Hypocrisy of Republicans on MLK Day

[SMOGZINN]

that's kind of unreasonable, what should he have done then? nothing? tweeted a picture of a nice cold beer, with the caption "enjoying my day off, thanks mlk!"

you would have condemned him regardless of whatever he does, so maybe the issue is with you.

He could have went to MLK memorial laid a wreath and then gave a speech where he said, 'last year I protested the black football players who were peacefully protesting the treatment of fellow black Americans by our justice system. Today, I can say that after contemplating the wisdom of Marten Luther King, Jr, and consulting my own religion moral beliefs, I have come to the conclusion that I was wrong for doing that. I would like to apologize to the players who my counter protest harmed, and the American people who's taxes were squandered by my pride and hubris, and I would like to declare my support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and for the better treatment of all people, American and otherwise, as a true expression of Christian love.'

Something like that would have been well received. But of course no such thing can be expected from this Administration (or most Politian in general)

 

[dyna]

It's Martin Luther King Day, which means one thing: Republicans paying lip service to an activist who they clearly don't understand, and who would oppose everything they do if he was still alive.

For example, VP Pence laid a wreath at MLK's memorial, touting his dream of a country where all men are created equal. This is the same VP that wasted public money to make a showy objection to black men protesting racist police violence at football games.

Then there's Rep. Steve King, who's touting MLK but has endorsed racial profiling, touted the superiority of "Western civilization" and had a Confederate flag on his desk until a few months ago.

And of course, there's President Trump. Almost all presidents have done community service on MLK Day since it became official in tribute to the actual spirit of what MLK intended. Trump? Oh, hell no -- he's playing golf. All you get from him is a token retweet of the White House.

When do we get a broad base of Republicans who actually respect what MLK wanted instead of taking a massive dump on his memory?

What did you do on MLK Day?

 

[Commodus]

that's kind of unreasonable, what should he have done then? nothing? tweeted a picture of a nice cold beer, with the caption "enjoying my day off, thanks mlk!"

you would have condemned him regardless of whatever he does, so maybe the issue is with you.

Er, it's pretty easy -- I even suggested it in the earlier post.

Apologize. Sincerely. Pay back the funds used for that publicity stunt, preferably to a black community support organization. Don't just offer meaningless platitudes and cite MLK quotes you don't actually believe in. In short: Pence could have gone to that memorial, but it really would have been better for him to say nothing than insult MLK's memory.

 

[Commodus]

What did you do on MLK Day?

Work. Also, not disrespect black people.

 

[snarfbot]

He could have went to MLK memorial laid a wreath and then gave a speech where he said, 'last year I protested the black football players who were peacefully protesting the treatment of fellow black Americans by our justice system. Today, I can say that after contemplating the wisdom of Marten Luther King, Jr, and consulting my own religion moral beliefs, I have come to the conclusion that I was wrong for doing that. I would like to apologize to the players who my counter protest harmed, and the American people who's taxes were squandered by my pride and hubris, and I would like to declare my support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and for the better treatment of all people, American and otherwise, as a true expression of Christian love.'

Something like that would have been well received. But of course no such thing can be expected from this Administration (or most Politian in general)

thats funny there is a whole thing going on about whataboutism and how republicans use it all the time but the argument presented here today basically amounts to what about the time pence refused to endorse blm?

 

[SMOGZINN]

thats funny there is a whole thing going on about whataboutism and how republicans use it all the time but the argument presented here today basically amounts to what about the time pence refused to endorse blm?

Whataboutism is when someone says 'Trump did X wrong' and someone replies 'What about when Hillary did Y!'
It is not whataboutism to talk about something that the same person did that points to a pattern of behavior.

When Pence does something it is not whataboutism to point out other things Pence did that supports the argument that Pence does these sorts of things.

 

[snarfbot]

seems like a pretty arbitrary distinction, maybe it needs a less vague moniker than whataboutism then.

ive seen the word pivot used when going from one vaguely related topic to another, or false equivalency when something like this is applied fallaciously.

that said, saying that pence wasn't acting in good faith to martin luther king jr because he didnt take the opportunity to apologize to black lives matter seems like some kind of perfect solution fallacy.

 

[Commodus]

seems like a pretty arbitrary distinction, maybe it needs a less vague moniker than whataboutism then.

ive seen the word pivot used when going from one vaguely related topic to another, or false equivalency when something like this is applied fallaciously.

that said, saying that pence wasn't acting in good faith to martin luther king jr because he didnt take the opportunity to apologize to black lives matter seems like some kind of perfect solution fallacy.

No, it's pretty simple: you don't take a giant shit on the black community and then visit the MLK memorial pretending like you're their ally.

 

[SMOGZINN]

seems like a pretty arbitrary distinction, maybe it needs a less vague moniker than whataboutism then.

ive seen the word pivot used when going from one vaguely related topic to another, or false equivalency when something like this is applied fallaciously.

that said, saying that pence wasn't acting in good faith to martin luther king jr because he didnt take the opportunity to apologize to black lives matter seems like some kind of perfect solution fallacy.

It is not arbitrary at all. It is actually just an new word for the old adage 'two wrongs don't make a right'. When someone says something is 'whataboutism' that is what they are saying, that someone is trying to excuse bad behavior by saying 'Well So-and-So did it too!'. When Trump does something unsavory and then says, 'well what about Her Emails!' he is trying to imply that what he did is okay because Clinton (might) have done something illegal, so we should give him a pass, or at the very least distract us with an argument over something irrelevant to the current conversation. We should have all been taught in grade school that someone else's bad behavior can not excuse yours. That is whataboutism. Either a distraction or an excuse mattering on which sticks.