Rick and Morty Creator Is Right-Wing Mob's Latest Target After Tasteless Comedy Sketch Resurfaces

Dan Harmon deletes his Twitter account after a years-old video resurfaces.

Reynaud Julien/APS-Medias/ABACA

Dan Harmon, co-creator of the Adult Swim animated cartoon Rick and Morty, is the latest Hollywood star to be called out for something dumb he posted online years ago. In this case, Harmon apologized after a 2009 comedy sketch resurfaced in which he plays a baby-rapist.

The sketch was the second and final installment in a series called Daryl, which was supposed to be a spoof of Showtime's Dexter. It shows Harmon simulating sex with a baby doll. The video's existence hasn't been a secret over the last nine years, but no one really paid much attention to it, and Harmon went on to achieve mainstream success—first with NBC's Community and later with Rick and Morty.

But the skit received widespread attention this week. Polygon reports that discussion about the video spread across 4chan—a forum not ordinarily known for delicate sensibilities when it comes to offensive comedy—and the story was eventually picked up by a popular right-wing subreddit called The_Donald. Soon, far-right provocateurs such as Mike Cernovich and Ethan Ralph were telling their Twitter followers about it as well.

Harmon was quick to apologize for the sketch. "In 2009, I made a 'pilot' which strove to parody the series 'Dexter' and only succeeded in offending," he said in a statement today. "I quickly realized the content was way too distasteful and took the video down immediately. Nobody should ever have to see what you saw and for that, I sincerely apologize." Harmon also deleted his Twitter account.

Adult Swim has condemned the video but said it accepted Harmon's apology. "Dan recognized his mistake at the time and has apologized. He understands there is no place for this type of content here at Adult Swim," the network said.

It doesn't look like Harmon's career will sustain as much damage as that of James Gunn, director of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Like Harmon, Gunn made some disgusting pedophilia-themed jokes years ago; as with Harmon, right-wing trolls gleefully sounded the alarm years later. But Gunn was fired and Harmon wasn't.

As I wrote yesterday, these crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.

Comments

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

What category Twitstorm are we talking here?

[$park? The Misanthrope]

Nobody got fired so I’m thinking Category Asshat.

[Mickey Rat]

That is not a Twitterstorm, that describes a mild Twitter breeze.

[Fist of Etiquette]

On the one hand, I like that perhaps Twitstorms are losing their ability to destroy things in the real world. On the other hand, I am afraid that only rightwing Twitstorms are becoming impotent, thus creating a dangerous environmental imbalance in the Twittersphere.

[General_Tso]

Mr. President, we must not allow… a Twitstorm gap!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Twitstorms are becoming more powerful AND more frequent.

[Marshal]

On the other hand, I am afraid that only rightwing Twitstorms are becoming impotent,

This was step one: establishing the correct (or at least a much better) standard. Step two will be pointing out the hypocrisy when businesses employ the old standard to the right. Eventually we’ll all move to the better standard over the objections of Reason staff idiots Setyon and Suave.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Like most hurricanes, this Twitstorm will eventually dissipate in The Atlantic, long after everyone has forgotten about it.

[Just Say'n]

The Atlantic?

Ummmm…did you forget about Kevin Williamson?

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Didn’t they hire him a long time after he stopped being relevant?

[Just Say'n]

A shit storm is still a shit storm

[DonaldBowman]

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[Last of the Shitlords]

Anyone who fucks things up so there is no season 4 of Rick and Morty will die an agonizing death at my hands.

[Mickey Rat]

And again, when a norm of society is gleefully broken, it is rather hard to contain it or go back to the way things were.

[Echo Chamber]

Slip sliding away

[Bearded Spock]

There’s an old farm saying: Don’t tear down a fence if you don’t know why it’s there.

Conservatives told liberals for years they wouldn’t like the new rules they were creating. Well, here we are.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I like that expression. It works very well in realms of IT security and what not.

[tommyboy]

No it doesn’t. In I.T. security, the old saying is, “You better know what that fence is for, how it works and monitor it for any unintended consequences that it may cause.” In I.T., you can cause a lot of disruption, confusion and losses by leaving up fences just because they are there.

[FreddyB]

So much this. I told Hillary, “I don’t know why this firewall is blocking tcp port 110 from Russian domains.” So I turned it off.

[Sigivald]

Chesterton’s Fence is not an ‘old farm saying’.

[Agammamon]

That’s . . . that’s not an ‘old farm saying’. That’s ‘Chesterton’s Fence’.

[Ron]

and the farm land rule if there is a closed gate close after you pass thru

[hello.]

As I wrote yesterday, these crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.

WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH conservatives are successfully making us eat our own shit after we’ve spent 20 years using gestapo tactics to summarily blockade entire industries from participation of anyone who disagrees with us WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Your tears are just the refreshing and delicious treat to beat this summer heat wave. I’m sure they’ll kill you last if you just suppress that gag reflex though.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Enjoy your well done steak. Here’s some ketchup.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I don’t get progs mocking the President’s eating habits. As if they’re bastions of good taste and la dolce vita.

[Fancylad]

People who eat things in a manner they enjoy, but which is frowned upon by culinary bien pensants, are obviously evil.

[Tony]

Adults should learn to have adult palates. Just like they have to learn how to dress like adults. Trump’s still working on that one too.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Adults should learn to have adult palates

They should also learn to read something besides young adult fiction about teenage wizards.

[Fancylad]

“Adult palates”
What the fuck, Tony. That’s the kind of kiddie bullshit fifteen-year-olds say when they’re trying to come across as mature.

[BestUsedCarSales]

So who are you defending here?

[DesigNate]

I don’t think they’re defending anyone, just drinking the tears of outrage that the mob has now successfully been unleashed on everyone.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Except this is not a great thing, this is just a race to the bottom. And I don’t feel particular excitement from getting to watch this.

[Bearded Spock]

It’s horrible, and I wish it would somehow reverse itself.

But unfortunately that’s not going to happen until enough people on the Left realize that they have as much to lose as those on the right. I don’t see that happening until Trump is out of office, at the very earliest.

[Square = Circle]

unfortunately that’s not going to happen until enough people on the Left realize that they have as much to lose as those on the right

Sadly, I think you’re right – McCarthyism (which the current situation most reminds me of) didn’t start coming to an end until McCarthy accused George Marshall and was insinuating things about the Eisenhower administration generally, and it still took some years after that for things to start calming down.

[Cathy L]

But unfortunately that’s not going to happen until enough people on the Left realize that they have as much to lose as those on the right.

The problem is there are always going to be a shitload of people on the internet with little or nothing to lose, and they’re never going to stop.

[Palatki]

They don’t have to stop; people will just stop paying attention to them. Sort of like us with Tony.

[Marshal]

But unfortunately that’s not going to happen

You’re commenting on the first step in the process. For the first time a business refused to reflexively fire the target.

[DesigNate]

I’m not saying it’s a good thing. It’s a really, really bad thing.

But some people are nihilist, what’re you gonna do?

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Better to take on some water evenly than capsize from one side only sinking.

[Kyfho Myoba]

Nick, you’re a doofus. This is a great thing. You seem to forget, the facts on our side are wa-a-a-a-ay better than the facts on their side. Roseanne is not a racist, and nobody really believes she is. Gunn is, in fact, a pedophile, and his tweets and other associations with Huston Huddleston and Lloyd Kaufman show it. HE WORKS FOR DISNEY, the largest and most popular “kid” corporation forchrisakes! What kind of liability (both damages and brand degradation) are they flirting with by keeping him around?

As far as Roseanne is concerned, dumping what is widely perceived to be a billion dollar franchise for the flimsiest of excuses is likely to generate a couple of shareholder lawsuits.

[Giant Realistic Flying Tiger]

The problem here is that Rick and Morty hasn’t used babyraping as a plot?or, for that matter, babyeating. There’s something wrong with you when you’re supposedly “offensive” but Ben 10 beats you to a plot.

Also, while I like Rick and Morty, the best Adult Swim show is The Venture Bros.

[BestUsedCarSales]

There’s quite a few better Adult Swim shows.

Joe Pera Talks To You
The Venture Bros
The Eric Andre Show
Squidbillies
Ballmastrz

Assuming you just mean shows currently airing.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Other than Venture Bros., no. The other shows you list are largely garbage. Eric Andre? Seriously?

[mpercy]

Eric Andre needs to learn to not go full retard.

[Doug Heffernan]

Mike Tyson can solve the heck out of a mystery.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Mike Tyson Mysteries is pretty good.

[mpercy]

Always mildy surprised at how much I enjoy Mike Tyson Mysteries. Most of those other shows are not entertaining to me in the least. Mr Pickles sometimes is fun, but Eric Andre? Seriously?

[RevengencerAlf]

Literally the only show on that list that is even worthy of comparison is The Venture Bros (because it is objectively better). The rest are all pure garbage for people too stoned to realize they’re watching an adult version of Blue’s Clues or The Wiggles.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

“You don’t know anything about pain until you’ve seen your own baby drowned in a tub… and you definitely don’t know anything about how to wash a baby.” – Anthony Jeselnik

[Rat on a train]

There was baby eating in s3e9.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Those were only half human though.

[Benitacanova]

Million Dollar Extreme. Tap water!

[Lucius Fergeson]

Some say that when you say “Sam Hyde” three times in front of a mirror, he’ll shoot up your school or your workplace.

[TW]

I agree with liking Rick and Morty and liking The Venture Bros. better (two weeks until it returns!).

As far as babyeating, what about Blim Blam?

http://rickandmorty.wikia.com/wiki/Blim_Blam

[Last of the Shitlords]

Blim Bkam was a villain. Villains can eat babies. There was also King Jellybean in S1 who tried to rape Morty in the men’s room in so,e alternate dimension. Which escalated into a violent confrontation with Morty. Rick figured out what had happened and assasinated him later in the episode.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AdTUnCShXPc

[Agammamon]

The best Adult Swim show *used to be* Venture Brothers.

Its still decent but they’ve . . . lasted longer than the creator’s enthusiasm for the show has.

[Greg Loves His Woodchipper]

Stormy was also touting the deliciousness of babies on “Sealab 2021” years ago.

[Ron]

actually Rick and Morty did have a baby eating episode but they didn’t glorify it and the person committing the act did not survive the episode

[My Dog Bites Better Than Yours]

Wait! The guy who writes a good, fine and woke show such as Rick and Morty once wrote something dumb and insensitive? How is that possible!

[Rhywun]

Ew is it really woke? Scratching that off my bucket list…

[Microaggressor]

Eh, not really. There was one episode that pushed the class warfare theme a bit too hard but not much else.

[MasterThief]

The purge episode? I don’t know that it put it in a way that only leftists can appreciate it. I think they do a fair job poking fun at both sides mostly through indirect references. Overall, the show is more philosophical (not to make it sound at all serious) than adherent to a political ideology.

[Last of the Shitlords]

They skewered Obama pretty well in the S3 finale.

[Agammamon]

The purge episode and the ‘I created a whole universe and evolved sentient life in it whose sole purpose is to generate power to start my car’ episode.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

No, it’s fine.

[Jerryskids]

And now we know why Harmon was so quick to defend Gunn, he saw the mob turning and knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of the way fast enough. Witch hunts are fun right up until somebody notices that, from the right angle, you kinda sorta look a little like a witch.

[DesigNate]

She turned me into a newt!

[Rhywun]

I got better git (gat? done git?) woke!

[Bearded Spock]

Mob Justice is Fun — as long as you’re part of the mob.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Or a sniper with a high powered rifle in a good shooting position.

[creech]

As I recall, the Salem witch hunts were reined in once a prominent minister’s wife was accused.

[General_Tso]

Exactly! You beat me to it, by a large margin.

[josh]

I just started getting into Rick and Morty. And I loved Community.

This must be what it was like when they came for the Jews.

[Last of the Shitlords]

EXACTLY like when they came for the Jews.

[Marcus Aurelius]

#metoo

[KevinP]

perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.

The best way to defang PC culture is to vigorously apply it to its progressive authors and fans.

[ThomasD]

“far-right hypocrites”

Is it part of the Reason stylebook to repeat something over and over again in the hope that people will start to believe it?

Once again, with emphasis:

Left: These are the standards you must abide by.

Right:. We don’t agree with them.

Left:. Tough, we will force them upon you.

Right:. If that is the way you want to play this then we demand you hold yourself to your own same standards.

Rico Suave Joe Setyon:. Right wing hypocrisy!

[Cathy L]

Are you trying to argue that enforcing a morality you don’t agree with isn’t hypocrisy?

[ThomasD]

Are you trying to argue that holding people to their own moral standards isn’t moral?

[EscherEnigma]

Correct. It is not moral to hold people to immoral standards.

[ThomasD]

“we demand you hold yourself to your own same standards” is inherently immoral?

[Sigivald]

But you only get to do it by saying that, not by actually applying their rules to them.

That might work, and that’s not allowed.

[Cathy L]

No. It’s immoral to hold people to immoral standards, like Escher Enigma said.

[DesigNate]

At least we can all agree that the modern left twitter mob is immoral.

[EscherEnigma]

This is really simple.

IF (standard X = immoral)
THEN (enforcing standard X is immoral)

The source of the standard is irrelevant to the question of morality.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Killing someone is immoral.
Someone is attempting to kill you.
Therefore it is immoral to kill them.

Seems to sum up the modern BHL pretty well.

[mlwjr]

Boycotting and getting someone fired from their job isn’t inherently immoral. its is stupid, but I wouldn’t call it immoral.

[mlwjr]

what exactly is immoral about it? Idiotic maybe but I don’t see some failing morality in this

[EscherEnigma]

For the purposes of this conversation, (A) I don’t care and (B) that’s irrelevant as if the standards are *not* immoral, my statement does not apply.

[BestUsedCarSales]

It all depends on what standard you’re holding them to.

“My moral standard is that I should be killing everyone who slights me.”

If that guy is slacking off on his murdering and you hold him to that standard, then it’s a moral failing to hold him to it.

[XM]

The point of making people abide by their (arguably arbitrary) moral standard is to force them to stop doing that in the first place. Because their rules almost certainly affect more of their own side and will become increasingly untenable.

To see people hung by their own petard isn’t hypocrisy. If Huffpo hounded some businesses for their homogeneous workforce but hired mostly white progressive writers, there’s nothing morally questionable about pointing that out. They can either fire existing employees to be more “diverse” or see the error of their ways and disavow racial quotas.

I suppose there are mob elements who insist on “eye for an eye” treatment. But if Disney gave Gunn the benefit of the doubt and also rehired Roseanne, that would please people unfairly branded as a mob by Reason writers.

[ThomasD]

“The point of making people abide by their (arguably arbitrary) moral standard is to force them to stop doing that in the first place.”

Sort of. The point of expecting people to abide by their own standards (not seeing any force being applied insofar as Disney is concerned) is that, absent there own abidance their behavior is – wait for it – hypocrisy.

You either have a moral standard – and you yourself must abide by it – or what you are doing is inherently immoral regardless of any external standard..

[mlwjr]

I have my popcorn ready

[NashTiger]

HOW DARE YOU

PROGSPLAINER

[mpercy]

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
H. L. Mencken

[Vernon Depner]

Make them live by their own rules. Rules for Radicals #4. Turnabout is fair play, not hypocrisy.

[ThomasD]

Holding someone to their own standards isn’t just ‘fair play.’

It is the epitome of justice.

[Cathy L]

So “the epitome of justice” would be you becoming a despot over all government employees?

I mean…nah.

[ThomasD]

You should warm up before making a stretch like that. Could have pulled a muscle.

Libertarianism is all about the individual, meaning that Free Will is what matters. So there is no higher justice than being held to our own sense of morality.

I see how a collectivist like you might not understand, much less accept such a thing.

[Cathy L]

But what of justice for the government employees?

[NotAnotherSkippy]

What exactly does justice for lois Lerner look like to you?

[Last of the Shitlords]

This……

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=47DfQcHMYLY

From about 50 seconds in.

[BestUsedCarSales]

So there is no higher justice than being held to our own sense of morality.

Only if their sense of morality is moral. And libertarianism is more than just a belief in the application of will.

[Nardz]

Do as thou will is the whole of the law

[Nardz]

But seriously, other than the NAP, what is this whole moral imperative coming from in libertarianism?
Real question

[BestUsedCarSales]

The NAP already goes beyond this idea of only following your own morality as it places a universal ideal as the basis for everything that follows.

[Modus Pwnens]

The NAP already goes beyond this idea of only following your own morality as it places a universal ideal as the basis for everything that follows.

Well, this is a delusion competitive with conservatives claiming their values come from God and leftists claiming they stand up for the little guy. You have to really stretch the NAP, and redefine several of the words in it, to cover/allow many things considered libertarian positions. Taxation of any kind, private property (especially real estate), etc. are all inconsistent with it if you take it literally.

[Kyfho Myoba]

It’s coming from the left-“libertarians” that want to use Liberty to obtain some other weird social justice kind of benefit. The libertarian movement has been invaded/subverted by cultural Marxists.

[Square = Circle]

Do as thou will is the whole of the law

That’s LeVayan Satanism, not libertarianism.

Libertarianism adds “as long as you’re not harming others or interfering with their ability to do as they will.”

[Nardz]

[That’s LeVayan Satanism, not libertarianism.]

I know, I know. Twas a joke.
But, I’m having a trouble squaring this:

[Libertarianism adds “as long as you’re not harming others or interfering with their ability to do as they will.”]

with:

{The NAP already goes beyond this idea of only following your own morality as it places a universal ideal as the basis for everything that follows.}

[Bubba Jones]

“Hoist by his own petard.”

What could be more conservative than invoking Shakespeare?

[EscherEnigma]

That phrase speaks to irony, not morality or justice.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Try again:

What’s the meaning of the phrase ‘Hoist by your own petard’?
Injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others.

[Trollificus]

Oh, things can easily be ironic, just AND moral. In this instance, though, only ironic and just, since the morality of an action should not be judged through the lens of how others have misbehaved.

The justice part? Oh hell yeah. And it’s no surprise that NOW this kind of action is becoming “problematic”, since NOW it’s effectively being directed at those in the progressive camp.

SJWs have initiated a great number of (small-time) campaigns that have resulted in serious professional and personal consequences for clearly innocent people (‘innocent’ in the sense that no, they aren’t even remotely actual Nazis), while screaming about the “harassment” and “death threats” they THEMSELVES receive. Their preemptive claims are never (EVER) documented with any kind of evidence other than proof that the bottom 2% of Internet comment is always, sadly, going to be pretty toxic. They have hitherto skated on this, using a potent blend of hypocrisy, double standards and a seemingly total lack of self-awareness; aided by the kind of eager credulity that passes for mainstream journalism nowadays.

So when you hear lefties proclaim they’re being harassed by “alt-right Nazi trolls”, a grain of salt mixed with a dose of perspective is definitely in order. Does the right/sane side sometimes grasp at straws in a similar manner?To. Be. Fucking. Sure. Legal scholars are divided as to whether such actions are covered under the “But they did it first, Mom!” Principle.

[Walk_on_Walter]

Sure it is. See also “Donald Trump.” His election to lead the authoritarian government is the epitome of justice.

[Woodchipper of the Apocalypse]

Do you think the “make them live by their own rules” strategy will change any minds of the Twitter-Mob-Usual-Suspects? Probably not, as both this dude and James Gunn went straight into apology mode instead of standing up for themselves.

Sort of on topic, if anyone ends up on the receiving end of an internet faux outrage mob, the only real strategy seems to be to ignore it until they find their next hate object. Apologies only make them more sanctimonious.

[Woodchipper of the Apocalypse]

The two comments above me appeared while I was typing this out, so consider this a reply to them. Thoughts, KevinP & Vernon?

[Vernon Depner]

It will eventually start to change minds, or the circular firing squad will leave the PC mob with no members who consider each other credible. Either way, sanity wins.

[John]

That is the way to handle it. And the more this happens and the more it affects people on the left side of the spectrum, the less effective it will be and the more quickly it will stop. Gunn got ran out of his job and it caused the left to realize “we don’t want this happening to leftists” and now when they went after this guy, they didn’t run him out of his job. My guess is the next time they go after someone on the right, they will have a lot better shot at telling them to fuck off. Once that someone on the right tells the mobs to fuck off, the whole thing will blow over as the left moves away from a tactic that no longer works.

The evil al right trolls are doing the world a big favor. Robby is just too stupid to understand that.

[$park? The Misanthrope]

Robby is just too stupid to understand that.

Read the byline again.

[ThomasD]

“Do you think the “make them live by their own rules” strategy will change any minds of the Twitter-Mob-Usual-Suspects? ”

Do you have an alternative approach towards affecting their behavior?

Every parent tries the ‘ignore’ approach to a child’s temper tantrum. But when the tantrum includes putting lit matches in the furniture that’s probably no longer an option.

[$park? The Misanthrope]

And so in response the parent should set the child’s bed on fire?

[Cathy L]

No, the parent should set the beds of random classmates of the child on fire.

[Last of the Shitlords]

I support Cathy’s plan to burn small children alive.

[The_Hoser]

Good to see you here, Mr. Harmon.

[ThomasD]

Yes, that is clearly the only alternative to turning a blind eye to the excessive behavior of the irresponsible.

You sure sussed that out quickly.

[$park? The Misanthrope]

That’s your point, goofball.
ThomasD|7.24.18 @ 3:50PM|#

Holding someone to their own standards isn’t just ‘fair play.’

It is the epitome of justice

Nobody suggested ignoring them. People are only saying that acting as infantile as they are is not a good thing.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

You agree that ignoring them isn’t the solution and you think that giving them a dose of their own medicine isn’t, so that leaves…a sternly worded letter? Another Robby piece (yes I read the byline) proclaiming that the right does it too!?

Wait, I’ve got it, a $46k Facebook ad campaign by the Russians. There’s nothing they can’t do.

[$park? The Misanthrope]

How about acting like adults? I know that is beyond many of the commentariat here, but I think it could work. Holy shit, get an imagination. Do you live your entire life having other people tell you what to do?

[NotAnotherSkippy]

“I got nuthin,” would have been shorter and more honest. Certainly my Russian Facebook idea was more creative than anything you’ve offered with such certainty.

[$park? The Misanthrope]

“I got nuthin,” would have been shorter and more honest. Certainly my Russian Facebook idea was more creative than anything you’ve offered with such certainty.

Your problem is you live in a box. And you can’t even comprehend anything outside of that box. Your very childlike in that if something doesn’t provide immediate feedback then it didn’t work. It’s actually funny that the only two opinions you can understand are ignore them or act like them. You have no concept of long-term goals.

So run along and be childish with all your childish friends. I’m sure one day you’ll win your shit-flinging contest.

[Nardz]

Now this is ironic!

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Again, “I got nuthin.” Then again having the answer but not saying it aloud certainly isn’t something childish. You’re not going to instantiate my labor or something.

Since you are convinced that there’s a third way, it should be easy to you to articulate it, even to us box dwellers. Perhaps it is too long to articulate. Does it require interpretive dance?

[ThomasD]

” People are only saying that acting as infantile as they are is not a good thing.”

Did I advocate acting infantile? No. My question was how to respond to infantile behavior.

So why even bring up that option?

Only now, that it is the leftists who are finally experiencing what they have willingly inflicted upon others, that this is suddenly a ‘moral’ problem. Yeah sure, tell me another.

There is nothing immoral about expecting that people will bear the consequences of their beliefs. In fact, it is the only way anyone can understand and confirm the full measure of their beliefs.

But otherwise Theodor Adorno would be proud.

[Marshal]

Do you think the “make them live by their own rules” strategy will change any minds of the Twitter-Mob-Usual-Suspects?

The goal is not to change the mob participants, it’s to show businesses they can and should ignore the mob.

[Just Say'n]

“just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.”

Those same Twitter shit storms that never seem to rise to the level of receiving an article unlike this shit storm which is different, because….

[ThomasD]

Remember Brendan Eich? A search of the Reason archive comes up with these two headlines:

“Does Mozilla Dumping Its CEO Over Prop. 8/Anti-Gay-Marriage Stance = McCarthyism?”

And

“Should the Mozilla CEO’s Resignation Be Considered a Liberal Victory?”

Neither exactly rising to the level of dire warnings, or accusations of political excess, much less accusation of hypocrisy against the “tolerance” crowd.

No, the warnings of “the shit is going to get out of hand, and nobody is going to like it” did not come from any of the chin-tugging authors here.

But it was said at the time.

[ThomasD]

From the comment section of one of those articles”

If libertarians want to replace most of the government with free choice and ethics, then the ways people use their freedom to enforce ethics on other people should be of great interest to libertarians.

Incidentally, a society in which everything we do is politicized and everyone is expected to conform may not turn out to be an especially free society.

Talk about prescient. Maybe the powers that be should hire Ken Shultz. But then again, I don’t think they want a real libertarian writing here. Might make the usual suspects look bad.

[Cathy L]

Convenient that you don’t link either of those articles, since the second one opened:

Over at The Atlantic Conor Friedersdorf wrote about his concerns relating to the recent news that Brendan Eich stepped down as CEO of Mozilla in the wake of news that he donated $1,000 in support of California’s Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage. Proposition 8 has since been overturned.

Friedersdorf rightly writes that it is concerning that Mozilla ousted Eich despite the fact that there was no evidence he planned to treat gay employees at Mozilla badly

It went on to say that “Mozilla’s decision violates the principles that they claim to uphold” and noted their hypocrisy about “inclusiveness.”

A week or so later there was also a Cathy Young article that portrayed Eich’s ouster as indicative of an emerging anti-free-speech trend on the left.

[ThomasD]

I omitted to links because I was in a hurry, and figured anyone else could just as easily type ‘Brendan Eich’ into the search box at the top of the page.

If your opinion is that the tone and tenor of those articles matches the freakout warnings of these recent Soave and Setyon articles, there is probably nothing I can say to change that.

I’d also add that Young’s article, just like the other two, contains no general warnings about where this was all headed. She was more worried about how Eich’s firing might more adversely affect gay people.

[John]

Young’s basic concern was how this might effect gays

Such a climate would very likely drive members of traditionalist faiths further away from the mainstream?perhaps causing them to become more hardcore in their cultural conservatism. And, in countries where gays still face an uphill battle for basic freedom of expression and advocacy, the perception that gay equality leads to censorship and suppression toward conservative sexual values is almost certain to make resistance to gay rights far more entrenched. (On Russian Internet forums, critics of the Kremlin’s odious recent ban on “homosexual propaganda” are often dismissed with, “Well, try criticizing gay marriage in America!”)

That people’s rights were being violated was secondary to the bigger issue of how it affected the sacred gays.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Why all the fuss about gays anyway? Wont there probably be a cure in another decade or two?

[John]

And here is my comment on the Young article.

John|4.14.14 @ 4:39AM|#

But if it turns to persecution of dissent,

If? It never fails to amaze me how naive many of the Reason writers are when it comes to the Left. They just so want to believe that Progs mean well and can be trusted and will some day see the error of their ways.

Twenty years ago no one who objected to gay marriage would have been called a bigot. Now everyone who does is. This is how the Left operates. Pick a culture war issue that your political opponents are generally on the other side of, define everyone who objects to it as a bigot and then slander all of your opponents as bigots and use that charge to get people to run them and their views out of society and debate in general.

The Left can’t make a rational argument for their policies. So they sell their policies as a way to show you are not a bigot like the other side. When they are done with making it impossible for anyone to publicly object to gay marriage and hold any sort of public position, they will pick another culture war issue and do the same thing.

I leave it to you to decide whether I or Young had a better idea of where this was headed.

[Salvius23]

Boy, I hope no one ever gets their hands on a copy of “The Aristocrats”.

[Sigivald]

Look, if you hate Disney cats, we just can’t continue this conversation.

[Mithrandir]

I would have been pretty sad if Rick & Morty were no more.

[Last of the Shitlords]

I would have to go on a murderous rampage, and take it out on SJW’s where I found them.

[BYODB]

And this should be the answer to ‘who should we blame between Gunn and Disney’.

Correct answer: Disney.

Different market niche, different reaction.

[John]

Blame Disney’s customers. Disney doesn’t owe Gunn losing its customers.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I doubt it’s customers would particularly care.

[BYODB]

Disney’s customers, as a whole, probably wouldn’t care. Customers generally care more about the product, and less about who made the product. I mean, they might say they care but usually when you look at sales that’s all just smoke. How successful have any of those far-left ‘boycotts’ of things like Chik-Fil-A worked out? Not very well.

Disney, the corporation, well it cares a lot. And that’s fine, I’m not saying they aren’t allowed to care or fire Gunn over whatever they choose. I’m just saying that in terms of ‘business’ Disney *ahem* jumped the Gunn.

I never say that Disney doesn’t have the right to fire Gunn, I just say that Disney is dumb for firing Gunn. It’s right up there with dumb studio decisions like cancelling the original Star Trek.

[Square = Circle]

I never say that Disney doesn’t have the right to fire Gunn, I just say that Disney is dumb for firing Gunn.

^ This.

[Square = Circle]

Although even better for Disney is if they fire Gunn and then hire him back due to popular demand.

[Last of the Shitlords]

I doubt most people know who James Gunn is in the first place.

[John]

I am not sure about that. The NFL’s customers clearly cared about the anthem protests.

[Last of the Shitlords]

Most NFL fans are actually good Americans. Not progressives.

Good Americans don’t take kindly to seeing the Pledge, or the Flag disrespected. Especially at an event they paid big money to attend.

[Kyfho Myoba]

Probably more important to the fans, is that they just want to watch a freakin’ ball game and not be reminded about politics on their day off.

[$park? The Misanthrope]

As far as I’m concerned, that is the correct answer. Companies may very well be shooting themselves n the collective feet by firing people before they even know what the fallout is.

[Cathy L]

Right. On the other hand, in most cases, they’re probably not, because even if Gunn is a particular valuable talent, the average employee at any megacorp is not and can be fired without much loss.

[$park? The Misanthrope]

And eventually people may stop going to work for Disney.

[Cathy L]

Pretty sure there’s going to continue to be a line out the door to direct movies for Disney for the foreseeable future.

[Careless]

Disney’s share of the box office this year is 36%. In terms of profit, I’d guess it’s over 70%, and possibly significantly higher. If you want to do movies that lots of people will see, you will sell your soul to direct for Disney.

[A Thinking Mind]

This has been Disney’s Modus Operandi. Look at what’s happened to Star Wars. They’ve been shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly and blaming their customers for not liking their product. They’ve fired two directors during the middle of shooting and have had to come up with a replacement director for the next big film.

Firing James Gunn is just letting some of that incompetence trickle over into their Marvel properties.

[John]

Disney made star wars into a money losing franchise. That is pretty fucking epic when you think about it.

[A Thinking Mind]

“The Last Jedi” actively undermined everything people like about Star Wars. It destroyed the universe by adding things that retroactively break the logic of previous films, it turned iconic heroes into navel-gazing assholes, and the stupid attempts at humor were mostly poking fun at the whole setting. It was a film that was practically making fun of its own target audience.

I don’t know how you expect to continue making money when you’re almost purposefully alienating your customer base. Sure, they claim they’re attempting to do things like expand their audience, but they’re not creating any reason to get invested in the story at this point. The characters you know and love are either going to die unceremoniously or become misanthropic assholes.

[Square = Circle]

I don’t know how you expect to continue making money when you’re almost purposefully alienating your customer base

According to Wikipedia, The Last Jedi “grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2017, the seventh-highest-ever grossing film in North America and the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of the Star Wars franchise, and turned a net profit of over $417 million.”

And let’s be honest, Luke Skywalker was always a “navel-gazing asshole.” It’s why Yoda says in Empire that he’s a failure and won’t be the hope of the galaxy, after all.

I thought the big reveal of Last Jedi being “Luke caused this because he’s such a douche” was sort of masterful, actually.

[Tony]

I hate all Star Wars since ROTJ but I actually surprisingly liked TLJ, and for the reasons you give. If we’re going to keep making these things it can’t be the same story over and over (which was the problem with the first JJ Abrams crapfest in a completely egregious way). I loved that TLJ messed with the mythos, explored the Force more deeply, and that the story itself did not rely on bigger and better ‘splosions (the JJ Abrams way). Seriously fuck that guy. TLJ actually fixed Star Wars. Let’s hope someone can do it to Trek.

[LynchPin1477]

JJ Abrams destroys whatever he touches

[Sigivald]

Gross isn’t net.

But I believe the idea of the money losing franchise is ref. Solo.

[Square = Circle]

But I believe the idea of the money losing franchise is ref. Solo.

Yeah – I didn’t think Solo was bad, but I agreed with the general criticisms that it was “just another Star Wars movie.” The original was supposed be a sort-of “done-up” version of the off-the-cuff sci-fi serials of old, but it’s fast becoming an off-the-cuff sci-fi series itself.

I just also don’t really understand the high, high, high degree of reverence for the original movies. I mean, I get it in a certain way – I was six when Star Wars came out and was obsessed as a child.

But to act like the original series was some super-well-thought-out classic that’s now being polluted by hack writing is looking at the originals through some pretty rosy glasses.

[Bubba Jones]

But to act like the original series was some super-well-thought-out classic that’s now being polluted by hack writing is looking at the originals through some pretty rosy glasses.

e.g. Midichlorians

[Careless]

Did you see what happened to TLJ in China? It was a complete disaster. $42.6 million, about a third of what they took in the UK. And a multiplier (how much it took in total compared to its opening weekend) of 1.5. They hated it there. If the Chinese hate your $200 million movies, you will not be making $200 million movies in the future.

And the reaction to Solo suggests that TLJ fouled Solo up everywhere.

[Bubba Jones]

The first 6 movies were about Darth Vader. Luke was just a supporting role.

As an adult, I look back and ask myself what, exactly, the Republic/Rebels offer as an alternative to the Empire. Tatooine was apparently a backwater slaveholding shit hole under the Republic. The Empire didn’t make it any worse.

[John]

The Empire did destroy an entire planet. There is that.

[Mock-star]

More than one. They blew up Alderaan and that planet in Rogue One

[Mock-star]

two planets in Rogue one (IIRC)

[Trollificus]

Well, if your political thinking runs only as deep as:
Rebels= GOOD!
Authority= BAD!

That’s what you’re gonna get. It allows for content-free, thought-free expressions of virtue, like “I resist!”.

[A Thinking Mind]

Regarding the Last Jedi’s gross: It opened huge, like most Star Wars movies do. It fell off ridiculously fast and had absolutely no tail. People were excited for Star War up until they saw that film, and it’s killed off a lot of interest in the brand. It’s why the next movie failed to cash in. The hype is dying off.

[Square = Circle]

It’s why the next movie failed to cash in. The hype is dying off.

I think that’s true, but I don’t think it’s because of anything new that’s being done – quite the opposite in fact. They’ve been telling the same story over and over again through movie after movie.

It’s interesting to compare the Star Wars franchise to the Marvel movies – Marvel is, what, 20 movies in and still each one is bigger than the last? But the stroke of genius with Marvel is that they realize that you need to make a different movie each time.

I think the more recent Star Wars movies have done a good job of consolidating themes from past movies (in contrast with Episodes 1-3, which sucked), but the whole thing has pretty much been 40 years of “how hard can we squeeze this little rock we found?”

[Modus Pwnens]

I think that’s true, but I don’t think it’s because of anything new that’s being done – quite the opposite in fact. They’ve been telling the same story over and over again through movie after movie.

I don’t know about that. TLJ broke with conventions quite a bit. Still a terrible movie, but not because it’s same-old.

[Trollificus]

C’mon, man. Half of that was anticipation based on the “cliff hanger” ending of TFA and it made 2/3 what that movie made. It was very ill-received, and counting shekels to say it wasn’t is disingenuous.

Sure they had to move on, from the aging stars and the played out “Skywalker Saga”, but it was not done well. When every situation is resolved by “subverting expectations”, you’re not in the hands of an auteur, you’re dealing with a one-trick hack.

Not saying they should have gone with “fan theories” or “head canon”, but there were ways to move forward that didn’t involve demeaning everything that everyone did in the OT, and emasculating all the male characters. But that’s what they went with and I’m not interested any more.

[DesigNate]

Luke was just following in the great footsteps of Yoda by fucking things up and then running away into hermitage.

[EscherEnigma]

Throwing in the towel and hiding in a remote part of the galaxy is practically a Jedi tradition.

[John]

Killing Han Solo in the Force Awakens was a seriously dumb move.

[Square = Circle]

Killing Han Solo in the Force Awakens was a seriously dumb move.

Oh, I don’t know – at a certain age you just aren’t a plausible action hero anymore. He was making my joints ache watching him try to walk around.

[Tony]

The originals had to die at some point. JJ just executed it terribly, as with everything. You understand what he’s trying to make you feel with this character dying or that planet exploding, he just doesn’t have the talent to do it well.

[John]

He didn’t have to be an action hero. He was still by far their most compelling character and Ford their most talented actor. You don’t kill that off.

[Square = Circle]

He was still by far their most compelling character and Ford their most talented actor.

Well, that’s certainly true. And Adam Driver is a reasonably talented actor, as well – they probably could have developed that story line more than they did.

I withdraw my disagreement with what you said.

[Careless]

Also, the one of the three they chose not to kill off is the one who’s actually dead. Which was unavoidable in Ford’s case, as he had already been killed off, but it would have taken nothing to flip who died of the other two

[Last of the Shitlords]

Harrison Ford had wanted to kill Han off since ROTJ. so i was not shocked when it happened.

[FlameCCT]

IMHO the biggest problem is that Disney went away from the numerous books that were generated from the original; including next generation, more background, etc. Episodes 1,2, & 3 brought in the background/history leading to the original trilogy and the new ones were supposed to go into the future. Disney has attempted to completely change/redefine the universe into a Progressive Plantation (Marxist Utopia) instead of continuing with all the material available and loved by the fans.

[ThomasD]

While I agree they’ve pissed off the fan base, I’m not sure about your other point. Lucas reportedly viewed the conflict in the original movie as an idealized version of the US in Viet Nam. From that viewpoint it is consistent that the future ‘should’ be a progressive plantation.

Where they blew it is the not-subtle-enough references to current events. Not so much because they were injecting politics, but because the jarring obviousness tended to break the fourth wall.

[Modus Pwnens]

Disney made star wars into a money losing franchise.

Umm, what? Force Awakens and Rogue One made yuge profits.

TLJ and Solo were the products of the same SJW infestation that’s killing all the studios. Disney isn’t responsible for the remakes of Ghostbusters or Ocean’s 11.

[JWatts]

“Umm, what? Force Awakens and Rogue One made yuge profits.”

That’s cherry picking. Disney paid $4.06 billion to Lucas. Until they have a market adjusted combined profit of $4.06 billion, they’ve lost money.

Remember if they just stuck the $4.06 billion in an index fund in 2012 they would have almost $9 billion at this point.

They are losing their ass currently. They need $700-900 billion per year just to match the gains they could have been making for parking the money in stocks.

[John]

What is it with these people and kid fucking? They are all just degenerates.

[General_Tso]

It appears their ‘humor’ does extend beyond ‘Trump is so stupid and Hitlerish’.

[Lowdog]

Some people are just trying to say the most offensive thing possible. I doubt many or even most of them have any thoughts about kiddie diddling.

Although I thought that Rick and morty guy had some possible #metoo issues in his closet. Not sure about that, tho.

[A Thinking Mind]

This. People say outrageous and ridiculous things on the internet in order to get a rise. Just like people I see saying horribly racist things and dropping racial slurs at every opportunity are just doing loud things to get noticed.

[Trollificus]

Harmon crushed on an intern/writer for two years and then punished her (because he could) when she wouldn’t go along. He’s all “Damn, I even told her I lover her!”, as if it were part of that Harlequin Romance “It ain’t rape if he really loves you.” dynamic. (this was during his time on Community)

He apologized for that too, though.

He has not apologized for appearing disheveled, sweaty, shaking, almost hyperventilating and ranting how “29% of the US population is actually Nazis!!”, kind of waiting for the audience to cue him it would be okay to say “We need to kill them all!”. Sooo, much as I hate outrage mods, fuck him.

[Last of the Shitlords]

I get the idea. I had verbally joked about taking the Dexter concept to the next level, with a show about a pedophile who solves crimes in his spare time. Although in my case it never got further than a really sarcastic bad joke.

[Modus Pwnens]

No wonder they’re against separating children from their traffickers.

[harleybarley]

Pedophiles are easy to blackmail and therefore control. And Pedophilia is probably way more common than most are willing to admit – an estimated 20% of all women and 5-10% of men have experienced sexual abuse as children.

It’s why so many pedophiles are defended (Sandusky, Dennis Hastert, Larry Nasser, etc) and even supported by powerful people, both liberal and conservative. I guarantee that at least one famous person you look up to/admire/respect is a pedophile.

[Kyfho Myoba]

> an estimated 20% of all women and 5-10% of men have experienced sexual abuse as children.

Who made this estimate? How? On what basis?

[earthandweather]

Again – It is not hipocracy if you can’t point to a hypocrit. A group can’t be hipocritcal. “The Right” says nothing…People say things.

[Azathoth!!]

So the guy defending the guy telling pedo jokes has some pedo jokes of his own. From around the same time.

Huh.

Well, how about that.

[damikesc]

Sorry, kids. There were plenty of warnings that this mob shit was dumb and that, eventually, the other side will play the same game.

C’est la vie. Lessons never seem to get learned.

[FlameCCT]

C’est la guerre. They kept saying they wanted a war; well they’ve got one and now they’re whining.

[Banake]

“As I wrote yesterday, these crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum” -> How do explain the fact that both Amy Schumer and Lena Dunham are rapists and their careers are ok?

[harleybarley]

Lena Dunham has gotten shit on by the left every time she opened her mouth for the last couple of years. She genuinely lacks talent and likeability to do anything with the social position she got through nepotism.

And name one notable piece of work she has done after Girls.

[JP88]

“…weaponizing P.C. culture…

I hate when anyone uses the word “weaponize.” Liberals say conservatives “weaponize” the first amendment. Now Reason says people are “weaponizing PC culture.” Are they giving PC culture guns to shoot people? Do words not matter to writers anymore?

[harleybarley]

Weaponizing PC culture is an apt description, as it refers to using political incorrectness as a justification for taking away economic opportunities from people.

The same way that white people who are flat out just scared of black people weaponize police against them – a la the Starbucks case in Philly, or the BBQ police call in Oakland.

[FlameCCT]

I have no issue with calling it “weaponization” however it would be appropriate to point out that the “left”, especially SJWs, has been weaponizing PC culture for decades. Instead of claiming that only the “right” weaponizes 1A, PC culture, etc.

[LynchPin1477]

I fucking love Rick and Morty

[DWB]

When the left wants to agree to a ceasefire …. until then, keep it up!!!!!

[LynchPin1477]

My friends and I used to tell some pretty sick jokes. I don’t really see what the big deal is.

[harleybarley]

Neither you nor your friends are famous, so nobody cared.

If you were, and millions were picking apart every word you said, it would be pretty obvious.

[ThomasD]

Hopefully neither you nor your friends uttered them in a manner that is both freely available to the public and all but permanent.

For us old schoolers think about what you’d have been wiling to put in your yearbook caption (assuming they’d even print it.)

[Kyfho Myoba]

Neither you nor your friends are in a position of tremendous power over minors in their employ, like, say, a director of a movie with kids in it.

[Trollificus]

Wait, Joe! If these actions are retaliation for being “anti-Trump”, where’s the retaliation for the other 9,934,319 anti-Trumpers on social media? I suspect that indicates there really IS something ‘special’ about Gunn and Harmon.

And since other people have been run out of jobs by very contrived Twitter outrage campaigns for not being anti-Trump enough (or *gasp* actually voting for him), we soon arrive at the philosophical principle I like to call “who gives a fuck?”

[harleybarley]

The irony, of course, is that we’ve been there for a while. And that outrage generated by both liberals and conservatives over stupid shit (ie War on Christmas or whatever Trump said on Twitter today) is a product of the fact that none of us really give a fuck about anything other than our own navels.

[FlameCCT]

Gotta love WGAF!

[Hattori Hanzo]

Rick & North is a damn good show. Adult Swim has a different audience than Disney. Harmon will survive with a canned apology.

[Devastator]

See Disney, you dumb fuckers, you can tell people they’re shitty without firing them.

[MasterThief]

Can’t be surprised by Harmon doing this. If you’ve seen the rick and morty pilot it’s full of pedophile/incest. It’s a joke and all, but still fucked up and kinda misses the mark for being funny

[GILMORE?]

“Right-Wing Mob”

this is b.s.

there is no ‘right wing mob’

the mob is the moral-crusader, SJW left

yes, right wingers have been feeding them targets *because they’ve realized it works, ever since Al Franken*…

but if there weren’t a left-wing mob to begin with, there would BE NO WEAPON

because the whole point of the left-wing shame mob is that they dominate the media and have created an industry of taking scalps on command of twitter-trends. This is the bloody world THEY created, and nobody could have ever “weaponized*” it if they hadn’t made one-strike character-assassination into an online-industry

(*the stupidest word of 2018, btw, and a sure sign of a terrible fucking argument)

this is also the same sort of garbage that morons @reason defended when it was *gawker* doing it.

when they were destroying people for no other purpose than Click$$-stories, you were pretending this was ‘the price we pay for a free press’, and tasteless tho it may be, was vital aspect of free speech and blah blah blah.

i dislike the shame-mobs more than anyone. but please don’t try to sell me this “PC from the right!” garbage. the reason people are being fired isn’t because they’re worried about ‘right wingers’ no longer watching their shows…. they’re terrified of the @#^@ media

[GILMORE?]

“Polygon reports ”

^^^^

[Modus Pwnens]

No way, “whataboutism” is the stupidest word.

[GILMORE?]

its stupid, and used in similarly stupid ways,

but it predates 2018 by a longshot….

Whataboutism
Tactic: Propaganda technique
Type: Tu quoque (appeal to hypocrisy)
Logic: Logical fallacy
Active period: Cold War?present

Prominent usage

– Soviet Union propaganda
– Politics of Northern Ireland
– Russian annexation of Crimea
– Russian military intervention in Ukraine

Related: Ad hominem

…and unlike “weaponizing”, it refers to specific and real rhetorical tactic (tu quoque);

“Weaponizing” is just cheap way of saying, “its only bad when people i don’t like do X”

iow, in this instance, assholes (like Reason, or Justice Kagan) are pretending IT WASNT A WEAPON BEFORE, but SHAZAM it suddenly is now. Because these bad people have bad intentions! When the left destroyed people like Brendan Eich, or Justine Sacco or Pedo-Milo… well, they were bad people! and the people destroying them had good intentions! IT WAS DIFFERENT BEFORE IT WAS FREE SPEECH AND GAWKER IS JOURNALISM

[Modus Pwnens]

Well, “weaponizing” originally had nothing to do with politics or even rhetoric, but with taking something dangerous or unpleasant and using it as a weapon, e.g. anthrax. So it’s more an example of a useful word that got abused, much like “optics” and “problematic” and “liberal” before it.

Whereas “whataboutism” is, and apparently has always been, an accusation used to shield hypocrisy and double standards from criticism. Tu quoque and ad hominem are only fallacies if the criticism is intended as a rebuttal of the argument made by the tu or the hominem in question. If it’s just intended as a plain criticism of the person, it’s not fallacious at all. Otherwise a person who makes an argument would immediately be off limits for criticism, which is ridiculous.

That wikipedia article, btw, is a stellar example of what a den of propaganda that site has become. Good lord.

[JWatts]

“Whereas “whataboutism” is, and apparently has always been, an accusation used to shield hypocrisy and double standards from criticism.”

A critical aspect of whataboutism is that it’s an attempt to deflect by bringing up an unrelated subject. IE the Soviet Union responding to criticism of widespread human right violations by pointing out that the US lynched blacks during the 1920’s and 1930’s.

[harleybarley]

There is such thing as a right wing mob. They were fighting anti-fa douchebags right outside of my office in downtown Berkeley last year.

Also, see The_Donald on Reddit.

[Modus Pwnens]

I think my DNS has been hijacked. I typed in reason.com but got redirected to Daily Kos somehow.

[Fancylad]

Mine’s been hijacked since 2016. Sometimes reason.com sends me to Vox, other times Huffpo, Kos or MSNBC.

[Modus Pwnens]

Like Harmon, Gunn made some disgusting pedophilia-themed jokes years ago

Baloney. Context matters. There is no comparison between what Harmon did, which was obviously an act considering it he was banging a doll and parodying Dexter, and Gunn’s tweeting dozens of times about being a pedophile with no such humorous context.

[Walk_on_Walter]

To be fair, context never matters with the left.

[Ken Shultz]

“These crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.”

Why does this matter?

[Walk_on_Walter]

Amen.

This sounds like the whining of a bully who’s upset that someone stood up to him and hit back.

[ThomasD]

Why?

Because it’s only bad when someone else does it.

When the anointed ones do it, it’s social justice.

[Professor Woland]

For even trying to threaten Rick and Morty these assholes deserve testicular torsion, kidney stones, shingles, and to be force fed the diarrhea of a morbidly obese truck driver who eats a lot of chili. Fuckers.

[Agammamon]

Oooh, looks like someone’s *not* going to get laid in college!

[Ama-Gi Anarchist]

So, let me get this straight. The same Reason staff that went out of their way to dredge up the “Ron Paul Newsletters” is now saying using people’s past against them is wrong? Fuck this double-standard bullshit.

[harleybarley]

Double-standard bullshit is literally the calling card of anyone who makes comments about “right-wingers do X” or “typical leftists do Y” when both sides are driven by the same shitty mindset.

[Walk_on_Walter]

LOL! “Weaponizing PC culture”?

Dear Fuckwit,

PC culture was already weaponized. You just don’t like that one side has refused to continue to be bludgeoned without fighting back with the same weapon.

Go fucking kill yourself please.

[Marshal]

As I wrote yesterday, these crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.

And just like yesterday you are wrong again. In fact this event shows businesses are learning thus demonstrating your error. Unfortunately your zeal to criticize the right has prevented you from understanding reality.

[harleybarley]

It doesn’t show businesses are learning. It shows that businesses will always protect their cash cows. If Rick and Morty was some fringe show that nobody watched, Harmon would have been fired.

[Marshal]

If Rick and Morty was some fringe show

I hate to break it to you but Rick and Morty is a fringe show.

It doesn’t show businesses are learning. It shows that businesses will always protect their cash cows.

It’s strange you think these are contradictory. Disney didn’t protect the director of the hugely successful Guardians of the Galaxy franchise because they thought the backlash was a greater financial risk. We’re supposed to believe this niche content provider is a greater cash cow?

Of course finances are the measure but businesses are noticing the backlash to the mobbings and deciding their initial assessment of the risk was overstated. This is their learning.

[Kyfho Myoba]

Wrong. Roseanne would have been a much larger cash cow, well over a billion dollars worth. They shit canned her in a heart beat.

They cancelled Last Man Standing, with Tim Allen, their 2nd highest rated comedy (yes, I know that ABC didn’t own it and so it made less money on its own, but they used it to attract an audience for whatever they put after it).

I think that the totality if facts shows that Disney is full progtard and will fuck up their bottom line in order to pursue that.

[Flinch]

Yeah. Wish I never knew this bilge had been produced or existed.
“Sir… the moronosphere is expanding!”

[Two Buck Chuck]

The Left has created a situation where the objects of its rage cannot take the high road. For a long time really, that’s what people have been doing. I guess that in and of itself is not newsworthy. Turning the other cheek leads only to more and more vicious abuse. People are fighting back, and they should imo.

[harleybarley]

Yes, because the Right doesn’t do the exact same thing.

Jesus. People on both sides so obsessed about finding fault in the other that they don’t recognize that they’re all the same.

[Fancylad]

Even during the nadir of the Moral Majority, the right was nowhere near as censorious, authoritarian, unhinged and violent as your average prog today.
There is no equivalence .

[MikeP2]

“As I wrote yesterday, these crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.”

Good…this is a net positive. Can’t have different rules for different sides. How many ‘not-a-proggy-special-interest-group’ people have been attacked and destroyed by the left? It’s about time the new rules are applied evenly. Maybe then we can start pulling it back.

[harleybarley]

People on the left attack people on the left too. See Al Franken. #metoo did not spare anyone just because they were liberal (Bill Clinton excepted).

In any case, how many ‘not the right skin color’ people have been attacked and destroyed by the right? Hell, my parents were getting death threats and “N*****s go back to Africa” letters from the local friendly conservative biker gang in the small Missouri town where they live soon after Trump won.

[MikeP2]

“In any case, how many ‘not the right skin color’ people have been attacked and destroyed by the right? Hell, my parents were getting death threats and “N*****s go back to Africa” letters from the local friendly conservative biker gang in the small Missouri town where they live soon after Trump won.”

I suspect this is a lie.
Racism exists certainly, but its prevalence has absolutely nothing to do with “after Trump won”.

[Kyfho Myoba]

I think that Breitbart has debunked almost all of these faux racist attacks and exposed most if not all of them as being false flag attention seeking progtards.

[Mark22]

“N… go back to Africa” isn’t a conservative viewpoint. In fact, historically, it’s a view widely held by progressives and Democrats.

[ThomasD]

“conservative biker gang”

Well, if your definition of conservative boils down to ‘whatever I disagree with’ then I can see how you might think a biker gang ‘conservative.’

But otherwise you are sounding rather foolish.

[Fancylad]

Hell, my parents were getting death threats
Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re making that up.

conservative biker gang… small Missouri town… after Trump won
Lol, you’re not even fucking trying. From the view of your proggy enclave the outside world must look like one big stereotype, huh.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

As I wrote yesterday, these crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum.

I’m sure this is true, but it’s interesting how many Hollywood people have stuff like this in their history, stuff they used to broadcast proudly. And they wonder why the rubes in flyover country don’t regard Hollywood people as their moral betters.

[DCoates]

I might have more respect for him if he DIDN’T kow-tow to the unwashed Twitter hordes with an apology.

[wreckinball]

So this is the straw that broke Reason’s back? The “latest” right wing lynch victim. I mean Reason is laughable,.

Seriously this shit has been on steroids and you certainly aren’t claiming this is somehow unique to the right are you?

I agree with Roseanne, I didn’t know the bitch was black either. That’s because she isn’t . She is mixed race just like Obama.

EVERYONE is vulnerable to the lynch mob except I think those with the correct skin tone. Because they were slaves 150 years ago or something but therest of you don’t step out of line

[Mark22]

As I wrote yesterday, these crusades are nothing more than acts of retaliation against the left (Gunn and Harmon are both anti-Trump liberals), perpetrated by far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum

“Hypocrite” implies that people making those charges don’t hold themselves to the same standard. Do you have any evidence for pedophilic jokes in their backgrounds? Furthermore, in what way is an objection to pedophilia a “weaponization of P.C. culture”? Conservatives found those kinds of videos offensive long before “P.C. culture”.

No, the left has discovered public shaming and ostracism, enabled by social networks, to be a powerful a political tool, and the right would be foolish not to use this tool as well. And public shaming and ostracism is arguably one of the most libertarian ways of enforcing social norms, yet for some reason the writers at Reason get their panties in a knot over it.

[NashTiger]

I hereby appoint you Editor of Reason Magazine

[Rufus The Monocled]

What’s with Reason and the fricken equivocation?

The bottom line is the PROGRESSIVE LEFT created this lousy atmosphere. Conservatives have been on the receiving end of this and on the defensive. Now they’re hitting back because what else are they gonna do? Sit there and take the shit?

I don’t see how they’re hypocrites. The real hypocrites are the left because a) they’re crying like the little whiny bullies they are and b) where were they when Di Paolo and Benjamin were being outed? Like they gave a shit.

My point is, yeh big shit cons are doing it now. Keep the blame and focus where it squarely belongs: With progressives.

Remember, it’s likely to be them to over turn the 1A. Not conservatives.

And explain to me how Cernovich is a ‘far right extremist’. Is Bill Maher a ‘far left extremist?’ How do you arrive at such a tag?

At this point. I’m everything the left screams about. A racist, Nazi, misogynistic, white privileged, right-wing blah, blah….

Reason. Smarten up.

[Lucius Fergeson]

>A site call Reason gets hysterical and refuses to actually rationalize why we should make people live up to the standards they set for themselves, because the writers here want to work for most of these “progressive” sites and don’t want to piss off their future audience

Yeas. That ‘E’ is made out of ferrous material.

[ThomasD]

You were so close.

“…refuses to actually rationalize why we should make people live up to the standards they set for themselves everyone else…”

Is closer to the truth. A truth that the authors here are perfectly (if not admittedly) tolerant of.

[BruceMajors]

How come all the leftist men make jokes about pedophilia or rape and all the leftist women make jokes about assassination and murder?

[Kyfho Myoba]

Be careful, you might discover the Satanic connection!!

[Truthteller1]

What’s the point? The liberals invented this mindless game and now the other side is playing. Gee okay.

[Fancylad]

far-right hypocrites who are just as committed to weaponizing P.C. culture as anyone on the other side of the spectrum
It’s not hypocritical to force the left to live up to their own fascistic rules.

[RevengencerAlf]

Wait a minute… the nexus of this BS was 4chan? Oh the irony is to great to bear. 4chan is a haven for literal pedophiles. It’s like half of their userbase, with most of the other half being their targets.

[Lucius Fergeson]

Maybe in like 2003 or 2006. Now most of the people there are just shitposters who come up with shite memes like that fucking “30 year old boomer” meme (It’s as dumb as it sounds). The mods there basically purged the site of people that posted CP and all CP over a decade ago.

[Hank Phillips]

Well, how else would we be able to tell the Dems from the Gee-Oh-Pee?

[jm15xy]

Free speech has gone too far.

[vek]

Well if your enemy is going to fight dirty…

Plus these guys are idiots. They should have learned from The Donald that apologizing is for pussies, and all it does is invite further BS. If he just said “Whatever dude, it’s a maybe not that hilarious skit about raping babies. It’s adult comedy. Deal with it.” he might take some flack… But after the 50th person did/said the same thing the entire outrage mob industry would have been destroyed.

[Btonkandy]

You be the judge… IS THIS OK TO YOU?

https://www.bitchute.com/video/ihB0P2aRF3gc/

[The_Hoser]

Jesus Christ, I tried watching it despite the screenshot and it wasn’t just the subject matter that made me stop – it’s just fucking terrible.

The thing is, this just isn’t a stupid comment or Tweet. This is someone spending a good chunk of his life working on this and seeing nothing wrong with it. Maybe he’s just writing to what he knows.