About those peaceful antifa protests...

[derspiess]

Yeah for sure - the American right wing - including fine upstanding conservatives who are not Trump supporters like yourself - are currently working overtime to cast anti-fascist activism as terrorism.

Not really working overtime on it here and I didn't use the "t" word, but I did say Antifa is a violent organization. As a militant activist organization, it pretty much is by definition.

For you it's just inconsequential points scoring on the internet, done safely and anonymously. Maybe I should've made a different decision about how much I revealed about my personal life to you guys over the years, but that's a bit late now.

I'm not anonymous.  I'm FB friends with several people here, including Raz

I'll happily talk to you about the subject in person should we have the opportunity though

And it would be a pleasant conversation.  I'm actually a very nice guy in person.

[derspiess]

Judging by reactions here and reactions of the Republican Party, it seems like refusing to condemn the alt-right and taking up their talking points and ideology seems to be the solution conservatives are going with.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit?  Specifically about reactions here.

[Sophie Scholl]

Judging by reactions here and reactions of the Republican Party, it seems like refusing to condemn the alt-right and taking up their talking points and ideology seems to be the solution conservatives are going with.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit?  Specifically about reactions here.

Your questioning what problem there is with the alt-right/if there is a problem at all is problematic from my perspective.  Look at Ancient Demon and all the other magical creatures that have popped out of the woodwork to spout off alt-right rhetoric here.  That is concerning.  If memory serves they weren't always alt-right level hooligans, but the silence on the right as espoused by people like you who are more balanced and moderated gives them courage and power to shape the direction of where the Conservative elements of society are going.

As a side note, I'd still be more than willing to sit down and drink some beers with you, though probably not them.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I'm reminded of Yeats' poem (at least the start of it)  :

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

[crazy canuck]

Judging by reactions here and reactions of the Republican Party, it seems like refusing to condemn the alt-right and taking up their talking points and ideology seems to be the solution conservatives are going with.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit?  Specifically about reactions here.

Your questioning what problem there is with the alt-right/if there is a problem at all is problematic from my perspective.  Look at Ancient Demon and all the other magical creatures that have popped out of the woodwork to spout off alt-right rhetoric here.  That is concerning.  If memory serves they weren't always alt-right level hooligans, but the silence on the right as espoused by people like you who are more balanced and moderated gives them courage and power to shape the direction of where the Conservative elements of society are going.

As a side note, I'd still be more than willing to sit down and drink some beers with you, though probably not them.

Well put

I'm reminded of Yeats' poem (at least the start of it)  :

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

Yep

[derspiess]

Your questioning what problem there is with the alt-right/if there is a problem at all is problematic from my perspective. 

I was asking for the problem to be defined.  I wasn't denying that the alt-right presents a problem of some sort.  I think it does, though we may disagree on how big a problem it is.

Look at Ancient Demon and all the other magical creatures that have popped out of the woodwork to spout off alt-right rhetoric here.  That is concerning.  If memory serves they weren't always alt-right level hooligans,

I've only seen a handful of recent posts from AD and I don't really remember much about the content, other than they ruffled some feathers.  Not to de-rail the conversation, but do we really have that many alt-righters here?

but the silence on the right as espoused by people like you who are more balanced and moderated gives them courage and power to shape the direction of where the Conservative elements of society are going.

Okay, I think that's totally bogus.  I don't think I bear any responsibility for giving courage and power to the alt-right.  And to the extent that I ever interact with any alt-righters at all (which is very minimal), I'll argue with them.

As a side note, I'd still be more than willing to sit down and drink some beers with you, though probably not them.

I'd hope so.  Probably more than half of my beer drinking friends are on the left.

[PDH]

I'm reminded of Yeats' poem (at least the start of it)  :

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

I used to read The Second Coming to my students when talking about post world war I world.  I even got them to listen some times.

[Oexmelin]

Can you elaborate on that a little bit?  Specifically about reactions here.

Maybe it would help if, instead of playing coy about it and asking everybody what they think about it, you'd actually stated what you think about the alt-right, and what problem it represents. Because so far, it mostly seems as if you are asking questions to figure out just how "far gone" everybody is over to the "far left".

[derspiess]

Can you elaborate on that a little bit?  Specifically about reactions here.

Maybe it would help if, instead of playing coy about it and asking everybody what they think about it, you'd actually stated what you think about the alt-right, and what problem it represents.

OKAY THANKS PERFESSER.

Because so far, it mostly seems as if you are asking questions to figure out just how "far gone" everybody is over to the "far left".

I'm genuinely interested in what you guys think. 

[crazy canuck]

Can you elaborate on that a little bit?  Specifically about reactions here.

Maybe it would help if, instead of playing coy about it and asking everybody what they think about it, you'd actually stated what you think about the alt-right, and what problem it represents.

OKAY THANKS PERFESSER.

I think it would be hard for you to play to an anti-intellectual crowd on Languish.

[The Brain]

I'm genuinely interested in what you guys think.

I think it's perfectly fine for a middle-aged nuclear physicist to sit around the house in his underwear playing computer games and looking at porn.

[Jacob]

I'm genuinely interested in what you guys think.

And I'm genuinely interested in what you think.

[derspiess]

I'm genuinely interested in what you guys think.

And I'm genuinely interested in what you think.

Awww

And someday I will tell you. But I have to get to football practice.

[garbon]

Get a room

[Jacob]

Get a room

Good idea.