The Left Is Cancelling Dr Seuss

[GMDino]

(04-03-2021, 10:55 PM)samhain Wrote: While I'm for MLB moving the ASG for the reasons they are doing it, I'm afraid the decision will likely hurt they very people they are trying to protect more than anyone.  Atlanta isn't exactly the right-wing epicenter of Georgia.  It's the exact opposite.  Most MAGA types out in rural Georgia could give a shit about whether or not Atlanta benefits from getting the event.  It's a foregone conclusion that both black businesses and black workers in Atlanta will make less money than they would if the event remained.  The mayor seems pretty upset about it, and she most certainly had zero to do with the election reform effort.

The principle is commendable, but the consequence probably doesn't effect the people it's targeting very much at all.

(04-04-2021, 07:10 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This is definitely the sad reality of any sort of boycott, to be quite honest. I try to explain this to my wife who still refuses to get Chick-fil-A. The amount of money the corporation gets from my number one with a diet lemonade is tiny in comparison to the money in the pockets of the workers and franchisers that are a part of our local economy. This will have a negative impact on the economy of Atlanta and the surrounding area which is a liberal area of the state and was the area targeted by these voter suppression measures.

First I should say I've never taken part in a boycott of a business or place for political reasons.  Ever.

Second if someone doesn't eat at BK because they want them to go vegan they will spend those dollars elsewhere in their community probably on other food.

MLB leaving GA really hurts the businesses and people in GA who would make money off the vent: Hotels, restaurants, even uber and public transportation I'd assume.  *THAT* should reflect on the people in office who chose to "lead" in a way that made companies not want to do business in their state and then voters should remove them for people who will not make such decisions.

In PA every damn election for the last decade was based around who was going to "drive the gas companies out of PA" by maybe taxing them a bit to help clean up the messes they make and the roads they destroy and who was "going to bring jobs to PA".

And the jobs guys keep getting elected and nothing changes because if the gas companies want our product they are here no matter what because the gas is here.  And the jobs don't come because 95% of the prep work to get the gas was done a decade ago.

So what I'm saying is the voters get to decide which is more important: Making voting harder and losing money in the state or not.

Unless the whole making voting harder makes it impossible to vote out the people who did that. 

[samhain]

(04-04-2021, 07:10 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This is definitely the sad reality of any sort of boycott, to be quite honest. I try to explain this to my wife who still refuses to get Chick-fil-A. The amount of money the corporation gets from my number one with a diet lemonade is tiny in comparison to the money in the pockets of the workers and franchisers that are a part of our local economy. This will have a negative impact on the economy of Atlanta and the surrounding area which is a liberal area of the state and was the area targeted by these voter suppression measures.

Yep.  I think it's cheap for the far-right to bang on the anti-cancel culture drum.  Honestly, I don't know how you can characterize yourself as anti-camel culture when the figurehead of you're movement wants to cancel anyone and anything that looks at him funny.  However, it's really bad for everyone when politics are injected into consumerism on the level that they are now.  People make knee-jerk decisions like the one MLB did without considering unintended consequences, which at street-level are going cause damage to a lot of people that don't deserve it.  I'd rather companies not make it their business to force right or wrong on people. 

The only way to respond to the obviously racist voting reforms is to hit the GOP hard at the polls again.  They failed to get the message last time around, so they want to move the goalposts.  Black voters know full well what their impact on elections can be and I doubt they'll forget in 2 years.  The ultimate price for Kemp and his cohorts to pay is loss of power.  They fear it more than anything, which is why they made these changes in the first place.  They already lost a very consequential senate runoff that many GOP "experts" thought would be a walk in the park.  Organize and get ready to make them pay again, and make it hurt.

[GMDino]

The freedom people are using government to punish a private company for making a decision they don’t like https://t.co/wYyEcFflXi

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 5, 2021

[GMDino]

y'all remember all the way back to like a day or so ago when DJT wanted everyone to boycott Coke?

Just had a terrific meeting with President Trump! pic.twitter.com/jGyAnURAky

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) April 5, 2021

 






Old habits die hard...

[Tiger Teeth]

(04-05-2021, 08:17 PM)GMDino Wrote: y'all remember all the way back to like a day or so ago when DJT wanted everyone to boycott Coke?

Just had a terrific meeting with President Trump! pic.twitter.com/jGyAnURAky

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) April 5, 2021

 






Old habits die hard...

He meant cocaine.

[BigPapaKain]

(04-05-2021, 08:17 PM)GMDino Wrote: y'all remember all the way back to like a day or so ago when DJT wanted everyone to boycott Coke?

Just had a terrific meeting with President Trump! pic.twitter.com/jGyAnURAky

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) April 5, 2021

 






Old habits die hard...

Do as I say, not as I do.

[Au165]

(04-06-2021, 07:47 AM)BigPapaKain Wrote: Do as I say, not as I do.

"I don't actually believe the crazy shit I say"

[GMDino]

The good thing about having a face like Mitch's is you can say anything with a straight face because you never smile.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-business-race-and-ethnicity-baseball-9535999a0dd7c0c6d949a891df896749

Quote:After new law, McConnell warns CEOs: ‘Stay out of politics’
By LISA MASCAROyesterday


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1 of 3
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks during a news conference at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky., Monday, April 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says it’s a “big lie” to call the [url=https://apnews.com/article/what-does-new-georgia-gop-election-law-do-87665a200f6442e28ef43cbc60c88653]new voting law in Georgia racist and he warned big business to “stay out of politics” after major corporations and even Major League Baseball distanced themselves from the state amid vast public pressure.


McConnell particularly slammed President Joe Biden’s criticism that the Georgia bill was restrictive and a return to Jim Crow-era restrictions in the Southern states aimed limiting ballot access for Black Americans.

“It’s simply not true,” McConnell told reporters Monday.

The choice by the GOP leader to dive into voting politics lends heft to efforts nationwide to install strict new voting laws after Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud that cost him the election to Biden. The new laws are aimed at scaling back early voting and other options that became wildly popular during the pandemic.

Even more, McConnell’s warning to big business not to get involved shows the scramble Republicans face as progressive groups are shining a spotlight on corporate America to live up to its brands and values as Congress takes on voting rights, gun violence and other issues Republicans have resisted.

The Republican leader has been among the most outspoken champions of the role of big money in elections, promoting the free-flow of undisclosed dollars to campaigns as a form of Constitution-protected free speech.

But companies temporarily halted giving to many Republicans after the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege, when the former president urged like supporters to fight for him and hundreds stormed the Capitol.

Speaking in Kentucky, McConnell said Monday it’s simply “not accurate” to say the Georgia law is making it more difficult to vote.

McConnell also criticized Biden for criticizing the law, saying the president’s claims had been fact-checked as false.

“The President has claimed repeatedly that state-level debates over voting procedures are worse than Jim Crow or ‘Jim Crow on steroids.’ Nobody actually believes this,” McConnell said in a lengthy statement earlier Monday.

“Nobody really thinks this current dispute comes anywhere near the horrific racist brutality of segregation.”

The new law shortens the time frame between primary and general elections, which also narrows the options for early voting. Yet the new law also expands early voting on Saturdays.

Republicans had initially proposed to limit weekend voting, a time when many Black churches conduct “souls to the polls” efforts. But Republicans reversed themselves, and the measure now requires two Saturdays of early voting, in addition to options for counties to open voting on Sundays.

The law also makes it a misdemeanor to hand out food, drink or other benefits to voters waiting in long lines at polling stations. Biden criticized that move, but advocates say it is meant to discourage outside groups from influencing voters.

McConnell more pointedly warned the big business that have been responding to public pressure on their corporate actions not to give in to the advocacy campaigns.

“It’s jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not just permit themselves to be bullied, but join in the bullying themselves,” he said.

Last week, Delta, Coca-Cola and other companies spoke critically of the new law in Georgia and baseball announced it was moving the All-Star Game from the state.

McConnell warned companies not to get involved in voting issues or other upcoming debates on environmental policy or gun violence heading to Congress.

[BigPapaKain]

(04-06-2021, 09:23 AM)GMDino Wrote: The good thing about having a face like Mitch's is you can say anything with a straight face because you never smile.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-business-race-and-ethnicity-baseball-9535999a0dd7c0c6d949a891df896749

The GoP is now upset that their tactics are being used against them.

I am shocked. SHOCKED I SAY.

[GMDino]

"stay out of politics, but keep giving us money! So what if you don't like what we do with that money! Give us more money!"

— Occupy Walrus (@occupywalrus13) April 6, 2021

 

[TheUberHuber]

(04-06-2021, 03:19 PM)GMDino Wrote:

"stay out of politics, but keep giving us money! So what if you don't like what we do with that money! Give us more money!"

— Occupy Walrus (@occupywalrus13) April 6, 2021

 

I have to imagine asking for donations after saying this would be a bit awkward lol.. 

[Benton]

Two minutes after making the statement, mcconnell personally called the healthcare, insurances and defense companies that have kept him flush to say he didn't mean what he said.

[BoomerFan]

I don't mind boycotting (either by CEOs or consumers) but there are some parts of things that would be called Cancel Culture that I do find troubling. It gives cover to a lot of toxic behavior online. As Aaron Sorkin points out, the court of public opinion will never acquit, while an actual court of law can. The court of public opinion will eventually destroy an innocent person. Sorkin had a scene in the third season of The Newsroom regarding Sunil Tripathi and how his family was treated after reddit misidentified him as the Boston Bomber.

And even if the target is not innocent, cancel culture applies (roughly) the same punishment to all transgressions. That is not justice. Courts of law are not perfect but at least they are designed to protect the innocent while trying to make their punishments fit the crime in a consistent manner.

What may surprise some here is that the Clintons, Biden, and Obama have, to some extent, spoken out against being overly reactionary and engaging in cancel culture.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/us/politics/obama-woke-cancel-culture.html

“This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically ‘woke’ and all that stuff,” Mr. Obama said. “You should get over that quickly.”


“The world is messy; there are ambiguities,” he continued. “People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids, and share certain things with you.”


Mr. Obama talked about conversations he’s had with his daughter Malia, who is a student at Harvard with Ms. Shahidi.


“I do get a sense sometimes now among certain young people, and this is accelerated by social media, there is this sense sometimes of: ‘The way of me making change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people,’” he said, “and that’s enough.”


“Like, if I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb,” he said, “then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself, cause, ‘Man, you see how woke I was, I called you out.’”


“That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change,” he said. “If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far. That’s easy to do.”

I'd add that if people are weaponizing shame they should understand that assaulting someone emotionally/psychologically is potentially just as damaging as assaulting them physically. I won't be too surprised if it takes someone who got cancelled committing suicide for society to really re-evaluate their behavior. And I'm talking someone who really did what they were accused of.

Whether you are religious or just believe that religion is an old way of propagating useful psychology, it is worth recalling that gossip was considered by many to be a sin. I really do think it is unhealthy, or that at least we should spend more time focused on improving ourselves rather than criticizing others. These are all generalizations of course. If we're talking about policy, then criticize away -- that is important stuff that can hurt or help many people. But as far as attacking people who are essentially strangers, I wish we would tend to do it a whole lot less, even if we are 99.9% sure they deserve it. If it is something really bad, leave it for the courts to deal with. If it isn't that bad or if you think there isn't enough for the courts to act on, maybe make your peace with it and move on. We can't fix every broken thing in the world and it can actually be very damaging to try.