Comments on: The Vision of the Minority http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/ Cheating on the Kobayashi Maru since 2001 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 23:10:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.11 by: salman bakht http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1143 Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:17:33 +0000 http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1143 okay, so maybe the anology doesn't fit it such a strict literal sense. although note it was an analogy, so it doesn't matter that smurfs weren't mentioned. i know you were trying to be cute. but being cute isn't a good means of argument, in my opinion. smurfs is used as a synonym for "smurfdom", and the relationship i was going for was smurf:bigot as smurfdom:bigotry. in saying "evil", i was sort of simplifying things. you could replace where i say "evil" with "bigotry" or "bigot" as appropriate. i want to post the quote here, to clear things up: "this was a victory for bigotry and fear, a mandate bought with lies." what martin is claiming to believe is that bush's victory will result in a more positive environment for bigotry and fear to grow. he *is* saying that the voters have been lied to, which implies they are trickable, but it's incorrect to allege that he believes the voters are "gullible". gullible means easily fooled. you can be fooled without being easy to fool. to be fair, i think i understand what you're saying and was, too, surprised to hear martin speak with such conviction. i don't think he should have. how can he be so sure what the future will bring and how can he be so sure that the discrepancy between exit polls and results was caused by some sort of unfairness. but i still stand behind my belief that your assertion is flawed. okay, so maybe the anology doesn’t fit it such a strict literal sense. although note it was an analogy, so it doesn’t matter that smurfs weren’t mentioned. i know you were trying to be cute. but being cute isn’t a good means of argument, in my opinion. smurfs is used as a synonym for “smurfdom”, and the relationship i was going for was smurf:bigot as smurfdom:bigotry.

in saying “evil”, i was sort of simplifying things. you could replace where i say “evil” with “bigotry” or “bigot” as appropriate.

i want to post the quote here, to clear things up:

“this was a victory for bigotry and fear, a mandate bought with lies.”

what martin is claiming to believe is that bush’s victory will result in a more positive environment for bigotry and fear to grow.

he *is* saying that the voters have been lied to, which implies they are trickable, but it’s incorrect to allege that he believes the voters are “gullible”. gullible means easily fooled. you can be fooled without being easy to fool.

to be fair, i think i understand what you’re saying and was, too, surprised to hear martin speak with such conviction. i don’t think he should have. how can he be so sure what the future will bring and how can he be so sure that the discrepancy between exit polls and results was caused by some sort of unfairness. but i still stand behind my belief that your assertion is flawed.

]]> by: Jemima http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1132 Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:30:11 +0000 http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1132 "Play in Peoria" is an idiom. It's not meant to refer to the city or its county, but to the midwest in general. It's not my goal to avoid generalizations but to make them, since it's impossible to state the particulars when hundreds of millions of people are involved. Thanks for the cool link! “Play in Peoria” is an idiom. It’s not meant to refer to the city or its county, but to the midwest in general. It’s not my goal to avoid generalizations but to make them, since it’s impossible to state the particulars when hundreds of millions of people are involved.

Thanks for the cool link!

]]> by: kathleen http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1127 Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:41:07 +0000 http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1127 Peoria is in Illinois which is a blue state. (Although it was just barely a blue county). I would call the predominately red areas the plains states and mountain states. http://www.princeton.edu/%7Ervdb/JAVA/election2004/purple_america_2004_small.gif And in case you are wondering, I do not live in Peoria. I just think that geography is important and is one more thing that helps us avoid generalizations. Peoria is in Illinois which is a blue state. (Although it was just barely a blue county). I would call the predominately red areas the plains states and mountain states.
http://www.princeton.edu/%7Ervdb/JAVA/election2004/purple_america_2004_small.gif

And in case you are wondering, I do not live in Peoria. I just think that geography is important and is one more thing that helps us avoid generalizations.

]]> by: Jemima http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1102 Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:39:46 +0000 http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1102 George Martin didn't say anything (that I recall) about evil or smurfs. The President is not a bigotry, a fear, or a lie, so your smurf analogy doesn't hold. Saying that his victory was a victory for bigotry and fear, bought with lies is a statement about the voters and why they voted for him (out of bigotry, fear, and/or gullibility), not about the President himself. George Martin didn’t say anything (that I recall) about evil or smurfs. The President is not a bigotry, a fear, or a lie, so your smurf analogy doesn’t hold. Saying that his victory was a victory for bigotry and fear, bought with lies is a statement about the voters and why they voted for him (out of bigotry, fear, and/or gullibility), not about the President himself.

]]> by: salman http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1100 Thu, 11 Nov 2004 22:56:52 +0000 http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1100 hi. just found your site with the obvious search of "'mourning for america' george martin". anyway, i disagree with your claim that martin is stating that 51% of americans (american voters). just because he believes "evil" has won due to an election, does not mean that everyone that voted is "evil". either you're overstating your allegations (not to say martin didn't) or you didn't think it through. consider that a smurf was running for president, in the disguise of an american born human, of course. if 51% of american voters chose the smurf, you could say, "today is a victory for smurfs", without suggesting that 51% of americans are smurfs. hi. just found your site with the obvious search of “‘mourning for america’ george martin”. anyway, i disagree with your claim that martin is stating that 51% of americans (american voters). just because he believes “evil” has won due to an election, does not mean that everyone that voted is “evil”. either you’re overstating your allegations (not to say martin didn’t) or you didn’t think it through.

consider that a smurf was running for president, in the disguise of an american born human, of course. if 51% of american voters chose the smurf, you could say, “today is a victory for smurfs”, without suggesting that 51% of americans are smurfs.

]]> by: Jemima http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1001 Mon, 08 Nov 2004 03:58:32 +0000 http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-1001 You're always welcome. You’re always welcome.

]]> by: R.J. Anderson http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-998 Sun, 07 Nov 2004 19:17:39 +0000 http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/wordpress/2004/11/06/the-vision-of-the-minority/#comment-998 Wonderful, wonderful post. Thank you. Wonderful, wonderful post. Thank you.

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