A quick logical progression
The All-Time Loser posts in the comments:
This is a rhetorical device known in the trade as "moral relativism." You know, saying "why are you bothering with my crimes? Those guys crimes are much worse."
You may recall that "moral relativism" became a buzzword back in the 90s, when many conservative figures decried the "moral relativism" of Bill Clinton and his liberal supporters. (Do your own fact-checking, OK? I'm not your research monkey.)
In fact, opposition to "moral relativism" was distilled down to a simple two word bumper sticker phrase, which you can still see on the backs of certain construction company vehicles in the Durham area (and, i suppose, elsewhere): "Character Matters."
Indeed, it does.
So the logical progression is that Conservatives oppose moral relativism. Liberals support moral relativism. The All-Time Loser supports moral relativism. Therefore, the All-Time Loser is a liberal.
And we all know the relative worth of the views of a liberal, right?
Durham is the murder capitol of NC. Yeah, big problems with those students. Let's make them the focus of a crackdown.
This is a rhetorical device known in the trade as "moral relativism." You know, saying "why are you bothering with my crimes? Those guys crimes are much worse."
You may recall that "moral relativism" became a buzzword back in the 90s, when many conservative figures decried the "moral relativism" of Bill Clinton and his liberal supporters. (Do your own fact-checking, OK? I'm not your research monkey.)
In fact, opposition to "moral relativism" was distilled down to a simple two word bumper sticker phrase, which you can still see on the backs of certain construction company vehicles in the Durham area (and, i suppose, elsewhere): "Character Matters."
Indeed, it does.
So the logical progression is that Conservatives oppose moral relativism. Liberals support moral relativism. The All-Time Loser supports moral relativism. Therefore, the All-Time Loser is a liberal.
And we all know the relative worth of the views of a liberal, right?
Labels: idiots
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
4 Comments:
This is known as blaming your problems on outsiders when your biggest problems are all homegrown. It's a whole lot easier to scapegoat those foreigners than it is to face up to your own.
By
Anonymous, at 1:47 PM
And BTW, you've got moral relativism wrong too. One side of the debate in this country says "Since we're not perfect we have no right to pass judgement on the behaviors and attitudes of others." That's moral relativism. The other side of the debate says "What's wrong with you? We don't care, because they're trying to kill us."
An example close to home would be a Trinity Park resident saying, "I've been known to double park and I did let my trash can fall over and strew garbage down the street. Since I'm not a perfect neighbor, I really have no business passing judgement on my neighbors even though I think their faults are much worse than mine." Obviously, they're not doing that in this case. I guess it all depends on whom judgement is being passed.
In fact, I call for diversity training for Trinity Park residents until they learn to respect the cultural differences between them and their student immigrant neighbors. Just because they've been living there a long time doesn't give them the right to lecture the new arrivals on how to behave.
By
Anonymous, at 2:23 PM
Breath, the students are gone from the neighborhood now. Duke University bought up the houses and evicted the students, remember?
Now the houses will be resold with restrictive covenants - just like in those nice neighborhoods you think Barry should check out to live in!
A minority of Duke students couldn't curb their interests for the sake of being good neighbors, so the University threw a little money at the problem.
Uh, thanks Duke.
By
Anonymous, at 3:35 PM
Locomotive Breath: I'm currently trying to find out how much of the Partners Against Crime - District 2 traffic I can post on my blog. The list is public to join, but the archives are restricted to members only. So if you really care to look, it's the PAC2 list at groups.yahoo.com.
One thing I'd like to highlight from this is that the cracking down in the last five years or so on disorderly behavior in Durham's inner ring of neighborhoods is not remotely limited to Duke students. In fact, it has largely ignored the students and gone stridently after renters charged with drug offenses, and people parking their cars in their yard. I'm on record as being troubled by just how vigilant some people have been, but on the whole, it's been a largely ethical campaign. Duke students are an afterthought here -- they're not being profiled, they're just getting hit with the same enforcement as everyone else.
One main thing makes Duke students an exceptional case. For years, Duke helped bail out students who'd gotten accused of disorderly conduct and public intoxication. For years, neighbors had seen the houses on Buchanan getting nailed by police for having underage students with dangerously high blood alcohol levels, only to see the charges dismissed and Duke not take any internal disciplinary action. This led to a lot of anger and frustration. I think it's safe to say that the #1 thing that the neighbors would want in this regard is for Duke to crack down on these things seriously. If Duke were handling the problem, the Durham Police wouldn't need to get involved so much.
And yes, while I thought at the time she was a good president, looking back I blame Keohane for bringing in yahoos like Alleva and Trask to run the show. My major complaint with Brodhead is that he hasn't cleaned house enough.
By
Anonymous, at 3:19 PM
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