"Why do we keep losing elections?"

[Colonel Sanders]

Los Angeles City Council bans use of N-word, C-word in meetings

City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said public comment at meetings has become more vulgar in recent years.

laist.com

Long story short, two words have been banned at city council meetings: the N-word and Cunt. Australian folks might be especially upset about the latter.

Anyway, should one utter these words, they could be banned from future participation in these meetings. Is this outright oppression on free speech? Maybe, maybe not. I'd err on the side of it being so because it's a government entity doing it and there are other and far simpler ways to address the issues that have zero 1AM implications.

Really though, the important thing here is the mileage conservatives are going to get out of it and other people fed up with the Dems inability to read the fucking room and handle petty shit like this in a way that isn't more than reflective of Charlie Gordon* prior to treatment. Don't ban the words, just remove the people who have exhibited a disruptive pattern of conduct under already existing rules.

This isn't that fucking hard, morons (the Dems).

*See Flowers for Algernon

 

[pood]

Isn’t removing people who use the words equivalent to banning the words?

If we are at the point where there is a huge constituency of morons who support using the N and C words and will punish Democrats at the polls for trying to curtail their use, we are fucked anyway.

 

[laughing dog]

Los Angeles City Council bans use of N-word, C-word in meetings

City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said public comment at meetings has become more vulgar in recent years.

laist.com

Long story short, two words have been banned at city council meetings: the N-word and Cunt. Australian folks might be especially upset about the latter.

Anyway, should one utter these words, they could be banned from future participation in these meetings. Is this outright oppression on free speech? Maybe, maybe not. I'd err on the side of it being so because it's a government entity doing it and there are other and far simpler ways to address the issues that have zero 1AM implications.

Really though, the important thing here is the mileage conservatives are going to get out of it and other people fed up with the Dems inability to read the fucking room and handle petty shit like this in a way that isn't more than reflective of Charlie Gordon* prior to treatment. Don't ban the words, just remove the people who have exhibited a disruptive pattern of conduct under already existing rules.

This isn't that fucking hard, morons (the Dems).

*See Flowers for Algernon

Unless you define disruptive conduct to explicitly include such words, people can utter in a serene manner. So aren’t you doing what you are protesting?

 

[bilby]

If someone wants to out themselves as a racist cunt by using the word "nigger" in a town meeting, why would we want to restrain them from doing so?

And what benefit accrues from refusal to type the word "nigger", even in the context of a discussion of the word's uses?

Words are not magic spells. They have only the power we give them, and prudishness, euphemism, and self-censorship (and even more so, actual censorship) give them unwarranted power.

The word "nigger", used as an insult, tells us useful information about the speaker, as it advises us to discount or disregard his opinions, and to watch him closely lest he commit hate crimes.

The same applies to the word "cunt", though it clearly has many uses that are not a directly sexist insult.

Either way, context is far more important than the mere use of the words. If someone thinks less of me because I used the word "nigger" (rather than the prudish euphemism "N-word"), in a discussion of how the word might be used, then they have completely missed the point.

There are plenty of contexts in which either word could be used without being offensive - unless we subscribe to a puritanical religion in which words actually are held to be magical.

 

[TSwizzle]

These meetings are attended by all sorts of mental patients who go off on rants about irrelevant things happening in their heads and just start screaming obscenities.

 

[ZiprHead]

These meetings are attended by all sorts of mental patients who go off on rants about irrelevant things happening in their heads and just start screaming obscenities.

I agree. We've seen you do it here. So how many meetings have you attended?

 

[TSwizzle]

Anyway, should one utter these words, they could be banned from future participation in these meetings. Is this outright oppression on free speech? Maybe, maybe not. I'd err on the side of it being so because it's a government entity doing it and there are other and far simpler ways to address the issues that have zero 1AM implications.

It’s not really aimed at oppressing free speech, it’s aimed at a handful of nut cases who attend these meetings and disrupt them.

The ban comes after years of tirades by a few speakers who attack officials’ weight, sexual orientation or gender and who sometimes use racial slurs.

LA Times

The city of Downey has been granted a permanent restraining order against the city council’s regularly vulgar critic Armando Herman by the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the city has announced. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was also granted a restraining order (also for three years) against Herman last year, after he allegedly sent vulgar, threatening emails to four of its five members.

News

I think the rule is reasonable when applied in this situation. It’s not productive use of time just having nut cases have a couple of minutes to yell obscenities at the council members even though I’d be tempted to do so myself

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets. There are always accusations against the Democrats that aren't quite fair and the problem of "losing elections" has more to do with just how empowered the Reich-wing is to be loud and how much more capacity they have to produce and disseminate extremist propaganda.

 

[bilby]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets.

There is a middle ground between these two options in which everybody is allowed to speak, and to use whatever language they choose; But nobody is allowed to monopolise the time to the detriment of others who wish to speak.

Listening to the people (even the crazy people) is part of the job of elected officials in a representative democracy. It's a sucky job, but if they don't like it, they can go work at Walmart instead.

 

[Elixir]

Listening to the people (even the crazy people) is part of the job of elected officials in a representative democracy.

Yeah, listening to loud, angry, ignorant dullards has encouraged and enabled us to replace representative government with The Mob. The consensus of The People is that they don’t want to be bothered with shit like voting. So they elected someone who told them they will never have to bother with it again.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets. There are always accusations against the Democrats that aren't quite fair and the problem of "losing elections" has more to do with just how empowered the Reich-wing is to be loud and how much more capacity they have to produce and disseminate extremist propaganda.

I agree that these people are a problem, which is why I suggested using already existing rules to have them removed. Repeat offenders can be banned and legitimate reasons can be cited for those bannings.

What I'm on about is the PR issue e.g. Liberal L.A. has liberal politicians doing liberal things like outlawing free speech. Twenty years ago this wouldn't have been controversial, but now this is an easy target for the conservative bullhorns like Fox News. A simple blurb designed to inflame and tying to other issues is easy pickins.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets. There are always accusations against the Democrats that aren't quite fair and the problem of "losing elections" has more to do with just how empowered the Reich-wing is to be loud and how much more capacity they have to produce and disseminate extremist propaganda.

I agree that these people are a problem, which is why I suggested using already existing rules to have them removed. Repeat offenders can be banned and legitimate reasons can be cited for those bannings.

What I'm on about is the PR issue e.g. Liberal L.A. has liberal politicians doing liberal things like outlawing free speech. Twenty years ago this wouldn't have been controversial, but now this is an easy target for the conservative bullhorns like Fox News. A simple blurb designed to inflame and tying to other issues is easy pickins.

I agree messaging from liberals can be messy. But on the other hand, the Governor of Virginia won running a campaign against CRT being taught in public schools, when it wasn't. The GOP has made transgender rights into a mountain as if Lebron James was just named the MVP of the WNBA. And illegal immigration is the absolute worst thing that ever happened to our country, including Pearl Harbor and the Civil War.

We are losing elections because the right wing is tired of struggling by because of all the right-wing policies they've voted in support of... and enough women decided the pocket book was more important than their reproductive rights.

 

[Patooka]

I stopped reading after I saw the dreaded words, "city council meeting".

This isn't a "Democrat problem."

 

[thebeave]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets. There are always accusations against the Democrats that aren't quite fair and the problem of "losing elections" has more to do with just how empowered the Reich-wing is to be loud and how much more capacity they have to produce and disseminate extremist propaganda.

I agree that these people are a problem, which is why I suggested using already existing rules to have them removed. Repeat offenders can be banned and legitimate reasons can be cited for those bannings.

What I'm on about is the PR issue e.g. Liberal L.A. has liberal politicians doing liberal things like outlawing free speech. Twenty years ago this wouldn't have been controversial, but now this is an easy target for the conservative bullhorns like Fox News. A simple blurb designed to inflame and tying to other issues is easy pickins.

I agree messaging from liberals can be messy. But on the other hand, the Governor of Virginia won running a campaign against CRT being taught in public schools, when it wasn't. The GOP has made transgender rights into a mountain as if Lebron James was just named the MVP of the WNBA. And illegal immigration is the absolute worst thing that ever happened to our country, including Pearl Harbor and the Civil War.

We are losing elections because the right wing is tired of struggling by because of all the right-wing policies they've voted in support of... and enough women decided the pocket book was more important than their reproductive rights.

That's not as far fetched as you might think...

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'll need to take your word for it. I never see stuff like that on my feeds.

 

[ZiprHead]

Why DO we keep losing elections???

 

[Tigers!]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets. There are always accusations against the Democrats that aren't quite fair and the problem of "losing elections" has more to do with just how empowered the Reich-wing is to be loud and how much more capacity they have to produce and disseminate extremist propaganda.

You are sounding just a little precious here. I am quite sure that there are accusations made against the Republicans that aren't quite fair too. But speaking from Australia they seem less likely to whinge about it. Or that might just be an artefact of the 'journalism' here in Australia.

 

[Spacetime Inhabitant]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets. There are always accusations against the Democrats that aren't quite fair and the problem of "losing elections" has more to do with just how empowered the Reich-wing is to be loud and how much more capacity they have to produce and disseminate extremist propaganda.

You are sounding just a little precious here. I am quite sure that there are accusations made against the Republicans that aren't quite fair too. But speaking from Australia they seem less likely to whinge about it. Or that might just be an artefact of the 'journalism' here in Australia.

Ever heard of Margaret Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert? Or if I think about it many Republican males, also many other females, all of whom make complaints. If you aren't hearing about it on the news it is because the news is biased in favour of conservatives. That is because 60% of mainstream media in Australia is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
The fact is that any accusations against the Republicans that they perceive as unfair are generally true. Indeed, they do so many bad deeds that we only hear about a fraction of them, unless we dedicated ourselves full time to tracking what they are doing. It is the same with any other criminal gang.

 

[Tigers!]

If they get rid of the few people using the words, they will be accused of canceling them, i.e., cancel culture. If they sit around and do nothing, they'll be accused of letting chaos go rampant, like letting people poop in the streets. There are always accusations against the Democrats that aren't quite fair and the problem of "losing elections" has more to do with just how empowered the Reich-wing is to be loud and how much more capacity they have to produce and disseminate extremist propaganda.

You are sounding just a little precious here. I am quite sure that there are accusations made against the Republicans that aren't quite fair too. But speaking from Australia they seem less likely to whinge about it. Or that might just be an artefact of the 'journalism' here in Australia.

Ever heard of Margaret Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert?

I have heard of them but refuse to get more knowledgeable than that.

Or if I think about it many Republican males, all of whom make complaints. If you aren't hearing about it on the news it is because the news is biased in favour of conservatives. That is because 60% of mainstream media in Australia is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Since by now the majority of Aussies do not get their news from mainstream media owning 60% is falling stock.

The fact is that any accusations against the Republicans that they perceive as unfair are generally true.

A very broad and unsupported assertion. The fact that 'liberals' make such a claim constantly is not indicative of its veracity.

Indeed, they do so many bad deeds that we only hear about a fraction of them, unless we dedicated ourselves full time to tracking what they are doing. It is the same with any other criminal gang.

Of course the Dems are angels and would not hurt a fly.

And before you get on your high horse I am so glad (in one sense) that I did not have to vote in Nov. 2024. Hobson's choice. Damned if you do and damned if you do not..

 

[Patooka]

I have heard of them but refuse to get more knowledgeable than that.

MTG is one of the Republican party's largest fundraiser, btw. Dismissing her out of hand is pretty ignorant.

Since by now the majority of Aussies do not get their news from mainstream media owning 60% is falling stock.

Actually, they do. Pretty much every "alternative news" outlet starts their report with "[*insert mainstream media outlet here*] reports that...".

Aussies like most people are still dependent on tradition media, and like most people are completely unaware of that fact.