Kerry: 'In America you have a right to be stupid'

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by Tardacus

 

Originally posted by Tardacus
... but after being suckered into reading the article

Oh, Lord! You were "suckered into" reading past the headline?? Heaven forbid you look beyond the headline and actually READ the article because you want the whole story!!

You poor thing! :shk:

The more I learn, the more I agree with him.

Well, I was interested to read why he thought that people in america have the right to be uneducated if they want to be because I know thats not true, legally everyone has to attend school until they are at least 16 years old and in many places it`s 18 years old.
I felt that I was suckered into reading a story that was represented as being insightful and thought provoking but instead it was just a story with a childish "your a stupid head" joke in it.I expected a little more than that in a story about a speech given by the secretary of state of the U.S. but i guess i should have known better.this is just another example of the depths to which the leadership of this country has fallen.

reply to post by Tardacus


Can you post a link to the article? I'd enjoy discussing this with some context.

CJ

I believe he was specifically referring to this case:

Wikipedia: American Civil Liberties Union

In 1977, a small group of American Nazis, led by Frank Collin, applied to the town of Skokie, Illinois for permission to hold a demonstration in the town park. Skokie at the time had a majority population of Jews, totaling 40,000 of 70,000 citizens, some of whom were survivors of Nazi concentration camps. Skokie refused to grant permission, and an Illinois judge supported Skokie and prohibited the demonstration.[48] Skokie immediately passed three ordinances aimed at preventing the group from meeting in Skokie. The ACLU assisted Collins and appealed to federal court.[48] The appeal dragged on for a year, and the ACLU eventually prevailed in Smith v. Collin, 447 F.Supp. 676.

That's the case most people [used to] associate with freedom of speech--and the ACLU. (It's the main reason so many people hold a dim view of the ACLU, by the way.)

This is also one of the reasons we complain about the dumbing-down of education. That no one here immediately thought of that is because such subjects are too disturbing for our educational system anymore, so they're no longer taught....

ETA: Incidentally, the "parade" that Kerry refers to was that Collin and his bunch didn't want to just "demonstrate," they had planned a march--essentially a parade--down the main street of Skokie.

reply to post by Ex_CT2

because such subjects are too disturbing for our educational system anymore, so they're no longer taught....

Political correctness:
the delicate art of appealing to everyone without disturbing anyone. Which can't be done so they just censor everything to be safe. In the vacuum blooms ignorance.

Originally posted by intrptr
reply to post by Ex_CT2

 

because such subjects are too disturbing for our educational system anymore, so they're no longer taught....

Political correctness:
the delicate art of appealing to everyone without disturbing anyone. Which can't be done so they just censor everything to be safe. In the vacuum blooms ignorance.

Thank you. Very smartly said....

I think the point Kerry was trying to make yet missing the mark was his ommission of the rest of the sentence....
"just like me"


ganjoa

Of course, everyone has the right to say what s/he wants! No different here than on your side of the Atlantic.

But.

Usually, there is this little tiny brake in anybodies brain which should stop her/him just from saying or doing something incredibly stupid - like partaking in a KKK-parade without a mask in a mixed-races-neighborhood (don't know how you call it). Or putting on a Hitler-mask while watching a march of WW-2-veterans.

Those are completely legal things to do. But waaaaay out in no-no-land. Because it is a proof to being ignorant, stupid and generally a waste for the community.

But go on. It's a "free" country afterall.

reply to post by Tardacus

Originally posted by Tardacus
Well, I was interested to read why he thought that people in america have the right to be uneducated

If he had SAID that, then you might have a point. I think we would ALL agree that there are some VERY educated people who are STUPID.

looks like Kerry pratices his rights daily.

Is it just me, or does anyone else remember one of Kerry's big screw ups during his campaign? He has this habit of BAD MOUTHING his own nation and it's people from foreign shores. As I recall, it was Bush bashing and war whining he was doing during the campaign, while in other nations. Now he's dumping on the American citizens from Germany?

Ummm... hey... Kerry?! You're a DIRECT representative of the President of the United States of America. Act like it for a change.

reply to post by Ex_CT2


Illinois Nazi's?
I hate Illinois Nazi's!

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Ummm... hey... Kerry?! You're a DIRECT representative of the President of the United States of America. Act like it for a change.

So he shouldn't stick up for our right to free speech?

I'm sure he was asked a question like, "Why do you allow people to protest the death of soldiers who just happened to be gay?"
I see nothing wrong with calling those people stupid, and guess what? I dislike soldiers in general. Protesting the funeral of anyone is stupid, no matter how badly you disagree with them.

Seriously, anyone trying to make a deal out of this is just a partisan buffoon.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Do you think we DON'T have the right to be stupid?

No. And I wouldn't lay down my life for someone hellbent on being stupid all of his/her life.

Just for fun I sometimes walk around the factory and ask really simple questions, and these are the answers I get (no exaggeration).

How many months are there in one century? Answers; 24, blank stare, blank stare.

How many days does it take for the earth to orbit the sun one time? Answers: 35,000, 10, blank stare.

If a ten-pin bowling ball and a candle pin bowling ball were dropped off a high building at the same time, which one would hit the ground first? Answer: The big one. Blank stare.

How many months have 28 days? Acceptable answers are 1 month (February) or every month has 28 days in them. The answer given, however, was FOUR!

How many planets are in our solar system? Answers: 12, 5, blank stare.

No, I will not defend their right to be THAT stupid.

America is full of idiots I see them everyday, I talk to them everyday, I have to work with them everyday, and sadly I have to blog with them everyday as well. Kerry said a truth, maybe not in the most intelligent fashion but then again he is from America, so what would we expect anyway? I could name thousands of influential characters in the US that are complete morons but they survive and make a ton of money. So how isn't this true? O I know everyone has a sense of country all of a sudden and Kerry using Americans and stupid in the same sentence has ruffled some feathers because of the second highest trait in America "deluded self worth" or the Me me me complex. I could name reasons to why this should be the least of our concerns, but many here like to focus on that second trait I was talking about when that first trait allows their brain to wrap itself around an 'acceptable' response. Thinking of the self is stupid, so if you've responded negatively because your 'feelings' are hurt you've already proven the article correct, just as if you were 'offended' by it as well. A 'smarter' person wouldn't care to respond and would get a chuckle out of it and maybe just maybe they'd try not to put themselves above the ones around them.

reply to post by Ghost375

The man has a history of bad mouthing his nation while in service to it or related to serving it.....then continues right along to suck up pay and benefits packages only a precious few in this world can even dream of.

It gets downright tiresome to see the Anti-American trolls in actual positions of power, go on and troll their OWN nation ....while we, the citizens, are PAYING them for the privilege of hearing them do it.

I have no problem with anyone voicing their opinion, including him, on the problems of America. God knows, we have enough to talk about. What I have the problem with is where it's done. It's BAD Judgement at the very least and downright harmful to American interests at worst when American OFFICIALS are doing it from foreign lands.

reply to post by Tardacus


I don't think stupidity is a choice among socialists. They either have it, or they don't.

Lots of socialists are deeply inbred. Inbreeding is said to cause a dereliction of the brain.

More than a few socialists are drug addicts and/or alcoholics. Addiction is said to create brain distortions.

Socialists can choose what type of liquor or drugs they want to use to kill brain cells. Stupidity just comes with the territory.

If John Kerry had not been smart enough to marry a billionaires, he'd be considered very, very stupid.

Originally posted by coltcall
reply to post by Tardacus

 

I don't think stupidity is a choice among socialists. They either have it, or they don't.

Lots of socialists are deeply inbred. Inbreeding is said to cause a dereliction of the brain.

More than a few socialists are drug addicts and/or alcoholics. Addiction is said to create brain distortions.

Socialists can choose what type of liquor or drugs they want to use to kill brain cells. Stupidity just comes with the territory.

If John Kerry had not been smart enough to marry a billionaires, he'd be considered very, very stupid.

You aren't a socialist, are you? By your definition your post reads as if one wrote it.

CJ

reply to post by ColoradoJens


You seem to be saying that I understand the inner workings of a socialist without having to be one.

reply to post by coltcall


Not at all. You said socialists were inbred and stupid. I said your post sounds like it was written by a socialist, at least by your definition. Not too hard to figure it out.

CJ

reply to post by ColoradoJens


You seem to be saying that if I type with one hand while watching Jerry Springer on television, that I sound like a socialist.