Michelle’s Incredible Nerve

Another candidate for asshole of the month: Michelle Obama lectures China: “It is so important for information and ideas to flow freely over the Internet and through the media [and into the gaping maw of the NSA].” OK, bracketed part is mine. http://time.com/34314/michelle-obama-defends-free-internet-in-china-speech Hey, FLOTUS: I’m not scared of China. I’m scared about YOUR CRAZY HUSBAND.

5 Comments.

  • If you are a public figure – and even if you aren’t, but you post anything that can be seen, grabbed and re-posted – you have the choice of only saying politically correct, empty platitudes, or risk being pilloried for any belief or opinion that may prove to be unpopular. In other words, anything you say can and will be used against you.

    • alex_the_tired
      March 25, 2014 7:32 AM

      Yes. You will always have a group that will disagree. Neil Tyson DeGrasse can get up at a podium and say, “The Earth is round,” and one group will scream at him for his liberal agenda, a second will counter that the Earth is flat, a third will make a racial slur, and so forth.

      What makes NTD’s comment “correct” (note the brackets) is that first, he does not, after making it, go off to the Flat Earth Society to work as their chief spokesperson. That is, he isn’t a hypocrite. He speaks what he, personally believes.

      Second, his statement is backed by evidence. Why is evidence necessary? For the same reason you can’t point to “one true” religion. If you don’t have evidence, you can’t apply a uniform standard. Thus, we get people who genuinely believe that Genesis is accurate. And when you point out the inaccuracies, they come up with irrational arguments to deny reality. That’s why theocracies are so dangerous; it’s just too easy to unilaterally negate every single thing the other side says. “Look through your telescope? Off to the bonfire with you.”

      What makes Obama’s (and his wife’s) utterances offensive on so many occasions is their hypocrisy. Mrs. Obama talks about the free flow of information over the Internet, scolding the Chinese government for practicing censorship, but what does her husband do to the people who try to reveal government corruption? Puts them in prison, utters statements concerning their guilt BEFORE THERE HAS EVEN BEEN A TRIAL (note: Even Nixon waited until the Manson Family was actually in court before announcing that he thought they were guilty), and so forth. By supporting him in public, she gives tacit approval to his actions, and is thus, culpable.

      So saying something “unpopular” isn’t the problem. The problem is that what the president says is contradicted by his subsequent actions.

      As for “political correctness” and “empty platitudes.” Well, the latter OUGHT to be a trigger for derisive catcalls and shouts of “Bullshit!” The former? Political correctness started out as a good idea. But it got hijacked by the hysterics. And the right-wingers and the upper-class-business criminals smiled and smiled.

      • Hypocrisy is badness. It’s also been the basis of our foreign policy ever since the ink dried on the Geneva Conventions.

  • Chinese hackers are good. Wouldn’t it be loads-o-fun if they cracked the NSA’s database? Can you imaging the wailing and moaning and cries of, “No Fair!”

    Not unrelated: I never shop at online retailers who want me to ‘create an account’ – if the store has my credit card and personal data, then somebody can sniff it. OTOH they can’t reveal any data they don’t have in the first place.

    • alex_the_tired
      March 25, 2014 11:30 AM

      Crazy,

      Consider this. The U.S. has 300 million people. China has about 1.5 billion (4 to 5 times the U.S.). All things being equal, this means that for every sneaky-pete hacker we have, THEY have a spare, a backup for him, a friend for the backup and one extra.

      The probability is about .99 that the Chinese are miles ahead of the NSA. And the probability is exactly 1 that those hackers know exactly what will happen to them, their families and all their friends if they fail to do their jobs. I suspect the rewards are lavish, too. But no one thinks for a second that they won’t get two bullets in their face if they so much as whisper any objections.

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