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This is Different, We Swear!

Pira Kelly, noted local loon, “defends” herself in an ODE guest commentary today. She attempts, quite laughably, to draw a distinction between calling for the defunding of The Oregon Commentator by a bunch of ignorant, pissed-off idiots and the more recent calls for the defunding of The Student Insurgent by different ignorant, pissed-off idiots.

They printed ableist, racist and homophobic slurs on a campus that is so hostile to students with disabilities, students of color and queer students that even minimalist and inadequate administrative attention to campus climate requires massive protest.

Well, aside from all of that being blatantly untrue, it doesn’t really change the principles involved any. Even were I to grant, out of some misguided sense of sportsmanship, that her claims are correct it would still be illegal to defund the Commentator for them. I guess from a world-view where oppossing affirmative action is “racist”, or where one can be positively for same-sex marriage but still a “homophobe”, or where satirizing Joe McCarthy creates a “racist environment“, Pira’s foolish attempts to justify calling to shut others up make sense. From the final paragraph:

In a special note to Tyler Graf, editor emeritus of the Commentator: I’m not entirely sure what you’re trying to accomplish by defending our publication. Stock up points so that the next time you stomp on someone we’ll feel so indebted to you that we won’t call you out? How The Insurgent collective interacts with you and the Commentator is not my decision, but as an individual I am not ever going to allow injustice to happen because the perpetrators came to my defense with empty rhetoric when it was convenient for them.

Firstly, congratulations to Tgraf for provoking such ire from a pinko. Secondly, The Commentator is defending The Insurgent precisely because we have principles. It is more important to us that everyone be free to openly exchange ideas than that those ideas are ones we agree with, or even if they’re even logical. There is a lot of case law surrounding this issue, Pira, and more importantly a matter of deeply held principle on the part of the Oregon Commentator and its staff. Individuals should never, under any circumstances, be legally punished for expressing their opinion regardless of how stupid, hurtful, offensive, or improper some other person or group of people might find it. That’s one of the greatest insights to come out of the Enlightenment, and one of the most important freedoms to protect. That you can’t understand something so beautifully simple exposes a horrendous flaw in your judgement, and shows you to be one of the most duplicitous sort: one who will gladly grant government authority to take retributive actions against those with whom you disagree, but then has the audacity to complain when others demand that same authority be leveraged against you.

Frankly, you make me ill, but I will defend to the death your right to do so.

  1. Niedermeyer says:

    Matt: I think Pira was casting the Commentator of a year ago as oppressive, which is a fair criticism considering we did disappear 7 dissidents, we rigged an election or two to favor big business interests and ethnically cleansed sections of the West University neighborhood.

    Oh, yeah… and jokes were made. Oppressive jokes.

  2. Timothy says:

    Fighting crazy with more crazy is something different altogether.

    Is this what they mean by “taking the fight to them”?

  3. Matt says:

    Yeah, I really don’t think the Insurgent is capable of “oppressing” anyone. When I think oppression, I think like slavery, the holocaust, genocide, tyranny. I just don’t think of the Marxo-Whatevers over at the Insurgent. The Emerald on the other hand… (kidding.)

    My impression is that most reasonable people don’t even care that much what they have to say, and a few nut jobs were pissed off by it, but it doesn’t seem like anyone out there is being literally bound in chains and or forced away from the election polls by the Insurgent’s madness. I refuse to believe the Insurgent has the sheer power necessary to either end oppression or commit it.

  4. Tyler says:

    Andy: Fighting speech with more speech is laudable. Fighting crazy with more crazy is something different altogether.

  5. Andy says:

    Pira,
    You have no fucking clue what Anarchists believe. It makes me irate that you proclaim yourself as one but the only thing you are is a socialist hypocrite.

    You want to end oppression but you oppress another group?

    You want the government to intervene to further your beliefs, silence our free speech, and attack the Lord Jesus, whom from all accounts ever written, preached only peace – and you call yourself an Anarchist?

    You’re a loser pira. I hope you fall on a hot burner.

  6. The Master says:

    I think Pira just needs to make love and not war. But, considering she’s incapable of doing either…well, that just goes to show ya.

    Besides that point, To end oppression by violating another organization’s civil right to free speech and expression via the route that was taken…that’s still defunding, plain and simple.

  7. Timothy says:

    ‘Twould help if you were literate, Pira. But I long ago stopped believing in unicorns and miracles.

  8. Pira says:

    You know, this might be more interesting if I didn’t have to correct the attempted criticisms and insults every time…

    1. I said this so many times last year I thought it would sink in, but once again: I don’t really care about defunding the Commentator. Even if it were possible, I’m sure you could come up with some way of printing it anyway. I am interested in ending oppression (I’m not getting into a strategy description here because it would take too long), and
    2. if I sometimes use tactics that you don’t consider “anarchist” enough – well, self-proclaimed dictators of anarchism who do not identify as anarchist themselves just aren’t the most credible sources of information on what is anarchist and what is not. And speaking of anarchism,
    3. what’s with calling me a pinko? Isn’t that a reference to communism? I mean, that’s the wrong political affiliation and it’s boring. Anarcho-nutball, now that was a derogatory term I could use – it referenced my politics and my affiliation with freedom and justice in mental health. I wish you more clarity and creativity next time.

  9. Andy says:

    At least it was almost noon…

  10. Michael G. says:

    Drink!

    P.S. Well spoken, Timothy!

  11. Gabrielle says:

    Andy:
    Isn’t a little early in the day to be talking about hypocrisy?

  12. Melissa says:
  13. Andy says:

    Casey-
    Welcome to the libertarianism.

    Tim-
    Awesome post. I’m so glad that she wrote that in because it reveals how patently juvenile and ignorant their point-of-view is. And of course it says FORMER contributer…

    This is the best part:
    “The Insurgent attacked Christianity without singling out individual Christians or instigating violence. Christian ideologies dictate our calendars, are taken seriously as potential replacements for science in schools and infuse politics and culture.”

    So instead of voicing logical arguments against what they believe to be a “Christian Hegemony,” they lash out in the most immature and non-nonsensical way possible! Does anyone even have the faintest idea that the collective was pissed off about the “Hegemony” when they saw those drawings? How do they in anyway convey a message other than intolerance, ignorance, and hate – supposedly the very same attitudes they want to eliminate???

    If the collective reads this – all I can say is that you all are gutless, mindless, and pathetic.

    Your continious hypocrisy is infinite.

  14. Niedermeyer says:

    We could call it the Humorless Party. Face it Pira, you didn’t get our jokes, and the christians don’t get your jokes. I’m thinking we need to lobby for a constitutional ammendment specifically guaranteeing free excercise of mockery. Talk about the ultimate cure for a culture of victimhood.

  15. Casey says:

    When are the far right and the far left going to combine to form their own super-party? They have so many similarities that it only makes sense for the free-speech hating left and right to Voltron. Fascists have the hardest time understanding synergy.

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