If a coworker was cheering when he heard Wellstone's plane crashed,

[Deja Q]

what would you do?

Two coworkers I know of did, and I can think of a third who would.

One even openly wondered and yelled "Damn!" when he heard Ted Kennedy was NOT on the plane at the time.

It made me boil, but I did nothing. My department's management, HR, and Administration staff are all vile repkes. (on 9/11, some of those in Admin were in the cafeteria laughing and chatting and having a grand ol' time when everyone else was weeping and concerned. I also recall a fellow employee blaming the democrats when the media started to burble on about Bush*, his plane, and where he* was headed.)

We've been in a cold civil war. As far as I'm concerned, we need to return their callousness with equal callousness. No more Mr. Nice Liberal.

[JailBush]

1. I'd punch him in the face - or worse.

Of course, that assumes you can deal with the legal and employment ramifications. Ethically, I have no problem leaving one of these jerks writing on the ground.

[Dookus]

3. yes...

I'm sorry to admit it, but I would've probably gotten violent.

If not violent, I would've gone off on a tirade that would just have likely gotten me fired, so I may as well go with the punch.

[theorist]

2. That's upsetting.

I really can't comprehend why anyone would have found any of those things joyful. Especially 9/11, where they could not hide behind partisanship. Did they ever explain themselves?

I don't know what I would have done. Maybe kicked some ass (after quitting, of course).

I think we can shove it back in their faces without becoming as callous. We don't need to take the "higher ground" either. At least a few of us need to hang out under the Republican overpass with some figurative TNT.

[Deja Q]

5. No one confronted them

And those who had the grand ol' time were the top of the top. Remember, this is America - whistleblowers and ethical people get exterminated by the greedy and unethical.

Do unto others. We need to show them how it looks and how it feels when people are treated to callousness. And I'd love to hear the repuke response to being treated how they treat others all the time. Otherwise I agree with you, callousness shouldn't be used as a first resort.

[leftyandproud]

26. Try THIS..

imagine you heard Ann Coulter were on the plane...along with possibly Newt Gingrich and Paul Wolfowitz...

what would you feel at the moment you heard?

[JailBush]

4. Brace yourselves for the HATE lecture!

I wonder how long this thread can survive without one of those mainstream lefties lecturing us about hate - it can destroy you, you know!

[Deja Q]

6. If hate could consume Anakin Skywalker, it can consume anybody!

:D :eyes:

Trouble is, in fiction and movies, good always wins. In reality, good gets whipped if not destroyed by the evil.

[Guaranteed]

20. Nah, good always wins

as long as it doesn't allow itself to be corrupted by evil....it's all about maintaining integrity....

[JanMichael]

7. I've never had to deal with that. However, if I did...

...it would depend on the idiot in question.

If he (I say HE because I'm not going to level a woman) said "Damn! Great!" to that specific incident and I was there...And I said lighten the fuck up, and he didn't, I'd clock him.

[JailBush]

8. Why let women off easy?

I've never punched out a woman, BUT I recently crossed another philosophical milestone when I realized that women who exploit children get what they deserve. I've met some really hideous women school officials and teachers union officials who hide behind their gender. One ridiculed a teacher whose father had just died - and that's one of the milder stories I could tell.

[JanMichael]

9. You're right but I simply can't do it.

Hell I agree with you but the woman would have to be a monster before I acted and I can't IMAGINE having to occupy the same space with such a troglodyte:shrug:

[slackdude]

18. I wouldn't think twice about...

giving Annthrax Coulter a nice slap in the face.

[JanMichael]

19. A "Slap"! But not a teeth rattling smack?

No, "Breaking", punch?

Of course not!

[AntiCoup2K4]

21. I wouldn't either, but s/he's not actually a woman, so that's OK

Then again, s/he looks like s/he's been slapped enough.

[NightTrain]

10. My co-workers didn't even know who Wellstone was!

Granted, we're in Connecticut, not Minnesota, but geez....

[theorist]

11. Imagine the dittoheads who didn't know Wellstone

when Rushie* went on the tirade about the memorial. Talk about "hate speech". Disgusting!


*"Rushie" is the new multipurpose term for conservative talk show host, drug addict, moron. Try it out, it's fun. The next time your boss starts talking about how "This is all Clinton's fault" you can reply, "Stop being such a rushie, you line-sniffing, pill-popping pile of horse shit." (Brought to you by the makers of "Bushie". (not really))

[CanuckAmok]

12. I remember in Oliver Stone's JFK...

...when Garrison is in a tavern, and the announcement comes on the radio, that Kennedy had been shot.

Some of the extras are cheering, etc. I't amazing (but typical of Stone's attention to detail) that people were happy about the assassination. Empathy is never universal, I guess.

[theorist]

14. If Bush died suddenly, I have a feeling that...

...everyone at this forum would feel for his family, at least. We are labeled "Bush haters", but that would mean would find happiness in his death. That is not fair to the good Americans who truly care about the future of this country.

I know that GW is not heroic among my peers, but we would find it difficult to be happy under the circumstances.

[JailBush]

15. Not me, I'd feel for his victims. The extraordinary evil and menace

embraced by corporate corruption and its gatekeepers is just too overwhelming for me.

To put it in perspective, consider people who commit horrible crimes after enduring tortured childhoods. I can feel some sympathy for them. I wouldn't try to shield them from justice, but they have some excuse for being screwed up, even if their crimes are inexcusable.

So what's George W. Bush's excuse? He didn't grow up in poverty, and I doubt that he was sexually abused as a child. Yet he has brought misery into the lives of millions. Like Bill Gates, he's simply evil, and I could probably never show him any sympathy.

I guess I'm just overwhelmed with compassion fatigue - that, plus there are too many decent human beings who are more deserving of my compassion.

[AntiCoup2K4]

23. Comparing Bush to Bill Gates?? that's insane.

Bill Gates makes bad software full of security holes. He's not a terrorist, a drug smuggler, a murderer, or an election fixer.

No comparison in terms of "evil". Not by a long shot.

[mitchum]

25. not so fast there with that "we" , theorist

[rbnyc]

13. I'm so sorry you were in that environment.

Lynnesin and I were together, and on the phone with Will Pitt, when it happened. So we all felt the same sorrow.

I don't know what I'd do if I'd been in your situation. I probably would have walked off the job.

[MnFats]

16. I abhor violence, but I honestly must say...

....if that happened in my office, I would probably punch the individual. Especially because Paul was MY senator and I met him a few times. He was a great man and a great senator, and one of VERY few candidates I've been able to vote for an not feel like I was just voting to keep some creep OUT of office.

In truth, about everyone in my office (small weekly newspaper) was in tears or very nearly so. I know when they said Sheila was also with him I kicked my desk and chair and, sad to say, scared some people. We were bereft.

I know I would never act pleased or amused if a right-wing office-holder lost his/her life.


(on another subject: there were school children in the south that cheered the news of President Kennedy's death.) I remember it being reported at the time, when I was a little kid. I felt like crying when I heard it because I really thought Jack Kennedy was going to solve our problems...)

[slackdude]

17. Don't worry, Reagan should die any day now

and you can laugh at them when that happens. Two wrongs may not make a right, but it might make you feel a bit better.

[amazona]

22. what i would do

...is keep my thoughts to myself, as politics does not belong in the workplace, but do everything in my power to backstab, undermine, and otherwise make sure the creep has a very difficult time doing his job or even keeping it. It's amazing how a missing CD or file can screw up someone's whole week.

[salin]

24. There is a way to address it - at the time

with an appeal to basic human dignity. Ala... "no offense, but that is just cold; a man, his wife, and friends/staff just died." If they were to persist in celebrating, I think I would repeat a variation of the comment. Most people - even in rant mode - can be brought back to human reality.

[geniph]

27. Well, I wouldn't react with physical violence

unless it was offered to me first. I believe in responding to offensive words with equally offensive words. As in, "you know, that's incredibly insensitive of you, and I'll be sure to remind you of this when St. Ronnie the Raygun finally takes his dirt nap."

I reacted so badly when I heard about Wellstone. You'd have thought he was a family member. I haven't cried that much for any of my actual family members who've died (then again, most of THEM were no loss). I was absolutely devastated by it. Why is it always the decent ones, while the useless sacks of monkeyshit go on and on and on forever?