Obama was pro Dr. Seuss, shows how crazy we've gone since than

dafuqutalkinabout wrote:

Bullet_Proof wrote:

This post is disguised as clever, but is hollow and lacks wisdom. On the surface, who wouldnt agree with a statement like "striving to be better tomorrow"?

Maybe you missed the film, Fight Club:

"Self improvement is masturbation"

Totally. I get all my best bits of wisdom from fictional, schizophrenic, charismatic terrorist cult leading alter egos.

Good. You've passed the first test. Still need more points to qualify, though.

The Gallant Pig Man wrote:

Please tell us, which racist caricatures should Dr. Seuss Enterprises be required to publish? I'd love to know. Unless conservatives are proposing that the government take control of the means of production (turning communist to own the libs), then these "issues" have no policy solution. And that's the point, really. Republicans have absolutely nothing of substance to offer the American people so they focus entirely on culture war BS.

This is the part that stands out for me. The Right have nothing to offer economically or socially. Everything is reduced to whether something is making someone rich. Look at how they deride liberal arts - no point studying history or literature or classical studies because you cannot make money. So we develop no human skills and have nothing of pride. Ultimately leads to a society with no foundations, history or culture. Increasingly the collective common sense of right-wing economics being sensible and stable is finally being challenged too.

So yes, they focus of fighting Culture War topics like this where they basically get a free hit, even when the source of of their outrage is completely confected like it is here.

Supporting the Arts is nothing but a tax write-off

skeechworthy wrote:

Liberals, led by the mainstream media, lost their collective minds somewhere in the last few years. Whether Trump drove them to it, or it was just some moral panic that arose, or combination of both, I don't know. But they have lost all sense of logic and reason. It doesn't seem to be getting better, even with Trump gone. We all kind of hoped Biden would be able to tone it down, but he seems engaged in it all as well.

The exact same thing can be said about conservatives. They've lost their collective minds and have absolutely no sense of logic or reason.

FREE HORTON!

What I don't understand is what the Right is so angry about. What is the actual offense that is worth all this spitting and seething?

1. The government didn't force anyone to stop publishing books.

2. Schools are not banning Dr. Seuss books.

3. The Seuss estate is not ceasing publication of all of its books--only the six that contain the most egregious examples of racial reductivism. And they appear to be doing this more or less voluntarily, albeit with what appears to be the tailwind of a more enlightened (or "woke") public sentiment about representation.

4. Nobody is saying that readers of Dr. Seuss books are racist.

5. We are talking about early-reader books here--like, books for four-year-olds. There are thousands and thousands of books for four-year-olds. If there are six fewer on the open marketplace tomorrow and folks "have to" buy some other book for their niece or nephew instead, that child will suffer no harm, unless you think that there is something utterly unique and irreplaceable in Seuss's work and that not being exposed to every one of his books (including "Scrambled Eggs Super") is itself a form of harm--which is obviously a ludicrous position.

So why all the anger? I don't mean, "Why all the pushback," because debate is a part pf culture. I mean, why is FOX covering this with such hyperbolic enthusiasm? Why are folks on this board getting all in a lather about it?

* Do people hate when art that they enjoy is called racist because they fear that it somehow reflects badly on them?

* Do people resent that white, middle-brow tastes no longer dictate the entirety of the cultural menu because they are accustomed to their preferences aligning with the cultural default?

* Do people think that any visual representation of any person or people is just fine, no matter that others may perceive it to be vulgar, grossly inaccurate, or insultingly reductive, and so any move to urge more nuanced representation is somehow illegitimate?

Seriously, what is it?

I would love any serious, non-enraged, level-headed responses.

What are his PRs?

sbeefyk2 wrote:

skeechworthy wrote:

Liberals, led by the mainstream media, lost their collective minds somewhere in the last few years. Whether Trump drove them to it, or it was just some moral panic that arose, or combination of both, I don't know. But they have lost all sense of logic and reason. It doesn't seem to be getting better, even with Trump gone. We all kind of hoped Biden would be able to tone it down, but he seems engaged in it all as well.

The exact same thing can be said about conservatives. They've lost their collective minds and have absolutely no sense of logic or reason.

Conservatives lost their minds. We have the left trying to brand all our nations as racist. They are trying to brand our two presidents most responsible for ending slavery as racist and take down their statues. We have the left embracing a marxist group rioting all summer and we're being told, oh come on guys you're overreacting.

I was one of the conservatives who rolled my eyes a few years ago when many on my side made a big deal of what happened to Bret Weinstein at Evergreen state, or the riots when Ben Shapiro spoke at Cal. I like many thought, this is a joke. These are a few moron college kids and once they get to the real world we'll toughen them up and this will all be forgotten. We made a huge mistake by not stomping that out then. Because this is now a force the left has embraced. Many of these leftist politicians like the squad or Schumer or Harris will gladly rip apart our constitutional checks on the government to enact their worldview. This is not going to stop if conservatives shut up and kick Trump to the curb. The biggest hurdle to enacting this agenda is if they are able to enforce a culture of intimidation where those who disagree with their agenda are afraid to speak out. We are not being paranoid anymore. This is a force that is an imminent danger to Western culture.

Great job missing the point of his post.

Funny because this sounds like you’re projecting. Speaking of losing one’s mind, didn’t something happen on January 6th...?

You can be pro Dr. Seuss and realize this is a good decision. Even Dr. Seuss wanted this. Another hateful, misinformed LR post.

I'm surprised at the confusion on the part of the right wing morans. This is a purely capitalist decision; liberalism has nothing to do with it. As I'm sure others have noted, the people who own the copyrights to these books are choosing not to publish them anymore. No government is banning anything. This is a business decision.

Are all you snowflakey whiners aware that, by complaining about this, you are complaining about a free market choice by a private entity? What is your solution, to mandate that the Seuss estate continue publishing books they have decided are not in their interest anymore? Are you going to petition your legislators to pass a state law requiring them to do so?

If you are so concerned that we are losing literature that contains stereotypes that are offensive and damaging to certain members of our society, you are welcome to write your own book and publish it. Really, you can, because no one is banning books. Produce a supply, test the demand...unbridled capitalism in action! Go for it.

The people who literally tried to cancel an election are complaining about the FREE MARKET deciding it's no longer okay to be racist. So much to unpack there

Didn't they have Editors when Dr. Seuss wrote books? The Editors should have checked these books BEFORE they were sold to the Public, and then whatever is offensive in these 6 books could have been changed or removed entirely BEFORE the general public especially children got to see it.

Becasue Dr. Seuss books are cartoonist, Obama like most Americans didn't give the art and content much thought beyond the surface level. Its also a matter of which books are being referenced versus the ones read. This is certainty no knock on Obama or liberals in general; sometimes it takes an astute deep thinking person to point certain types of stuff out. Personally, I can clearly see the racial overtones in the books pointed out, but the books are a product of their time and can be used as a teachable moment as opposed to simply banning them becasue in which case we will be banning a ton of books.

I understand the reaction.

There is a trend towards everything we do and say being criticized to the nth degree. This is good to an extent. People should be held accountable to their actions and opinions when these actions and opinions are harmful.

With that said, the pendulum (I feel) has swung too far. People (mostly online) seem to delight in picking apart the words and actions of others. There is often no nuance considered in these attacks and any dissenting voice (even a mild one) is automatically branded a republican/Trump supporter/whatever.

I consider myself a pretty progressive person. I vote left. I support policy reform to decrease health and wage equity. I recognize that people of colour, as a group, have a collective disadvantage stemming from colonial impact. I have, however, lately found myself more and more frustrated with sensational stories twisting or obscuring facts to promote a narrative of evil republicans. It is frustrating because websites I used to enjoy browsing (like Reddit) have now become insufferable. I'm sure similarly aggravating stories are shared on right-leaning websites, but I'm not there to read them.

The truth (or at least my truth, I guess) is that stories and people are rarely black and white.

Take Rittenhouse for example. If I have to read "crossed over state lines" one more time, my head might explode. The guy lived a stones throw away. He worked in the community. It's written that way to get a specific reaction. On the other hand, this guy isn't a hero. He's a dumb kid who was surrounded by other dumb adults facilitated him attending a protest with a lethal weapon. Because of that, he drew the ire of other dumb adults and a couple people wound up dead that shouldn't have.

Ask Gina wrote:

This is a force that is an imminent danger to Western culture.

Had to read until the last sentence to get to the most obvious dog whistle.

TKTKTK wrote:

This is the part that stands out for me. The Right have nothing to offer economically or socially. Everything is reduced to whether something is making someone rich. Look at how they deride liberal arts - no point studying history or literature or classical studies because you cannot make money. So we develop no human skills and have nothing of pride. Ultimately leads to a society with no foundations, history or culture. Increasingly the collective common sense of right-wing economics being sensible and stable is finally being challenged too.

So yes, they focus of fighting Culture War topics like this where they basically get a free hit, even when the source of of their outrage is completely confected like it is here.

What I don't understand is what the Right is so angry about. What is the actual offense that is worth all this spitting and seething?

1. The government didn't force anyone to stop publishing books.

2. Schools are not banning Dr. Seuss books.

3. The Seuss estate is not ceasing publication of all of its books--only the six that contain the most egregious examples of racial reductivism. And they appear to be doing this more or less voluntarily, albeit with what appears to be the tailwind of a more enlightened (or "woke") public sentiment about representation.

4. Nobody is saying that readers of Dr. Seuss books are racist.

5. We are talking about early-reader books here--like, books for four-year-olds. There are thousands and thousands of books for four-year-olds. If there are six fewer on the open marketplace tomorrow and folks "have to" buy some other book for their niece or nephew instead, that child will suffer no harm, unless you think that there is something utterly unique and irreplaceable in Seuss's work and that not being exposed to every one of his books (including "Scrambled Eggs Super") is itself a form of harm--which is obviously a ludicrous position.

So why all the anger? I don't mean, "Why all the pushback," because debate is a part pf culture. I mean, why is FOX covering this with such hyperbolic enthusiasm? Why are folks on this board getting all in a lather about it?

* Do people hate when art that they enjoy is called racist because they fear that it somehow reflects badly on them?

* Do people resent that white, middle-brow tastes no longer dictate the entirety of the cultural menu because they are accustomed to their preferences aligning with the cultural default?

* Do people think that any visual representation of any person or people is just fine, no matter that others may perceive it to be vulgar, grossly inaccurate, or insultingly reductive, and so any move to urge more nuanced representation is somehow illegitimate?

Seriously, what is it?

I would love any serious, non-enraged, level-headed responses.[/quote]

+1 well put

Oh no, I butchered the quote function. I'm dumb.