The PC and Perpetually Offended Brigade

[Airneanach]

Hang on, by that reasoning the entire raison d'etre of the far left is to combat the right! I think the raison d'etre of the far left is to combat everything from fascism to capitalism to, lately, being white heterosexual and male, having any kind of concern over the teaching of gender issues to children and any of a multitude of baffling brainfarts that somehow equate with oppression.

The far right is noxious for its own reasons but let's not pretend that the far left have the moral high ground here.

Far middle or fuck off!

Black Lives Matter "laterally means" black lives matter?

Antifa "literally means" anti fascist?

I assume you're either taking the piss or on the koolaid.

Take a step back. I never said the far left had the moral high ground. I find some of the extreme manifestations you're describing loathsome. I'm just offering the perspective that these manifestations are nonetheless extreme and nonetheless a minority share, grossly over-represented by the amount of racket they make. Something their political opponents are only too happy to capitalise on.

And sure, one of the main - I didn't say entire - raison d'etres of the far left is combating the right as well. I agree with this.  Jesus, even combating the middle. I'm not so right on as to be blind to this.

The attack on white hetero males has completely jumped the shark, for me. Doubtless there's plenty of dubious stories we can link each other exemplifying this, but again it's an extreme minority that's been blown way out of proportion. White hetero males also fantasise a victimhood complex when the castle walls start changing around them. I can't say I've ever woken up, personally, felt the balls between my legs and thought to myself "Oh for fuck sake, still there. What's my role in today's society?" I'm sure for some it's a genuine problem, though.

On that last point, I'm simply illustrating that behind these two movements are fundamentally agreeable sentiments. I think black lives matter. I'm antifascist. I'm simply aligning myself with the plain English root of both movements whilst acknowledging that the public perception of them has been knackered by  extremist hijacking and subsequent over-representation. Something exemplified in your rather hostile reaction to me basically just saying I'm not a racist or a nazi.

I'll admit, the point stands better with just the BLM movement. Antifa by design is more deliberate and militant in its intentions. But if fascism was a wolf at my door, I'd be fairly militant about it, yes. 

Anyway, you're smart, our own middle ground is likely huge and I don't want to harp on so I'll leave it there.

[Eoin McLove]

I didn't intend to be hostile, so apologises there. I think we generally agree with each other even if I think the terms anti fascism and black lives matter have been completely hijacked by the organisations that use them as to be inseparable from those movements.

You might be right about the victim complex of white males, but I think that that hard line attitude against that section of society is maybe a bit less marginal than you're letting on,  at least in certain circles. 

Sure look it.  Still waiting on some recommendations by the way

[Caomhaoin]

It's absolutely less marginal than the (spot on in some things he says, not everything, but) poster implies , although it might depend on your geographical location. Not a bit of it here in Spain for example. I think if we ignored the Americans for a while you wouldn't get cringe spastics like that London Black Militia (idiotic on so many levels), or Trump acolytes like meself. Hard to pull off.

The words 'Black Lives Matter' are grand to most tight thinking people, however it's an exceedingly clever nom de guerre in the sense that, in disagreeing with them (and I do), the implication is that black lives don't matter to you (they do, but sure lookit they've snookered me with wordplay, bamboozled me with fancy talk).

As for Antifa, they don't know what fascism is in most cases, if they did, they'd see the comical irony in their own behaviour. No threat from fascism in the dictionary definition of the world in 2020, although that might get the 'racist' redefinition to stop us normal folk laughing at the shriekers making tits of themselves by constantly misusing the word.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

The Hill seems to do its level best to be bias free. So, somewhat annoying accents aside, it's a decent enough place for US event commentary.

[Eoin McLove]

Nice one.  I'll check it out.  Was on the verge of thinking there must be no reasonable voices left on the left the way you were leaving me hanging there.  So close to calling everyone on the left a bunch of commies!!! 

[Caomhaoin]

Tim Poole would have been considered a reasonable voice on the left at one point, but the global shift in political categorisation has him firmly on the right (but no more right than you are, Andy, so a centrist in the real world). He's embracing the bollocks off it now as his YouTube channel has exploded in popularity.

I'm in an echo chamber myself when it comes to what political commentary I choose to consume, and it's a dangerous game to play. I'm actually thinking less, because Tucker Carlson, Alastair Williams, Candace Owens, Fleccas, Gavin McInnes etc are soothingly giving me the reassurance I crave, and poke fun at what  I consider to be idiots. But maybe they are not? I'm not even certain. Another thing that draws people to non-left commentators is that they seem to have a sense of humour that is sorely lacking on the other side.

[Eoin McLove]

This is it. I find the commentators I've been listening to a lot are really easy on the ear because they say exactly what I feel, but have a better understanding of current events and are far more articulate. But maybe there are plenty of people who will challenge some of these ideas in a way that I find equally reasonable and I should be hearing those voices as well. It's easy to just fire on Glenn Loury and enjoy listening to the man, and I have done just that for hours since discovering him a while ago. I'd like to hear him discuss the BLM issues with a non maniacal voice who will still challenge him and, thus, put me in a quandary 

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I could give you left equivalents of all those folk, but they would most likely strike you as already too far left for you, because they are painfully obviously biased...just like all the above mentioned are. It's natural, it happens. One thing that's striking about The Hill, from the admittedly little I've watched it, is just how annoyingly, pain-stakingly tedious it can be to analyse something in an unbiased way. On the one hand, on the other hand, but seen from this angle, yet I can see where the others are coming from...when it's explicit like that, woah, it's almost exhausting. Applying the pinch of salt needs to become an almost intuitive reflex, then you can take news from anywhere and skim off the unfounded nonsense on first hearing, be it left or right skewed.

[Eoin McLove]

Of course.  I want to hear people with opinions, but I don't want to listen to the party line.

[Alphonsus]

I don't see why it should be considered the only those with a "left wing" perspective are to be the ones easily offended. It's not as if conservative or right wing types arent ever pissy or sour and moany cunts that go around with a hump on their shoulders. They are some of most hysterical and over reactive types that you can possibly meet whose politics in many cases amounts to nothing more than an exhibition of pure red in the face crankism.

[Caomhaoin]

Offended in the sense that mountains are made out of molehills, the left are definitely saltier. The Jussie Smolliet thing, the CNN/Celebrity outrage was comical, especially after it came to light that he is a lying, conniving piece of shit trying to cash in on being black and a homosexual. Or when Don Lemon, Meryl Streep and pals accused Trump of mocking some reporter who had a withered hand due to his mother taking thalidomide during pregnancy. He wasn't mocking him at all, but you'd swear he'd interned the homosexuals or something. The media, which leans left more often than not, and hates Trump, blows the leaves to fever pitch.

Of course, conservatives can be just as pissy and petty on an individual level, but when it comes to the collective, well, Chris can explain the Borg/GULAG crowd better than I can. Steven Crowder for example has made a living out of being a shouty, outrage monger on the right, but he's not your common or garden conservative.

[lifeeternal]

Offended in the sense that mountains are made out of molehills, the left are definitely saltier. The Jussie Smolliet thing, the CNN/Celebrity outrage was comical, especially after it came to light that he is a lying, conniving piece of shit trying to cash in on being black and a homosexual. Or when Don Lemon, Meryl Streep and pals accused Trump of mocking some reporter who had a withered hand due to his mother taking thalidomide during pregnancy. He wasn't mocking him at all, but you'd swear he'd interned the homosexuals or something. The media, which leans left more often than not, and hates Trump, blows the leaves to fever pitch.

Of course, conservatives can be just as pissy and petty on an individual level, but when it comes to the collective, well, Chris can explain the Borg/GULAG crowd better than I can. Steven Crowder for example has made a living out of being a shouty, outrage monger on the right, but he's not your common or garden conservative.

Erm... How was he not mocking that reporter? Stop watching Fox lad.

[Caomhaoin]

He does that arm flail thing all the time, it wasnt aimed at his disability, a blind man could see that. What do you think he was doing? Watching him at home, slapping his thigh, shouting 'ha ha, his mother took thalidomide, his arm is all over the place ha ha ha'? If you think that, you've caught the auld derangement syndrome.

Fox is as bad as the others in terms of bias, but you can't deny, the left leaning networks will amplify, exaggerate and just make up stuff in its absence to discredit Trump. He's not without his faults, which is an understatement ,but come on, lad.

[astfgyl]

All the sides of the media do the same thing as far as I can see. Common sense seems to be a thing of the past and all forms of media seem to be tools for manipulation (as they pretty much always have been, in fairness). I don't lean right or left myself, but I think some good ideas come from both sides and there is a common ground to be found for anyone who wants to see sense. The problem with that is that not a lot of people seem to want to see sense and instead are ripe for all sorts of radicalisation.

[Caomhaoin]

Word.

The Fox character assassination of Biden is not far off the levels of anti-Donald shit they complain about and mock from their competitors.

As I mentioned earlier, and as Andy said, it's very easy to become mired in a loop of YouTube videos and op-eds which you will nod along in agreement to, and write off the other side as pretentious windbags, cranks or clowns who just make stuff up. I can't imagine Ducky or Chris being able to tolerate Breitbart or InfoWars (Chris, just for the laugh, watch one of those Owen Shroyer videos, you'd be best buds), whilst the thought of reading Vox or the Guardian, journalists like Laurie Penny or Owen Jones, without having written it off as bullshit by simply reading the headline is almost anathema to me, like wearing a Rangers jersey or something.