Scott Adams is racist.
February 23, 2023 8:19 PM Subscribe
Content warning: racism.
More in extended description.
On his video podcast this week, Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams said:
“If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with white people—according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll—that’s a hate group. And I don't want to have anything to do with them. And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people. Just get the fuck away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there’s no fixing this. This can’t be fixed.”
“So I don’t think it makes any sense as a white citizen of America to try to help Black citizens anymore,” Adams huffed. “It doesn’t make sense. There’s no longer a rational impulse. So I’m going to back off on being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off.”
“The only outcome is I get called a racist. That’s the only outcome. It makes no sense to help Black Americans if you’re white. It’s over. Don’t even think it’s worth trying.”
Citing a recent Rasmussen survey showing 53 percent of Black people agree with the phrase “It’s okay to be white,” which the Anti-Defamation League has deemed a hate slogan, Adams said on Wednesday that this was the “first political poll that ever changed my activities” while launching into an overtly racist rant.
Boston Herald article.
Daily Beast article.
On his video podcast this week, Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams said:
“If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with white people—according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll—that’s a hate group. And I don't want to have anything to do with them. And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people. Just get the fuck away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there’s no fixing this. This can’t be fixed.”
“So I don’t think it makes any sense as a white citizen of America to try to help Black citizens anymore,” Adams huffed. “It doesn’t make sense. There’s no longer a rational impulse. So I’m going to back off on being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off.”
“The only outcome is I get called a racist. That’s the only outcome. It makes no sense to help Black Americans if you’re white. It’s over. Don’t even think it’s worth trying.”
Citing a recent Rasmussen survey showing 53 percent of Black people agree with the phrase “It’s okay to be white,” which the Anti-Defamation League has deemed a hate slogan, Adams said on Wednesday that this was the “first political poll that ever changed my activities” while launching into an overtly racist rant.
Boston Herald article.
Daily Beast article.
While I think referring to him as 'MeFi's own' would be very funny given his history here, I also understand the impulse to not claim him
There is something about being a cartoonist that seems to drive some people around the bend. The isolation and the need to constantly perform gets to you, I think - I note that Frank Miller went well off the deep end, and claims that taking a few years off, to just be in the world and reconnect with normal humans, made him come back to reality. I don't know if that stuck, but I think the world would be fine without a few years of Dilbert and I think it's worth a try.
posted by Merus at 8:36 PM on February 23, 2023 [15 favorites]
There is something about being a cartoonist that seems to drive some people around the bend. The isolation and the need to constantly perform gets to you, I think - I note that Frank Miller went well off the deep end, and claims that taking a few years off, to just be in the world and reconnect with normal humans, made him come back to reality. I don't know if that stuck, but I think the world would be fine without a few years of Dilbert and I think it's worth a try.
posted by Merus at 8:36 PM on February 23, 2023 [15 favorites]
Citing a recent Rasmussen survey showing 53 percent of Black people agree with the phrase “It’s okay to be white,” which the Anti-Defamation League has deemed a hate slogan
So, I've never heard this slogan before and if I encountered it I'd probably agree with it, as a 55 year old white man. Considering this phrase was aimed at trolling uptight white liberals to begin with, how much is this phrase on Black radar? And if it's not on Black radar, would they agree with it much in the same way I just did?
posted by hippybear at 8:43 PM on February 23, 2023 [15 favorites]
So, I've never heard this slogan before and if I encountered it I'd probably agree with it, as a 55 year old white man. Considering this phrase was aimed at trolling uptight white liberals to begin with, how much is this phrase on Black radar? And if it's not on Black radar, would they agree with it much in the same way I just did?
posted by hippybear at 8:43 PM on February 23, 2023 [15 favorites]
Perhaps "MeFi's Disowned", then?
posted by Imperfect at 8:43 PM on February 23, 2023 [118 favorites]
posted by Imperfect at 8:43 PM on February 23, 2023 [118 favorites]
That guy is such a tool. If this poll (Rasmussen!) hadn’t come along, he’d have found something else to justify his degeneracy.
posted by notyou at 8:48 PM on February 23, 2023 [17 favorites]
posted by notyou at 8:48 PM on February 23, 2023 [17 favorites]
@hippybear, my understanding of the chain of events is:
(1) A bunch of trolly alt-right racists decide to adopt "it's okay to be white" as a slogan, taking advantage of the presumption that it's a reasonably normal-sounding sentiment
(2) Slightly less than 50% of polled African-Americans realized the trolly racism of the whole thing, and registered their disagreement. Over 50% probably took the statement at face value and registered agreement
(3) Scott Adams, as a trolly alt-right racist himself, decided to seize on the 47% disagreement as evidence that African Americans writ large are a 'hate group', in order to justify even more explicit racism than is his normal fare
It's such convoluted clearly bad-faith racism that it's hard to even untangle...
posted by rishabguha at 9:05 PM on February 23, 2023 [117 favorites]
(1) A bunch of trolly alt-right racists decide to adopt "it's okay to be white" as a slogan, taking advantage of the presumption that it's a reasonably normal-sounding sentiment
(2) Slightly less than 50% of polled African-Americans realized the trolly racism of the whole thing, and registered their disagreement. Over 50% probably took the statement at face value and registered agreement
(3) Scott Adams, as a trolly alt-right racist himself, decided to seize on the 47% disagreement as evidence that African Americans writ large are a 'hate group', in order to justify even more explicit racism than is his normal fare
It's such convoluted clearly bad-faith racism that it's hard to even untangle...
posted by rishabguha at 9:05 PM on February 23, 2023 [117 favorites]
Sorry, is it news that Scott Adams is racist? I thought that was kinda a known thing, like the pope being catholic and the sky blue. Or was I just assuming it based on his hatred of women and other bullshit?
posted by Canageek at 9:10 PM on February 23, 2023 [54 favorites]
posted by Canageek at 9:10 PM on February 23, 2023 [54 favorites]
I for one am agog to learn about the no doubt myriad ways Scott Adams was helping Black people before this recent development.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:14 PM on February 23, 2023 [176 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:14 PM on February 23, 2023 [176 favorites]
> “It’s okay to be white”
I'm sure there's probably something in how / where or in the general context that it's used that makes it a hate slogan, but taken on its face, that's so far past milquetoast it's just laughable.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:14 PM on February 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm sure there's probably something in how / where or in the general context that it's used that makes it a hate slogan, but taken on its face, that's so far past milquetoast it's just laughable.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:14 PM on February 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
Dude has been an asshole for literally years now, why would I give a single fuck what he has to say about anything?
…like, wow, asshole is asshole, am I supposed to be surprised? Should I pretend to be surprised to get more clicks? He’s a racist misogynist asshole, has been a racist misogynist asshole his entire life, and we’re surprised? Am I the only person paying attention to his cheap assholery?
Literally: fuck Scott Adams, fuck everyone associated with him. He is just a wannabe nazi, so the less anyone thinks about his moronic shtick the better.
…fuck that guy, in particular, and in detail.
posted by aramaic at 9:18 PM on February 23, 2023 [32 favorites]
…like, wow, asshole is asshole, am I supposed to be surprised? Should I pretend to be surprised to get more clicks? He’s a racist misogynist asshole, has been a racist misogynist asshole his entire life, and we’re surprised? Am I the only person paying attention to his cheap assholery?
Literally: fuck Scott Adams, fuck everyone associated with him. He is just a wannabe nazi, so the less anyone thinks about his moronic shtick the better.
…fuck that guy, in particular, and in detail.
posted by aramaic at 9:18 PM on February 23, 2023 [32 favorites]
“The only outcome is I get called a racist. That’s the only outcome…”
But yah ARE, Blanche! Yah ARE racist!
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:19 PM on February 23, 2023 [44 favorites]
But yah ARE, Blanche! Yah ARE racist!
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:19 PM on February 23, 2023 [44 favorites]
Canageek: I think the news is him going from saying unambiguously racist things to not even trying to deny it.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 9:21 PM on February 23, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 9:21 PM on February 23, 2023 [7 favorites]
For a minute, I thought we were talking about the slate star codex guy, and was like “didn’t we already know that?” But then I remembered Scott Adams is the Dilbert guy and am like “didn’t we already know that?”
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:23 PM on February 23, 2023 [70 favorites]
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:23 PM on February 23, 2023 [70 favorites]
Scott Adams has had quite the journey, hasn't he?
His email newsletter was like a staple of the early internet. Since then, there was the whole "plannedchaos" thing around these parts, got over spasmodic dysphonia by "hacking his brain," came out as a hardcore Trumper, and recently he said "every male encounter is implied violence." For someone whose comic strip has always been about pointing at things and laughing, he has said a lot of mockable things.
As the news said at the time he became the first syndicated cartoonist to publish his email address publicly in 1993. I'd almost say that was the date he became infected.
posted by JHarris at 9:38 PM on February 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
His email newsletter was like a staple of the early internet. Since then, there was the whole "plannedchaos" thing around these parts, got over spasmodic dysphonia by "hacking his brain," came out as a hardcore Trumper, and recently he said "every male encounter is implied violence." For someone whose comic strip has always been about pointing at things and laughing, he has said a lot of mockable things.
As the news said at the time he became the first syndicated cartoonist to publish his email address publicly in 1993. I'd almost say that was the date he became infected.
posted by JHarris at 9:38 PM on February 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
from the wikipedia page about the slogan:
The suggestion for the use of posters with the saying originated on the message board /pol/ of 4chan, with the intent of provoking reactions. The saying was later spread by neo-Nazi groups and politically organized white supremacists, including former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke and The Daily Stormer.[4] A report by the ADL states that the phrase itself has a history within the white supremacist movement going back to 2001 when it was used as the title of a song by a white power music group called Aggressive Force as well as fliers with the phrase being spotted in 2005 and the slogan being used by a member of the United Klans of America.[1]
they're not actually saying it's okay to be white any more than they're actually cheering for that Brandon guy to win his NASCAR race
posted by taquito sunrise at 9:39 PM on February 23, 2023 [64 favorites]
The suggestion for the use of posters with the saying originated on the message board /pol/ of 4chan, with the intent of provoking reactions. The saying was later spread by neo-Nazi groups and politically organized white supremacists, including former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke and The Daily Stormer.[4] A report by the ADL states that the phrase itself has a history within the white supremacist movement going back to 2001 when it was used as the title of a song by a white power music group called Aggressive Force as well as fliers with the phrase being spotted in 2005 and the slogan being used by a member of the United Klans of America.[1]
they're not actually saying it's okay to be white any more than they're actually cheering for that Brandon guy to win his NASCAR race
posted by taquito sunrise at 9:39 PM on February 23, 2023 [64 favorites]
So, I've never heard this slogan before and if I encountered it I'd probably agree with it, as a 55 year old white man.
It's been around 5 years, and is trolling straight out of 4-chan. Like the similarly-stupid OK-symbol, it's been adopted by actual white supremacists. This is not pointlessly obscure since white supremacist ideas are also being adopted by right-wing media, like how Tucker Carlson pushes "replacement theory." Once phrases and symbols have been appropriated they take on more meaning, like how swastikas and high-armed salutes suggest more than they did pre-1930, these other symbols/phrases take on extra meaning.
It's OK to be white. White lives matter. It's obvious. It's so obvious that the slogans don't mean what they say: they are references. If you gather 100 tiki-torch white guys in khakis to shout such a simple statement of fact like "Jews will not replace us" don't be surprised if people understand it as a threat, because it is and always has been.
posted by netowl at 9:54 PM on February 23, 2023 [71 favorites]
It's been around 5 years, and is trolling straight out of 4-chan. Like the similarly-stupid OK-symbol, it's been adopted by actual white supremacists. This is not pointlessly obscure since white supremacist ideas are also being adopted by right-wing media, like how Tucker Carlson pushes "replacement theory." Once phrases and symbols have been appropriated they take on more meaning, like how swastikas and high-armed salutes suggest more than they did pre-1930, these other symbols/phrases take on extra meaning.
It's OK to be white. White lives matter. It's obvious. It's so obvious that the slogans don't mean what they say: they are references. If you gather 100 tiki-torch white guys in khakis to shout such a simple statement of fact like "Jews will not replace us" don't be surprised if people understand it as a threat, because it is and always has been.
posted by netowl at 9:54 PM on February 23, 2023 [71 favorites]
I'm not sure posting this here is a good thing. Like, why link to this one racist asshole, who is well known to be an asshole, at least as the central focus of a post?
posted by latkes at 9:58 PM on February 23, 2023 [23 favorites]
posted by latkes at 9:58 PM on February 23, 2023 [23 favorites]
After reading the "every male encounter is implied violence" thing from JHarris' comment, I find I can only conclude that Mr. Adams has aged to the point where his Racism has been overpowered by suddenly accelerated cognitive decline, and it's just typewritten diarrhea all the way down.
I suspect he's become aware that he's going to live the rest of his life with increasingly meaningless impact, and do so with few connections to other humans that aren't bloodcurdling screams against the terror of being irrelevant and alone.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 10:15 PM on February 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
I suspect he's become aware that he's going to live the rest of his life with increasingly meaningless impact, and do so with few connections to other humans that aren't bloodcurdling screams against the terror of being irrelevant and alone.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 10:15 PM on February 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
Speaking for myself: I think this is a good reminder of just how mainstream absolutely naked bigotry has become. Scott Adams is explicitly not a fringe figure. He's published by a big five publishing house, and has received credulous writeups by everyone from the New York Times to the Harvard Business Review to the LA Times. People like him have usually restricted themselves to dog-whistles and wink-wink-nudge-nudge, but here is outright saying that we need to bring back apartheid. It's like the Lee Atwood quote, run in reverse, and I find that terrifying.
posted by rishabguha at 10:18 PM on February 23, 2023 [61 favorites]
posted by rishabguha at 10:18 PM on February 23, 2023 [61 favorites]
It's not OK to be white the way Scott Adams does it.
posted by flabdablet at 10:21 PM on February 23, 2023 [60 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:21 PM on February 23, 2023 [60 favorites]
Part of Scott Adams, deep down--or maybe not so deep down--has been wanting this, looking for a reason, an excuse. Something with numbers that can "justify" his undeniable racism. And there it was: a shoddy Rasmussen poll that Adams in turn shoddily interpreted as that proof he needed. Is he dumb? Or is it that he's SO racist that it's practically bursting out of him, so he didn't bother to check, oh, you know, the validity of that very bad-faith poll.
Anyway, this is all just a long-winded way to say Scott Adams sucks and I hope the people who buy his garbage comic (seriously, it's still going?) stop doing so.
posted by zardoz at 11:14 PM on February 23, 2023 [12 favorites]
Anyway, this is all just a long-winded way to say Scott Adams sucks and I hope the people who buy his garbage comic (seriously, it's still going?) stop doing so.
posted by zardoz at 11:14 PM on February 23, 2023 [12 favorites]
I am going to pretend that "it's okay to be white" is like a review of their experience with it. "it's okay. ★★★☆☆"
posted by aubilenon at 11:39 PM on February 23, 2023 [74 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 11:39 PM on February 23, 2023 [74 favorites]
This is a man who wrote a book which said that physicists were wrong about gravity.
His theory was that gravity was not a force derived from the distortion of space-time by mass. Oh no, gravity was literally caused by matter sucking.
His latest outburst of vile racist nonsense is sadly par for the course.
posted by fallingbadgers at 11:58 PM on February 23, 2023 [9 favorites]
His theory was that gravity was not a force derived from the distortion of space-time by mass. Oh no, gravity was literally caused by matter sucking.
His latest outburst of vile racist nonsense is sadly par for the course.
posted by fallingbadgers at 11:58 PM on February 23, 2023 [9 favorites]
Is this where people start leaning on Random Penguin House to drop his racist ass? It might be.
posted by egypturnash at 12:19 AM on February 24, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by egypturnash at 12:19 AM on February 24, 2023 [14 favorites]
We all knew that Scott Adams was racist, but I'm more curious as to when and how the Rasmussen poll turned into a platform for far right-wing propaganda. Here's their summary of the poll in question:
Not ‘Woke’ Yet? Most Voters Reject Anti-White Beliefs
Despite years of progressive activism, a majority of Americans still don’t buy into the “woke” narrative that white people have a monopoly on racism.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 79% of American Adults agree with the statement, “Black people can be racist, too,” including 53% who Strongly Agree. Just 12% disagree, and another 10% are not sure.
Link
posted by Umami Dearest at 1:10 AM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
Not ‘Woke’ Yet? Most Voters Reject Anti-White Beliefs
Despite years of progressive activism, a majority of Americans still don’t buy into the “woke” narrative that white people have a monopoly on racism.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 79% of American Adults agree with the statement, “Black people can be racist, too,” including 53% who Strongly Agree. Just 12% disagree, and another 10% are not sure.
Link
posted by Umami Dearest at 1:10 AM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
Gotta love an opinion poll.
Two plus green is
(a) five
(b) fifty-twelve
posted by flabdablet at 1:20 AM on February 24, 2023 [33 favorites]
Two plus green is
(a) five
(b) fifty-twelve
posted by flabdablet at 1:20 AM on February 24, 2023 [33 favorites]
Scott Adams was diagnosed with Spasmodic Dysphonia more than 17 years ago.
SD is progressive and is known to have a number of psychiatric comorbidities.
Three years before his SD diagnosis, he'd developed enough of a tremor in his right hand to stop him from drawing his strip by hand.
I am not sure how to assign responsibility for bad behavior to a person with a mental illness which might predispose them to that kind of behavior, either generally or in this case, but I think it’s something to keep in mind when we're talking about Scott Adams
posted by jamjam at 2:37 AM on February 24, 2023 [18 favorites]
SD is progressive and is known to have a number of psychiatric comorbidities.
Three years before his SD diagnosis, he'd developed enough of a tremor in his right hand to stop him from drawing his strip by hand.
I am not sure how to assign responsibility for bad behavior to a person with a mental illness which might predispose them to that kind of behavior, either generally or in this case, but I think it’s something to keep in mind when we're talking about Scott Adams
posted by jamjam at 2:37 AM on February 24, 2023 [18 favorites]
Scott Adams is also misogynist as hell.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 2:56 AM on February 24, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 2:56 AM on February 24, 2023 [13 favorites]
how do the brain worms make "OK" signs when they don't even have fingers
posted by lalochezia at 3:07 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 3:07 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
Perhaps "MeFi's Disowned", then?
MeFi's pwned.
posted by loquacious at 3:07 AM on February 24, 2023 [54 favorites]
MeFi's pwned.
posted by loquacious at 3:07 AM on February 24, 2023 [54 favorites]
I prefer to live in a world where this POS doesn't exist so I avoid reading anything from or about him. Call it ignorance, but there's enough awful in the world that it makes no sense to include more.
posted by tommasz at 3:40 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 3:40 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
His theory was that gravity was not a force derived from the distortion of space-time by mass. Oh no, gravity was literally caused by matter sucking.
Sucking is the fundamental force at work in his life so I see where he gets the idea
posted by cubeb at 3:42 AM on February 24, 2023 [16 favorites]
Sucking is the fundamental force at work in his life so I see where he gets the idea
posted by cubeb at 3:42 AM on February 24, 2023 [16 favorites]
Is this where people start leaning on Random Penguin House to drop his racist ass?
Why stop there? Why not go on to "people start leaning on their newspapers to drop Dilbert too"?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:49 AM on February 24, 2023 [12 favorites]
Why stop there? Why not go on to "people start leaning on their newspapers to drop Dilbert too"?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:49 AM on February 24, 2023 [12 favorites]
jamjam: I think it’s something to keep in mind when we're talking about Scott Adams
While I think you make a point worth bearing in mind, he’s been this way essentially forever. I subscribed to his email newsletter in the late 90s, and his point of view was that he was brilliant and everybody else was dumb as a rock. That attitude has always been only a step away from racism, misogyny and other bigotries.
I unsubscribed and then years later came across a blogpost of his where he was disputing that “the holocaust is a myth” was an antisemitic statement, and was only surprised in so far as his career wasn’t already crashing down, but I guess when you’re a rich white guy no one tells you that you don’t know anything about anything.
He’s been a bigot for a long time, and his disability has little to do with it.
posted by Kattullus at 4:20 AM on February 24, 2023 [31 favorites]
While I think you make a point worth bearing in mind, he’s been this way essentially forever. I subscribed to his email newsletter in the late 90s, and his point of view was that he was brilliant and everybody else was dumb as a rock. That attitude has always been only a step away from racism, misogyny and other bigotries.
I unsubscribed and then years later came across a blogpost of his where he was disputing that “the holocaust is a myth” was an antisemitic statement, and was only surprised in so far as his career wasn’t already crashing down, but I guess when you’re a rich white guy no one tells you that you don’t know anything about anything.
He’s been a bigot for a long time, and his disability has little to do with it.
posted by Kattullus at 4:20 AM on February 24, 2023 [31 favorites]
In the "Leopards Eating Faces" department, we had this glorious exchange between two shitheels:
@OfficialCWATSON: "Scott: as someone who listens to your commentary quite regularly, your recent comments have been jarring and ill-conceived. I'm not sure how you can justify the proposition that black Americans, as a whole, need to be avoided on the basis of a single poll."posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 4:32 AM on February 24, 2023 [35 favorites]
@ScottAdamsSays: "Ask yourself if I really said that. Of course not."
@OfficialCWATSON: "Scott, I was watching you live. You said it."
52 year old white man here. Never heard the phrase "It's OK to be white" used in any sense, ever. If I heard/read it with zero context (which is nearly impossible, as there's always context), I might think nothing of it and move on. If I heard it from some Nazi-types, I'd realize it was a slogan and that what the Nazi-types mean by it is white supremacy.
Context is always a critical part of language. Pretending that context is meaningless makes this into a silly argument/wordplay about semantics. As dumb as the ChatGPT/N-word kerfuffle that Nazi-types were on about a few weeks ago.
I literally read this post and didn't understand the point of it based on that sentence alone. Of course, once I clicked through and realized the context of the sentence was, I understood it immediately. Because context! That's how language and communication works.
It never occurred to me to ever say the sentence "It's OK to be white." So I'll continue not saying it. But I still wear Hawaiian shirts from time to time in warm weather.
I had to dig my memory to realize who this Scott guy was. Then I remembered he's an asshole.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:37 AM on February 24, 2023 [12 favorites]
Context is always a critical part of language. Pretending that context is meaningless makes this into a silly argument/wordplay about semantics. As dumb as the ChatGPT/N-word kerfuffle that Nazi-types were on about a few weeks ago.
I literally read this post and didn't understand the point of it based on that sentence alone. Of course, once I clicked through and realized the context of the sentence was, I understood it immediately. Because context! That's how language and communication works.
It never occurred to me to ever say the sentence "It's OK to be white." So I'll continue not saying it. But I still wear Hawaiian shirts from time to time in warm weather.
I had to dig my memory to realize who this Scott guy was. Then I remembered he's an asshole.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:37 AM on February 24, 2023 [12 favorites]
Rishabguha, that's what I got out of it too. It's just "all lives matter" in different guise. Without context, anybody is going to agree that it's okay to be white or that all lives matter.
People who know what those two statements are about in context are going to give whoever asked them about it a piece of their minds, unless of course they can't be bothered because ducking, dodging, and absorbing microaggressions all day every day is exhausting, so they just say, "Yep, it sure is," just to get the interaction over with. I suspect answers would have been more interesting if a Black interviewer had asked people, "What do you think about the statement, 'it's okay to be white?"
I'm white. I'm okay. If you come up to me on the sidewalk and ask me if I think it's okay to be white I'm going to tell you to go play in traffic.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 4:44 AM on February 24, 2023 [7 favorites]
People who know what those two statements are about in context are going to give whoever asked them about it a piece of their minds, unless of course they can't be bothered because ducking, dodging, and absorbing microaggressions all day every day is exhausting, so they just say, "Yep, it sure is," just to get the interaction over with. I suspect answers would have been more interesting if a Black interviewer had asked people, "What do you think about the statement, 'it's okay to be white?"
I'm white. I'm okay. If you come up to me on the sidewalk and ask me if I think it's okay to be white I'm going to tell you to go play in traffic.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 4:44 AM on February 24, 2023 [7 favorites]
Yeah, Scott demonstrating his racism again has a total "News at 11" level feel to it. He's been flying that flag, along with one for sexism and several other moral failings, proudly for quite some time. He's got his hand in so many bigotry cookie-jars at once that it's no surprise that he latched onto a convenient narrative to word vomit again.
posted by mystyk at 4:56 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mystyk at 4:56 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
This at the end was striking: "day after day I look on social media and there's some black persion beating the shit out of some white person"
There's an interesting collision here between old school mass media and algorythmic recommendation engines. He was always racist and FAANG noticed, encouraged it, accentuated it, made it overriding. And as he falls out of newspapers his content will turn toward doing the same to others.
posted by joeyh at 5:00 AM on February 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
There's an interesting collision here between old school mass media and algorythmic recommendation engines. He was always racist and FAANG noticed, encouraged it, accentuated it, made it overriding. And as he falls out of newspapers his content will turn toward doing the same to others.
posted by joeyh at 5:00 AM on February 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
Please write your newspapers and also Andrews McMeel Syndicatation to urge them to drop Dilbert
posted by Jon_Evil at 5:38 AM on February 24, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by Jon_Evil at 5:38 AM on February 24, 2023 [10 favorites]
Laughing at the notion that this POS tried to "help Black Americans" in any way, shape or form before his delicate sensibilities were shocked by this poll.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:25 AM on February 24, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:25 AM on February 24, 2023 [10 favorites]
I'm not sure posting this here is a good thing. Like, why link to this one racist asshole, who is well known to be an asshole, at least as the central focus of a post?
I prefer to keep the bright lights shining on racist assholes so everyone can see them for what they are.
posted by chavenet at 6:55 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
I prefer to keep the bright lights shining on racist assholes so everyone can see them for what they are.
posted by chavenet at 6:55 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
Perhaps "MeFi's Disowned", then?
bpest of the web
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:55 AM on February 24, 2023 [24 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:55 AM on February 24, 2023 [24 favorites]
Scott Adams has always been a pompous blowhard.
30+ years ago I was dating a girl that lived in the same area as he did when he still had a day job. He came to speak at a Girl Scout event and was an obnoxious ass then. If it was evident to a bunch of tween-teen girls in the late 80's/early 90's when he was less known, I don't see any evidence that he has ever improved.
posted by Badgermann at 7:08 AM on February 24, 2023 [16 favorites]
30+ years ago I was dating a girl that lived in the same area as he did when he still had a day job. He came to speak at a Girl Scout event and was an obnoxious ass then. If it was evident to a bunch of tween-teen girls in the late 80's/early 90's when he was less known, I don't see any evidence that he has ever improved.
posted by Badgermann at 7:08 AM on February 24, 2023 [16 favorites]
Somebody around here has been posting stickers with "It's OK to be white," no doubt the same person who got a couple of his groyper friends to stand with him in the town's main intersection holding up a sign to that effect. People were upset, which pleased him very much. This past election, he thankfully lost his bid for the school board, where he proposed to fight "the woke progressive mob."
I hate that slogan because it is so adolescent, with all the nasty genius that implies. If you remember your school days, or if God forbid you teach, you know how it is to see a jerkass kid suddenly start to speak in a polite, clear voice, saying increasingly bizarre things with a straight face, while his friends are red-faced from choking back laughter. It's absolutely that: the I'M NOT TOUCHING YOU of sloganeering.
This at the end was striking: "day after day I look on social media and there's some black person beating the shit out of some white person"
Exactly! I cannot stress how much I do not see this on my feed. The algorithm apes the man. Lately, I had been thinking that I was almost grateful for the Musk takeover, because Twitter became so awful (especially the trending tweets on this, an absolute sinkhole) that it broke my news-overdose habit and made things easier for me, emotionally. I think even Scott Adams would be less of a miserable piece of shit if he didn't have this thing feeding him.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:19 AM on February 24, 2023 [13 favorites]
I hate that slogan because it is so adolescent, with all the nasty genius that implies. If you remember your school days, or if God forbid you teach, you know how it is to see a jerkass kid suddenly start to speak in a polite, clear voice, saying increasingly bizarre things with a straight face, while his friends are red-faced from choking back laughter. It's absolutely that: the I'M NOT TOUCHING YOU of sloganeering.
This at the end was striking: "day after day I look on social media and there's some black person beating the shit out of some white person"
Exactly! I cannot stress how much I do not see this on my feed. The algorithm apes the man. Lately, I had been thinking that I was almost grateful for the Musk takeover, because Twitter became so awful (especially the trending tweets on this, an absolute sinkhole) that it broke my news-overdose habit and made things easier for me, emotionally. I think even Scott Adams would be less of a miserable piece of shit if he didn't have this thing feeding him.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:19 AM on February 24, 2023 [13 favorites]
So, I posted this for several reasons.
1. This was not a slip or one bad comment. This was a completely sober statement.
2. Adams' racism isn't new. But what is new is him blatantly saying it, in his own words on video, such that any "moderate" could even pretend isn't vitriolic racism.
3. It really is worth it to spend 3 minutes to watch the video clip, because it's one thing to hear about Adams being racist (sure, we know) and to see it completely unveiled and know that this is the level of racism he's always been.
4. I completely encourage people to campaign newspapers to drop Dilbert. Write to Andrews McMeel Syndicatation and urge them to drop Dilbert. Doing something from your armchair is better than not doing something. Conservatives are going to claim you're part of cancel culture and get moderates to believe them no matter what. You might as well score a win and deprive some vicious racist of more money.
5. Let's please not try to find an excuse for his racism. Plenty of cartoonists with daily deadlines and the public eye didn't become racist. Plenty of people have gotten older and not become racists. Plenty of people use algorithmic social media and don't become racists. He's not just pretending to be racist for right-wing clicks. Scott Adams is a grown man. He knows what he's saying and he's not at all apologetic about it.
posted by AlSweigart at 7:23 AM on February 24, 2023 [34 favorites]
1. This was not a slip or one bad comment. This was a completely sober statement.
2. Adams' racism isn't new. But what is new is him blatantly saying it, in his own words on video, such that any "moderate" could even pretend isn't vitriolic racism.
3. It really is worth it to spend 3 minutes to watch the video clip, because it's one thing to hear about Adams being racist (sure, we know) and to see it completely unveiled and know that this is the level of racism he's always been.
4. I completely encourage people to campaign newspapers to drop Dilbert. Write to Andrews McMeel Syndicatation and urge them to drop Dilbert. Doing something from your armchair is better than not doing something. Conservatives are going to claim you're part of cancel culture and get moderates to believe them no matter what. You might as well score a win and deprive some vicious racist of more money.
5. Let's please not try to find an excuse for his racism. Plenty of cartoonists with daily deadlines and the public eye didn't become racist. Plenty of people have gotten older and not become racists. Plenty of people use algorithmic social media and don't become racists. He's not just pretending to be racist for right-wing clicks. Scott Adams is a grown man. He knows what he's saying and he's not at all apologetic about it.
posted by AlSweigart at 7:23 AM on February 24, 2023 [34 favorites]
Despite the clear, documented history of "It's okay to be white" as a white supremacist slogan, you can tell it's a statement made in bad faith since it comes from the same crowd as "Black lives matter? Why not all lives matter? Why do you have to mention race?"
Nobody is saying, "Isn't it okay to be any race?" because no one actually takes that slogan at face value; but right-wingers will pretend to if it serves their interests.
Whether it's "blue lives matter" or "straight pride parade" or "white history month" or "men's rights movement" or antivaxxers saying "my body, my choice", right-wingers have a long history of co-opting popular left-wing slogans to prop up their unpopular stances. This goes back to "national socialism."
Sartre wrote this in the 40s:
"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past."
posted by AlSweigart at 7:49 AM on February 24, 2023 [50 favorites]
Nobody is saying, "Isn't it okay to be any race?" because no one actually takes that slogan at face value; but right-wingers will pretend to if it serves their interests.
Whether it's "blue lives matter" or "straight pride parade" or "white history month" or "men's rights movement" or antivaxxers saying "my body, my choice", right-wingers have a long history of co-opting popular left-wing slogans to prop up their unpopular stances. This goes back to "national socialism."
Sartre wrote this in the 40s:
"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past."
posted by AlSweigart at 7:49 AM on February 24, 2023 [50 favorites]
This is a dog bites man story if there ever were one.
posted by emelenjr at 8:06 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by emelenjr at 8:06 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
There is something about being a cartoonist that seems to drive some people around the bend. The isolation and the need to constantly perform gets to you, I think - I note that Frank Miller went well off the deep end, and claims that taking a few years off, to just be in the world and reconnect with normal humans, made him come back to reality. I don't know if that stuck, but I think the world would be fine without a few years of Dilbert and I think it's worth a try.
This reminded me of the ongoing controversy around Sinfest; I follow the /r/sinfest subreddit, which dissects Ishida's daily strips, and it's occurred to me that there's an overarching issue that goes beyond (and arguably predates) his SWERF-n-TERFism and QAnon and MAGAt talking points promotion; he genuinely doesn't seem to understand modern life. Almost all of his pop culture references are decades old (he did a Good Will Hunting parody the other day) unless they're parroting MAGA talking points; the GWH strip mocked a non-binary Biden administration official who's been accused of stealing luggage at an airport. Ishida is known for being a really private person; there are only two photographs of him (one from an old school yearbook) that I'm aware of, and interviews and public appearances are rare. (Ironically, one of the few people that have talked about meeting him in person is Mae Dean of Real Life Comics, who met him at a webcartoonist mini-meetup; this was many years before she transitioned.)
But, of course, that's really no excuse for his recurrent punching down, just as, as AlSweigart notes above, "Plenty of cartoonists with daily deadlines and the public eye didn't become racist."
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:42 AM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
This reminded me of the ongoing controversy around Sinfest; I follow the /r/sinfest subreddit, which dissects Ishida's daily strips, and it's occurred to me that there's an overarching issue that goes beyond (and arguably predates) his SWERF-n-TERFism and QAnon and MAGAt talking points promotion; he genuinely doesn't seem to understand modern life. Almost all of his pop culture references are decades old (he did a Good Will Hunting parody the other day) unless they're parroting MAGA talking points; the GWH strip mocked a non-binary Biden administration official who's been accused of stealing luggage at an airport. Ishida is known for being a really private person; there are only two photographs of him (one from an old school yearbook) that I'm aware of, and interviews and public appearances are rare. (Ironically, one of the few people that have talked about meeting him in person is Mae Dean of Real Life Comics, who met him at a webcartoonist mini-meetup; this was many years before she transitioned.)
But, of course, that's really no excuse for his recurrent punching down, just as, as AlSweigart notes above, "Plenty of cartoonists with daily deadlines and the public eye didn't become racist."
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:42 AM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
There is something about being a cartoonist that seems to drive some people around the bend.
Adams in particular seems to have a bad case of engineers' disease.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 9:21 AM on February 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
Adams in particular seems to have a bad case of engineers' disease.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 9:21 AM on February 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
This may be the most bald-faced display of racism Adams has shown in public, but it is a bit of a wonder to me how he hasn't been "cancelled" yet. He's been overtly misogynist for years, to say nothing of the somewhat more subtle racism and general bigotry he's displayed in the past.
I suppose Dilbert itself is usually uncontroversial, so maybe people find it easy to separate the content from it's creator (and, probably, most people don't actually pay attention to Scott Adams very much to even know he's a huge shithead). But it's not like people are making the decision to keep their newspaper subscriptions based on whether or not the paper is publishing Dilbert. Hell, last I remember, when I still had a physical newspaper subscription, the paper in question had stopped printing Dilbert in the comics section and had instead moved it to the business section which, presumably, says something about its continuing popularity or lack thereof.
posted by asnider at 9:23 AM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I suppose Dilbert itself is usually uncontroversial, so maybe people find it easy to separate the content from it's creator (and, probably, most people don't actually pay attention to Scott Adams very much to even know he's a huge shithead). But it's not like people are making the decision to keep their newspaper subscriptions based on whether or not the paper is publishing Dilbert. Hell, last I remember, when I still had a physical newspaper subscription, the paper in question had stopped printing Dilbert in the comics section and had instead moved it to the business section which, presumably, says something about its continuing popularity or lack thereof.
posted by asnider at 9:23 AM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I used to love Dilbert because it so precisely illustrated the sort of places I worked (and the sort of bosses I had). But this... *Sigh*
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 9:30 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 9:30 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
This incident might find itself in a textbook someday, and not just for being racist and stupid. He fell for a complex or loaded question as having a correct answer, ignoring any thoughtful disagreement with the question as marginalizing or condescending, some recognizing it as a racist trope. Then he condemned individuals for a group report, and vice versa, which is a double fallacy. Condemning those he had no disagreement with demonstrates a lack of integrity. It's a reminder that segregation and genocide originates with the temptation to classify humanity into sub-groups for any reason, as it invites ranking and stereotyping. Injustice is when someone is wrongly accused or side-lined; grouping facilitates the bad logic involved.
posted by Brian B. at 10:00 AM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Brian B. at 10:00 AM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
This may be the most bald-faced display of racism Adams has shown in public, but it is a bit of a wonder to me how he hasn't been "cancelled" yet.
Adams is one of those weird cases where someone got rich and famous for some specific thing—Dilbert in his case—and then parlayed that wealth and freedom into something unrelated and way shittier that didn't explicitly tie itself back to his central fame. Becoming an attention-thirsty reactionary loudmouth didn't really have much to do with or tack back directly to the Dilbert content-and-merchandising machine, so you've mostly got two camps of people now: people who are aware of Scott Adams because they've been exposed to his latter day shittiness, and people who are just sort of vaguely aware of Scott Adams because oh right he's that guy who makes Dilbert.
If he'd focused all his shitty energy on turning Dilbert into an explicit rage vent, he'd have gotten it literally cancelled broadly and quickly; you can't pull a Dave Sim in a major newspaper context, the syndicate will just drop that shit or find someone to replace you entirely. But if your newspaper comics and page a day calendars keep riding the same milquetoast, anodyne line they always did, and you don't literally murder someone on live television, you can get away with being a hobbyist scumfuck pretty broadly because the people who notice aren't that core audience. Dilbert is a sufficiently separate world from the logorrheic assholery that Scott Adams has made his non-cartoon lifestyle brand that the crossover between the two isn't as clear or inevitable in the popular sphere as it seems like to anybody who has been paying actual attention to his latter day output.
Chapelle wouldn't have gotten the blowback he rightfully did if he'd just been transphobic in conversation with comedy buddies; his big tactical fuck up was looping it back into the core product. We can hope that in this case Adams was loud enough and awful enough that the stakeholders of the Dilbert brand actually react, but it's hard to have much optimism about that.
posted by cortex at 10:00 AM on February 24, 2023 [26 favorites]
Adams is one of those weird cases where someone got rich and famous for some specific thing—Dilbert in his case—and then parlayed that wealth and freedom into something unrelated and way shittier that didn't explicitly tie itself back to his central fame. Becoming an attention-thirsty reactionary loudmouth didn't really have much to do with or tack back directly to the Dilbert content-and-merchandising machine, so you've mostly got two camps of people now: people who are aware of Scott Adams because they've been exposed to his latter day shittiness, and people who are just sort of vaguely aware of Scott Adams because oh right he's that guy who makes Dilbert.
If he'd focused all his shitty energy on turning Dilbert into an explicit rage vent, he'd have gotten it literally cancelled broadly and quickly; you can't pull a Dave Sim in a major newspaper context, the syndicate will just drop that shit or find someone to replace you entirely. But if your newspaper comics and page a day calendars keep riding the same milquetoast, anodyne line they always did, and you don't literally murder someone on live television, you can get away with being a hobbyist scumfuck pretty broadly because the people who notice aren't that core audience. Dilbert is a sufficiently separate world from the logorrheic assholery that Scott Adams has made his non-cartoon lifestyle brand that the crossover between the two isn't as clear or inevitable in the popular sphere as it seems like to anybody who has been paying actual attention to his latter day output.
Chapelle wouldn't have gotten the blowback he rightfully did if he'd just been transphobic in conversation with comedy buddies; his big tactical fuck up was looping it back into the core product. We can hope that in this case Adams was loud enough and awful enough that the stakeholders of the Dilbert brand actually react, but it's hard to have much optimism about that.
posted by cortex at 10:00 AM on February 24, 2023 [26 favorites]
I'll take the bait.
Its ok to have lighter skin
Its ok if your ancestors were in or from the west asian subcontinent 500 years ago.
its ok to be an inanimate object which reflects most wavelengths of visible light.
Its not ok to align or identify yourself with a constructed social/political group whose definition is: we were, are and strive to be dominant over and distinct from all those we view as inferiors and we will mark that inferiority and superiority by assigning color labels, races, genders, sexual lifestyles, classes, and then perpetuate a system where we act shocked that when we identify with this dominance-violence-exploitation project we get offended that you don't like our pale skin the peninsula of our ancestors or the superimposition of the visible spectrum.
White needs disambiguating and one of its definitions is the in-group of assholes who invade other lands, rape enslave and kill the peoples there, extract, pollute and destroy the ecosystems and then complain that they are the ones not being appreciated.
Much love to the pale skins, much respect to the west end of asia. The white paint is great on a wall. Persuade the self-identified whites to embrace humanity instead of racism, quarantine the dangerous sociopaths that can't see the humanity in others.
TL;DR K!ll whitey.*
*whiteness as a supremacy identiy
posted by anecdotal_grand_theory at 10:12 AM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
Its ok to have lighter skin
Its ok if your ancestors were in or from the west asian subcontinent 500 years ago.
its ok to be an inanimate object which reflects most wavelengths of visible light.
Its not ok to align or identify yourself with a constructed social/political group whose definition is: we were, are and strive to be dominant over and distinct from all those we view as inferiors and we will mark that inferiority and superiority by assigning color labels, races, genders, sexual lifestyles, classes, and then perpetuate a system where we act shocked that when we identify with this dominance-violence-exploitation project we get offended that you don't like our pale skin the peninsula of our ancestors or the superimposition of the visible spectrum.
White needs disambiguating and one of its definitions is the in-group of assholes who invade other lands, rape enslave and kill the peoples there, extract, pollute and destroy the ecosystems and then complain that they are the ones not being appreciated.
Much love to the pale skins, much respect to the west end of asia. The white paint is great on a wall. Persuade the self-identified whites to embrace humanity instead of racism, quarantine the dangerous sociopaths that can't see the humanity in others.
TL;DR K!ll whitey.*
*whiteness as a supremacy identiy
posted by anecdotal_grand_theory at 10:12 AM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
But its to big for a bumper sticker, so our 140 character national discourse just shrugs and says "both sides racist"
posted by anecdotal_grand_theory at 10:14 AM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by anecdotal_grand_theory at 10:14 AM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Imagine being enough of magic potty baby that you see a poll, and not only do you put any stock in it whatsoever despite knowing how polling works and why, and then having any kind of strong reaction to it.
For it to be a racist tirade is exceptionally shitty and it's buck wild if there are any newspapers, and bucker wilder still if they carry dilbert in 2023.
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:15 AM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
For it to be a racist tirade is exceptionally shitty and it's buck wild if there are any newspapers, and bucker wilder still if they carry dilbert in 2023.
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:15 AM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Almost all of his pop culture references are decades old (he did a Good Will Hunting parody the other day) unless they're parroting MAGA talking points; the GWH strip mocked a non-binary Biden administration official who's been accused of stealing luggage at an airport.
Daily comics are difficult. I've long maintained it's impossible to keep up a five-star quality daily comic strip indefinitely. Bill Watterson did the best that we can hope for, getting out of it while on top of the game after ten years. Even Charles Schulz, who was sometimes funny right to the end, his later strips I don't think hold a candle to his heyday in the 50s and 60s.
Creative work is fueled by your cultural intake and your inner life, and very few people have a rich enough inner life to keep up a strip daily and still be funny. And likewise few people have sufficient cultural intake to be able to reflect on events on a daily basis. There's a reason why late night TV hosts have whole writers rooms; most comic strips ask one person to do what a team of people do--oh, and also draw funny illustrations. Weekly strips have trouble doing that. There's a reason cartoonists can live comfortably, it's a tremendous bargain for the syndicate.
The result is, daily strips tend to become a mirror of the creator's media diet. If all you read is reactionary right-wing nonsense, you'll inevitably produce either a lot of reactionary right-wing nonsense, or responses to it. The most media savvy might be able to turn that into a commentary on the nonsense, but if they're apt to do that, then why is their whole media intake made up of soul soiling garbage?
posted by JHarris at 10:21 AM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
Daily comics are difficult. I've long maintained it's impossible to keep up a five-star quality daily comic strip indefinitely. Bill Watterson did the best that we can hope for, getting out of it while on top of the game after ten years. Even Charles Schulz, who was sometimes funny right to the end, his later strips I don't think hold a candle to his heyday in the 50s and 60s.
Creative work is fueled by your cultural intake and your inner life, and very few people have a rich enough inner life to keep up a strip daily and still be funny. And likewise few people have sufficient cultural intake to be able to reflect on events on a daily basis. There's a reason why late night TV hosts have whole writers rooms; most comic strips ask one person to do what a team of people do--oh, and also draw funny illustrations. Weekly strips have trouble doing that. There's a reason cartoonists can live comfortably, it's a tremendous bargain for the syndicate.
The result is, daily strips tend to become a mirror of the creator's media diet. If all you read is reactionary right-wing nonsense, you'll inevitably produce either a lot of reactionary right-wing nonsense, or responses to it. The most media savvy might be able to turn that into a commentary on the nonsense, but if they're apt to do that, then why is their whole media intake made up of soul soiling garbage?
posted by JHarris at 10:21 AM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
There is something about being a cartoonist that seems to drive some people around the bend. The isolation and the need to constantly perform gets to you, I think - I note that Frank Miller went well off the deep end, and claims that taking a few years off, to just be in the world and reconnect with normal humans, made him come back to reality.
Add Dave Sim to that pile. I did see an interview with Sim where he said that in order to draw a comic, you had to be willing to spend 8+ hours on a page that the average reader will look at for 10 seconds. While this might drive you crazy, I don't think it would make you a misogynist/racist.
posted by Furnace of Doubt at 10:22 AM on February 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
Add Dave Sim to that pile. I did see an interview with Sim where he said that in order to draw a comic, you had to be willing to spend 8+ hours on a page that the average reader will look at for 10 seconds. While this might drive you crazy, I don't think it would make you a misogynist/racist.
posted by Furnace of Doubt at 10:22 AM on February 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
Is there an up and coming nerd-life strip I could recommend to my paper as a replacement, while I’m at it?
posted by clew at 10:26 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 10:26 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
“It’s okay to be white”
Reply: "But it's not okay to be a white racist"
Take note Mr Adams.
(Of course, it is not okay to be any kind of racist, but this is directed toward all those blatant 'It's okay to be white' racists).
posted by eye of newt at 10:29 AM on February 24, 2023
Reply: "But it's not okay to be a white racist"
Take note Mr Adams.
(Of course, it is not okay to be any kind of racist, but this is directed toward all those blatant 'It's okay to be white' racists).
posted by eye of newt at 10:29 AM on February 24, 2023
i used to love dilbert so much because it was so on point about the absurdity of office life. i went to the site today and wow...the last couple comics from this week are really not at all acceptable. and i didn't know scott adams was this bad, so i appreciate this post.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:49 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:49 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
Creative work is fueled by your cultural intake and your inner life, and very few people have a rich enough inner life to keep up a strip daily and still be funny. And likewise few people have sufficient cultural intake to be able to reflect on events on a daily basis.
So you're telling me legacy comics like Hagar the Horrible, which aren't even written/drawn by the original creator, aren't deeply rich artworks from which we should draw meaning?
posted by asnider at 10:58 AM on February 24, 2023
So you're telling me legacy comics like Hagar the Horrible, which aren't even written/drawn by the original creator, aren't deeply rich artworks from which we should draw meaning?
posted by asnider at 10:58 AM on February 24, 2023
Let's please not try to find an excuse for his racism.
No excuses made, of course, but volks like Adams don't exist in a vacuum, and like many of his fellow Trump supporters, they now seem empowered to come out and be openly, unapologetically cruel to others in a way that wasn't acceptable public behavior before November 2016.
Part of it is that there are few or no consequences for acting out this way. Shitty Hitler-grade-stick-art cartoonists are one problem, but we have a whole other situation when pancake-faced politicians are elected, who openly espouse theories about Jewish bankers starting forest fires with space lasers, head off to white supremacist meetings, and then are emboldened further to call for violent sedition, which is then subsequently laughed off in a NYTimes op-ed.
Scott Adams is a racist, for sure, but he's a small part of a much larger and complicated cancer that seems to have been given permission to make its way to the collective American liver.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:59 AM on February 24, 2023 [7 favorites]
No excuses made, of course, but volks like Adams don't exist in a vacuum, and like many of his fellow Trump supporters, they now seem empowered to come out and be openly, unapologetically cruel to others in a way that wasn't acceptable public behavior before November 2016.
Part of it is that there are few or no consequences for acting out this way. Shitty Hitler-grade-stick-art cartoonists are one problem, but we have a whole other situation when pancake-faced politicians are elected, who openly espouse theories about Jewish bankers starting forest fires with space lasers, head off to white supremacist meetings, and then are emboldened further to call for violent sedition, which is then subsequently laughed off in a NYTimes op-ed.
Scott Adams is a racist, for sure, but he's a small part of a much larger and complicated cancer that seems to have been given permission to make its way to the collective American liver.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:59 AM on February 24, 2023 [7 favorites]
Scott Adams has become his own pointy headed boss.
posted by srboisvert at 11:02 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 11:02 AM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
So you're telling me legacy comics like Hagar the Horrible, which aren't even written/drawn by the original creator, aren't deeply rich artworks from which we should draw meaning?
I dunno. The completely Dadaist and surreal modern incarnation of Heathcliff, drawn by the original creator's nephew, could challange that assumption on legacy strips.
My city newspaper started funning Dilbert last fall, when they "revamped" the comics section and replaced about 90% of the ones it used to run. Dilbert is racist, misogynist, transphobic, etc., much of the time, so it definitely mirrors the artist.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:14 AM on February 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
I dunno. The completely Dadaist and surreal modern incarnation of Heathcliff, drawn by the original creator's nephew, could challange that assumption on legacy strips.
My city newspaper started funning Dilbert last fall, when they "revamped" the comics section and replaced about 90% of the ones it used to run. Dilbert is racist, misogynist, transphobic, etc., much of the time, so it definitely mirrors the artist.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:14 AM on February 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
There's a group in my area with an IOTBW banner, and they get what they want - media attention, plus counter-protesters. My town used to be more redneck/red, is going blue, and when there was a Black Lives Matter walk, the community forum was full of people posting All Lives Matter, and a few of us explaining why we had an issue with that. Adams is unsalvageable, probably, but most people don't really want to be racist assholes.
He is building his support among people who embrace racism, assholery, misogyny, anti-LGBT, ageism; the people who can't stand that somebody with a disability needs a close parking spot, reactionaries. It's not an accident; I expect this to ramp up because we're in the US 2024 Presidential Campaign, and rhetoric will be reached new highs, lows, I can't even describe how shitty I think it will get. More than ever, Silence = Complicity.
At least he's honest. No more pretending to care about Black people or racism. I'm white, male, wealthy, privileged, and I'll do whatever I can to keep things the way they are.
posted by theora55 at 11:20 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
He is building his support among people who embrace racism, assholery, misogyny, anti-LGBT, ageism; the people who can't stand that somebody with a disability needs a close parking spot, reactionaries. It's not an accident; I expect this to ramp up because we're in the US 2024 Presidential Campaign, and rhetoric will be reached new highs, lows, I can't even describe how shitty I think it will get. More than ever, Silence = Complicity.
At least he's honest. No more pretending to care about Black people or racism. I'm white, male, wealthy, privileged, and I'll do whatever I can to keep things the way they are.
posted by theora55 at 11:20 AM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me, has spasmodic dysphonia. Interesting. I've always wondered if it's because she knows she's lying.
posted by theora55 at 11:22 AM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 11:22 AM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
So you're telling me legacy comics like Hagar the Horrible, which aren't even written/drawn by the original creator, aren't deeply rich artworks from which we should draw meaning?
Deep and rich? I'm talking about basically funny and relevant.
As mentioned above by the person who took over Heathcliff, changing hands could actually save a strip. I compare it to having a "word box" in my head, when I write, I empty out the box, and it takes time to refill it. When you take words out of the box without having had time to recharge it, you end up repeating yourself, saying more trite things, just writing worse. For people with a Unix background, it's akin to asking the system entropy pool for random numbers. When it's been insufficiently charged by chaotic events, it becomes predictable.
posted by JHarris at 11:30 AM on February 24, 2023 [7 favorites]
Deep and rich? I'm talking about basically funny and relevant.
As mentioned above by the person who took over Heathcliff, changing hands could actually save a strip. I compare it to having a "word box" in my head, when I write, I empty out the box, and it takes time to refill it. When you take words out of the box without having had time to recharge it, you end up repeating yourself, saying more trite things, just writing worse. For people with a Unix background, it's akin to asking the system entropy pool for random numbers. When it's been insufficiently charged by chaotic events, it becomes predictable.
posted by JHarris at 11:30 AM on February 24, 2023 [7 favorites]
TL;DR K!ll whitey.*
most random thing ever but this gave me flashbacks to being at uni and getting the new Fishbone album, putting it on and cranking it, and my roommate (grad student from Uganda walks in) just as D'Angelo Moore is screaming "KILLL WHITEY" and he laughed and we laughed and it was just stupid
now I miss Fishbone
posted by elkevelvet at 11:30 AM on February 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
most random thing ever but this gave me flashbacks to being at uni and getting the new Fishbone album, putting it on and cranking it, and my roommate (grad student from Uganda walks in) just as D'Angelo Moore is screaming "KILLL WHITEY" and he laughed and we laughed and it was just stupid
now I miss Fishbone
posted by elkevelvet at 11:30 AM on February 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
Badgermann, he's one of those people who is uniquely charmless, isn't he? Whenever he's mentioned I remember his posts about the overdose death of his stepson where he was like "there was nothing I could do to help, yeah, I'm glad he died before he became a school shooter." The implication was that everyone else simply didn't have the strength and clarity to deal with a child's addiction and death in the correct, Scott Adams way.
posted by kingdead at 11:39 AM on February 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by kingdead at 11:39 AM on February 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
I miss Fishbone
They're still around, man. I saw them last month at Afro Bowie and it was an amazing show.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:50 AM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
They're still around, man. I saw them last month at Afro Bowie and it was an amazing show.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:50 AM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
I used to love Dilbert because it so precisely illustrated the sort of places I worked (and the sort of bosses I had). But this... *Sigh*
yeah, in the nineties I think Dilbert was legit, or at very least it was the one-eyed king of the nineties funny pages.
in the last dilbert I read, sometime in the last five years, the pointy-haired boss got to be the sympathetic POV character who delivered the arch punchline about the stupidity and laziness of the world, instead of being the stupidity and laziness of the world.
checks out that the PHB would eventually become the protagonist of the script.
posted by Sauce Trough at 12:34 PM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
yeah, in the nineties I think Dilbert was legit, or at very least it was the one-eyed king of the nineties funny pages.
in the last dilbert I read, sometime in the last five years, the pointy-haired boss got to be the sympathetic POV character who delivered the arch punchline about the stupidity and laziness of the world, instead of being the stupidity and laziness of the world.
checks out that the PHB would eventually become the protagonist of the script.
posted by Sauce Trough at 12:34 PM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
Deep and rich? I'm talking about basically funny and relevant.
I was mostly making a joke, but now I'm hoping someone with more insight makes a FPP about the weirdness of modern Healthcliff. It deserves more than a few derailing comments on a thread about Scott Adams' racism.
posted by asnider at 12:39 PM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
I was mostly making a joke, but now I'm hoping someone with more insight makes a FPP about the weirdness of modern Healthcliff. It deserves more than a few derailing comments on a thread about Scott Adams' racism.
posted by asnider at 12:39 PM on February 24, 2023 [8 favorites]
checks out that the PHB would eventually become the protagonist of the script.
I swear I remember Adams once writing something about how much harder it was to keep Dilbert relevant after it had been his full-time job for many years and he was no longer in touch with typical, 9-5 office jobs. I suppose a heel turn was easier than actually talking to "regular," working people.
posted by asnider at 12:41 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
I swear I remember Adams once writing something about how much harder it was to keep Dilbert relevant after it had been his full-time job for many years and he was no longer in touch with typical, 9-5 office jobs. I suppose a heel turn was easier than actually talking to "regular," working people.
posted by asnider at 12:41 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
This is a dog bites man story if there ever were one.
If only!
posted by chavenet at 12:54 PM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
If only!
posted by chavenet at 12:54 PM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's OK to be opaque [Life is Incredible by Briggs featuring Greg Holden – lyrics]
After the Australian parliament voted on a motion that "It's OK to to be white", Yorta Yorta rapper, Adam Briggs, released 'Life is Incredible', a commentary on the great disparity in health and life expectancy between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia.
'Plot twist': being white is incredible.
posted by Thella at 1:22 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
After the Australian parliament voted on a motion that "It's OK to to be white", Yorta Yorta rapper, Adam Briggs, released 'Life is Incredible', a commentary on the great disparity in health and life expectancy between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia.
'Plot twist': being white is incredible.
posted by Thella at 1:22 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
Much of the time when I encounter people talking about how Adams is being, uh, himself, I am compelled to explain about the 'planned_chaos' episode.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:29 PM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 1:29 PM on February 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
in the nineties I think Dilbert was legit, or at very least it was the one-eyed king of the nineties funny pages.
And of cubicle walls. Dilbert used to be everywhere. But I can't remember now the last time I saw a Dilbert strip pinned in an engineer's cubicle; or a Dilbert plush or calendar on an engineer's desk; at least fifteen years ago, maybe more. Adams fell out of favor hard with his core audience, first by becoming irrelevant and then by becoming repulsive.
At a previous job, maybe 5 years ago, a new VP doing a getting-to-know-you presentation to eng staff put up a slide with a Dilbert strip as an attempted "hey, I'm just like you, right?" thing and, oof: you could feel the room turn against him in that moment.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 1:47 PM on February 24, 2023 [23 favorites]
And of cubicle walls. Dilbert used to be everywhere. But I can't remember now the last time I saw a Dilbert strip pinned in an engineer's cubicle; or a Dilbert plush or calendar on an engineer's desk; at least fifteen years ago, maybe more. Adams fell out of favor hard with his core audience, first by becoming irrelevant and then by becoming repulsive.
At a previous job, maybe 5 years ago, a new VP doing a getting-to-know-you presentation to eng staff put up a slide with a Dilbert strip as an attempted "hey, I'm just like you, right?" thing and, oof: you could feel the room turn against him in that moment.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 1:47 PM on February 24, 2023 [23 favorites]
now I'm hoping someone with more insight makes a FPP about the weirdness of modern Healthcliff
I think this was it?
posted by polecat at 2:01 PM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think this was it?
posted by polecat at 2:01 PM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
It took 33 years for Adams to put a black character in Dilbert; I'll let the results speak for themselves.
posted by TedW at 2:37 PM on February 24, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by TedW at 2:37 PM on February 24, 2023 [12 favorites]
Even racists can have shitty bosses, but that direct overrule them of their racism.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:17 PM on February 24, 2023
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:17 PM on February 24, 2023
Doesn't absolve^^^
Wow, clean up on aisle six.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:27 PM on February 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wow, clean up on aisle six.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:27 PM on February 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
It took 33 years for Adams to put a black character in Dilbert; I'll let the results speak for themselves.
WOW.
posted by loquacious at 4:20 PM on February 24, 2023 [10 favorites]
WOW.
posted by loquacious at 4:20 PM on February 24, 2023 [10 favorites]
Scott Adams is, I surmise, a nihilist, provocateur and troll who needs to inflame others to remind him that he has any ability to affect the world around him. Because, despite all his money and celebrity, if no one reacts to him, he really doesn't.
Alternatively, Scott Adams's true voice is not Dilbert, it's really Dogbert.
(If I ruled MeFi, I'd delete all the comments on this thread and shadow-block it so that he could visit here, see the headline and note that it had zero comments, favorites or flags. Like a kind of Metafilter Ozymandias. Heh.)
posted by zaixfeep at 4:27 PM on February 24, 2023 [14 favorites]
Alternatively, Scott Adams's true voice is not Dilbert, it's really Dogbert.
(If I ruled MeFi, I'd delete all the comments on this thread and shadow-block it so that he could visit here, see the headline and note that it had zero comments, favorites or flags. Like a kind of Metafilter Ozymandias. Heh.)
posted by zaixfeep at 4:27 PM on February 24, 2023 [14 favorites]
The Cleveland Plain Dealer is dropping the Dilbert strip.
We are dropping the Dilbert comic strip because of creator Scott Adams’ racist rant
posted by Surely This at 5:06 PM on February 24, 2023 [38 favorites]
We are dropping the Dilbert comic strip because of creator Scott Adams’ racist rant
posted by Surely This at 5:06 PM on February 24, 2023 [38 favorites]
He's doing a "I've been canceled!" media tour!
posted by Selena777 at 5:55 PM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 5:55 PM on February 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
if that plain dealer editorial is true, this means that most of the major newspapers in outstate michigan have dropped dilbert, as they're all owned by advance
posted by pyramid termite at 6:10 PM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 6:10 PM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
"...So I’m going to back off on being helpful to Black America because it doesn’t seem like it pays off."
I wonder what he has ever done to helpful to anyone other than himself, and what exact pay off he expects.
posted by oldnumberseven at 7:23 PM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
I wonder what he has ever done to helpful to anyone other than himself, and what exact pay off he expects.
posted by oldnumberseven at 7:23 PM on February 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
He's doing a "I've been canceled!" media tour!
If that wasn't his intent and goal, it was certainly a close Plan B.
posted by MrGuilt at 7:37 PM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
If that wasn't his intent and goal, it was certainly a close Plan B.
posted by MrGuilt at 7:37 PM on February 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've shunned Dilbert from my thoughts since the plannedchaos incident but I'll never stop whispering under my breath that "someone from a smarter gender" would do this the right way.
posted by bendy at 10:07 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by bendy at 10:07 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
‘Dilbert’ Cartoon Dropped From Many News Outlets Over Creator Scott Adams’ Racial Remarks
I note so far the count in this article is at 2, including the Plain Dealer, but I'm sure there will be more to come!
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:10 PM on February 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
I note so far the count in this article is at 2, including the Plain Dealer, but I'm sure there will be more to come!
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:10 PM on February 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
Scott Adams's true voice is not Dilbert, it's really Dogbert.
I'm sure that's how he sees it. It doesn't really work, though, because Dogbert actually is a genius.
posted by flabdablet at 10:52 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm sure that's how he sees it. It doesn't really work, though, because Dogbert actually is a genius.
posted by flabdablet at 10:52 PM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]
Gannet/USA Today have dropped him
That's a big deal, right?
posted by zardoz at 12:34 AM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
That's a big deal, right?
posted by zardoz at 12:34 AM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
That's a big deal, right?
The end of a big deal, morelike
posted by chavenet at 2:09 AM on February 25, 2023 [11 favorites]
The end of a big deal, morelike
posted by chavenet at 2:09 AM on February 25, 2023 [11 favorites]
I can't believe you folks. Were I a publisher, I would never consider dropping him.
I would place Dilbert in the center of its own page. Surrounded by
* Reruns of The Boondocks and Wee Pals
* Some particularly depressing Ziggy cartoons (I'd draw Dilbert glasses on Ziggy myself, of course)
* All my daily inventory of 'Florida Man' stories
* Every story where someone profusely apologizes for saying something they shouldn't
* The lyrics to 'Feelings' and 'Ready to Take A Chance Again'
and just above Dilbert and very very big: This little gem.
Every. Grawlixing. Day.
like mel brooks does to hitler every chance he gets
posted by zaixfeep at 4:05 AM on February 25, 2023 [8 favorites]
I would place Dilbert in the center of its own page. Surrounded by
* Reruns of The Boondocks and Wee Pals
* Some particularly depressing Ziggy cartoons (I'd draw Dilbert glasses on Ziggy myself, of course)
* All my daily inventory of 'Florida Man' stories
* Every story where someone profusely apologizes for saying something they shouldn't
* The lyrics to 'Feelings' and 'Ready to Take A Chance Again'
and just above Dilbert and very very big: This little gem.
Every. Grawlixing. Day.
like mel brooks does to hitler every chance he gets
posted by zaixfeep at 4:05 AM on February 25, 2023 [8 favorites]
Oh yeah I forgot to mention, even the execrable TFG-lover Ben Garrison is also mocking him.
At this point I don't know if Scott Adams has any friends or allies left. Personally, I'm just waiting for him to announce, 'that wasn't me, that wasthe one-armed manTony Clifton! '
posted by zaixfeep at 4:18 AM on February 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
At this point I don't know if Scott Adams has any friends or allies left. Personally, I'm just waiting for him to announce, 'that wasn't me, that was
posted by zaixfeep at 4:18 AM on February 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
Bay Area cartoonist who created Dilbert goes on racist rant, draws condemnation
contains this gem:
The Chronicle stopped carrying Dilbert last October after strips that, among other things, joked that reparations, proposed for African Americans because of slavery, can be claimed by underperforming office workers and that to get around efforts to diversify workplaces straight men should pretend they are gay, editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz said. "His strip went from being hilarious to being hurtful and mean," Garcia-Ruiz said. "Very few readers noticed when we killed it and we only had a handful of complaints. We had many more complaints when we stopped other strips."
According to the Daily Beast, Adams’ comic was dropped from 77 newspapers by publisher Lee Enterprises in September. The comic, which has appeared in newspapers since 1989, once ran in as many as 2,000 newspapers in 70 countries and 25 languages.
posted by chavenet at 5:13 AM on February 25, 2023 [12 favorites]
contains this gem:
The Chronicle stopped carrying Dilbert last October after strips that, among other things, joked that reparations, proposed for African Americans because of slavery, can be claimed by underperforming office workers and that to get around efforts to diversify workplaces straight men should pretend they are gay, editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz said. "His strip went from being hilarious to being hurtful and mean," Garcia-Ruiz said. "Very few readers noticed when we killed it and we only had a handful of complaints. We had many more complaints when we stopped other strips."
According to the Daily Beast, Adams’ comic was dropped from 77 newspapers by publisher Lee Enterprises in September. The comic, which has appeared in newspapers since 1989, once ran in as many as 2,000 newspapers in 70 countries and 25 languages.
posted by chavenet at 5:13 AM on February 25, 2023 [12 favorites]
zaixfeep - His account was hacked, it was his little brother!
posted by Selena777 at 6:17 AM on February 25, 2023
posted by Selena777 at 6:17 AM on February 25, 2023
Citing a recent Rasmussen survey showing 53 percent of Black people agree with the phrase “It’s okay to be white. . .”
I wonder how many racists like Scott Adams would agree with the phrase "It's okay to be Black."
posted by Dolley at 6:51 AM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
I wonder how many racists like Scott Adams would agree with the phrase "It's okay to be Black."
posted by Dolley at 6:51 AM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well, I mean, if you've lost Ben Garrison -- ! Pretty hilarious to see that Adams' response to him was basically the same as to Ray Smuckles. It must have happened before.
Anyway, these are good signs. I already sent a letter myself, although not to any of the places that made the decision. I am sure Adams will be fine in himself, what with the right-wing grift machine and all his licensing profits from the Dilberito and so on.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:30 AM on February 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Anyway, these are good signs. I already sent a letter myself, although not to any of the places that made the decision. I am sure Adams will be fine in himself, what with the right-wing grift machine and all his licensing profits from the Dilberito and so on.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:30 AM on February 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
I should make a Calvin peeing on Dilbert sticker.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:13 AM on February 25, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:13 AM on February 25, 2023 [14 favorites]
I wonder how many racists like Scott Adams would agree with the phrase "It's okay to be Black."I'm sure it would come out as: It's okay to be Black, but coincidentally, most Black people are bad. It's not okay to be criminal, lazy, etc. so they're bad for reasons unrelated to being Black. As an official not-racist, it's completely unfair that Black people make me look racist by being criminals, lazy, etc.
posted by RobotHero at 8:52 AM on February 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Can we all at least agree that it's not easy being green?
ok that was enough, back to dil-urking
posted by zaixfeep at 8:55 AM on February 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
ok that was enough, back to dil-urking
posted by zaixfeep at 8:55 AM on February 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
I wonder how many racists like Scott Adams would agree with the phrase "It's okay to be Black."
That slogan is racist for the same reason black lives matter is racist. Slogans that mention genders or races other than male and white are discriminatory because the default condition, white male, includes and enfolds and protects and exalts all human possibilities. Mentioning other maybe ways to be hurts white guys and by extension everyone. We can't have like a black spiderman or a lady ghostbuster or whatever because that erases whiteness and if whiteness is not the default, then no holds are barred. We will forget math and language and art, all the skyscrapers will crumble and planes will fall out of the air, and we will revert to a prehuman condition, nocturnal, wormlike, sleeping naked in mud puddles at high noon, cannibalizing one another and masturbating with rocks.
posted by Don Pepino at 9:27 AM on February 25, 2023 [36 favorites]
That slogan is racist for the same reason black lives matter is racist. Slogans that mention genders or races other than male and white are discriminatory because the default condition, white male, includes and enfolds and protects and exalts all human possibilities. Mentioning other maybe ways to be hurts white guys and by extension everyone. We can't have like a black spiderman or a lady ghostbuster or whatever because that erases whiteness and if whiteness is not the default, then no holds are barred. We will forget math and language and art, all the skyscrapers will crumble and planes will fall out of the air, and we will revert to a prehuman condition, nocturnal, wormlike, sleeping naked in mud puddles at high noon, cannibalizing one another and masturbating with rocks.
posted by Don Pepino at 9:27 AM on February 25, 2023 [36 favorites]
Can we all at least agree that it's not easy being green?
Yes, and I've tried! But maybe I'm just an amateur, and need to learn how it's done. Anyway it makes me really jealous of people who can pull it off.
posted by aubilenon at 12:10 PM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes, and I've tried! But maybe I'm just an amateur, and need to learn how it's done. Anyway it makes me really jealous of people who can pull it off.
posted by aubilenon at 12:10 PM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
cannibalizing one another and masturbating with rocks
I'd still prefer this over having to read about that shitty cartoon any longer.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:42 PM on February 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'd still prefer this over having to read about that shitty cartoon any longer.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:42 PM on February 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
I think Black people's response to 'it's OK to be white' needs to be understood in context of the huge popularity of an earlier meme:
posted by jamjam at 1:02 PM on February 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Sixty years ago, Big Bill Broonzy sang about America's Jim Crow system,Which makes its implicit racism much clearer.
If you is white, you's alright,
if you's brown, stick around,
but if you's black, hmm, hmm, brother,
get back, get back, get back.
posted by jamjam at 1:02 PM on February 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
nelson_laugh.mp3
posted by Ahmad Khani at 2:45 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Ahmad Khani at 2:45 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
“Most of my income will be gone by next week,” he told about 3,000 live-stream viewers. “My reputation for the rest of my life is destroyed. You can’t come back from this, am I right? There’s no way you can come back from this.”
*deletes joke about Lowtax beckoning with outstretched finger*
Again, he'll be fine. Especially with Elon taking a chin-scratching interest in his ideas.
posted by Countess Elena at 3:50 PM on February 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
*deletes joke about Lowtax beckoning with outstretched finger*
Again, he'll be fine. Especially with Elon taking a chin-scratching interest in his ideas.
posted by Countess Elena at 3:50 PM on February 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Well-known Australian moron and racist bigot Pauline Hanson - whose political career has been characterized by her blatant racism and bigotry through dog-whistle politics and her willingness to stoke fear and hatred for political gain - tried to put forward a motion in 2018 in the Australian Senate that declared "it's OK to be white." The motion, which was defeated, was widely condemned as promoting white supremacy and racism.
posted by Tasmanian_Kris at 4:23 PM on February 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Tasmanian_Kris at 4:23 PM on February 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
And Gannett (as an old journalism professor used to say, ‘emphasis on the net.’)
posted by box at 5:57 PM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 5:57 PM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
He's fine, folks. Rupert will snatch him up as an editorial cartoonist for one or another FOX News infotainment outlet. Stick-figure fascism is a gap they've needed to address for a while now.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:53 PM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:53 PM on February 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
From that WaPo link, his final remarks were
“Lots of people are angry, but I haven’t seen any disagreement yet, at least not from anyone who saw the context. Some questioned the poll data. That’s fair.”
I mean, yeah, we've all got our little bubbles and echo chambers but ... really, Scott? You've seen absolutely no disagreement?
Wow. I suppose it's also possible that he saw disagreement but stuck his fingers in his ear and "nahnahnahICANTHEARYOU" about it and told himself "well, they didn't see the context, so that doesn't count".
Sure, context is always important, but the context here is "this is the central thesis of a very long, very racist rant" so it's hardly taken OUT of context, but more the summation of racist word-vomit from a bitter old white man who's relevance he has managed to intentionally rapidly diminish for reasons I just can't wrap my head around.
posted by revmitcz at 8:12 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
“Lots of people are angry, but I haven’t seen any disagreement yet, at least not from anyone who saw the context. Some questioned the poll data. That’s fair.”
I mean, yeah, we've all got our little bubbles and echo chambers but ... really, Scott? You've seen absolutely no disagreement?
Wow. I suppose it's also possible that he saw disagreement but stuck his fingers in his ear and "nahnahnahICANTHEARYOU" about it and told himself "well, they didn't see the context, so that doesn't count".
Sure, context is always important, but the context here is "this is the central thesis of a very long, very racist rant" so it's hardly taken OUT of context, but more the summation of racist word-vomit from a bitter old white man who's relevance he has managed to intentionally rapidly diminish for reasons I just can't wrap my head around.
posted by revmitcz at 8:12 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
“Most of my income will be gone by next week,” he told about 3,000 live-stream viewers.
If he can't parlay a net worth of fifty million into an exceedingly comfortable retirement then he's even less astute than I thought he was, which scarcely seems credible.
posted by flabdablet at 8:36 PM on February 25, 2023 [14 favorites]
If he can't parlay a net worth of fifty million into an exceedingly comfortable retirement then he's even less astute than I thought he was, which scarcely seems credible.
posted by flabdablet at 8:36 PM on February 25, 2023 [14 favorites]
Elevator pitch for Dilbert, The Disaster Movie:
In the twilight of his career, a professional writer discovers that not only do words mean things, slogans mean things. High jinks ensue.
posted by flabdablet at 8:52 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
In the twilight of his career, a professional writer discovers that not only do words mean things, slogans mean things. High jinks ensue.
posted by flabdablet at 8:52 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
By "the context" maybe he means "the correct context of someone who agrees with me". In that context he hasn't seen any disagreement.
posted by aubilenon at 8:58 PM on February 25, 2023
posted by aubilenon at 8:58 PM on February 25, 2023
Certified Genius.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:34 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:34 PM on February 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
MetaFilter's abusive ex.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:15 PM on February 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:15 PM on February 25, 2023 [9 favorites]
And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
posted by hydropsyche at 4:05 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 4:05 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
but I haven’t seen any disagreement yet
Literally everyone who pays you is firing you, Scott. Do they need to do it with a note that says 'you're fired; btw, we disagree'? The firing is the disagreement, you simpleton.
posted by LooseFilter at 7:00 AM on February 26, 2023 [15 favorites]
Literally everyone who pays you is firing you, Scott. Do they need to do it with a note that says 'you're fired; btw, we disagree'? The firing is the disagreement, you simpleton.
posted by LooseFilter at 7:00 AM on February 26, 2023 [15 favorites]
No one who agrees with me disagrees with me!
posted by kyrademon at 7:06 AM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 7:06 AM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
I am not a Dilbert or S. Adams fan. And I seldom agree with or condone the actions of privileged people who use their platform to be deliberately divisive or inflammatory. But here's my counterpoint:
Let's first recall that Adams had Trump figured out while the rest of the world was "naah, no way that bozo will be elected." So, on this at least, he was prescient. And we all agree he has a track record for inflammatory comments.
So, I suspect that Adams was riffing (unhelpfully) on on some of the absurdities of the language-twisting and "signifying" in our current culture and race battleground. The starting point is the very questionable move of polling on a seemingly anodyne phrase like “It’s okay to be white”. In what universe is that a helpful or instructive survey? It looks to me that Adams was engaging in an inflammatory reductio ad absurdum extrapolation from that survey.
Was his rant racist? Indisputably. Reasonable/insightful? Not really. Career-ending? Deservedly, but he doesn't seem to GAF at this point.
Do I believe that he is, at heart, genuinely a racist? I think it's more likely that he's just someone who enjoys trolling the idealistic, particularly those on the left. I've seen this attitude elsewhere in some otherwise intelligent and educated people, who are put off by the intensity and absolutism of some of the rhetoric around race and cultural issues. So they deliberately provoke.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:28 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
Let's first recall that Adams had Trump figured out while the rest of the world was "naah, no way that bozo will be elected." So, on this at least, he was prescient. And we all agree he has a track record for inflammatory comments.
So, I suspect that Adams was riffing (unhelpfully) on on some of the absurdities of the language-twisting and "signifying" in our current culture and race battleground. The starting point is the very questionable move of polling on a seemingly anodyne phrase like “It’s okay to be white”. In what universe is that a helpful or instructive survey? It looks to me that Adams was engaging in an inflammatory reductio ad absurdum extrapolation from that survey.
Was his rant racist? Indisputably. Reasonable/insightful? Not really. Career-ending? Deservedly, but he doesn't seem to GAF at this point.
Do I believe that he is, at heart, genuinely a racist? I think it's more likely that he's just someone who enjoys trolling the idealistic, particularly those on the left. I've seen this attitude elsewhere in some otherwise intelligent and educated people, who are put off by the intensity and absolutism of some of the rhetoric around race and cultural issues. So they deliberately provoke.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:28 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
Scott Adams didn’t do so well at electoral prediction the next time around, however.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:33 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mbrubeck at 7:33 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
Listening to his podcast (Feb 24 and 25, if you can stand it)...and he is trying hard to doublespeak his way out. "Yes, I'm a racist, but there is such a thing as good racism." His example of good racism, which he claims to have supported in the past, is affirmative action. This defense seems quite silly of course, but I feel the need to break it down. His idea is that affirmative action discriminates against a racial group (white people) in order to right a past wrong, and thus fits the active definition of racism (different from the definition of belief in racial superiority/inferiority.)
I think that the scope of an action or its intent is important to identifying racism. If I am especially mean to a certain small group of people (who happen to be a small subset of a certain race) then I may be a bully but not necessarily racist. If I would act that way to any group of that race, because of their race, that's racist! (Let me pause here to point out that Scott's angry statements were definitely aimed at all of a group, and thus racist in the worst way.) In contrast, affirmative action is not discriminating against all white people: just against a few at a certain point in time, in order to correct an injustice. If used correctly, affirmative action and DEI principles (as opposed to pure blind merit) could be accused of localized unfairness by the people who don't get hired, or promoted or accepted, but not racism.
But I still see more and more people who seem to feel that affirmative action is "racist," and they make their case using the active discrimination interpretation of the word. Does the use of "racism" to mean active discrimination, as opposed to an underlying hatred or belief in racial inferiority, have the huge downside of allowing a convincing argument that "racism can be good?"
posted by TreeRooster at 7:39 AM on February 26, 2023
I think that the scope of an action or its intent is important to identifying racism. If I am especially mean to a certain small group of people (who happen to be a small subset of a certain race) then I may be a bully but not necessarily racist. If I would act that way to any group of that race, because of their race, that's racist! (Let me pause here to point out that Scott's angry statements were definitely aimed at all of a group, and thus racist in the worst way.) In contrast, affirmative action is not discriminating against all white people: just against a few at a certain point in time, in order to correct an injustice. If used correctly, affirmative action and DEI principles (as opposed to pure blind merit) could be accused of localized unfairness by the people who don't get hired, or promoted or accepted, but not racism.
But I still see more and more people who seem to feel that affirmative action is "racist," and they make their case using the active discrimination interpretation of the word. Does the use of "racism" to mean active discrimination, as opposed to an underlying hatred or belief in racial inferiority, have the huge downside of allowing a convincing argument that "racism can be good?"
posted by TreeRooster at 7:39 AM on February 26, 2023
That later election prediction reads like trolling, though, yes?
posted by Artful Codger at 7:42 AM on February 26, 2023
posted by Artful Codger at 7:42 AM on February 26, 2023
I really don't give a shit if Scott Adams in his truest deepest heart of hearts is actually just a narcissistic void incapable of truly deeply feeling the sundry shitty things he pointedly, publicly says for attention. I especially don't give a shit about third party speculation that tries to unpack and find a comparatively benign explanation for the latest in his long, long series of pointedly public holdings-forth on shitty theses.
Dude's a professional fucker-around. I'm delighted beyond belief that there's actually some finding out this time.
posted by cortex at 7:57 AM on February 26, 2023 [56 favorites]
Dude's a professional fucker-around. I'm delighted beyond belief that there's actually some finding out this time.
posted by cortex at 7:57 AM on February 26, 2023 [56 favorites]
do you know what i'm starting to suspect? - he wanted to retire and decided to do it in the most classless, final way possible - "oh, fuck dilbert, fuck you, and fuck black people, too"
that might sound far fetched, but it really does fit his personality
posted by pyramid termite at 7:59 AM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
that might sound far fetched, but it really does fit his personality
posted by pyramid termite at 7:59 AM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
The nitpicking that's going on over this-- led by Adams himself of course-- reminds me of this Princeton professor (NYT gift link) who is claiming* to have been fired over his having called the Black Justice League on campus “a small local terrorist organization.” He considers that to be a violation of his free speech and he doesn't seem to understand why people think it was a racist remark.
*"Claiming" because those remarks were not cited in his firing, as explained in the article.
posted by BibiRose at 8:00 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
*"Claiming" because those remarks were not cited in his firing, as explained in the article.
posted by BibiRose at 8:00 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
pyramid termite: agreed.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:00 AM on February 26, 2023
posted by Artful Codger at 8:00 AM on February 26, 2023
I suspect that Adams was riffing
Unfortunately, after listening to about three of his interminable podcasts, there is no hint that he was riffing. He never mentions the problems of the language in the poll, or of the multiple meanings of the word "racism" being conflated. He seems to be doubling or tripling down on the idea that he believes the silly poll at face value, and believes that racism can be a good thing...at least if you define it as action, not as belief in inferiority. In this case he is defending his support of racially segregating (one person at a time).
Even if he secretly has no classically racist opinions, that's still just selfish and hurtful. (On preview...what cortex and pyramidtermite said.)
posted by TreeRooster at 8:03 AM on February 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
Unfortunately, after listening to about three of his interminable podcasts, there is no hint that he was riffing. He never mentions the problems of the language in the poll, or of the multiple meanings of the word "racism" being conflated. He seems to be doubling or tripling down on the idea that he believes the silly poll at face value, and believes that racism can be a good thing...at least if you define it as action, not as belief in inferiority. In this case he is defending his support of racially segregating (one person at a time).
Even if he secretly has no classically racist opinions, that's still just selfish and hurtful. (On preview...what cortex and pyramidtermite said.)
posted by TreeRooster at 8:03 AM on February 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
Let's first recall that Adams had Trump figured out while the rest of the world was "naah, no way that bozo will be elected." So, on this at least, he was prescient.
Adams has a fairly bizarre self-created belief system - it's not hard to find interviews with him attempting to explain this - that's a mish-mosh of an almost religious belief in the power of hypnosis (and that people use it all the time, often unconsciously), and the the power of positive thinking a.k.a. affirmation, and that everyone's status and success and happiness is rooted in how well you can use hypnosis and affirmation and other techniques to convince other people and/or the universe to give you what you want. People who are good at this he calls "Master Persuaders." (There's a definite eugenics tinge to this, where Master Persuaders are either the next step in human evolution or at least the current pinnacle of humanity. Also, he's claimed to have come by his beliefs via rigorous scientific testing on himself, which of course is a load of hooey.)
So, no, I don't think he had Trump figured out particularly well or early - like the evangelical Christians, he found in Trump someone who mirrored his already existing beliefs back at him.
Do I believe that he is, at heart, genuinely a racist?
For approximately the millionth time, why do we fucking care if someone isn't genuinely a racist in their heart when they do or say racist things? (Or misogynist, or homophobic, or transphobic, or so on and so forth?) What good does that do? Who is helped by that? Whose hurt is lessened by the idea that this person is being a racist "ironically", or as a troll or contrarian?
His idea is that affirmative action discriminates against a racial group (white people) in order to right a past wrong, and thus fits the active definition of racism (different from the definition of belief in racial superiority/inferiority.)
Jaysus, really? That's what he's going with !!?? That trope is so old and tired I'm not sure even Bill O'Reilly can use it with a straight face anymore.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:10 AM on February 26, 2023 [27 favorites]
Adams has a fairly bizarre self-created belief system - it's not hard to find interviews with him attempting to explain this - that's a mish-mosh of an almost religious belief in the power of hypnosis (and that people use it all the time, often unconsciously), and the the power of positive thinking a.k.a. affirmation, and that everyone's status and success and happiness is rooted in how well you can use hypnosis and affirmation and other techniques to convince other people and/or the universe to give you what you want. People who are good at this he calls "Master Persuaders." (There's a definite eugenics tinge to this, where Master Persuaders are either the next step in human evolution or at least the current pinnacle of humanity. Also, he's claimed to have come by his beliefs via rigorous scientific testing on himself, which of course is a load of hooey.)
So, no, I don't think he had Trump figured out particularly well or early - like the evangelical Christians, he found in Trump someone who mirrored his already existing beliefs back at him.
Do I believe that he is, at heart, genuinely a racist?
For approximately the millionth time, why do we fucking care if someone isn't genuinely a racist in their heart when they do or say racist things? (Or misogynist, or homophobic, or transphobic, or so on and so forth?) What good does that do? Who is helped by that? Whose hurt is lessened by the idea that this person is being a racist "ironically", or as a troll or contrarian?
His idea is that affirmative action discriminates against a racial group (white people) in order to right a past wrong, and thus fits the active definition of racism (different from the definition of belief in racial superiority/inferiority.)
Jaysus, really? That's what he's going with !!?? That trope is so old and tired I'm not sure even Bill O'Reilly can use it with a straight face anymore.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:10 AM on February 26, 2023 [27 favorites]
> So, no, I don't think he had Trump figured out particularly well or early
I guess we disagree there. He nailed Trump, while the rest of us downplayed the threat, and hoped that reason and light would prevail.
> For approximately the millionth time, why do we fucking care if someone isn't genuinely a racist in their heart when they do or say racist things?
Because we should be aware of whether we are hearing from a genuine white supremacist, or we are just being played. Both reasons are concerning, both are not constructive, but for different reasons.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:32 AM on February 26, 2023
I guess we disagree there. He nailed Trump, while the rest of us downplayed the threat, and hoped that reason and light would prevail.
> For approximately the millionth time, why do we fucking care if someone isn't genuinely a racist in their heart when they do or say racist things?
Because we should be aware of whether we are hearing from a genuine white supremacist, or we are just being played. Both reasons are concerning, both are not constructive, but for different reasons.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:32 AM on February 26, 2023
Spewing racist bs because you're "trolling" is like having "ironic" facial hair - your motivation can be whatever you want, but, at the end of the day, you still have that beard or whatever, my dude.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:37 AM on February 26, 2023 [29 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 8:37 AM on February 26, 2023 [29 favorites]
Also, he can't draw and his strip ain't funny.
posted by Paul Slade at 8:38 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 8:38 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
To torture the simile further, there's a difference between trolling like you have a beard, and actually having one. If you were convinced that he was just shit-disturbing, would there be much point in shouting "Racist!!", since that is exactly the reaction he wanted to provoke?
posted by Artful Codger at 8:48 AM on February 26, 2023
posted by Artful Codger at 8:48 AM on February 26, 2023
would there be much point in shouting "Racist!!", since that is exactly the reaction he wanted to provoke?
There is always a point to calling out racists and bullies, even if they want you to. And I'm astounded that you don't seem to think so. Collectively, as a society, "calling out", in public, is one of the ways we define what is and is not acceptable discourse and rhetoric and beliefs.
I mean, do you want a civilization? Because that's how you get a civilization.
And we're not talking about some kind of insider "People's Front of Judea" vs. "Judean People's Front" calling out that's "too far" - the dude openly called for segregation. This is not complex, and arguing how many angels might be able to dance on the head of the pin of Adams' entirely theoretical 'not racist" inner thoughts is sophistry.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:02 AM on February 26, 2023 [18 favorites]
There is always a point to calling out racists and bullies, even if they want you to. And I'm astounded that you don't seem to think so. Collectively, as a society, "calling out", in public, is one of the ways we define what is and is not acceptable discourse and rhetoric and beliefs.
I mean, do you want a civilization? Because that's how you get a civilization.
And we're not talking about some kind of insider "People's Front of Judea" vs. "Judean People's Front" calling out that's "too far" - the dude openly called for segregation. This is not complex, and arguing how many angels might be able to dance on the head of the pin of Adams' entirely theoretical 'not racist" inner thoughts is sophistry.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:02 AM on February 26, 2023 [18 favorites]
Are you trying to suggest that Adams is pretending to be racist and provoke enough outrage to get his strip canceled so he can say "gotcha!"? Wow, guess the joke's on us.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 9:04 AM on February 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 9:04 AM on February 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
> There is always a point to calling out racists and bullies, even if they want you to. And I'm astounded that you don't seem to think so.
That's incorrect.
> Are you trying to suggest that Adams is pretending to be racist and provoke enough outrage to get his strip canceled so he can say "gotcha!"?
No that's not what I'm trying to suggest.
It's a question of whether we are calling him out for actually being a racist at heart, or for being a deliberately inflammatory asshole for spouting racist BS. Which is more accurate?
posted by Artful Codger at 9:13 AM on February 26, 2023
That's incorrect.
> Are you trying to suggest that Adams is pretending to be racist and provoke enough outrage to get his strip canceled so he can say "gotcha!"?
No that's not what I'm trying to suggest.
It's a question of whether we are calling him out for actually being a racist at heart, or for being a deliberately inflammatory asshole for spouting racist BS. Which is more accurate?
posted by Artful Codger at 9:13 AM on February 26, 2023
It's a question of whether we are calling him out for actually being racist, or for being a deliberately inflammatory asshole for spouting racist BS. Which is more accurate?
Again, what's the difference and why do we care?
posted by soundguy99 at 9:15 AM on February 26, 2023 [30 favorites]
Again, what's the difference and why do we care?
posted by soundguy99 at 9:15 AM on February 26, 2023 [30 favorites]
> what's the difference and why do we care?
To know if we got it right, or that we're being played.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:17 AM on February 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
To know if we got it right, or that we're being played.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:17 AM on February 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
it is possible to be a troll AND a racist
posted by pyramid termite at 9:19 AM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 9:19 AM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
We got it right. Saying racist things is racist whether or not you believe it.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 9:22 AM on February 26, 2023 [35 favorites]
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 9:22 AM on February 26, 2023 [35 favorites]
It's impossible to say bigoted and hurtful things without being a bigoted person that hurts people. There is no level of irony that means they haven't hurt people by their words and or actions
posted by Jacen at 9:26 AM on February 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 9:26 AM on February 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
To know if we got it right, or that we're being played.
For the millionth time:
For the millionth time:
“Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”posted by soundguy99 at 9:28 AM on February 26, 2023 [42 favorites]
― Jean-Paul Sartre
> It's impossible to say bigoted and hurtful things without being a bigoted person that hurts people. There is no level of irony that means they haven't hurt people by their words and or actions
No disagreement about the racist content and the resulting hurt and anger. One can certainly say that their callous disregard for the impact of their inflammatory words amounts to the same level of harm.
I don't know enough about Adams to conclude whether or not he is actually racist in his personal dealings and relations; but everyone knows his penchant for being provocative contrary and inflammatory on some hot-button issues.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:41 AM on February 26, 2023
No disagreement about the racist content and the resulting hurt and anger. One can certainly say that their callous disregard for the impact of their inflammatory words amounts to the same level of harm.
I don't know enough about Adams to conclude whether or not he is actually racist in his personal dealings and relations; but everyone knows his penchant for being provocative contrary and inflammatory on some hot-button issues.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:41 AM on February 26, 2023
Didn't we see this ironic racist to current alt right pipeline happen in the early oughts that informs our current cultural landscape and how we choose to address it socially?
posted by Selena777 at 9:49 AM on February 26, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 9:49 AM on February 26, 2023 [13 favorites]
He thought Trump would win in a landslide (Trump lost the popular vote by quite a lot) for reasons so stupid they are indistinguishable from gibberish. He is not a prescient genius. He was barely even as accurate as the proverbial stopped clock. I was worried Trump might win in 2016 and that doesn't make me a prescient genius, either.
Also, I have little trouble believing that the noted right-wing misogynist asshole troll is an actual racist rather than an "ironic" racist, if such a thing genuinely exists.
posted by kyrademon at 9:54 AM on February 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
Also, I have little trouble believing that the noted right-wing misogynist asshole troll is an actual racist rather than an "ironic" racist, if such a thing genuinely exists.
posted by kyrademon at 9:54 AM on February 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
(Adams also (archive.org) called Mark Cuban a 'realistic possibility' for vice president, and said 'there is no way Trump picks some desiccated governor from an important state.'
To be fair, Indiana is not an important state.)
posted by box at 10:06 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
To be fair, Indiana is not an important state.)
posted by box at 10:06 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's a question of whether we are calling him out for actually being a racist at heart, or for being a deliberately inflammatory asshole for spouting racist BS.
Neither. This is a response to his behavior, not his identity. I don't care if he is a racist. I don't know what's in his heart. I don't care what's in his heart. I'm calling him out for saying egregiously racist stuff out in public, where the rest of us can hear it. I don't care why he's doing it or if he believes what he's saying or if it's a marketing ploy or trolling or if it's just what came up on a wurlitzer of bullshit that he uses to schedule what he spews about next. If he wants to say it - for whatever reason - he gets to say it, and the rest of us get to react to it as we wish.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:09 AM on February 26, 2023 [24 favorites]
Neither. This is a response to his behavior, not his identity. I don't care if he is a racist. I don't know what's in his heart. I don't care what's in his heart. I'm calling him out for saying egregiously racist stuff out in public, where the rest of us can hear it. I don't care why he's doing it or if he believes what he's saying or if it's a marketing ploy or trolling or if it's just what came up on a wurlitzer of bullshit that he uses to schedule what he spews about next. If he wants to say it - for whatever reason - he gets to say it, and the rest of us get to react to it as we wish.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:09 AM on February 26, 2023 [24 favorites]
Mod note: Artful Codger, drop it. If he's just "playing us" by pretending to be a racist, well, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The prize is, he's a racist, whether he's trolling or not. Ironic racism is racism. Trolling with racist shit is racism. It doesn't really matter what his motivation is.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 10:17 AM on February 26, 2023 [53 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 10:17 AM on February 26, 2023 [53 favorites]
There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is Scott being talked about.
posted by flabdablet at 10:18 AM on February 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:18 AM on February 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
it's some next-level trolling that gets people on the same side of an issue to bicker with one another about how best to engage with the troll
posted by logicpunk at 10:20 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by logicpunk at 10:20 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
> Didn't we see this ironic racist to current alt right pipeline happen in the early oughts that informs our current cultural landscape and how we choose to address it socially?
This is insightful. We all must ask ourselves how discourse has become so acrimonious, the alt-right gained so much traction, and so little progress on race relations and other serious social concerns has been made, recently. My main point is: should we respond to provocations with "I see you! I know what you're doing!", or with lobbing an overused label? Both, maybe?
I know what forum I'm on, and the prevailing sentiment. I am now dropping it. Thanks btw, I learn by questioning.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:29 AM on February 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
This is insightful. We all must ask ourselves how discourse has become so acrimonious, the alt-right gained so much traction, and so little progress on race relations and other serious social concerns has been made, recently. My main point is: should we respond to provocations with "I see you! I know what you're doing!", or with lobbing an overused label? Both, maybe?
I know what forum I'm on, and the prevailing sentiment. I am now dropping it. Thanks btw, I learn by questioning.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:29 AM on February 26, 2023 [5 favorites]
I am proud to say that the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram is dropping Dilbert.
(Full disclosure: I work there, but I was not involved in this decision.)
posted by virago at 10:35 AM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
(Full disclosure: I work there, but I was not involved in this decision.)
posted by virago at 10:35 AM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
We all must ask ourselves how discourse has become so acrimonious
I AM TRYING TO EAT BREAKFAST
posted by flabdablet at 10:37 AM on February 26, 2023 [19 favorites]
I AM TRYING TO EAT BREAKFAST
posted by flabdablet at 10:37 AM on February 26, 2023 [19 favorites]
Obviously it's because of both sides being extremists. /s
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 10:40 AM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 10:40 AM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
Metafilter: I know what forum I'm on.
posted by zaixfeep at 11:20 AM on February 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by zaixfeep at 11:20 AM on February 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
Evergreen post from Jay Smooth - How To Tell Someone They Sound Racist. Got to hold them accountable for what they said.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:43 AM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:43 AM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
We all must ask ourselves how discourse has become so acrimonious, the alt-right gained so much traction, and so little progress on race relations and other serious social concerns has been made, recently.
The answer is pretty simple - we don't take bigotry seriously. Too many times we wind up being more concerned about the bigot than the people they hurt.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:34 PM on February 26, 2023 [22 favorites]
The answer is pretty simple - we don't take bigotry seriously. Too many times we wind up being more concerned about the bigot than the people they hurt.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:34 PM on February 26, 2023 [22 favorites]
Yesterday, I had been composing a letter to my local paper(high fives virago) asking them to drop the strip. They did it today before I got my letter sent, so I thanked them. He's horrible, and newspapers are responding (finally).
posted by theora55 at 12:52 PM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 12:52 PM on February 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
His wikipedia bio includes some pretty sweet trolling:
Adams graduated as the valedictorian from Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School in 1975 in a class of 39.posted by Caxton1476 at 1:24 PM on February 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
I knew I didn't like this guy when his blogs started appearing between the strips. So I stopped reading them, even though I liked some of them.
Humans are complicated: What if the most revolting mass-murderer patented some miracle cure?
I'd rather not give those my money, but I may need to.
Can I keep someone's personality and their creations apart? Not if money is involved I fear.
posted by flamewise at 1:47 PM on February 26, 2023
Humans are complicated: What if the most revolting mass-murderer patented some miracle cure?
I'd rather not give those my money, but I may need to.
Can I keep someone's personality and their creations apart? Not if money is involved I fear.
posted by flamewise at 1:47 PM on February 26, 2023
I am not sure how to assign responsibility for bad behavior to a person with a mental illness which might predispose them to that kind of behavior, either generally or in this case, but I think it’s something to keep in mind when we're talking about Scott Adams
I completely believe that the above statement was written in good faith. I once tried to excuse the behavior of a terrible, older white person in a post on Reddit, wondering if it was mental illness and was immediately put on Reddit trial and thrown into virtual jail. I can't remember what the name of that forum was, but they made me think hard about what I had written.
related: Stop Using Mental Illness to Excuse White Supremacy
I emailed Scott Adams an idea for a cartoon where the employees are forced to use shock collars, and he thanked me and used it.
Despite that, I am said that he has either become or has been revealed as a terrible person and unfettered crank.
posted by mecran01 at 1:51 PM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
I completely believe that the above statement was written in good faith. I once tried to excuse the behavior of a terrible, older white person in a post on Reddit, wondering if it was mental illness and was immediately put on Reddit trial and thrown into virtual jail. I can't remember what the name of that forum was, but they made me think hard about what I had written.
related: Stop Using Mental Illness to Excuse White Supremacy
I emailed Scott Adams an idea for a cartoon where the employees are forced to use shock collars, and he thanked me and used it.
Despite that, I am said that he has either become or has been revealed as a terrible person and unfettered crank.
posted by mecran01 at 1:51 PM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
I can't remember now the last time I saw a Dilbert strip pinned in an engineer's cubicle
Me, either but I can remember the last time I saw a Dilbert comic on display. It was at the racist-and-proud-of-it junkyard and auto supply place in Grand Junction, Colorado, we went to in 2017 or so. There was a bunch of racist shit (Confederate flags, anyone?) on display, including a Dilbert comic that I realized was racist because of the context. I wish I could remember it exactly but there was a character meant to be Black (because of the shading) and he was depicted as a new, stupid employee. While Adams had not said anything directly in the comic, the gleeful racists at that place totally got the message and had made a point of pinning it at eye level on the board in the customer area.
Many years ago, I was paid by a mainstream publication to follow Adams around for several hours as he gave a speech, did various other non-exciting things, and let me interview him as a reporter for a story written by someone else. This was for a major feature article, and he told me all about the affirmation thing. I was not convinced that writing down affirmations several times per day and sticking them in a glass jar would change someone's life but he was convinced it changed his and that was why he had become (at that time) the most popular comic artist in the US.
One of the things I remember about meeting Adams is that he obviously thought he was the smartest person in the room, regardless what room that was. To be fair, that description fits just about every white male tech bro I ever met. Steve Jobs could get away with that; Adams, not so much. I would favourite cortex's comment 100 times if I could. That dude needed to sit down and shut up decades ago. There is no situation involving public attention that he will not make worse if given the opportunity.
I have not investigated the survey in any way. As soon as I heard the question, I wondered who had decided to pay for a racist, troll survey. It is both of those things, which makes my head hurt (not unlike Adams himself).
Sometimes I do hurtful shit to other people because of my ADHD and anxiety. That does not make it okay, and I have worked hard for literally years to become a more thoughtful and kinder human being despite my misfiring brain. If I can do it, so can Adams. That he has chosen to go a different route is entirely his own responsibility.
TL;DR: He is a smarmy little racist fuck who wanted attention and now he has plenty.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:31 PM on February 26, 2023 [37 favorites]
Me, either but I can remember the last time I saw a Dilbert comic on display. It was at the racist-and-proud-of-it junkyard and auto supply place in Grand Junction, Colorado, we went to in 2017 or so. There was a bunch of racist shit (Confederate flags, anyone?) on display, including a Dilbert comic that I realized was racist because of the context. I wish I could remember it exactly but there was a character meant to be Black (because of the shading) and he was depicted as a new, stupid employee. While Adams had not said anything directly in the comic, the gleeful racists at that place totally got the message and had made a point of pinning it at eye level on the board in the customer area.
Many years ago, I was paid by a mainstream publication to follow Adams around for several hours as he gave a speech, did various other non-exciting things, and let me interview him as a reporter for a story written by someone else. This was for a major feature article, and he told me all about the affirmation thing. I was not convinced that writing down affirmations several times per day and sticking them in a glass jar would change someone's life but he was convinced it changed his and that was why he had become (at that time) the most popular comic artist in the US.
One of the things I remember about meeting Adams is that he obviously thought he was the smartest person in the room, regardless what room that was. To be fair, that description fits just about every white male tech bro I ever met. Steve Jobs could get away with that; Adams, not so much. I would favourite cortex's comment 100 times if I could. That dude needed to sit down and shut up decades ago. There is no situation involving public attention that he will not make worse if given the opportunity.
I have not investigated the survey in any way. As soon as I heard the question, I wondered who had decided to pay for a racist, troll survey. It is both of those things, which makes my head hurt (not unlike Adams himself).
Sometimes I do hurtful shit to other people because of my ADHD and anxiety. That does not make it okay, and I have worked hard for literally years to become a more thoughtful and kinder human being despite my misfiring brain. If I can do it, so can Adams. That he has chosen to go a different route is entirely his own responsibility.
TL;DR: He is a smarmy little racist fuck who wanted attention and now he has plenty.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:31 PM on February 26, 2023 [37 favorites]
Dammit, missed the edit window. By we, above, I mean me and my old, sick, racist, and now-dead dad. That was the same trip where an Uber driver in Salt Lake City complained to me about immigrants and a driver in Grand Junction yelled at me to get out of his neighborhood because he thought he was yelling at a lesbian (an idea, sadly, that no lesbians I want to jump seem to share). Good times. I don't miss 'em.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:45 PM on February 26, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 2:45 PM on February 26, 2023 [9 favorites]
Wait, no one said (I searched) "master debater" yet?
posted by atomicstone at 3:32 PM on February 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by atomicstone at 3:32 PM on February 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm not around here much any more (okay, not at all) but one of the greatest experiences of my online life was watching the plannedchaos saga play out in real time. I came by to see if MeFi was appropriately reacting to the self-immolation of the guy and am pleased to find it is indeed.
Carry on.
posted by yhbc at 3:34 PM on February 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
Carry on.
posted by yhbc at 3:34 PM on February 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
There was some Washington Post article about Don Lemon that's reminding me of this.
Reading this Substack link from the accidental duplicate-now-deleted thread:
A few days before Lemon’s mess, I’d been invited on a CNN panel to talk about Madonna’s cosmetically enhanced face, where I watched a team of male journalists trip over themselves to defend Madonna’s right to look as shellacked as she damn well pleased. Did these men believe what they were saying? I don’t know, but they were no dummies. They understood that in the Year of Our Lord 2023, the only appropriate commentary on an aging woman’s appearance is to comment that it’s none of their business.Scott Adams somehow thought this was totally okay to say openly in public in 2023 without it causing issues. Didn't even think twice about it.
The noteworthy thing isn’t that Lemon believed that women, like steaks, have sell-by dates. The noteworthy thing is that he believed his opinions were so universal as to be unremarkable. Something he could say on air. He did not anticipate blowback.
Reading this Substack link from the accidental duplicate-now-deleted thread:
It’s such a weird thing to think about: the idea that we have destroyed Scott Adams’ reputation, simply by observing that he has said the things he said. That you should be able to hold onto your income stream after advocating a racially separatist state, as if being a racist fuckwit puts you in a protected class.posted by jenfullmoon at 4:40 PM on February 26, 2023 [21 favorites]
WaPo: and of course Elon Musk has entered the chat, supporting another racist.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:56 PM on February 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:56 PM on February 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
We're not cancelling Adams to punish him. We don't care about his motives. We just decline to publish racist crap.
There's plenty of great cartoonists who have said zero racist things. We don't need to waste our time and attention figuring out the exact nature of this racist statement. Move on and give some other cartoonist a shot.
posted by straight at 7:22 PM on February 26, 2023 [9 favorites]
There's plenty of great cartoonists who have said zero racist things. We don't need to waste our time and attention figuring out the exact nature of this racist statement. Move on and give some other cartoonist a shot.
posted by straight at 7:22 PM on February 26, 2023 [9 favorites]
That you should be able to hold onto your income stream after advocating a racially separatist state, as if being a racist fuckwit puts you in a protected class.
It DID, though. For at least 10 years. I don't know if he crossed that particular racist line before, but he certainly crossed a misogynist one and an anti-semitic one a long time ago.
As far as I'm concerned the headline here should have read:
SHOCKING NEWS: MAINSTREAM NEWS OUTLETS WERE STILL PROMOTING AND FUNDING SCOTT ADAMS IN 2023
posted by mmoncur at 8:52 PM on February 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
It DID, though. For at least 10 years. I don't know if he crossed that particular racist line before, but he certainly crossed a misogynist one and an anti-semitic one a long time ago.
As far as I'm concerned the headline here should have read:
SHOCKING NEWS: MAINSTREAM NEWS OUTLETS WERE STILL PROMOTING AND FUNDING SCOTT ADAMS IN 2023
posted by mmoncur at 8:52 PM on February 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
The last, biggest shoe has dropped. Until he finds another rep or syndicate, Dilbert's gone everywhere.
In other news, Dogbert is now immediately available for weddings, birthdays, white power rallies, etc.
Congrats to Scott Adams on a textbook-perfect self-immolation. Did not even touch the sides.
posted by zaixfeep at 9:05 PM on February 26, 2023 [27 favorites]
In other news, Dogbert is now immediately available for weddings, birthdays, white power rallies, etc.
Congrats to Scott Adams on a textbook-perfect self-immolation. Did not even touch the sides.
posted by zaixfeep at 9:05 PM on February 26, 2023 [27 favorites]
Reading this Substack link
is a thing that if you haven't already done I strongly recommend that you immediately go and do.
What a beautiful exercise in controlled, lucid fury.
posted by flabdablet at 9:07 PM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
is a thing that if you haven't already done I strongly recommend that you immediately go and do.
What a beautiful exercise in controlled, lucid fury.
posted by flabdablet at 9:07 PM on February 26, 2023 [8 favorites]
Yeah, that Substack essay is just absolute fire.
It’s worth noting that Scott Adams the creator of Dilbert is not a climate scientist, or an expert in the fields of racial or gender studies—which are areas of studies the teaching of which are being criminalized as felonies in the state of Florida—and he isn’t a medical professional dedicated to the latest developments in transgender treatment, or an epidemiologist, all of which are areas of study so rich and deep and complex that very smart people devote their entire lives to understanding them so they can finally butt up against the edges of human knowledge in those fields in hope of advancing them. Nevertheless, they have all committed the regrettable sin of not being convincing enough to Scott Adams the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, who cannot draw hands as far as I can tell.posted by Superilla at 10:27 PM on February 26, 2023 [25 favorites]
That Moxon Substack article was great from the start:
> Scott Adams... a man who I discovered will block you on Twitter if you tell him that you expected better from the creator of Garfield.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:08 AM on February 27, 2023 [15 favorites]
> Scott Adams... a man who I discovered will block you on Twitter if you tell him that you expected better from the creator of Garfield.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:08 AM on February 27, 2023 [15 favorites]
Congrats to Scott Adams on a textbook-perfect self-immolation. Did not even touch the sides.
Speedrunning minesweeper by stepping on the mine right away.
posted by srboisvert at 2:34 AM on February 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
Speedrunning minesweeper by stepping on the mine right away.
posted by srboisvert at 2:34 AM on February 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
I am noticing a couple of things about Adams blowing himself up. Here's one thing, from a tweet by Lindy Li, a person about whom I know nothing:
What he said he said: 1. Treat everyone as an individual (no discrimination) 2. Avoid any group that doesn't respect you
What he really said: “My best advice to white ppl is get the hell away from black ppl. It doesn’t make sense as a white citizen to try to help black citizens”
Adams does consider himself a master of persuasion, so he is tweeting lots of stuff in an attempt to reframe what happened to convince people he did not deliver a racist rant (but he did).
Here's the other: Adams put up a poll on Twitter with this question: True or false: The media created a surge in racial division and then canceled me for pointing out the obvious impact of their evil work. Maybe it did the first part (welcome to systematic white supremacy!), but no, you piece of shit, you did not point out "the obvious impact of their evil work."
From the awesome essay by A.R. Moxon that is linked above:
There’s a saying that is very popular among white supremacists and neo Nazis and other far right bigots, and that saying is this: “It’s OK to be white.” It’s a catchphrase of theirs, which tries to position people deemed “white” as an oppressed minority, which they are not, instead of an artificially created privileged class, which is what they are.
And there’s a right-wing polling company called Rasmussen, who decided, for some reason they’d probably like us all to pretend is unknowable, to ask people whether or not they agree with the statement “it’s OK to be white”—which is, again, a well-known catchphrase among white supremacists.
The Adams poll is a reminder that mainstream US media sucks at context and, also, rarely calls out public figures for racist statements. Outlets have been doing it more frequently in the past few years. A racist tweet by Trump in 2019 resulted in AP changing its stylebook to include this: “Do not use racially charged or similar terms as euphemisms for racist or racism when the latter terms are truly applicable.” As Mother Jones noted last year, It’s Past Time for Media to Stop Laundering Trump’s Racist Insults. It appears that the (absolutely racist because structural racism plus yadda yadda) mainstream media is improving.
Both the Washington Post and USA Today recently called out Trump's racist attacks on Elaine Chao (who is a piece of work for sure, but not because of her race). The fact that so many US headlines are correctly labelling the commentary from Scott Adams as racist is a bit of balm to my soul as a former journalist.
Note: Avoid the Adams supporters on Twitter unless you have time for a shower afterward.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:24 AM on February 27, 2023 [12 favorites]
What he said he said: 1. Treat everyone as an individual (no discrimination) 2. Avoid any group that doesn't respect you
What he really said: “My best advice to white ppl is get the hell away from black ppl. It doesn’t make sense as a white citizen to try to help black citizens”
Adams does consider himself a master of persuasion, so he is tweeting lots of stuff in an attempt to reframe what happened to convince people he did not deliver a racist rant (but he did).
Here's the other: Adams put up a poll on Twitter with this question: True or false: The media created a surge in racial division and then canceled me for pointing out the obvious impact of their evil work. Maybe it did the first part (welcome to systematic white supremacy!), but no, you piece of shit, you did not point out "the obvious impact of their evil work."
From the awesome essay by A.R. Moxon that is linked above:
There’s a saying that is very popular among white supremacists and neo Nazis and other far right bigots, and that saying is this: “It’s OK to be white.” It’s a catchphrase of theirs, which tries to position people deemed “white” as an oppressed minority, which they are not, instead of an artificially created privileged class, which is what they are.
And there’s a right-wing polling company called Rasmussen, who decided, for some reason they’d probably like us all to pretend is unknowable, to ask people whether or not they agree with the statement “it’s OK to be white”—which is, again, a well-known catchphrase among white supremacists.
The Adams poll is a reminder that mainstream US media sucks at context and, also, rarely calls out public figures for racist statements. Outlets have been doing it more frequently in the past few years. A racist tweet by Trump in 2019 resulted in AP changing its stylebook to include this: “Do not use racially charged or similar terms as euphemisms for racist or racism when the latter terms are truly applicable.” As Mother Jones noted last year, It’s Past Time for Media to Stop Laundering Trump’s Racist Insults. It appears that the (absolutely racist because structural racism plus yadda yadda) mainstream media is improving.
Both the Washington Post and USA Today recently called out Trump's racist attacks on Elaine Chao (who is a piece of work for sure, but not because of her race). The fact that so many US headlines are correctly labelling the commentary from Scott Adams as racist is a bit of balm to my soul as a former journalist.
Note: Avoid the Adams supporters on Twitter unless you have time for a shower afterward.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:24 AM on February 27, 2023 [12 favorites]
“you expected better from the creator of Garfield”
Out of curiosity I looked Jim Davis up on Wikipedia and not only doesn’t it have a “controversies” subsection, but the whole article is shorter than a thousand words.
A true king.
posted by Kattullus at 4:36 AM on February 27, 2023 [13 favorites]
Out of curiosity I looked Jim Davis up on Wikipedia and not only doesn’t it have a “controversies” subsection, but the whole article is shorter than a thousand words.
A true king.
posted by Kattullus at 4:36 AM on February 27, 2023 [13 favorites]
"Expected better from the creator of Garfield" is grandmaster-level trolling.
posted by flabdablet at 4:41 AM on February 27, 2023 [17 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 4:41 AM on February 27, 2023 [17 favorites]
I'm going to remember this argument from the substack whenever I hear someone insist that the answer to bad speech is more speech:
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:15 AM on February 27, 2023 [24 favorites]
We could talk about how so many people who insist that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” for bigotry—by which they mean that bigotry should be allowed to expose itself, and thus be shunned by a public that won’t tolerate bigotry—also seems to insist that every instance of a bigot getting publicly shunned after exposing their bigotry represents a very dangerous trend for free speech, while simultaneously never seeming to object to any of the actual attacks on freedom—of speech, of movement, of bodily autonomy—that are happening across the country.I don't think I've seen such a succinct way of putting it. We can't simultaneously believe that a macroscopic marketplace of ideas will somehow protect us from hateful speech while insisting that every attempt to criticize or hold an individual accountable for their particular hate speech is going too far. How do people think the "marketplace of ideas" is supposed to function? How do they think corrective action will materialize if we're all supposed to let racists be racist?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:15 AM on February 27, 2023 [24 favorites]
I do not believe these folks want corrective action to materialize. I’m pretty much over giving any public figure to the right of Jimmy Carter (pundits, politicians, consultants, newsletter writers, etc.) any slack on this issue. It is impossible to assume good intentions on the part of people so demonstrably determined to keep money and power rolling in, or increasing money and power, or, at the very least, kicking as many non-white people to the curb as possible and/or supporting all the terrible, horrifying shit that the American system does on the regular primarily to non-white people as well as women, trans people, other queer people, disabled folks, and the mentally ill.
Scott Adams is probably feeling victimized. Poor guy was publicly racist and lost a big chunk of income. His Twitter supporters are braying that Adams’ only crime was saying out loud what everybody (that is to say, other white racists) already knew was true. Meanwhile, a Colorado sheriff recently gave a medal to a deputy “after he killed man who mistakenly got in wrong car.” But that’s not actually true. The sheriff gave a medal to this deputy because he killed an unarmed and innocent Black man. Nobody says that part out loud but it’s perfectly obvious if you read the article.
The people who are not fighting for justice, the people who are worried about respectability politics, the people who are more worried about purported principles than actual humans, those folks aren’t worth taking seriously because they don’t mean a single lying word that comes out of their mouths.The folks I do believe are the rabid GOP Congresspeople, Adams, and similar “truth tellers” who don’t bother to lie anymore about their fascist plans. Like the governor of Florida. Sorry to be such a downer. When I read the story about the sheriff I just wanted to airlift everybody I love out of the United States. Meanwhile, the fascist bastards are getting more fans in Sweden. At least Adams lost most of his work. That’s something to celebrate, anyway.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:33 AM on February 27, 2023 [18 favorites]
Scott Adams is probably feeling victimized. Poor guy was publicly racist and lost a big chunk of income. His Twitter supporters are braying that Adams’ only crime was saying out loud what everybody (that is to say, other white racists) already knew was true. Meanwhile, a Colorado sheriff recently gave a medal to a deputy “after he killed man who mistakenly got in wrong car.” But that’s not actually true. The sheriff gave a medal to this deputy because he killed an unarmed and innocent Black man. Nobody says that part out loud but it’s perfectly obvious if you read the article.
The people who are not fighting for justice, the people who are worried about respectability politics, the people who are more worried about purported principles than actual humans, those folks aren’t worth taking seriously because they don’t mean a single lying word that comes out of their mouths.The folks I do believe are the rabid GOP Congresspeople, Adams, and similar “truth tellers” who don’t bother to lie anymore about their fascist plans. Like the governor of Florida. Sorry to be such a downer. When I read the story about the sheriff I just wanted to airlift everybody I love out of the United States. Meanwhile, the fascist bastards are getting more fans in Sweden. At least Adams lost most of his work. That’s something to celebrate, anyway.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:33 AM on February 27, 2023 [18 favorites]
It took 33 years for Adams to put a black character in Dilbert; I'll let the results speak for themselves.
Wait, that shit only happened LAST YEAR?! It feels like it was much longer ago than that, but those handful of strips are just as bad as I remember.
Good riddance to bad rubbish, etc.
posted by asnider at 8:49 AM on February 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wait, that shit only happened LAST YEAR?! It feels like it was much longer ago than that, but those handful of strips are just as bad as I remember.
Good riddance to bad rubbish, etc.
posted by asnider at 8:49 AM on February 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
I feel the downside of this is that while we're going to see a lot less of Dilbert, we're now going to hear a lot more of Scott Adams.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:34 AM on February 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:34 AM on February 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
He's been trying to launch himself as an all around pundit for decades, though. It just isn't natural for the general public to be like "You, cartoonist, I want to hear your opinions on philosophy, politics, economics, gender relations and the state of the world in general. Surely you have charisma, a way with words and an engaging screen presence."
posted by Selena777 at 10:00 AM on February 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 10:00 AM on February 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
I saw Adams at a student journalism conference in... 1992, I think. He was in 100 or so papers at that point and was not quite making a living at it. The thing I remember 30 years later was that he talked about visualizing his success. Every day, he would write out how he was going to be a successful cartoonist. He would tell himself in the mirror about the success he was going to have.
So it makes a lot of sense to me that he can talk himself into being the hero of whatever story he happens to find himself in. He's been training himself to be the Main Character for his entire life.
posted by Etrigan at 11:08 AM on February 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
So it makes a lot of sense to me that he can talk himself into being the hero of whatever story he happens to find himself in. He's been training himself to be the Main Character for his entire life.
posted by Etrigan at 11:08 AM on February 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Regarding Adams' inflated self-regard, does anyone else remember an episode (possibly on Twitter? maybe during the Trump admin?) where he claimed that he could become an expert in any topic in just a matter of a few hours of study? I'm having difficulty confirming that this actually happened and wasn't just a dream I had or maybe it was some other weirdo who said that.
posted by mhum at 11:24 AM on February 27, 2023
posted by mhum at 11:24 AM on February 27, 2023
I've been improvising for 30 years and I bet if I was given 90 minutes to bone up on a topic, I could learn enough surface level stuff to bullshit my way through a presentation to people who had not done that 90 minutes of research. Many of them might even mistake me for somebody who understood what they were talking about. But, as a wiser person than me wrote, scratch that surface and you'd just find more surface. Treating bullshit like wisdom is what gets you the Springfield monorail.
Anyhow, in the temple of the ignorant, the most confident moron is God. That's Adams.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:08 PM on February 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
Anyhow, in the temple of the ignorant, the most confident moron is God. That's Adams.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:08 PM on February 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
> box:"Maybe you're thinking of this tweet?"
Lol, that's the one, thanks for confirming. It wasn't even hours, it was "under an hour" but he did also caveat it by restricting to "political topics" and that he could do it "under the tutelage of top experts". Also, given the context this was as much of a statement about Trump than himself (and perhaps a statement about how easy political topics are to grasp?).
In any case, I wonder if Adams wishes now that he'd gotten tutelage from top experts in how to be racist in public. It wouldn't have taken more than an hour, from what I understand.
posted by mhum at 12:15 PM on February 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
Lol, that's the one, thanks for confirming. It wasn't even hours, it was "under an hour" but he did also caveat it by restricting to "political topics" and that he could do it "under the tutelage of top experts". Also, given the context this was as much of a statement about Trump than himself (and perhaps a statement about how easy political topics are to grasp?).
In any case, I wonder if Adams wishes now that he'd gotten tutelage from top experts in how to be racist in public. It wouldn't have taken more than an hour, from what I understand.
posted by mhum at 12:15 PM on February 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
I have to admit I struggle to understand how someone who is so perceptive at capturing the feeling of being a small cog in a big machine could be so utterly clueless when it comes to other systems. Because his recent statements aren't just racist assholery, he's also wrong on the facts. It's honestly a little scary because I feel like he was hilarious and beloved by almost everyone, at least until he wrote his first nonfiction book. I don't want to give him more credit than is due, but he truly captured the unmistakeable feeling of being responsible for your tiny slice of a huge organization that, by definition, has no idea what you do nor cares in any way what happens to you as long as the organization's needs are met. Is it crazy to think someone with that perspective would be more sympathetic to historically marginalized groups? In retrospect you can say, yeah, the fundamental conceit was that everyone around the main character was clueless, heartless, lazy, or all three, but I just didn't read it that way at the time. We even went to the restaurant, for crying out loud! I will admit I had stopped reading Dilbert a very long time ago, at least 15 years. Certainly the attention he was getting recently was increasingly negative.
posted by wnissen at 4:24 PM on February 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by wnissen at 4:24 PM on February 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
I don't want to give him more credit than is due, but he truly captured the unmistakeable feeling of being responsible for your tiny slice of a huge organization that, by definition, has no idea what you do nor cares in any way what happens to you as long as the organization's needs are met.
What you missed was that the "you" in that sentence was always only ever cis het white men. The treatment of women in Dilbert was always bad. And nobody else even existed except the stereotypical South Asian intern. There were more characters who were animals than there were humans who were not cis het white men.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:12 PM on February 27, 2023 [11 favorites]
What you missed was that the "you" in that sentence was always only ever cis het white men. The treatment of women in Dilbert was always bad. And nobody else even existed except the stereotypical South Asian intern. There were more characters who were animals than there were humans who were not cis het white men.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:12 PM on February 27, 2023 [11 favorites]
SD is progressive and is known to have a number of psychiatric comorbidities.
[...]
I am not sure how to assign responsibility for bad behavior to a person with a mental illness
is this a joke. laryngeal spasm caused by a neurological condition is not a mental health condition as such. none of the common - not universal and not armchair diagnosable - psychiatric comorbidities in fact constitute or create a predisposition to racism. the list of psychiatric disorders in the linked and, apparently, unread paper does not include paranoia, delusions, or anything else that might in any way be theoretically argued to diminish competence or contribute to the prevalence of racism among men with shaky voices, which prevalence is not known to exist.
his mind is trash whatever the condition of his brain and larynx, and this isn't relevant.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me, has spasmodic dysphonia. Interesting. I've always wondered if it's because she knows she's lying.
this comment is pretty well as despicable as susan collins.
posted by queenofbithynia at 6:29 PM on February 27, 2023 [12 favorites]
You know, I think maybe some attention should be paid to that Rasmussen poll which Adams used as his jumping off point for this racist rant.
In that video Rasmussen's head pollster, Mark Mitchell, states (emphasis mine) that their polls show that
Rasmussen seems to have been trying to intentionally launder the phrase "It's ok to be white." in an attempt to discredit anti-racist efforts.
posted by Reverend John at 9:05 PM on February 27, 2023 [20 favorites]
In that video Rasmussen's head pollster, Mark Mitchell, states (emphasis mine) that their polls show that
"American public opinion does not match what you're being told in the news, at schools or colleges, by corporations, and by your public officials."He later goes on to mention that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the phrase hate speech, but doesn't talk at all about why or whether any such context was provided as part of the poll. Unfortunately I can't find any non paywalled info about this poll outside of this video.
...
"Here's another example, one that would literally melt the brain of a mainstream journalist if they tried to put these numbers to ink. Why? because it conclusively undermines the current racial orthodoxy. ... But all we did was ask very simple questions that should be uncontroversial and we are reporting on what Americans told us, nothing more."
...
"White adults are much more likely to say 'Its ok to be white', which I think is very telling considering how much effort has been put into convincing white Americans that it isn't ok."
...
So let me leave you with a question if you haven't asked it of yourself already: All Americans, and most notably Democrats and even Black Americans overwhelmingly and completely agree with a statement that has been declared racist hate speech. And an even bigger majority ... agree with a statement that is seemingly at complete odds with the Critical Race Theory pedagogy. So why is this stuff being pushed?"
Rasmussen seems to have been trying to intentionally launder the phrase "It's ok to be white." in an attempt to discredit anti-racist efforts.
posted by Reverend John at 9:05 PM on February 27, 2023 [20 favorites]
That video also highlights a couple of other Rasmussen polls with an analysis of the results that seems to be trying to sell some anti-vax ideas as well.
posted by Reverend John at 9:09 PM on February 27, 2023
posted by Reverend John at 9:09 PM on February 27, 2023
Bad faith polling from Rasmussen? Surely not.
posted by flabdablet at 9:09 PM on February 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 9:09 PM on February 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
Randy Milholland has some thoughts.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:18 PM on February 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:18 PM on February 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Rasmussen, yikes:
Rasmussen Reports @Rasmussen_Poll Feb 24posted by Reverend John at 9:41 PM on February 27, 2023
Update: Astroturf has finally discovered our 'Ok to be White?' poll, inspired by the @ADL literally defining the wording of the question as "hate speech."
For those so disposed, here is the link to their site where you can report us for asking it - 🤡adl.org/report-incident
WaPo links:
Dropping the creator of ‘Dilbert’ is free speech at work
Comics industry reacts to ‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams’s racist rant
Some other cartoonists, such as Luke McGarry and Clay Jones, depicted Adams’s titular office-drone character as bigoted — including McGarry’s depiction of him in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood and Jones’s rendering of him eating a meal with former president Donald Trump, the rapper Ye, and white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes.
“A parody of a ‘Dilbert’ cartoon seemed the most appropriate vehicle with which to lampoon his latest pronouncements,” McGarry said of Adams via email. “Besides; somebody had to make a joke out of it, because Scott certainly isn’t funny anymore.”
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:56 PM on February 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
Dropping the creator of ‘Dilbert’ is free speech at work
Comics industry reacts to ‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams’s racist rant
Some other cartoonists, such as Luke McGarry and Clay Jones, depicted Adams’s titular office-drone character as bigoted — including McGarry’s depiction of him in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood and Jones’s rendering of him eating a meal with former president Donald Trump, the rapper Ye, and white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes.
“A parody of a ‘Dilbert’ cartoon seemed the most appropriate vehicle with which to lampoon his latest pronouncements,” McGarry said of Adams via email. “Besides; somebody had to make a joke out of it, because Scott certainly isn’t funny anymore.”
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:56 PM on February 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
From last August's What the Hell is Up with Dilbert?
Adams set up a poll on Twitter, apparently around that time:
"I'm planning my retirement from cartooning (eventually) and need advice.
Should I retire the normal way, or should I be disturbingly honest until I get cancelled?"
Poster 'waterluvian' on HackerNews, nearly an hour ago: I had some run-ins with Scott Adams on Twitter over the Trump years. The thing that caught my attention was how he was so insecure and petty that he would argue with complete “nobodies” like myself for extended periods of time if you tried to be reasonably persuasive. I think some people badly crave validation of their positions.
My earlier description was grossly insufficient. He seems not only a cynical nihlist edgelord troll, but also unbelievably petty and thin-skinned, with intellectual hubris of the first order and a white-grievance racist cherry on top.
Well Scott, do please enjoy your in-duh-vidual retirement account.
posted by zaixfeep at 10:41 PM on February 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
Adams set up a poll on Twitter, apparently around that time:
"I'm planning my retirement from cartooning (eventually) and need advice.
Should I retire the normal way, or should I be disturbingly honest until I get cancelled?"
Poster 'waterluvian' on HackerNews, nearly an hour ago: I had some run-ins with Scott Adams on Twitter over the Trump years. The thing that caught my attention was how he was so insecure and petty that he would argue with complete “nobodies” like myself for extended periods of time if you tried to be reasonably persuasive. I think some people badly crave validation of their positions.
My earlier description was grossly insufficient. He seems not only a cynical nihlist edgelord troll, but also unbelievably petty and thin-skinned, with intellectual hubris of the first order and a white-grievance racist cherry on top.
Well Scott, do please enjoy your in-duh-vidual retirement account.
posted by zaixfeep at 10:41 PM on February 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
not only a cynical nihlist edgelord troll, but also unbelievably petty and thin-skinned
To be fair, cynical nihilist edgelord trolls who are not also unbelievably petty and thin-skinned are rare beasts indeed.
posted by flabdablet at 11:45 PM on February 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
To be fair, cynical nihilist edgelord trolls who are not also unbelievably petty and thin-skinned are rare beasts indeed.
posted by flabdablet at 11:45 PM on February 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
Flabdablet, I'll have you know I'm both magnanimous and a good sport. And some say I'm endearing -- and modest, to boot!
Signed, Zaixfeep the cynical nihlist edgelord troll unicorn
posted by zaixfeep at 2:58 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Signed, Zaixfeep the cynical nihlist edgelord troll unicorn
posted by zaixfeep at 2:58 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yesterday Addams tweeted something to the effect of, Black people have always treated me well. I have lost my career three times, X Company, Y Company, and cartooning, because of white men who profited as a result.
Not putting quotes around it because this is simply my recollection. Based on the link from zaixfeep above, What the Hell is Up with Dilbert?, I would not be entirely surprised if TFG had decided to retire from comics via racist trolling but miscalculated how long it would take.
His defense is that his comments were taken out of context, and then he links to a nearly 2-hour video. Like, WTF, man, those comments do not require 120 minutes to understand. Feel like I've gotten that ex-cartoonist out of my system now, thanks to this thread. Much appreciated, fellow MeFites. Hope y'all have a fine day.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:38 AM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Not putting quotes around it because this is simply my recollection. Based on the link from zaixfeep above, What the Hell is Up with Dilbert?, I would not be entirely surprised if TFG had decided to retire from comics via racist trolling but miscalculated how long it would take.
His defense is that his comments were taken out of context, and then he links to a nearly 2-hour video. Like, WTF, man, those comments do not require 120 minutes to understand. Feel like I've gotten that ex-cartoonist out of my system now, thanks to this thread. Much appreciated, fellow MeFites. Hope y'all have a fine day.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:38 AM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
It’s a trap!
Maybe we should all be smarter than taking bait like this... It gets people talking about Dilbert instead of systemic racism. Just as race sometimes becomes a matter of being a minority instead of what it means to be human.
Maybe we could be stronger than that, by focusing on what needs to change and what unites us.
Twitter and media isn’t helping that conversation. And also, I’d rather listen to Alan Moore than the creator of Dilbert.
posted by beesbees at 6:57 AM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Maybe we should all be smarter than taking bait like this... It gets people talking about Dilbert instead of systemic racism. Just as race sometimes becomes a matter of being a minority instead of what it means to be human.
Maybe we could be stronger than that, by focusing on what needs to change and what unites us.
Twitter and media isn’t helping that conversation. And also, I’d rather listen to Alan Moore than the creator of Dilbert.
posted by beesbees at 6:57 AM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Hot of the press from Doc Tingle: COMIC STRIP WRITER SCOMP ADAMS HAUNTED IN THE ASS BY THE THINGS HE CAN'T SAY NOW THAT FREE THOUGHT IS ILLEGAL THEN REALIZING IT IS LEGAL HE'S JUST NOT SMART OR FUNNY AND IS A BIGOT THAT NOBODY LIKES.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:55 AM on February 28, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:55 AM on February 28, 2023 [16 favorites]
Should I retire the normal way, or should I be disturbingly honest until I get cancelled?"
WHUT. WHY. IDIOT.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:02 AM on February 28, 2023
WHUT. WHY. IDIOT.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:02 AM on February 28, 2023
From flabdablet's Slate link, now I am curious what would happen if you polled whether "Black lives matter?"
The "all lives matter" people knew that outright saying "Black lives don't matter" would make them look bad. But forced into the position of "Black lives matter, agree or disagree?" like would happen in a poll, I bet we'd get a lot of "not racist buts" disagreeing precisely because they hate the Black Lives movement. (I'm bringing in the "not racist buts" for the people who might act like Black lives don't matter but would otherwise balk at saying that.)
And Rasmussen playing so coy that even their paywalled version is still "a brief text summary of the findings" and not a thorough description of their method? This poll should not be taken seriously.
But Scott Adams, in selective skepticism mode, grants Rasmussen's blatant axe-grinding more benefit of the doubt than he will grant to 47% of the Black population.
posted by RobotHero at 10:16 AM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
The "all lives matter" people knew that outright saying "Black lives don't matter" would make them look bad. But forced into the position of "Black lives matter, agree or disagree?" like would happen in a poll, I bet we'd get a lot of "not racist buts" disagreeing precisely because they hate the Black Lives movement. (I'm bringing in the "not racist buts" for the people who might act like Black lives don't matter but would otherwise balk at saying that.)
And Rasmussen playing so coy that even their paywalled version is still "a brief text summary of the findings" and not a thorough description of their method? This poll should not be taken seriously.
But Scott Adams, in selective skepticism mode, grants Rasmussen's blatant axe-grinding more benefit of the doubt than he will grant to 47% of the Black population.
posted by RobotHero at 10:16 AM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I am a bit curious (but not curious enough to dive into any of the edgelord cesspits to find out for myself) how inhabitants of the chan troll demimonde are reacting to all of this..
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:27 PM on February 28, 2023
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:27 PM on February 28, 2023
The One and Only Question to Ask About Scott Adams (Discourse Blog) If you read only one sentence, make it:
The irony is that for Adams, I’d bet there’s probably almost as much money in being an out-and-out racist as there was in being a mediocre cartoonist.posted by box at 12:33 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
I thought we were done with him way back when he was dabbling with rape apologia.
Apparently this was a shitty opinion too far?
posted by lumpenprole at 4:04 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Apparently this was a shitty opinion too far?
posted by lumpenprole at 4:04 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
"I'm planning my retirement from cartooning (eventually) and need advice.
Should I retire the normal way, or should I be disturbingly honest until I get cancelled?"
In the early evenings on Saturdays and Sundays, when it's time to go home for dinner, I tell my five-year-old son that it's time to leave the playground. Usually this is fine, and we wind down and then walk back. Sometimes, though, he's seized by the imp of the perverse, or really wants to keep doing whatever he's doing, and argues ferociously over having to leave. Last week, this culminated with him deciding that by god, he was gonna keep sliding down that slide, and he was gonna do it head-first to show us kill-joy parental types that he is the master of his fate.
Four seconds later, clutching at the self-inflicted injury on his head, he ran wailing out of the playground ahead of me, bruised but unbroken, eager to show the world that we were leaving on his terms, damnit.
It's always nice when art imitates life.
posted by Mayor West at 11:04 PM on February 28, 2023 [13 favorites]
Should I retire the normal way, or should I be disturbingly honest until I get cancelled?"
In the early evenings on Saturdays and Sundays, when it's time to go home for dinner, I tell my five-year-old son that it's time to leave the playground. Usually this is fine, and we wind down and then walk back. Sometimes, though, he's seized by the imp of the perverse, or really wants to keep doing whatever he's doing, and argues ferociously over having to leave. Last week, this culminated with him deciding that by god, he was gonna keep sliding down that slide, and he was gonna do it head-first to show us kill-joy parental types that he is the master of his fate.
Four seconds later, clutching at the self-inflicted injury on his head, he ran wailing out of the playground ahead of me, bruised but unbroken, eager to show the world that we were leaving on his terms, damnit.
It's always nice when art imitates life.
posted by Mayor West at 11:04 PM on February 28, 2023 [13 favorites]
From the often-excellent PopeHat: Regarding Efforts By You, In Inferior Person, To Cancel Me, A Genius
posted by rmd1023 at 10:40 AM on March 1, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 10:40 AM on March 1, 2023 [11 favorites]
Leader Of Aryan Prison Gang Covered Head To Toe In Dilbert Tattoos
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:28 PM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:28 PM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
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