooper
✔@ProfessorCrunk
Not only do white conservatives not care about Black life, but my most cynical negative read of the white supremacists among them is that they welcome this massive winnowing of Black folks in order to slow demographic shifts and shore up political power.
In another post, Cooper claimed Trump supporters’ loyalty to the president impaired their judgment about the outbreak: “They are literally willing to die from this clusterf—ed COVID response rather than admit absolutely anybody other than him [Trump] would have been a better president. And when whiteness has a death wish, we are all in for a serious problem.” She has previously denounced “white depravity.”
As we have previously discussed (including a story involving an Oregon professor), there remains an uncertain line in what language is protected for teachers in their private lives. The incident also raises what some faculty have complained is a double or at least uncertain standard. We have previously discussed controversies at the University of California and Boston University, where there have been criticism of such a double standard, even in the face of criminal conduct. There were also such an incident at the University of London involving Bahar Mustafa as well as one involving a University of Pennsylvania professor. Some intolerant statements against students are deemed free speech while others are deemed hate speech or the basis for university action. There is a lack of consistency or uniformity in these actions which turn on the specific groups left aggrieved by out-of-school comments. There is also a tolerance of faculty and students tearing down fliers and stopping the speech of conservatives. Indeed, even faculty who assaulted pro-life advocates was supported by faculty and lionized for her activism.
Again, I believe Cooper’s speech should be protected but the recognition of such free speech values seems to often exclude faculty and students from opposing political or social perspectives. The protection of such speech continues to depend on its content in determining if actions will be taken by the university.
She represents everything that is wrong with what is left of the American University system.
It can be tempting to insert a cause of statistically significant differences.
It is true that there is a significant higher number of cases of Covid-19 among blacks than Caucasians. The only possible reasons for that would be genetic (as in a sickle cell anemia), environment, lifestyle, or deliberate.
– Genetic: I have not yet read any papers showing there is a genetic predisposition to susceptibility to Covid-19. Conjecture at this point.
– Environment: if more African Americans work in close quarters, such as in meat packing assembly lines, than other ethnic groups, then they would have a higher rate of infection. In addition, African Americans suffer a higher poverty rate, on average, then Caucasians. This may mean that fewer African Americans can afford to stay at home, and therefore are more often exposed.
– Lifestyle – African Americans are statistically more likely to suffer health problems, due in part to higher poverty rates and reliance on processed and fast food. That makes them more susceptible to develop ARDS with Covid-19. There have been some papers on African Americans being less responsive to conventional asthma medications. This, too, could affect their mortality rate with Covid-19. As an asthmatic myself, I sympathize. (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170106133056.htm)
Deliberate: Accusing any person or group of deliberately killing minorities is a very serious claim. One should have evidence of intent to back that up. I cannot see how it is possible for a global pandemic to be some sort of evil plot to kill African Americans. It defies reason. It would require the Wuhan Institute of Virology to genetically engineer SARS-CoV-2 to specifically target black people, released it on purpose, in coordination with President Trump and a secret cabal, and then turned it loose to destroy China’s economy and the rest of the world’s. So let’s treat that accusation with the contempt that it deserves.
She is clearly confused that a disparity does not signify intent or evil acts. Blacks suffer a disproportionate sensitivity to Sickle Cell Anemia, too, and that’s not a Caucasian plot.
Honestly, that kind of divisive rhetoric at a time when the country needs to pull together is irresponsible and ignorant.
If you don’t agree with universities hiring professors who are bigoted, racist, and may create a hostile learning environment for the children of your conservative family, then don’t send them there.
Perhaps universities should be forced to accurately reflect their campus political leanings in their marketing materials. If it is not welcoming to conservatives or Republicans, then it should state that opening on their admissions forms. Any university that aligns with any particular political party and pressures its students along those lines should either give up federal funding, or the funding should be divided 50/50 among political lines.
“It is true that there is a significant higher number of cases of Covid-19 among blacks than Caucasians.”
In NY you might have more generations of blacks living in the same household leading to older people being more likely to be infected and thus a higher death rate outside of the other risks.
Blacks are more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and heart disease than caucasians.
That has been reported as well rutgersalum, but the multigenerational family frequently is not considered. Those diseases you mention don’t cause one to get the virus. They help kill more but contact is how the virus is transmitted and that is why housing considerations become so important.
It is true that in multigenerational households, the elderly would have a harder time quarantining when younger people are still working.
Fire This Racist Radical Immediately!
It might not be ARDS…
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928156
No paywall.
See Dr. Cameron Kyle-Siddell.
Blacks have a higher propensity to have diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. All these lead to a higher rate of COVID deaths
And a lot of those diseases and issues can be attributed to bad food choices, which can be attributed to poverty. You can also see impoverished whites who are scaling obese with the same issues.
More Education, Less Stress, and Better Food Choices can all be correlated to Not being At or Near the Poverty line.
Caps on purpose to hone the point.
And I do not agree with this Professor at all, but I had to chime in.
This whole speech on Tweetie Birde Live boils down to repetition as a form of propaganda against certain skin colors.
Oddly enough, Kanye West talked about this around the time of his break down, and he was right. Lol. Never thought I would agree with Kanye, but there you go. A lot of ppl had no idea what he was talking about, aka oppression of the mind, a victimhood mentality from the get-go. Kanye. Lol. 😆
WW33 – how were the results of the x-rays?
Paul – thanks for asking. No acute fracture or bone breakage. So, ligament, maybe? Idk, getting better slowly. Just going to wait on it.
Random minor findings that are not serious. Bone spur. Stems from plantar fasciitis. Minor. Cause – Probably running on the pavement.
Kicked my big toe into side of a desk years ago and did nothing about it.
Minor sclerosis. You can’t even tell.
Same goes for the broken nose for 15 + years, and you can’t tell on that either.
Feel blessed. 🙏
Also, a Steida process was identified on the posterior talus, but no acute fractures.
WW33 – glad nothing is broken. Hope you heal soon.
Blacks are more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and heart disease than caucasians.
From Ms. Cooper’s Rutgers page https://womens-studies.rutgers.edu/core-faculty/66-core-faculty/572-cooper-brittney
‘Using Black feminist thought to understand contemporary articulations of Black womanhood is Dr. Cooper’s other major research area. She has published several book chapters and articles on representations of Black women in popular culture, including a piece on the representation of the “baby-mama” figure in Hip Hop music and film, the feminist implications of Janet Jackson’s 2004 Super Bowl mishap, and the importance of Michelle Obama in the tradition of Black female leadership. She has a forthcoming article on Sapphire’s Push as a hip hop novel.’
The intellectually devoid blather of the otherwise unemployable…
I want to know what she has to say about Aunt Jemima.
Bill Buckley comes to mind : ” I would rather be governed by the first 100 names in the Boston phone book, than by the entire Harvard University faculty. ”
Replace “Harvard” with “Rutgers”, or the liberal institution of the day in the headlines.
“…they welcome this massive winnowing of Black folks…” -Brittney Cooper
Squeeky comes to mind.
This ladies position and behavior beings a lot of things up for review.
If she is truly concerned about the “winnowing of Black folks”,. She should be talking about the greatest killer of Black Americans in the history of this nation;. Planned Parenthood.
Rutgers should be asking, Did she display this attitude and behavior before we hired her?? Her attitude and behavior is giving credibility to the ” Bell Curve”, and giving every college reason to end tenure.
For years I have taken the position that colleges are places of higher education, above all else. Any campus affiliated person or group, be they student, or staff, that disrupts the educational process by their on or off campus activities should be expelled or terminated. Any person whose activity makes the school look bad in a public venue, should face expulsion or termination as well. As things are now Rutgers maybe stuck with this embarrassment.
Solvermn– The Bell Curve is very credible. They did not make up the data. They used data accumulated from the longitudinal survey of youth that drew resources from the academy and government to complete the study.
Don’t blame the authors of The Bell Curve for the results of the study. They just wrote about it.
As for the winnowing of “Black folks” [we can say ‘black’ again?] it might be a tossup between abortion [as Margaret Sanger intended] and young, homicidal black men killing each other.
Check heyjackass for an interesting daily report on homicides in Chicago.
https://heyjackass.com/
Young, you are absolutely correct. When I first read it I got into a fight with a university professor. After drilling him for awhile it was clear he never read the book. In fact I think it was Charles Murray who was attacked on a show by some “intellectual” and he made it clear the intellectual never read the book either. It was an eye opener and used multiple sets of data that were in common use.’ There were points in the book that people on the left would like but they hated Murray’s affinity to libertarianism a lot more.
Allan– I have had the same experience with people most vocal in their attacks on The Bell Curve. They haven’t read it. It was a wonderful book, brilliant. Critics are surprised when I tell them that at one point the authors explain that even with an average black IQ of 85 the distribution is a bell curve so there are many blacks who are smarter than most whites. They don’t expect that and probably don’t believe it. And they won’t read a book that is banned as heretical in their circles.
Murray was threatened physically at Middlebury in Vermont. When did American universities come to resemble the Spanish Inquisition?
The book’s main concern was not with race but assortative mating, the tendency for smarter people to marry with their intellectual peers leading, maybe, to a division in the species and big problems. There was always a measure of assortative mating but the degree of it has increased of late. In a way it is like a large population being separated by a mountain range and drifting into different varieties or, if conditions on each side are sufficiently different, into separate species.
Charles Murray is brilliant. I read that book when it first came out but I think it dealt with a wider variety of topics. His book Coming Apart shows a split in society where marriage isn’t as diverse as it use to be (Ivy League marries Ivy League). I think in that book he also shows how welfare impacted white people in Britain with a comparison to the welfare problem in the US
Yes, the assortative mating issue in The Bell Curve dealt with the issue of marriage not being as diverse as before. I haven’t read Coming Apart. I am sure it would be good but also sure it would depress me.
Young, aren’t you already immunized against depression seeing what is happening to the country and having to listen to fools that do not understand how repressive governments can be. I’m a bit depressed myself because I think our country may have reached that tipping point and I don’t know that we can reverse the loss of Liberty.
The bureaucracy, the media and the corporate interests seem to be more powerful than our elected officials.
Allan– When you get my age you realize it isn’t going to be your problem. To hell with them if they want to destroy the gifts they have been given. Also I like to immerse myself in history and other subjects.
Everyone is more powerful than our elected officials. They seem like fools.
Your age? Paint Chips has already told everyone I am 86 years old.
One can’t say to the hell with them if generational considerations are taken into account.
Your age? Paint Chips already said that I was 86 years old.
One can’t say to the hell with them if one takes into account generational considerations.
True.
Young
I am very familiar with the Bell Curve and how the authur was villified and called racist simply because the facts he presented were not “flattering to American Blacks. Long ago I noticed that in general if the school system was in a Very integrated middle class area / same schools, same teachers for all of us. The grade Ethnicity pattern did not change. Asian and Whites at the top with Blacks and Hispanics at the bottom. Personally I say Du Bois Ideas on the talented tenth is very correct and merits more study.
Thanks. Interesting observations. I wish more people would pay attention.
And mental retardation.
HERE’S A REAL CONSPIRACY..
INVOLVING PROFESSOR TURLEY
Since the week before Easter I have noticed that a brigade of puppets is very active on these comment threads. Some of these puppets feature little Facebook-like photos to make them appear more ‘human’.
I have attributed these puppets to ‘Crazed Idiot’, a broad name I apply to a commenter first known as ‘Estovir’. Either Estovir is writing all these puppets himself, or he has a few associates assisting. But there should be no mistaking their intentions. They want to dominate these threads with pro-Trump, far-right comments.
My only question at this point is how aware Professor Turley is of this puppet show. It would be sad to think that an academic of his standing would passively allow mean-spirited, stupid activists to take over these threads. Yet I have thoroughly informed the Professor of this activity. What’s more, our Moderator, Darren Smith surely knows.
Below is an exchange I just happened to find on this thread. We, as readers, are supposed to think this exchange just organically transpired between 2 ‘unrelated’ commenters.
Yet I have noted several times that ‘Young’ and ‘kydave’ are related and possibly the same person. This seems to prove it!
Puppet ‘Young’, one should note, made a very labored effort to establish himself as a ‘Lawyer married to a Doctor’. A respectable, upper middle class guy, or so we should think.
But here Young just smears me out of the blue for no particular reason. I hadn’t even commented on this thread when Young posted this crap.
…………………………………………………………………
Young says:
Kind of like Seth always explaining he isn’t homosexual and is a resl man.
Reply
kydave40601 says:
Never mind the male assertion, I often wonder if that much idiocy could ever be present in a single being: I wonder if Seth is real. I’m working on a theory whereby Seth is actually some mindless chat bot.
The mindless part, I;m sure of. It’s the chat bot portion that needs a little more empirical proof.
From the Bible, Luke 4:23 (King James Version): And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Puppet, cut thy own strings:
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Yet I have noted several times that ‘Young’ and ‘kydave’ are related and possibly the same person. This seems to prove it!
Yup. They are definitely 2 different people, one from Kentucky and the other an attorney with roots in Arizona. As for Estovir, you accused him/me of being a Russian troll when I first joined this blog a year ago, thinking the Latin word “estovir” was nefarious. Aside from the fact Estovir means “be a man”, you should have heeded Darren’s advice months ago…grow up
Play time over. Some of us deal with far sicker people than you Seth though they usually have a good outcome. You? Not so much
Estovir, how would you know ‘where’ Young and Dave are???? You cant know unless you ‘really’ know them!
Which I’m sure you do. And at this point I wouldnt completely doubt that all 3 of you are in Saint Petersburg. Though more likely you’re anti-abortion activists in a church basement down south. You’re ‘God fearing Christians’ who think they’re doing God’s work by smearing liberals.
And why is Estovir always responding when I discover this crap???
And why is Estovir always responding when I discover this crap???
What you told us above is you discovered something that didn’t make sense to you. That’s not a discovery, unless you believe Chicken Little’s the sky is falling theory. I’m spitballing here, but the reason Estovir is responding is because you post this crap about him.
No, you had it right the first time.
All of “us” are in one of the nicer rooms in the Hermitage Palace in St. Petersburg.
Russians.
How did you figure it out?
Since we are all at the Hermitage why don’t we meet at Michaelangelo’s Crouching Boy sculpture.
Good idea. I will bring my tablet so I can troll as Estovir and drink vodka, maybe give Crouching Boy a tumbler of wodka if I can get Seth off him.
Young, Russian Vodka I presume. I think that boy might be too old for “Seth’s” taste.
I think he’s hungry from too much self denial.
Yes, Russian vodka though they pronounce it wodka.
Estovir– I didn’t know you were from Kentucky and it is really news to me that you are a Russian troll. There must be a lot of Russian trolls in Kentucky. It’s known for its abundance of Ruskies.
Does it seem to you that Seth’s conspiracies are growing ever more elaborate? Pretty soon everyone posting on this site will be one of your puppets except for him.
From his earlier posts I can see where ‘Estovir’ [Be A Man] would trouble him.
I have no idea kydave and I [and you] are the same. Think I have seen only a couple of posts by kydave.
Does it seem to you that Seth’s conspiracies are growing ever more elaborate?
It has been a while since I provided the link to a study on trolls & personality disorders. See what you think
Trolls just want to have fun
Abstract
In two online studies (total N = 1215), respondents completed personality inventories and a survey of their Internet commenting styles. Overall, strong positive associations emerged among online commenting frequency, trolling enjoyment, and troll identity, pointing to a common construct underlying the measures. Both studies revealed similar patterns of relations between trolling and the Dark Tetrad of personality: trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, using both enjoyment ratings and identity scores. Of all personality measures, sadism showed the most robust associations with trolling and, importantly, the relationship was specific to trolling behavior. Enjoyment of other online activities, such as chatting and debating, was unrelated to sadism. Thus cyber-trolling appears to be an Internet manifestation of everyday sadism.
Personality and Individual Differences
Volume 67, September 2014, Pages 97-102
https://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/trolls-just-want-to-have-fun.pdf
Estovir– Fascinating study and it sounds right. Both BTB and Seth seem to try to bully but with no visible success with this group. I did notice that they don’t seem to like it when they get a little spoonfull of bullying back. Neither seems particularly interested in chatting or an exchange of ideas or a stimulating disagreement as the others enjoy. Mostly they want to put out propaganda from what seems like a script and attack anyone who doesn’t cave. Both would likely make good ANTIFA members though, of course I have no idea what their actual associations are. Not good, I suspect. Might be a hoot at Thanksgiving dinner when grandad reaches scross the table and pops them in the mouth.
Young – I am hurt, hurt I tell you, that I was not invited to lunch at the Hermitage. I have already called the Suicide Hotline in despair.
I saved a bowl of borscht for you.
Young – you are a gentleman, a scholar and a connoisseur of fine wines. And there are damn few of us left. 😉
Paul, That is because you refused to go with the group to the Hermitage and went to the Summer Palace instead.
Allan – hey, what can I say. I am not a team player. 😉
The Summer Palace is very nice.
Nice but it was rebuilt after a fire. The Russians didn’t do the greatesst job rebuilding it. St. Petersburg is a beautiful piece of land and we explored it seeing the poverty of most of the population and the opulance of the few others. I went to one of their poular nightclubs. It was packed with the elite and quite westernized. On the street I could buy a sausage for almost pennies, but in the elite restaurant we went to everyone was checking their guns and borscht cost far more than in NYC.
Envy. I was supposed to go there this year but the trip was cancelled.
“Envy. I was supposed to go there this year but the trip was cancelled.”
Don’t be envious Young. There are loads of places to go that are nicer. In fact the most interesting part of this very short excursion was the Hermitage and a couple of the people I met. One had I think a PhD in economics and was very political and somewhat anti American. We discussed all sorts of things including Russian nukes and Russian made televisions that blew up. He was intelligent but not that worldly. At the end of the discussion I found he was the son of one of their most important generals and leaders. I left saying that his generation, at least based on him, was lost and they would have to wait till the following generation to move Russia forward.
Young – see, I told you guys we should go their first. The Hermitage is really a two day visit, at a minimum.
What’s up, Paul. So, I see the AZ is opening back up, partially. Plans? Go to a park?
VA is partially opening too.
CA is not. Closing the OCs Huntington Beach bc too many ppl from SD and LA and Ventura flocked there over last weekend.
Seth, you’re imagining that young and estovir are the same person. they have totally different voices. this is your imagination. now i don’t know whose sockpuppets are whose, and I dont use sockpuppets, but that identity seems to be a false equation.
Kurtz, if we are to believe that Young is really a lawyer, married to a doctor, would he really be attacking me out of the blue like this for no logical reason???
It makes no sense to me. I dont believe Intelligent lawyers engage in creepy attacks like this completely unprovoked. And if you believe it, you’re creepier than Young.
ha ha maybe i am creepy, seth
lawyers by nature are an onery lot, who like to bicker. that’s why a lot of us like to get paid to do it. could have made more money some other job, but this was too much fun.
anyhow, i just hear a different voice that’s all
Kurtz– That was a good laugh! I, we, were called ‘creepy’. Love it. I’ve been called a snake and various unprintable names before as I am sure you have too.
He doesn’t seem to know it is almost impossible to insult a lawyer.
Young, when was your manhood established on these threads??? I think I missed that exchange.
For all we all we know you’re the homosexual. You could be a 90 pound weakling I could punch across the room.
The point is that any nerdy loser can ‘bully’ online. It takes no strength or bravery whatsoever. All it takes is just a mean spirited creep willing to stoop lower than the other person.
Say what? You want Young’s manhood exchanged with you? Yeah, that’s not creepy at all. Yeesh!
He does seem to bury himself with every keystroke. Which brings us to
Borderline personality disorder
BPD is characterized by extreme sensitivity to perceived interpersonal slights, an unstable sense of self, intense and volatile emotionality and impulsive behaviours that are often self-destructive.
Gunderson, J., Herpertz, S., Skodol, A. et al. Borderline personality disorder. Nat Rev Dis Primers 4, 18029 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2018.29
Estovir– Perfect description with “unstable sense of self”. He really seems to care what people say about him here. Extreme sensitivity to slights. He shouldn’t care if people guess he is gay and in denial. But he does.
Certainly buries himself with every keystroke.
No wonder he prefers to copy and paste.
Good analysis. bythebook has NPD. Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
“Good analysis. bythebook has NPD. Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”
Olly that is amazing because at the beginning of the year I said “Anon suffers from the ICNBW syndrome. He has a narcissistic personality disorder and sometimes in the process becomes abusive. His type of problem cannot be dealt with rationally so one has to recognize the problem and wipe out how he expresses it.” Anon of course is bythebook.
But, if you remember you mentioned the disorder sometime after going to Church and directed that diagnosis to Anon somewhere in that time frame. I think somewhere along the line Peter’s name was linked to that disorder as well, but not sure where..
The earliest mention of NPD I think was George who stated that Mark M. had that characteristic.
Anon or btb seems to get the most votes from different people. Peter (Paint Chips) gets a vote for borderline personality disorder from Estovir and seconded by Young.
In the end it seems that three people fit into the personality disorder group / narcissistic personality group and not surprising Anon (Jan F., btb etc) takes primary place with Peter Paint Chips in second and Mark M. coming in third.
Observation: All the pieces end up fitting in their appropriate places.
Good memory Allan. I would love to see JT provide a 10,000 foot analysis of where this country is relative to our original intent. I say that because his posts routinely have us arguing in the weeds. I have a process management background and one fundamental principle of process improvement is you cannot effectively manage a process from inside the process. JT can pull us out of the weeds and get us to see the whole field. Then we need to address vision. If we have competing visions for this country, then it’s absolutely a waste of time ever getting back into the weeds.
What do you think?
Olly, not completely memory.
“you cannot effectively manage a process from inside the process. ”
You are the expert but why must one remain in the process?
” If we have competing visions for this country, then it’s absolutely a waste of time ever getting back into the weeds.”
In the case of the blog we get nowhere because the various sides must have principles that they are willing to elucidate. Additionally, too many are not talking about what they want or their goals. Winning the Presidency is not a goal. It can be a means to the goal if one knows what the goal is.
You have principles and goals (desires)
What does Anon have? Nothing. He has an objective which is to win, but he doesn’t have any idea of what he is trying to win.
The strange thing is deep down most of us want the same things. It is a matter of how to get there.
The strange thing is deep down most of us want the same things. It is a matter of how to get there.
Theoretically it’s easy. Get out of the weeds far enough and at some point we all have the same vision. Then begin drilling down to where we become divided. Work to unify there and then continue drilling down. We are never going to get there working from the weeds up. Why? Because our government won’t permit the People to gain that degree of enlightenment.
“Then begin drilling down to where we become divided.”
Can’t do that until there is agreement on basic principles. If there are no principles there is no law without law there is anarchy and fighting.
Can’t do that until there is agreement on basic principles.
That was my point. Any attempt to apply the law in a society divided on fundamental principles will only be an exercise in managing anarchy. And these discussions are nothing more than expressions of how each of us would desire that anarchy to be managed.
JT has to know his blog is a modern day Coliseum and we’re all just gladiators. He could make a real difference and elevate our discussions to where we find ourselves aligned on principle. Then and only then we can begin to drill down.
Olly, the blog is meaningless. It’s a diversion. Many that are here are interested in what Turley has to say. That is how I came to the blog. I heard and read Turley and though his politics are quite different than mine his adherence to principle made me see a path to heal the divide. I hoped to get honest discussion on the blog something I have had on email lists in the past where there could be hot tempers but beneath the tempers was intelligence and knowledge.
On this blog not so much. Too much anonymity which parallels the idea of freedom of speech. I used to believe in totaly anonymity where people could say anything. If the discussion part of the blog taught me anything it taught me that such freedom requires responsibility and it is that lack of responsibility that destroys discussion. Thus we are left only with diversion occasionally providing gems that we might otherwise never focused on.
I came here because I had become disillusioned with other blogs and the whining about various problems and who was to blame. I wanted to see how constitutional theory intersected with the law and politics from legal professionals. I went from ignorant disillusionment to enlightened disillusionment. Turley has shown me that our constitution is no match for human nature. With a few exceptions, the discussion forum is no different than every other blog I’ve been on. In other words, a waste of time. I’ll continue to follow Turley, but likely not inclined to engage the trolls.
“I came here because …”
Intelligent people come here thinking that intelligent people can have intelligent intellectual discussions. Then one finds how impossible that is because the intelligent leftists are too embarrassed to be on the same blog as the dummies that represent them.
Allan– And there is the problem. Different sets of fundamental prinicples that none will relinquish.
” Different sets of fundamental prinicples that none will relinquish.”
Young isn’t that what happened here and caused the American Revolution? What did Jefferson say? We surpassed his timeline.
Young, get down in the weeds far enough and you’ll find no one willing to relinquish their principles. This is why we need to elevate our discussions high enough to where we find unifying principles.
Ah, the bitches are at the back fence , gossiping about the neighbors again. Knock it of girls. JT is trying to run a serious blog here – well, not very hard, true.
Thanks for the confirmation NPD. Now you own your new name…NPD
Gee Olly, your reputation for rapier like repartee coupled with dense and irrefutable argumentation is confirmed again.
Oh the shame! How will I ever post here again?
You have no shame. That’s why you’re NPD.
Don’t think so. There’s considerable pathology in how Gainesville reacts to people in this forum, how he sorts information, and what he invests in emotionally outside of his mundane life. However, he has been married for something on the order of 50 years and has owned and operated his own business. His children aren’t on the police blotter, though I wouldn’t trust that son of his father than you could chuck a bathtub.
(The one lie he told is the blather about being from ‘the Deep South’).
That’s fine. He reminds me of Adam Schiff.
Young, is that because ‘lawyer’ is already an insult?
David– Could be.
Young – Hahaha, just wait till your own family starts insulting you (if they haven’t already).
Mine started pre- grad school…I had to invite my ex to my graduation, just to keep some “target practice” space between my father and I.
He still managed to hold my degree up, and say, “this should say My name, but instead of this crap….medical doctorate”. Publicly, though, couldn’t be prouder. Ease up in recent years…
Man, oh, man, I was glad I begged my ex to come to that event. I am getting off topic here.
What’s the point? Oh, yes, some people in life have complexes and stereotypes about others, whether it be races, religions, jobs. Maybe some are true, to some extent, maybe some are not….At the end of the day, everyone is just human. 😎
WW33– I discovered I am not always aware when someone is insulting me. They need to try harder.
WW33– Shame about your father. Sounds like he might have been secretly jealous of you in some measure and felt the need to pull you down a little without even knowing what he was doing.
Kurtz — “lawyers by nature are an onery lot”.
Yeah, I’ve watched attendees in trial CLEs arguing with each other over points of law and procedure. Fun. Especially when one of them begins with, “Well, I don’t know what law school you went to….” as a way of saying “you are an idiot who doesn’t know what he is talking about.” Very entertaining. Good company.
who cares anyhow? It’s turley’s blog, he sets the terms of use, and that allows sockpuppets and anonymous etc. don’t get too upset over it, it’s the price of use to abide by the format, otherwise free!
Dear Seth,
“If we are to believe that Young is really a lawyer, married to a doctor, would he really be attacking me out of the blue like this for no logical reason???”
Why, yes he would. Because your constant shilling is really irritating. It is like having a child in the room, who wants attention, and who keeps breaking out in nonsense noise hollering lalalalalalalala while the adults are trying to have a conversation.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Gainesville is the sullen and snarling adolescent. Natacha is the ruined older daughter on disability. All three of them are someone’s nightmare children.
Are Gainesville and bytheDNCscript the same shill???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
JanF / Anon / bythebulls!it are the same guy.
Thx! I figured out Seth was Peter Shill, but I was unsure about some of the rest of them.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Yeah, I would, just for the fun of it.
It’s nice here in the Hermitage Palace in St. Petersburg but sometimes boring. I’ve already killed all the mice.
I’ve already killed all the mice.
Oh, that was very good… Very very good. Must come with having so many personalities. Why can’t Seth be as witty?
It’s hard when you only half of one.
would he really be attacking me out of the blue like this for no logical reason???
It makes no sense to me.
A couple of options come to mind: 1. It makes no sense to you because the reason is logical. 2. It makes no sense to you, which is why you classify it as an attack. Conclusion: Stop being an emotional nincompoop and start using the left-half of your brain. I can assure you of three things; you’ll see logic where you never saw it before. Your worldview will change. The attacks will continue but this time you won’t care because they are your former Lefty, emotional, illogical nincompoops.
Olly – Thanks for explaining it to him. I was too busy looking at the exhibits in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg [Russia] to take the time to get back to him.
Oh, oh, Estovir and Kurtz and Dave and Squeeky are asking me to join them for dinner in the Hermitage dining room. Then back to trolling as a puppet.
Don’t forget the social distancing.
Peter’s chronic candidiasis is leaving him in a foul mood.
Seth, your obsession with usernames and puppets is hilarious!
You’re doing important work here, keep it up!
Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies? That title says it all. Usually a cesspool of leftist radicals untethered from reality. “And I curse cuz I’m grown.” Really? Sounds totally infantile to me. I though one of the requirements to become a professor is the ability to write properly. It is getting more insane by the day.
Trump Promotes Conspiracy Theories..
So ‘Why Not’ A Rutgers Proffesor?
While I do not believe this pandemic was orchestrated by White supremacists, no Trump supporter can sneer at this woman while Trump routinely promotes conspiracy theories that are every bit ridiculous.
Since the beginning of this presidency Trump has referred to “Deep State” and “Fake News” on an almost daily basis. Less savvy consumers of news could easily think the “Deep State” apparatus exists enabled by dastardly news organizations.
In the context of Trump’s deluded rants each day, this Rutgers professor is no ‘less’ connected to reality than Donald Trump.
The only question is who is more deluded, Paint Chips or the Rutger’s professor? Is Paint Chips smart enough to be deluded?
By the way regarding the question: “pandemic was orchestrated by White supremacists”
It was mostly orchestrated by the Chinese and when it got to the US in their lust for power the Democrats orchestrated it in the US.
Deep state is a term that vaguely means the permanent bureaucracy, or sometimes what Eisenhower called the “military industrial complex,” and it is not imaginary.
it is a concept that has roots in thinking about organizational behavior and systems, which is a well respected method of analyzing social structures.
It also has a specific connection to the “derin devlet’ the Turkish deep state, a secret cabal of Turkish Republican officers in the military and other prominent figures in that society who took at as their special mission to “protect” the Republic from Islamic fundamentalists.
Here’s an essay that popularized the term. It is not “conspiracy theory” it is however sometimes “conspiracy analysis” https://billmoyers.com/2014/02/21/anatomy-of-the-deep-state/
Kurtz, our bureaucracies are filled by career civil servants who’s hiring is governed by fairly rigid rules, and are as close to a meritocracy as we can design and are a vast improvement over the patronage and nepotism which previously filled these necessary positions. In all of the phony Deep State accusations, no one has proved a politically motivated conspiracy, and in fact the opposite has been found true by the supposedly super-independent IGs who Trump is busy firing. The most glaring example of political results from FBI action was Hillary losing the election over the Comey announcement.
The charge is Trump BS and he is the most corrupt lying M..fer to hold that office in memory and probably ever. Efforts to somehow remove the Deep State end with his political appointees, who given the declining resources are getting more and more hack like. Your apparent support of this stupidity doesn’t compute.
“Your apparent support of this stupidity doesn’t compute.”
At the same time the bugger says: ““I’m innocent, none of those witnesses saw me do it and if they did they are all liars, all the cameras have been altered and someone else is using my fingerprints and …..”
It used to be that university students were “gifted” and professors were “extraordinary.”
Which elements evolved to facilitate the population of universities with the truly mundane?
I remember, years ago, a minority elementary school teacher assuring me, “I have went to college.”
Indeed.
And lots of food.
“A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within. The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.” __Will Durant
Funny that Durant could make that obsevation and yet be something of a Communist.
“Funny that Durant could make that obsevation and yet be something of a Communist.”
I don’t know that he was. He born in an age where a lot of great people toyed with fascism and communism. Our system is riddled with imperfections even though at present it is or was the best system existing. Durant was an expert on Russia. Because of what you said I looked up a couple of quotes to make sure I quoted correctly.
“Communism is the opiate of the people.”
“There is nothing in socialism that a little age or a little money will not cure.”
Watch him in REDS the Warren Beatty movie. Could be he got over it the way Whittaker Chambers did.
One of the factors in Roman Imperial Decline was finance. And I don’t just mean the burden of war, or the burden of bread for the urban masses. Those are mentioned by Gibbon and I suppose Durant too. Although Im familiar with Gibbon but not Durant.
Also the burden of usury, excessive interest. The same thing plagued Byzantium and for all its strength it was an Achilles heel when it came into Islam, which offered people an out from under their debt-slavery, through conversion. Or so Belloc claimed, and I believe him on this.
Usury is complicated. Financing money by paying interest is a devil’s bargain. It offers the borrower a chance at fast growth but the bet is always on whether the growth will outpace the interest. From a business levering its operations to a person taking out there credit card, the bets are being laid essentially the same way.
When usury is forbidden, there is little or no chance to finance operations, and economic growth is slow. When it comes into operation again, economic growth is ignited. But then the financiers grow fat and with that comes their games and shenanigans. And here we find ourselves again today.
Aristotle denounced usury, before him Moses and many others.
aristotle also said that the good (eudaimonia) could come through the mean: all things in moderation. Pan metron, ariston.
now we are into the uncharted historical territory of negative interest rates. oh the US is not there yet but it comes. For banks that is; you and I will have to keep paying usury even as the bigs of today are essentially paid by the Fed to borrow money.
Kurtz, I have read Gibbon but nothing of Beloc. I can’t say whether Islam offered any relief from interest payments. Muslims pay it too, but it is disguised so they can lie to themselves and Allah–but they pay it.
I do recall, however, that when the Eastern Empire [probably under Belisarius] recovered a large swath of the empire in Italy from the barbarians it didn’t take long for the locals to begin to pine for a return of the barbarians because the Roman bureaucracy, regulations and taxes had become unbearable.
Early on the Roman bureaucracy was essential for running the empire, like our own bureaucracy, but it grew to the point it was crushing the life out of the empire, like our own bureaucracy.
Kurtz– Aristotle and Moses denounced usury. Deadbeats. If one doesn’t like interest don’t borrow.
I used to have Durant’s full set on history of the world and enjoyed reading some of the volumes. I thought his tome on Greece was very good. I don’t recall if in his next volume, “Caesar and Christ” I think, touched on why Rome fell. Tough topic. Gibbon took 4 volumes on it. I was fascinated when he asked if Jesus really died on the cross. I had never thought to ask that question on my own but some years later, for many reasons, came to the conclusion that he probably did not. May have ended up in Rome as so many others did. Maybe running a wine shop. Should have been able to keep it well supplied. In the end I threw the entire Durant set in the garbage when I moved. Didn’t have room for it.
You probably have seen the idea now going about that Rome didn’t fall. Of course it did and two fairly recent books put out by Oxford scholars make it clear that it did fall, and crashed very hard in some places like Britain.
Higher education is what Fr. Paul Shaughnessy, SJ referred to as ‘sociologically corrupt’. It lacks the capacity to reform itself with its own tools. It needs to be put under the supervision of outsiders it cannot suborn.
J H Kunstler, a Democrat, wrote a great article this morning on this. I can’t link it here because of the wordpress filter. I tried earlier to post the whole thing but it wouldn’t go thru. So here is a shorter excerpt:
————-
Slouching Toward Resolution
General Flynn had been an irritant to the Obama administration in his role as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He disagreed with a lot going on around him and he said so, especially the nuclear deal that was percolating with Iran. Mr. Obama canned General Flynn in 2014. Afterward, CIA chief John Brennan and DNI James Clapper put him under surveillance and played entrapment games with him, using some of the same shady characters (Stefan Halper, Richard Dearlove) who later showed up as RussiaGate players.
In early 2016, Gen. Flynn joined the Trump campaign as a foreign affairs advisor and that summer made the mistake of leading the “Lock her up,” chant to a delirious crowd at the Republican Convention. Perhaps he knew a thing or two about the activities of the Clinton Foundation. Perhaps he also knew what Jeffrey Epstein was up to. Then Mr. Trump shocked the world and won the election. Gen. Flynn was soon appointed incoming National Security Advisor. One can imagine the anxiety crackling through a Democrat-controlled Deep State on the verge of surrendering power to its enemies. The alarm bells that went off through the vast US Intel underground must have been deafening.
In a panic, the Intel Community set in motion a suite of operations to get rid of both Flynn and Trump. On December 29, late in the transition-of-power, President Obama lit up a diplomatic flare by confiscating country retreat properties in Maryland and Long Island owned by the Russian embassy and expelling 35 embassy employees, supposedly as payback for Russia “interfering in the 2016 election.” This prompted a conversation between incoming National Security Advisor Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. That cued the FBI to entrap General Flynn. The news media played along with the preposterous falsehood that high American officials should not communicate with diplomats posted to the USA. The shady gotcha interview about that with Flynn, conducted by FBI officers Peter Strzok and Joseph Pientka, has been dissected to death, so I’ll spare you that, except to say that it was carried out in obvious bad faith.
The court case over all that has dragged out for more than three years now, though anyone could see from the get-go that it was a malicious prosecution. (I said as much more than once in this blog years ago.) Presiding Judge Emmet Sullivan has overlooked flagrant misconduct by DOJ prosecutors, led by Brandon Van Grack. FBI Director Christopher Wray has concealed exculpatory evidence of FBI and DOJ misconduct that favored General Flynn for three years. General Flynn’s previous attorneys from the DC law firm of Covington and Burling — where Mr. Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder is a partner — represented Gen. Flynn poorly, and did so apparently on-purpose. In spite of all that, the case is unraveling thanks to the diligence of Gen. Flynn’s new attorney, Sidney Powell, who cuts through government bullshit like a samurai sword through tofu.
————-
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
This ended up on the wrong thread. No wonder I couldn’t find it. OK, let me move it to the Flynn thread.
Self: No More Bloody Mary’s for breakfast!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Another big fat chunk of evidence that the “studies” programs in unversities have no intellectual or academic merit and need to be abolished.
This person’s statements are too stupid to require a response.
Not so fast! Just because a “product” is stupid, and over-priced, that is no reason to remove it from the shelves! How many women buy $2,000 purses, and how many many men buy $10,000 wrist watches???
That kind of stuff gives losers some external self-esteem! Think about all the stupid and rich kids who are not smart enough to learn accounting, or chemistry, or civil engineering. How would they hold their heads up around their buds from the Prep Academy without a college degree??? And those dorks like Trigglypuff. What else could she take in college???
Sooo, you have to have these stupid courses and majors for all those dweebs. Plus, what other kind of high paying job could Professor Cooper get??? I don’t know her, but she sounds downright stupid. I would not trust her having a job at a fried chicken joint because she would probably forget to thoroughly cook the chicken and people of color (and me) would be dying left and right of salmonella. Plus, how would she keep whatever mess that is on the top of her head under a hair net??? She would be shedding that stuff off like crazy into all the food. She looks like one of those Predators from the sci-fi movies.
Also, see Thorsten Veblen, and His Theory of the Leisure Class:
——————
Veblen asserts that the contemporary lords of the manor, the businessmen who own the means of production, have employed themselves in the economically unproductive practices of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure, which are useless activities that contribute neither to the economy nor to the material production of the useful goods and services required for the functioning of society, while it is the middle class and the working class who are usefully employed in the industrialised, productive occupations that support the whole of society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class
—————-
The point is, let’s not be too hard on all these idiots who teach race and gender nonsense. But make sure YOUR kids learn something useful in college.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky– You wouldn’t trust this person to work at a fried chicken joint because she might be too stupid to cook the chicken thoroughly?
Possinly true, but my concern as a shop owner would be that she would eat all the stock.
Being morbidly fat and diabetic significantly increase risk of death from Wuhan virus. White man’s fault of course that she is at risk. I guess the KKK has matured from lynching to holding people down and feeding them all the chicken they can swallow.
The only response to her claims is mockery.
ROTFLMAO!!!
Down in Louisiana, we call it Food Stamp Rump. Too much Orange Fanta and Doritos. And everything else.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“Cooper’s speech should be protected but the recognition of such free speech values seems to often exclude faculty and students from opposing political or social perspectives.”
We’ll never know, as – by now – few opposing perspectives even exist in the faculty; and among those who do hold such perspectives, none are stupid enough to be publicly burned at the stake in order to illustrate that double standard.
The coronavirus is the secret ingredient in White Reign shampoo.