tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post1867329983453815684..comments2023-11-03T11:32:01.540+00:00Comments on Thought Experiments : The Blog: TheothuggismBryan Appleyardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-65612502079384217842009-06-18T13:50:39.321+00:002009-06-18T13:50:39.321+00:00I must object in the strongest terms to your misus...I must object in the strongest terms to your misuse of the term 'thug'. The Thugees were a much-maligned and misunderstood religious group (or was it ethnic minority, I forget) whose good name has repeatedly been the subject of ignorant (and maybe racist) slurs. My friend Theo is a bit pissed off too.Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-76103235582072420872009-06-18T12:01:49.878+00:002009-06-18T12:01:49.878+00:00Melissa
'Overwrought' is feminising? If y...Melissa<br /><br />'Overwrought' is feminising? If you say so, but it's a new one on me. Granted, describing Andrew as 'wanting to have Obama's babies' would literally only be possible for a woman, but it generally stands for a blind worship of an individual of either sex by an individual of either sex.<br /><br />As for it being evidence of any discomfort regarding his - Recusanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11446741817585462393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-67819374982296580512009-06-18T09:30:46.686+00:002009-06-18T09:30:46.686+00:00I agree about the overuse of 'fascism'. Wh...I agree about the overuse of 'fascism'. What's wrong with 'theocracy' in this case? This is, after all, what theocracies look like. Or you could just go with 'this is what religion when it isn't chained down by secularism looks like', but I doubt that would be popular round here.John Meredithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-48423597870406504782009-06-17T17:31:29.188+00:002009-06-17T17:31:29.188+00:00I like "Clerical fascism" which was orig...I like "Clerical fascism" which was originally coined to describe reactionary Catholicism of Franco's Spain. The left clerical fascism has a long and distinguished history on the left, but I am not sure that is enough to recommend it to you.Nick Cohennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-86539018793624049882009-06-17T16:57:58.426+00:002009-06-17T16:57:58.426+00:00Melissa - I don't know about Recusant or Anon,...Melissa - I don't know about Recusant or Anon, but I'm gay and I find nothing feminizing about the term "overwrought." Unlike Bryan, I have found Sullivan's prose overwrought for years and described it as such on more than one occasion. I also consider Sullivan a generally unreliable purveyor of fact. His failure to identify his sources is well known. He may appear to be Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03071928294799081845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-3090424647084245252009-06-17T16:26:42.850+00:002009-06-17T16:26:42.850+00:00...or perhaps it's just entirely descriptive o......or perhaps it's just entirely descriptive of Sullivan's m.o.<br /><br />It's a nice fantasy indeed that humans are not prone to killing and murder. That notion hardly appeared with the advent of evolutionary psychology.Vernnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-90670257513683565712009-06-17T16:24:49.469+00:002009-06-17T16:24:49.469+00:00Has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?Has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-61460387885304256562009-06-17T16:13:55.040+00:002009-06-17T16:13:55.040+00:00To Recusant and Anonymous....it interests me that ...To Recusant and Anonymous....it interests me that the language you use to disparage Andrew Sullivan is feminizing (e.g. "Wants to have Obama's babies") and as well as being the type of language ususally aimed at women ("overwrought"). While this may not be where you are coming from, I hear this language as both homophobic and sexist. It makes me take your remarks much lessUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06145992015103956734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-21661459714295473852009-06-17T16:00:50.148+00:002009-06-17T16:00:50.148+00:00Since we're nitpicking about terminology that&...Since we're nitpicking about terminology that's necessarily vague in the first place, I'd like to point out that communism as theorized does not resemble facism in the slightest. The totalitarian transition period that "communist" governments always seem to remain in does fit, on the other hand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-40579774238537674122009-06-17T15:51:18.286+00:002009-06-17T15:51:18.286+00:00Andrew has a tendency to get caught up in the mome...Andrew has a tendency to get caught up in the moment, but he has been a great source to find information on what is happening in Iran. <br /><br />And not selling peanuts in a pub is fascism in its highest form (actually they should be free, so it's two levels of fascism, rolled into one)!!!Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-74455510118542927492009-06-17T15:51:03.204+00:002009-06-17T15:51:03.204+00:00In The U.S. we need look no further than Seattle o...In The U.S. we need look no further than Seattle or Miami for examples of of the state unleashing its thugs on dissenting voices. I was a bystander working in Seattle when I witnessed the Seattle police riot. Theocracy or kleptocracy; I'd argue that fascism is an apt description.phatmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00908819606689483666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-33235819259034578262009-06-17T15:44:48.991+00:002009-06-17T15:44:48.991+00:00Andrew Sullivan- overwrought and overrated. But re...Andrew Sullivan- overwrought and overrated. But regardless, I'm always a bit wary of slapping terms referring to western concepts and ideas on alien cultures. I have the same problem when Nick Cohen uses 'right wing' in reference to the likes of Yusuf al Qaradawi etc. The whole right/left thing is making less and less sense over here, let alone while referring to very different Vernnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-42640426576921179312009-06-17T15:20:16.984+00:002009-06-17T15:20:16.984+00:00Andrew Sullivan's "coverage"? You me...Andrew Sullivan's "coverage"? You mean his aggregating of info. posted online without reference to the original source nor any contextualization?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-24534382436593655812009-06-17T13:48:45.327+00:002009-06-17T13:48:45.327+00:00Pardon the momentary lapthe into thillineth ... bu...Pardon the momentary lapthe into thillineth ... but I think I thaw a theothug ... I did, I did!Brunonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-695611820313627702009-06-17T11:58:07.126+00:002009-06-17T11:58:07.126+00:00I wonder what the Iranians themselves call their g...I wonder what the Iranians themselves call their government and its members. This will likely provide the most telling description. For example, Nazi VIPs came to be known to ordinary Germans as "golden pheasants" (according to Anthony Beevor). I'd guess that Putin in his bare-chested phase is the closest we've come to a retread of the classic Fascist in the past decade - vain, Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06074816573442173758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-28801208338650043112009-06-17T11:25:46.224+00:002009-06-17T11:25:46.224+00:00I don't know, communism might look like fascis...I don't know, communism might look like fascism but does fascism look like communism. does the word define the thing or the thing define the word? do we need more words to define different things or more words within each definition? Any way, I can't say that word without feeling I have a speech impediment.Ian russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11106519805045337505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-76738193319712149952009-06-17T09:31:33.202+00:002009-06-17T09:31:33.202+00:00Does not roll of the tongue does it, or fit neatly...Does not roll of the tongue does it, or fit neatly into headlines, or indeed capture the imagination with an instant image of hatred?<br /><br />I agree its over used and thus devalued, but its quite a useful word non the less.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04362169593902131947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-31620253766771465212009-06-17T08:46:46.153+00:002009-06-17T08:46:46.153+00:00Andrew's commentary usually has an overwrought...Andrew's commentary usually has an overwrought tendency. So much so with the US election campaign and his seeming desire to have Obama's babies, that I have stopped reading him.<br /><br />We long ago ceased to be able to hold the line against the misuse of the word Fascist. Hell, I've been in a pub where the landlord was accused of being a fascist for not selling Oven Roasted Peanuts.Recusanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11446741817585462393noreply@blogger.com