Ya know, I try not to be one of these people that just digs in their heels on a take, no matter what is said in response, so I took the time to consider what you said, what Obama originally said, and what I think.

I do want to make some concessions. I stand by a lot of what I said in a general sense, but yeah, this wasn’t a good example of what I was describing, to the point of being a weird spot for me to jump in. This case has a reason to use those terms for each group, as you’ve pointed out, and it even has a reason to mention both groups.

I’m not giving him a pass on much in general, but I see why people are not seeing the thing here. More subtle than I gave it credit for.

E: the comment link didn’t work for me btw, I’m on mobile tho

Ha, good choice. After all these years it’s still among the more creative and fun.

“Families” is absolutely more warm and human than “people” and while I see what you’re saying that “people of Gaza” could be interpreted as more inclusive than saying “Gazan families”, that would be an excessively literal reading, it is really not what’s going on here.

Again, this is just one instance of a consistent pattern among media and public figures in general. Not interested in splitting hairs with you over your personal interpretation of the one specific phrase. It’s like a dog whistle, once you know what it sounds like, you can hear it, but it will escape your notice until you learn about it.

But IS HE an ally if he deliberately chooses to use this dehumanizing language for the victims of a brutal genocide? If he’s not allied with the victims, who the fuck is he allied with?

He was a lot less shitty than alternatives, and I do think he’s got plenty of redeeming qualities. And that’s not enough, he’s no ally if he dehumanizes suffering victims, and many of us have fucking had it making excuses for nasty shit we can’t tolerate.

Obama isn’t some good guy. Deportations under him were VERY active, for one thing. Telling him to do better isn’t driving a wedge, it’s begging the few people we have closest to our side to actually commit. But he won’t, he’ll stay who he is, just yet another member of the abusive power class. Admittedly better than most of his colleagues.

If you’re not aware of the subtle but pervasive linguistic technique here, you need to educate yourself. The supposed sympathetic party is always described in human-sounding terms, the supposed adversary is always dehumanized, using sterile language. And it works, it nudges those who don’t think very critically into framing their subconscious opinions that way.

Your personal reaction to one incident of such isn’t very relevant. It’s a thing and it’s nasty.

Just out here rubbing bug goo on plant corpses, guess we’re weirder than the bees

An important step on any path to unity is a requirement that we all believe that the inherent value of human life does not vary by national origin. Demanding that our politicians do better, and stop misusing language in this consistent pattern to minimize perceived suffering of The Other - that’s unity. “Israeli families” vs. “the people of Gaza” - isn’t it self-evident, that is the wedge? Once you know to look for it, you see it used everywhere.

I don’t want unity with people who aren’t willing to make the above commitment. When demanding just minimal lip service to such an ideal from a public figure is “driving a wedge”, I think you have some serious soul searching to do.

That’s how it reads to me too, accidentally saying “hurry up and riot already, something’s gotta piss some of you off enough to do it”.

Wild that this is where we are - our president trying to bait us into helping him justify massacring us.

With any luck, collectivism will come to flourish, even if we have to get there by being backed into it.

Cheers!

Agree. We do need good people raising good people, to pass on the torch of compassion and all other good.

I’m not saying jump up and have kids, I’m saying there’s a sacred duty available and inherently demanded, in teaching the next generation.

And as we see, we can no longer rely on hardly any facet of our society to do an even passable job, even from those who want to. In the US at least it is down to parents to shape the next generation. (As YouTube, etc., do it for us…)

Yet more precariously, this is true during a phase of human history that I’d argue is newly atomized, yet increasingly dependent on cooperation.

The future looks bleak, yes, and parenting well is one crucial part of any long-term solution to our problems. I say let’s be careful with the dooming, there’s good work to be done.

(…sadly too much work to do, in the literal sense, for me and most parents, but nonetheless)

Sounds pretty plausible. And in the past when there was decorum, the too-sincere just got quietly sidelined I imagine, wondering why they never seemed to get anywhere despite their loyalty and fervor. But today, when the party communication strategy is explicitly “carnival barker but a mix of vicious lies and middle school insults”, welp, those zealots not only avoid being dealt with quietly, they get a platform, cuz they already had one, and it’s one that rests on the larger platform where every heinous unsayable thing has already been publicly screeched, and also subsequently forgotten.

I hope she goes nuclear lol, she’s gotta have some good dirt right?

Not quite the same type of jackboot here, but nonetheless “Uvalde” is all we need to know about how heroism LARPers pick and choose their violence in the most vile ways.

Guarantee if we ever see an armed response to one of these ICE raids, the LARPers will fall into chaos and shoot everywhere, likely killing a WHOLE lotta people by accident, probably including a lot of each other (all of which will be blamed on the targets of course).

And you’d imagine if there were any of these hardened criminals among their targets like they claim, at least one of em would’ve tried to shoot their way out of deportation by now. Weird!

Honestly, with some tweaks, sounds like not a bad way to start getting your random corporate social media enjoyers to care about privacy.

This is such a strange and out-of-touch comment (to me) that I can’t tell if it’s bad sarcasm or…what.

Ah yes, chiming in from the “arguments containing the useful content and maturity of an unripe melon” department, thanks for your input

I’m still waiting for my pheromone-overlord 😞

Some species of termite can effectively molt backwards, meaning they can physically return their bodies to a juvenile stage, AND THEN re-mature from that juvenile stage into a different adult body plan!

So adult worker (medium sized head and mandibles, etc.) -> juvenile morphology -> adult soldier (huge head and mandibles). And other forms I don’t remember, think they can go back and then become something with wings, etc. - big bug changes!

And what’s crazier is this is done in response to pheromones secreted by the mound’s queen. Termite Queen up in the mound playing Sid Meier’s Civ lol, controlling her city through different stinks! Too few soldiers after the latest bird incursion? Got a buncha workers with nothing to do? No problem, stink-compel em to go back to goo and come back as what the mound needs!

I got all this from a fairly goofy podcast a buncha years ago - be kind, anonymous grumpy expert, if this is way wrong lol

Oh I was offering that as supporting evidence for your point lol. There’s roughly nothing (besides reason and compassion) these folks can shit out of their mouths that will surprise me anymore.

Oh wow that is a subtle but juicy detail, sure looks like exactly that to me, nice catch!

RFK Jr., noted brainworm host and multi talented repeater and innovator of quackery, said that shit within the last 24 hours lol