To borrow a phrase from Steve Hofstetter, I’ve never flown a helicopter, but if I saw one in a tree, I could still be like “dude fucked up.”

I can leave the house if I wanna see that

too bloody right

Do you have to commit the murder for it to be bad?

OK, you need to be walked through it every step of the way, then.

1. Akhil gives a gun to Omar.

2. Akhil knows Omar hates, to pick a threatened minority at random, gay people, and wants to kill them.

3. Omar shoots up, let’s say, a gay nightclub. In, to pick a city totally at random, Orlando, Florida. And just for funsies, let’s call it The Pulse. I’m sure this totally imaginary scenario bears no resemblance to any actual event, and no gay nightclub called The Pulse in Orlando, Florida has ever been shot up by a virulent homophobe named Omar Mateen. Pure imagination.

4. The judicial system would view Akhil as an accessory to murder in that instance.

Let me further introduce you to the concept of stochastic terrorism. Boy, aren’t you learning a lot tonight! I’m happy for you.

But a whole lot of them would vote for somebody who has.

I mean, to answer their question, yes.

I suspect they were well aware of that and were being tongue-in-cheek.

Well, I’m glad you at least recognize that your solution to bigotry is not practical. I agree that it’s a moral ideal, but morality to my mind depends at least as much on effect as intention, which is where practicality comes in, and the fact that showing “unearned compassion” to bigots, at least in the way I typically seem to see that interpreted, just emboldens them and makes life worse for everyone else. The most extreme example of this is, as alluded to, Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler, but we see the same thing play out on a smaller scale frequently.

Most people who discuss morality with any frequency will probably tell you that whether or not you know the outcome of an action ahead of time does impact its morality. So I would argue, because we know that showing bigots “unearned compassion” rather than societally refusing to tolerate their behavior invariably has a net negative impact on those who are the targets of their bigotry, that would render it not the moral ideal we might like it to be.

Please observe the paradox of tolerance.

Fuckin do it, Elon. Double dog dare ya.

Go, your daughter. I wish someone had told me that was an option when I was her age.

I will say that I’m pretty sure I remember learning about things like the founding fathers owning slaves, slavery being the biggest single factor behind the civil war, Jim Crow, Japanese internment, and Watergate, among other things, in AP US history in high school. My class also definitely learned about the Trail Of Tears.

That being said, 1. elementary school was still much more about saying the pledge before class and it wasn’t until high school until we started to get into the good stuff, and 2. this was in the infamous anti-American commie hellscape that is the state of California, so take that as you will.

if she grew up with a certain kind of religious education, it’s possible she still might not have drawn that particular connection

he’s really rich and has paid lip service to liberal ideas, that’s enough

i should hope so, water is the true nectar of the gods