Jeremy Thorpe RIP

[Martinus]

Was he actively homophobic or advocating such policies, though?

[dps]

I would say that in this case the fact that the law was unjust and wrong trumps the fact that he used his privilege to get away with it.

Similarly, I would not blame a wealthy Jew for using his privilege to get away from Holocaust.

I think that analogy fails because (at least after 1967) Thorpe wasn't using his privilege to conceal his behavior from the legal authorities in order to avoid imprisonment, but rather to conceal his behavior from the public in order to further his political career.

Also, what he "got away with" wasn't just having homosexual relations, but incitement to murder. 

[Sheilbh]

Yep. And I still don't actually think there's anything homophobic on the article.

[Martinus]

I would say that in this case the fact that the law was unjust and wrong trumps the fact that he used his privilege to get away with it.

Similarly, I would not blame a wealthy Jew for using his privilege to get away from Holocaust.

I think that analogy fails because (at least after 1967) Thorpe wasn't using his privilege to conceal his behavior from the legal authorities in order to avoid imprisonment, but rather to conceal his behavior from the public in order to further his political career.

Also, what he "got away with" wasn't just having homosexual relations, but incitement to murder.

That is what I love about Languish. I make some caveat early in a discussion (I expressly said that what I am saying does not apply to attempted murder or blackmail) and later, after several exchanges with one person, another person comes in and calls me on not repeating that caveat in every post that followed. 

[Sheilbh]

And anyway the point isn't moral. Just here's the extraordinary story of our almost deputy PM, a lot of which is new.

[dps]

I would say that in this case the fact that the law was unjust and wrong trumps the fact that he used his privilege to get away with it.

Similarly, I would not blame a wealthy Jew for using his privilege to get away from Holocaust.

I think that analogy fails because (at least after 1967) Thorpe wasn't using his privilege to conceal his behavior from the legal authorities in order to avoid imprisonment, but rather to conceal his behavior from the public in order to further his political career.

Also, what he "got away with" wasn't just having homosexual relations, but incitement to murder.

That is what I love about Languish. I make some caveat early in a discussion (I expressly said that what I am saying does not apply to attempted murder or blackmail) and later, after several exchanges with one person, another person comes in and calls me on not repeating that caveat in every post that followed. 

Fair enough, but I wasn't intending to call you out on the point so much as just re-iterating it.