"JEB" calls Confederate flag "Racist," has no plans to stop calling himself by "Racist" name

[Albion]

Regardless, even if the name was the same, this is like saying Bob is racist if Robert E Lee went by it.

Comparing a nickname to the very specific symbol of a confederate battle flag is pretty dubious if the poster was seriously implying that, or in the case where they were trying to argue via reduction to the absurd.

So the argument doesn't work.

But we are dealing with people who DO deal in such absurdities. If reasonable people on all sides had prevailed, the hopes of the shooter that his actions would ignite some race conflict would not have paid off. Alas, it's hard to see how he did not have his way--at least to some degree. A flag was blamed for all the wrongs in history. But the shooter wasn't talking about the flag. Then statues were defaced, then there was a proposal to disinter a Confederate soldier from his grave!, then national monuments were defaced, then burning the US flag was suggested (and planned). None of that is reasonable.

 

[variant]

But we are dealing with people who DO deal in such absurdities. If reasonable people on all sides had prevailed, the hopes of the shooter that his actions would ignite some race conflict would not have paid off. Alas, it's hard to see how he did not have his way--at least to some degree. A flag was blamed for all the wrongs in history. But the shooter wasn't talking about the flag. Then statues were defaced, then there was a proposal to disinter a Confederate soldier from his grave!, then national monuments were defaced, then burning the US flag was suggested (and planned). None of that is reasonable.

Calling the flag a racist symbol is a supportable position though, calling the name Jeb racist is just absurd since the connection you are trying to make is completely incidental, so your comparison falls flat.

Recognizing that people do often deal and are capable of dealing in absurdity doesn't make your opponents position go away.

 

[Albion]

Calling the flag a racist symbol is a supportable position though

Not really, no.

calling the name Jeb racist is just absurd since the connection you are trying to make is completely incidental, so your comparison falls flat.

Perhaps you didn't get the point. I don't care what he calls himself. The whole business we've seen unfolding since the shooting in Charleston is nuts. Almost none of it is sensible. But it's all being done to cause unrest.

A silly thing like using the name of a famous Confederate raider is no less important in this atmosphere than most of the other contrived outrages and protests (the flag included) that we've witnessed recently. And consider, what is the basis for most of these protests? It's "I (or they)feel threatened by it." ANYTHING can be used to stir the pot if THAT is our guiding moral principle!

The irony here is that Jeb moved immediately to pander but showed himself to be doing nothing BUT pandering by the inconsistency of his decisions in this matter.

 

[variant]

Not really, no.

Perhaps you didn't get the point. I don't care what he calls himself. The whole business we've seen unfolding since the shooting in Charleston is nuts. Almost none of it is sensible. But it's all being done to cause unrest.

A silly thing like using the name of a famous Confederate raider is no less important in this atmosphere than most of the other contrived outrages and protests (the flag included) that we've witnessed recently. And consider, what is the basis for most of these protests? It's "I (or they)feel threatened by it." ANYTHING can be used to stir the pot if THAT is our guiding moral principle!

I get the point that you're trying to force a comparison between the name Jeb and the symbolism of the confederate battle flag.

You're simply wrong. We simply can't whitewash the racist history of the confederacy, or the use of the flag in the civil rights era.

The irony here is that Jeb moved immediately to pander but showed himself to be doing nothing BUT pandering by the inconsistency of his decisions in this matter.

There is no irony here just a bad comparison. Jeb is a name only incidentally (and very thinly) connected with any racism while the confederate battle flag is soaked in it.

Your argument is a puerile failure.

 

[Albion]

I get the point that you're trying to force a comparison between the name Jeb and the symbolism of the confederate battle flag.

There's nothing forced about it. The actions and demands of the agitators have already surpassed that item.

 

[variant]

There's nothing forced about it. The actions and demands of the agitators have already surpassed that item.

A strained grasping at straws might be a better characterization.

To effectively dismiss peoples views you have to argue against them not compare their ideas to something that has nothing to do with the issue.