important shit, DU ignores or is flip about, but Roman Polanski, DU goes nuts

[DainBramaged]

It gets really frustrating to see DU become like TMZ or Huffington Poo. Really frustrating.

NOTHING FUCKING ROMANSKI DOES IS GOING TO AFFECT YOUR LIVES, NOTHING. LET IT GO.

Strt calling and emailing your damn representatives about yesterday's fiasco in the senate finance committee and pepper Blanche Lincoln for her caving to the insurance industry.

Fuck this shit about Polanski.


:grr:

[cali]

1. DU is always like this. Has been since I've been here. Whether

it's Polanski or Olive Garden or Michael Vick, certain topics set off a fire storm. You can't change that by posting outraged commentary on it.

[KittyWampus]

12. No kidding and the Hide Thread function still works last time I checked.

[DainBramaged]

21. Then hide this thread if you don't like it

I can state my case whether you like it or not. pot, meet kettle.

[KittyWampus]

24. oooo, I'm rubber and you're glue.

[MineralMan]

29. Sure. You can state your case.

So can everyone else. Isn't that just the best part of DU? Folks can post on the topics that interest them. What a concept...

As a corollary, nobody is required to read anything that doesn't interest them. Another amazing concept, eh?

[Obamanaut]

42. Hide the Polanski threads and they won't offend your sense of priority. nt

[tekisui]

2. Bread & Circus distracting the masses.

Those so obsessed with celebrities should stay in the entertainment forum.

[Greyhound]

50. They use "bread & circuses" because they work, always have.

Most people are very ruminant-like, as long as they're not hungry and adequately distracted, they're perfectly content to do as they're told.

[conscious evolution]

58. More like a two minute hate

I would rather the celebrity obsessed should go to another website.National Enquirer,or something similar.

[madokie]

3. Agreed

he's a pedophile and should be seen by all as such. OOPs

[mmonk]

4. It definitely isn't among the current huge issues facing us

though pedophilia is a problem in our society and in the world.

[seabeyond]

5. your right.... heads of country saying rape of a 13 yr old is so insignificant we wont mention it

effects NO ONE, cause females are NO ONEs to be raped at will.

nothing to see here

hollwywood DEMANDING innocent old man that raped a girl be let go doesnt matter at all

totally insignificant

[DainBramaged]

26. And just what can YOU do about those heads of State????

YOU an contact OUR representatives about the Public Option, YOU can let your fingers do the walking about Single payer, YOU can pick up the phone and make your concerns know about the Bluedog blight in the Senate, but you can't do A SINGLE THING about getting Polanski back here and imprisoned, period.

[MineralMan]

6. It's not a zero sum game.

Serious issue threads are here, too. It's up to the individual to read them, but there are way more serious threads than Polanski-style threads. Read what you wish. Respond as you wish. Reading the threads that you decry does not prevent a person from acting on the others as well.

I suggest skipping over threads you find unimportant. That's what most people do.

[LuvNewcastle]

7. I agree.

Whether he goes back to France or is sent to the U.S., our problems remain the same. I'm content to let the courts deal with Polanski.

[derby378]

8. The public option is more important than the Polanskifest

Hell, the increasing number of human rights abuses in Honduras deserves more attention than Polanskifest, too, even if too many Americans choose not to see what's going on in their own hemisphere.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. Move to GD:P

General Discussion: Polanski

[KittyWampus]

10. How long have you been here? If you don't like the threads HIDE THEM.

[valerief]

11. Why are you talking about him? Who cares? nt

[H2O Man]

13. Respectfully agree and disagree.

There are many, many important issues that we should be focused upon. And by "focused," I certainly mean active.

But the Polanski issue is significant, though not so much in the context of the individual case. I think that a society that does not afford protections for its children, and that debates if an adult drugging and raping a 13-year old is "nuanced," lacks the capacity to make progress in each and every one of those other important issues.

Just my opinion, of course.

Recommended.

[bridgit]

34. Mm, makes sense, shouldn't we then be railing against with like-ferocity the murderous death...

of Derrion Albert by vicious means of 2x4 to the head in his own neighborhood; a south side said to be once engaged for the better by Pres Obama? Or are only some to be offered a complete hands-down pass for their behavior? As a way to nuance what is thought to be progressive, of course

[H2O Man]

43. Fair question.

When I was employed in dealing with family violence, including child neglect & abuse, I focused on that. But it didn't keep me from being able to focus on other things as well. Those other things included a number of Native American issues.

When I was helping the DoJ and EPA with two Super Fund cases in federal court, and my nephew was viciously attacked by a racist hate gang (and left for dead), I was able to work on both (as well as being employed full-time).

Because I am quite aware that I am, at best, an average person, I am confident that the average person has these abilities.

I suspect that without exception, the librals and progressives on DU are opposed to the terrible violence that took Derrion Albert's life, and which maims and kills people in communities across America. In fact, the DU community would recognize anyone who attempted to justify that violence as a sick individual.

Many DUers also recognize anyone who attempts to justify an adult's drugging and raping a 13-year old as owning problemed thinking. My participation on the now infamous Polanski threads has been an attempt to address the larger issue of the sexual abuse of children by adults. It's something that, like violent hate crimes, I have a background in. Thus, over the years I've tended to post my thoughts on these and other, often related issues.

This is not because I'm a prude, or any of the other names that I was called yesterday, including Southerner, caveman, and member of a mob with a pitchfork. (Okay, I may be a caveman, in the most literal sense, but not in the manner the attempted insult was intended.) Not that many years ago, as I've noted before on this forum, a group of teenagers who I barely knew approached me.An 18-year old friend had been convicted of having sex with his 15-year old girlfriend. He was 2 years and less than a month older than her. He was literally given a life sentence, even though she initiated the sexual encounter, and he had no record other than one prior, when he was caught with a can of beer and a marijuana cigarette. The county judge, who rarely gave significant sentences for sex-related offenses, had apparently been reactive to this kid's being black, and the girl being white.

I reviewed all the court records, and interviewed the kid's court-appointed attorney. The facts were clear. I began corresponding with this kid, who was experiencing hell in state prison. I got a friend who, though he lives in another state, to assist on the case. My friend is a well-known civil rights attorney. Upon appeal, the kid was released from prison. Still, it took 14 months, and the experience damaged this guy.

I suppose that we all bring our own experiences and point of view here. Though my own is of no greater or lesser value than anyone else's, I hope that from time to time I can stimulate people to think about things, perhaps in a different way than they previously have. And, although I do not think that a high enough percentage of DUers are as active as they should be, I try to keep in mind Malcolm X's theory that inactive people have to think differently, before there is any chance of them acting differently. Make sense?

[DainBramaged]

59. You'll notice that subject got little if any attention.

which is my point. But what does it matter, the douchebags will continue to point DU towards the abyss and the Pukes will continue to own us. Most of the replies today here have been by people who contribute little if any to the debate other than sarcasm and vitriol.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. There is a corollary to Parkinson's Law that says...

the amount of time spent discussing an item is in inverse proportion to its importance.

[dkf]

15. What are we overlooking?

And why aren't you starting a thread on it?

[Vickers]

16. **** IRONY ALERT *****

:rofl:

[meegbear]

23. DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

[closeupready]

32. We have a winner folks!

:D

[hankthecrank]

17. but.... but .....but..... we are on our high horse

and we are here to save the world

you must knell and agree with us

but don't look over there

[MineralMan]

22. Knell? Are we bell-ringers now?

I won't knell! I refuse to knell. :evilgrin:

[hankthecrank]

25. yes i don't have a brain so knell away all you want

[Echo In Light]

30. Ha..."knell," as in, Death Knell

[hankthecrank]

33. no as in charge of lightweight brigade

Moran's to the rescue!!

can't spell

[MineralMan]

44. Knell before ZOG!

It's the only way! :bounce:

[MineralMan]

18. So, is this not yet another Polanski thread?

You want to discuss something serious? Post something serious.

[Orsino]

38. No. This is a Polanski thread that makes us better than all those others.

I am so superior I shouldn't even be talking to myself.

[DrDan]

19. I agree - but it is quite arrogant to tell anyone else what their concerns should be

don't ya think?

[DefenseLawyer]

20. It boggles the mind.

No opportunity to express righteous indignation ever goes unused around here. Congratulations people, you are good and Roman Polanski is bad. You are good, Michael Vick is bad. You are good, smoking is bad. You are good, spanking is bad. You are good. You are good. You are good. This concludes today's validation of your goodness.

[Poll_Blind]

27. DU was not like this until about 2003/2004. Not like that changes anything, though. n/t

PB

[Echo In Light]

28. "Flag on the moon."

[Captain Hilts]

31. I'm capable of following policy AND Polanski. Yes, the Polanski issue IS important. nt

[reflection]

35. Yes, let's get back to extolling the virtues of "non-rice" vehicles.

That's a lot more important.
:eyes:

[redqueen]

36. LOL... yes, we can't talk about something and do other things at the same time.

Course not... that's just impossible.

[Forkboy]

37. Eh, it's just DU's weekly "Spasm du jour".

[Dr. Strange]

56. Wait, "weekly 'Spasm du jour'"?

Did you fail English or French?
:rofl:

[Forkboy]

57. My friend I got kicked out of French class.

I don't know why...we were angels. O8)

[bridgit]

39. Just another gymnasium full of mouse trapped, spring loaded ping-pong balls

Soon to be a spent mess http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxzPN-vdP_0

[951-Riverside]

40. You're right DainBramaged

Sure he drugged and raped a 13 year old girl and fled the country but it doesn't affect me.
Sure the public option was removed but it doesnt affect me because I have insurance.
Sure the war in iraq was based on lies but it doesn't affect me, I'm not the one fighting.


Fuck this shit about Polanski, insurance and the Iraq war.

[Obamanaut]

41. Or your thread re Morning Schmo's surgery? That was important shit

Morning Schmo recovering from surgery http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=6658088

[LibDemAlways]

45. It's not just DU. It's the culture. It's why tv offers endless hours of

Access Hollywood, Showbiz Today, Entertainment Tonight. People are fascinated by this stuff and can't get enough. Of course it doesn't affect people's lives, but it takes them out of their dreary, drab existences and gives them something to talk about. There are DUers who are focused on the important stuff and are calling and emailing. And then there are those who are discussing Polanski with the person in the next cubicle. And there are, no doubt, some who are multi-tasking and doing both.

Ultimately Polanski isn't going to help anybody get good health insurance. It's the kind of distraction, though, that the corporate media loves because it boosts ratings, and people get caught up in. I would bet that maybe 1% of Americans could identify Blanche Lincoln as even a politician. However a healthy percentage have some idea of who Polanski is and why he's in the news.

[Tripmann]

46. Er, it IS a discussion board, right??

[myrna minx]

47. No - we must sit quietly and wring our hands.

No posting allowed! :rofl:

[TexasObserver]

48. Why do you care?

Why do you care what anyone here talks about?

There are always plenty of topics, even when one topic is hot. You can start a thread about any topic. Why not start the thread you want to see?

[NashVegas]

49. So .. How Did You Feel About Michael Vick When They Found Those Dogs?

Did you believe he was railroaded, too?


Just because they're celebrities doesn't mean their actions don't have impact on our culture.

[treestar]

51. It's always an issue

these kinds of things happen, and they are always an issue in society, and can be discussed.

There are young girls getting raped every day. We can't talk about a case that brings that issue to the forefront?

We only get to discuss one issue at a time, the one you deem most important?

Epic fail.

[LanternWaste]

52. I chimed in on a few of the Polanski threads...

I chimed in on a few of the Polanski threads, and did nothing about it. I didn't chime in on your "important" threads, yet did (and maintain) quite a few things on my time regarding those.

One does not deny the other.

[omega minimo]

53. It's ANY thread having to do with SEX or haven't you NOTICED?

:eyes:

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[redqueen]

55. If people were ranting and raving because DUers were defending a racist...

nobody would bat an eye.

But for some reason when it's a rapist...

[Matariki]

60. +1

now i will hide this thread too.