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@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO ^ Here we come to a problem with the practice of bringing parody accounts into serious discussions.
"I am free (and in fact do) make my players practice for hours without water"
The account might really be a joke, but that practice really is a thing, and it's dangerous.
"I am free (and in fact do) make my players practice for hours without water"
The account might really be a joke, but that practice really is a thing, and it's dangerous.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO " and they are better for it"
And that's the actual rationale offered, every once in a while. The usual excuse offered by the Midwestern gym teachers doing this stupid, dangerous shit to the kids in their care is that drinking water while exercising will cause one to throw up.
And that's the actual rationale offered, every once in a while. The usual excuse offered by the Midwestern gym teachers doing this stupid, dangerous shit to the kids in their care is that drinking water while exercising will cause one to throw up.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO As anybody who has exercised as an adult, or watched the runners getting handed water bottles at a marathon knows, this is pure BS.
Periodically, the gym teachers acknowledge that it was BS, but say that it was OK that they said the BS, because they were making the kids tougher.
Periodically, the gym teachers acknowledge that it was BS, but say that it was OK that they said the BS, because they were making the kids tougher.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO Except, I guess, for the kids who die from dehydration as a result of the practice, because while some people in the US want to believe that Autumn starts on September 1, Nature has different ideas.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO On that "early autumn" day when the kids are running around without water, so some lunkhead with a whistle can be a big man, in the Midwest one can still be having a hot day.
I can only imagine what the South must be like, at that time of year.
I can only imagine what the South must be like, at that time of year.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO I hear that the same stupid shit happens there, too.
Locally, I got to hear some of the "compassionate conservatives" argue that this was all OK, because during the year I had this discussion with them, only four kids had died in their area as a result of this practice.
Locally, I got to hear some of the "compassionate conservatives" argue that this was all OK, because during the year I had this discussion with them, only four kids had died in their area as a result of this practice.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO "Only" four kids died before they were ever old enough to vote. This was supposed to make everything OK.
"What did the kids die for," I asked. Blank stares followed.
Conservatives aren't just idiots. They're uncaring idiots.
"What did the kids die for," I asked. Blank stares followed.
Conservatives aren't just idiots. They're uncaring idiots.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO When one enters a serious discussion with a parody account, and then go "ha ha ha ha, just a prank bro," one is seriously missing the point. Or maybe one isn't.
One is putting talking points out on the table, other people will see them and that fact has consequences.
One is putting talking points out on the table, other people will see them and that fact has consequences.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO If you persuade people to do something dangerous, that predictably is going to get people hurt. In a case like this, the people who get harmed don't even have to have been fooled by the trolling. They just have to be under the thumb of somebody who was.
Minors are powerless.
Minors are powerless.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO By invoking the "parody account" defense, what one is effect saying is "if you contradict these talking points, you'll be held up to ridicule for your alleged humorlessness and pay a social price." But talking points left uncontradicted are likelier to persuade the lurkers.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO So, I'm thinking that "it's just a prank, bro" isn't much of a defense and that when one brings a parody account into a serious discussion, one isn't doing comedy, any more. One is being irresponsible. One is trolling, in the worst sense of the word.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO In a serious discussion, there is an expectation of seriousness, and the knowledge that one's comments will be reacted to, accordingly.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO Can one tell that "Three Year Letterman" is a parody account, just by visiting it? Sure, but who is going to visit every profile during a discussion? Who has the time to do that?
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO If one could reasonably be expected to know that reasonable people would be mislead, under any reasonable definition of the word, one is being deceptive.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO To be deceptive in a way that can be expected to get kids killed is psychopathic behavior. It's not funny, it's not OK, and no, I'm not going to "lighten up" about this.
@3YearLetterman @AOC @NLRB @AFLCIO Hard as some of you might find this to understand, there are things in life more important than your short-sighted, selfish good time.
Grow up and learn a little f.ucking responsibility. You're a goddamn adult, now. Learn to act like one.
Grow up and learn a little f.ucking responsibility. You're a goddamn adult, now. Learn to act like one.
