It's a good trap because you can't see the trap. That's the point. Looks simple to you.— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) July 7, 2020
By the way, Matt Yglesias was the specific person I was referencing when I wrote — in that last post — "Since before some of the signatories to this letter were born." Yglesias is 39.
ADDED: Did Matt Yglesias take his tweet down? The embedded material is only displaying one tweet now, instead of 3. But I happened to have a screen shot! Here's how the embed looked when I put up this post:
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94 comments:
It's just like that sci-fi, Star Trek trope where you throw a paradox at a superduper evil computer and it smokes, throws sparks and destroys itself in a logic loop. But to be fair, you could get the same effect with Biden asking him what flavor pudding cup he wants for lunch.
Trump campaign unable to say black lives matter yet still going strong.
It’s not a trap because those two questions will never be asked of Biden in a public forum. Biden’s campaign will see to that.
Am I missing something??
This is no different than Captain Kirk using the Prime Directive to batter the computer. How difficult is it to see that you can't have it both ways?
Maybe Mr. Iglesias still has confidence in Joe Biden's cognitive abilities?
Matthew Yglesias means well, God bless him.
Go make your bed, Matty.
Yglesias just has to sneer. He hasn't thought it through. He probably th nks it's about confusing Biden. It isn't.
Some, select, Black Lives Matter. Everyone and their baby is familiar with the wicked solutions normalized by the Progressive Church and Pro-Choice religion for their conception of social justice, social progress, medical progress, and ulterior motives.
Wow, the fact that Yglesias signed that letter....
Is a credit to him I didn't expect to be giving.
It is a trap predicated on a fundamental truthful supposition, "White Lives Do Matter". Saying that fundamental truth is currently anathema in some circles. Where large numbers of people who believe this also believe "Black Lives Matter", large numbers of people who believe the latter do not believe the former nor do they believe you should be allowed to express the former.
Biden has to fall for this trap, not because he or his staff can't see it, but because he is forced to. Of course he cannot speak the truth, the most vocal segment that would vote for him doesn't want him to.
White. Lives. Matter.
Ah yes. The Vox Brain Trust.
Btw, Vox has been around since 2014 and despite having plenty of cash to throw at left wing writing "talent", not a single lefty will take them up on the easy cash.
That tells you something...and stories like the Vox "hard hitting" "journalism" story of the 30 Mile Bridge from Gaza to the West Bank that the terrible Israeli's wont let the Arabs use out of spite? Uh, yeah. That bridge really, uh, never existed yet these Vox rocket scientists thought it did because "zionists".
Me personally? I'm voting Jason Voorhees 2020.
NO LIVES MATTER
The popular apology is that everyone knows that all lives matter, and there is no need for affirmative confirmation of brown, yellow, orange, albino, white, etc. lives.
"It's a good trap because you can't see the trap. That's the point. Looks simple to you."
And that looks simple to you, Scott.
But the Althouses of American will have their say: "that's not fair!"
So what is 'the trap?'
Here's my guess:
Do black lives matter? Yes.
Do white lives matter? Yes.
QED, all lives matter.
Of course, an astute questioner could then go on to ask, 'do black lives matter more than white lives?
If yes, then Biden is sunk. If no, then we are back to all lives matter.
The big question is will woke suburban white women wake up when it comes time to enter the voting booth. How do they reconcile their woke disdain for whiteness when they have white husbands, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers etc…? Or do they feel as connected to these family members as they do to the non-living organism inside the womb. They are the swing. Which way do all the beta-male emaciated husbands vote? The vote is still private.
It's not a trap if you answer yes to both and say that the first proposition is not being applied to the same extend as the second when it comes to law enforcement in the US. Thus, there is a need to highlight the former with a special movement. Fairly straight forward, but I'm sure Biden would trip over his feet answering it.
It's only a trap because someone like Biden is incapable of answering simply. He could just say "yes" both times and leave it at that. But he wouldn't. He'd eloborate. And in eloborating on the first question, he'd get himself into trouble regarding the second. Because if white lives matter and black lives matter, what about the other races? Don't all human lives matter? But someone in Biden's position can't just say that. It's become racist to just say that outright since in undercuts the arguments of BLM, which at it's heart is based in racist segregationist thinking.
Because of course the generally unspoken truth that pretty much everyone knows is that with regards to the actual BLM movement, black lives only matter in the relatively rare instance when a white police officer kills a black person. The thousands of black homicides that occur every year actually don't matter to that movement because they can't be used for political leverage since the perpetrators are almost always themselves black. And of course though in most circles it's considered racist to point these blantant truths out, it's not like most people aren't fully aware of them. Everyone knows them.
This trap doesn’t go back as far as Meade inventing bathing and Althouse inventing liberal fascism, but it seems like it’s been forty years since the “white lives matter” question trap was invented. It dates back to about one day after BLM was invented.
Anywho, lets pretend that this questioning was just invented by a master weapons grade persuader. Lots of pretending is called for, IOW.
Traps like this should have a formal name. The Smug Trap, The Arrogance Trap, The Hoist by your own Petard Trap...? Maybe, the I'm an Over-Educated Liberal Douche that knows Absolutely Nothing Trap?
I've never figured out why anyone pays any attention to Matt Yglesias.
That's not much of a trap though, not because it isn't good and simple, but because it will never happen that Biden will be asked those questions by a reporter or anyone else he thinks deserves a response.
In the coffee shop I frequent, I see a sign on the wall: "All Lives can't matter until Black Lives matter" And I think that says it very well and -- mostly -- avoids the trap.
I did note that my Neighborhood Assn has in their latest newsletter, page 2, the musings of a middle-aged White Woman (Neighborhood Assn President, a thankless job) on the whole Black Lives Matter thing (it's as Madison as you can imagine) while the District Rep (A Black woman!) has her column way in the back. I am not displaying the 'Black Lives Matter' 8x11 sign they helpfully included, but I saw that a neighbor up the street put it in their front window.
Maybe I don't see the trap either. I don't feel like Biden would have a problem saying yes to both, because he's not savvy enough on intersectionality to know that he's supposed to say white lives don't matter as white lives. At the same time, he'll be given a pass on whatever he says by the people who would say that.
Bullshit, readering. Everyone on the right, including the Trump campaign, has easily been willing to say black lives matter. KMac just mic-dropped the entire press she faces every day by pointing out that the priorities of their questions clearly shows that they *don't* think black lives actually matter, and she finds that appalling.
The Right believes that all lives matter, and that black lives matter is an obvious subset of that. The Left can't stand any statement that anything *other* than black lives matter. That includes you. That includes the entire Left. That is the trap.
"We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
Questions for Black Lives Matter: Do Korean Lives matter? Do Jewish lives matter?
I’m sorry, but anyone wearing a mask in their twitter profile pic is a douche. That includes Gavin Newsome.
Matt Yglesias is also a douche for other reasons (so is Newsome), but still. A mask? In a profile pic? Fuck off!
You can get fired for tweeting “All Lives Matter”.
eadering said...
Trump campaign unable to say black lives matter yet still going strong.
Unlike that Dean of the nursing school who said, "All lives matter."
This is going to bite you.
sure. the campaign will formulate some acceptable response. Biden himself will word-vomit all over the place and piss everyone off who isn't confused by what he says.
Does Yglesias have any good money to lose? Because if he bets it, he’s gonna lose it.
There are no "black lives." There are only "Black lives" (or better yet, "BLACK lives"). That the lives of those who meet Joe Biden's definition of "Black" by definition (or punctuation) matter more than those who don't is so obvious it can go unsaid (at least until after November 3, 2020.
Well, there's an easy way to test whether the trap is simple to escape or not.
Just ask Biden the questions.
If no one asks, I'm going to assume that either the trap is not easy to avoid OR Scott Adams has successfully scared journalists into thinking there's a difficulty to it that they can't figure out. It's also possible that no journalist wants to take direction from Scott Adams. Whatever happens to Biden if the questions are asked, Adams would win if he got someone to ask his questions.
So Yglesias is safe taunting Adams this way.
BTW, look at Scott backpedaling. First, this is a campaign ending trap. Then, he dials back to: this is a good trap. What’s his next step down? “This is like reflected light in yur eye that makes you move your head a fraction of an inch.”
Hilarious.
"All Lives can't matter until Black Lives matter"
This is a false assertion. I think black lives have always mattered to any sane person other than democrat politicians and Planned Parenthood.
OK, and maybe not to the last 14 KKK members keeping the faith (8 of whom are undercover FBI agents).
It's also possible that no journalists wants to take direction from Scott Adams
Or at least there's probably no journalists who would be in the position to level these questions at Biden.
But as a journalist you have to ask yourself: If you're afraid to ask Biden a question because you're afraid it will hurt Biden since he wouldn't be able to answer it effectively, why would you want such a person as president at all? I mean, yeah, the Orange Man is Bad, but is he really so bad that you'd be willing to put in someone who couldn't effectively answer 2 simple questions?
It is a trap because there is no way to answer either question with a yes or a no without alienating a lot of people. There is no safe answer.
To NOT answer either question or try to play it safe by giving NON-answers will make the person look like a weak, weaselly, unable to commit politician.
There is no acceptable answer for either question and to try to get out of answering is also a trap.
Did the lives of both of Obama's parent's matter, or only long enough to produce the lightworker?
I imagine "journalists" looking at each other and saying: "Don't look at me. I'm not asking him."
We should also ask the heads of the NFL, NBA, Baseball, all the networks, editors of all the papers, and ourselves.
Maybe throw in a few other questions like:
Do you love your country?
Do you support police?
Do you have any White friends?
How racist are they?
"All Lives can't matter until Black Lives matter"
All Lives can't matter until Black Lives matter until Brown Lives matter until Yellow lives matter until Orange Lives matter until Albino Lives matter until Baby Lives matter. Ironically, predictably, they monotonically diverge and miss the logical progression. #DiversityBreedsAdversity #HateLovesAbortion
I'm surprised there are people her who don't see the trap.
It's simple--the second question is like when your drill instructor gets right in your face and asks, "what's the matter, soldier? Don't you like me?"
In our current environment, what are the consequences for saying yes? In our current environment, what are the consequences for saying no? Having said yes to the first question, there is no acceptable answer to the second and asking them in tandem makes that reality unavoidable.
brown, yellow, orange, albino, white, etc. lives."
No he'll give the lame old "by God I don't care if they're black white green or PURPLE! Haha!"
Scott Adams only matters here.
It is a trap because there is no way to answer either question with a yes or a no without alienating a lot of people. There is no safe answer.
Yes, #White... Peach, really, LivesMatter is controversial, All Lives Matter is an inexcusable suggestion, then note that #BabyLivesMatter, and observe their apoplectic seizure.
If you say black lives matter you are home free. If you won't say black lives matter, well ....
The simplest and most relevant thing to do is drop the adjective. Just say, "Lives Matter".
But that denies People of Color (and black people specifically) their privilege to live separately and more equally than others. Can't have that.
"Black Lives Trump All"
Black lives matter to the Left *only* when a white person takes that life.
All other black lives can be extinguished guilt free and with no shame or any danger of journalistic investigation.
Because that's how the Left rolls. That's how the Left has *always* rolled.
If Biden answered the first question with "Yes" without including that caveat, he would be lying through his teeth. Less than 1% of black lives actually matter to him or anyone else on the Left, and only by virtue that a white person was involved in the death. Everyone knows it, but no one dares to say it.
Wow, Yglesias doesn't see the trap. Let him try tweeting out, "All Lives Matter", and see what that gets him.
Of course, Biden will never be in a situation where this question gets asked, and we all know it. The only hard hitting question Biden is likely to get from any journalist is, "What did you have for breakfast?" And it is only hard hitting because Biden might not remember.
Althouse: I appreciate this effort, this "Letter on Justice and Open Debate," signed by a bunch of writers, scholars, and journalists, but I'm irritated by the gratuitous shot at right-wingers. The censorship and cancel culture they are talking about is very much a thing of the left.
"Cancel Culture" is the new phrase to describe censorship - which exists with every lie emanating from everywhere in our political duality. Our founders worried about our present condition.
George Washington’s farewell address is ... remembered for its warning against hyper-partisanship: “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.” John Adams, Washington’s successor, similarly worried that “a division of the republic into two great parties ... is to be dreaded as the great political evil.”
There ain't no good guys, there ain't bad guys. There's only you and me and we just disagree.
Meanwhile back to our real problems - a pandemic, a dying economy and deliberate misdirection away from these problems.
What is really, really hilarious here is that there was a story just yesterday where the chief of nursing department got fired for literally writing and saying, "All Lives Matter." Just fucking yesterday.
It looks like MY deleted that tweet. anyone capture it?
Adams's real point is just exactly that no journalist will ask. No journalist will ask anything that would be tough for the Biden campaign.
My question is, how long does it take to find Tara Reade's complaint?
I generally think that Scott Adams thinks several levels deep when he puts out something like he did here. Because it seems so simple at first but he sees something more, you have to consider just what the next level might result in.
DBQ has level 1 and 2 down.
The first question will allow Biden to pander to the base. Yes Black lives matter. Because he does not know question #2, yet (you never reveal the hole below the brush), he cannot weasel word his first answer to prepare for the second.
When you give him the second question, he cannot answer yes. The left makes it very clear that any other "live that matters" other than Black, is a right-wing ply to undermine the important issue of the day about black lives and the systemic racism of law enforcement.
He cannot answer no. That would be too dismissive of the majority of Americans and would drive a wedge, hurting his chances with more moderate voters. Any other attempt to walk the razor's edge would make him sound weak.
There is only one way to avoid the trap of the second question, and that is to not directly answer the first, but that is also not easy to do. Once you give any hedge in your answer to black lives matter, you are doomed.
Kobayashi Maru. You have to reprogram the simulator or not play the game at all. Thus no one WILL be able to spring the trap on Biden because his handlers (ie MSM) will not let it be asked.
I refuse to say “All Lives Matter” because Hitler.
It's a lame trap. I love Adams, but he's naive on this point.
"Do black lives matter?"
"Of course."
"Do white lives matter?"
"The real question is, at a time when people are marching in the street, demanding that the value of black lives be recognized, what can white people do to ensure the that the words, 'All men are created equal,' actually describe America?"
Or some other form of "yada yada" that doesn't respond directly to the question. I mean, this is a politician we're talking about! They never respond directly.
"Nonapod said...
"I mean, yeah, the Orange Man is Bad, but is he really so bad that you'd be willing to put in someone who couldn't effectively answer 2 simple questions?"
Yes. They're already willing to put in a 77-year-old man in obvious cognitive trouble. They'd put in a ventriloguist's dummy rather than Trump. In fact, Biden will be the ventriloguist's dummy of whoever is selected as vice-president.
There is no acceptable answer for either question and to try to get out of answering is also a trap.
My guess is......The Trump Tweet that will spring this trap on Biden has already been written!!!
The rest is just timing.
Trump campaign unable to say black lives matter yet still going strong.
They're not unable to say it. They're simply choosing not to pander to simple-minded racists like you.
On a good day Joe may be able to tell you what he ate for breakfast. I wouldn’t expect much in the way of answers beyond that.
"My question is, how long does it take to find Tara Reade's complaint?"
They have looked nowhere, and are all out of ideas where to find it.
I refuse to say “All Lives Matter” because Hitler.
Because Mugabe, Stalin, Mao, Sanger, Wilson, Hussein, Cecile, Mengele.
Openidname said..."The real question is, at a time when people are marching in the street, demanding that the value of black lives be recognized, what can white people do to ensure the that the words, 'All men are created equal,' actually describe America?"
Or some other form of "yada yada" that doesn't respond directly to the question
Oh, I have no doubt that Biden would attempt that generic politician tactic (not answering the question but instead answering your own question). I just don't think it would work. I mean, it might "work" in the sense that it would diffuse the immediate situation, but the question wouldn't go away since the incident would then be repeated ad nasuam. The media would magnify by attacking the questioner for daring to ask such a question (the "Do white lives matter?" one) which would of course force people everywhere to actually think about the question and Biden's non-response. Trump himself would doubtless way in too thus magnifying things even more.
In fact, Biden will be the ventriloguist's dummy of whoever is selected as vice-president.
No, I don't think it would be that obvious. More like whoever ran Obama. We may never know but I suspect it was a committee.
The biggest problem that I have with this "Black Lives Matter" thing is that it is not simply a statement of a commonplace belief held by all but the hard-core bigots among us, of which the refusal to acknowledge is evidence of racism. Of course "black lives matter" as do all lives (here we go).
That isn't what they want everyone to kneel to.
"Black Lives Matter" is an organization--an avowedly racist, Marxist, and violent anti-law-enforcement organization, which promotes itself using lies, distortion, propaganda and outright racism.
The demand is that everyone proclaim allegiance to this group and its message.
I refuse to do that.
I can't see the tweet Adams is responding to.
Did Matt get wise, and delete it?
I have my two youngest daughters home for the Summer and they have fully drunk from the Cool-Aid, so maybe their responses can illustrate how Biden might answer.
Me: Why is it anathema to say "All lives matter"?
PG (Pecchia Girls): It minimizes the pain of African Americans at a time when they are under assault.
Me: Are they? More unarmed white suspects were killed by police last year than black suspects.
PG: Sure, but blacks are only about 13% of the population.
Me: Yes, but they commit about half the crimes and therefore have many more interactions with the police on a per capita basis than white people.
PG: They commit more crimes because of centuries of persecution, etc. etc.
Me: Most blacks were born after the civil rights act passed, which is not to say they haven't experienced any discrimination, but I guess the key point is: How is that the fault of the police? Their job is to catch criminals.
Me: The main victims of black criminals are other black people. Shouldn't BLM be trying to get more and better policing, rather than driving the police out of their neighborhoods?
From there, the conversation became productive, with lots of good ideas and brain-storming about how to make cities safer and how to help disadvantaged kids get on a productive path.
"All Lives can't matter until Black Lives matter"
All he has to do is chant this a few times irrationally and he'll be just fine.
Question for Biden: "Do you know whether or not you are in God's grace?"
How about:
Which Lives Matter?
It looks like he may be showing 699 tweets.
Very low for his sort. Did he delete a ton of stuff?
More likely I’ve got something wrong.
I dunno.
Well, Matt would take down the tweet if it made him look bad. He's that kinda guy.
No journalist would ever ask Biden that question because there is no upside for Biden. No journalist will hurt Biden's chances to beat Trump. I'd ask Biden "is it ok to be white?" and would probably get the patented "C'mon Man" in response.
BTW, Duckworth has an eerie-Obama like background. Mixed Race marriage. Spent her youth overseas (in her case Thailand), went to HS in Hawaii. Mediocre student, who suddenly makes a connection with 'Right people' while going to college back east (Him Columbia, her G.W. in DC). She then ends up in Chicago working for a University, loses here legs, and ends up in the Illinois state Government. Some mysterious someone in the Chicago D Party, picks her to run for Congress, she loses, then gets more backing & run again and wins. After just 4 years in Congress, she wins a Senate seat against a weak R Opponent and now is being talked of as VP for Biden, which in effect is the President slot.
Like Obama she has powerful backing by the D power-brokers in Chicago and has rocketed to the top on the basis of who she is and not what she's done.
BTW, Duckworth is called a Lt. Col. Actually she was in the NG/Army Reserve as a Captain and lost her legs as the CO-pilot. After her wounding she was promoted to Major and then give a Lt Col rank and discharged. She was not a professional soldier. She was not a pilot, she was a CO-pilot and she was shot down flying a utility copter not a combat attack helicopter. There's no evidence for it, but my suspicion is she was a competent pilot but also an Affirmative action baby.
In a way, she reminds me of Sen. Clevland (?) who lost his legs in an accident and let people think he'd lost them in combat. Just like Kerry let everyone think he was a highly decorated Combat vet.
I'm not sure Biden is currently capable of answering questions in general unless they have been presented 24 hours in advance and he has been provided with a written script which is pre-recorded and edited. Joe Biden trying to act like a normal human being is a trap.
Just ask Joe to give an example of structural racism.
In doing so he will have to illustrate what structural and/or racism mean.
He'll try to get away with "Come on, man!"
If he goes beyond that, hilarity ensues.
It's a trap!
The Ewoks are gonna save the day
Because they aint scared of anything
"All Lives can't matter until Black Lives matter"
That is almost a tautology, except that the word until makes it a matter of opinion. If they said "All Lives DON'T matter UNLESS Black Lives matter", that would always be trivially true.
Do Black lives matter?
Depends. Are you deciding by actions or words? By statistics or slogans? And to whom do lives matter?
By statistics black lives don't matter much to blacks who kill each other (in the US) by a far greater percentage than whites kill whites or Asians kill Asians. Also by a far greater percentage than whites or Asians kill Blacks.
By statistics, black lives don't matter much to black women or white liberal women as prospective black mothers don't become mothers by killing their babies in the womb at a far greater percentage than any other racial or ethnic group- cheered on by white liberal women supporting that choice as they loudly proclaim "Black Lives Matter!"
Blacks kill themselves by accidental drug overdoses more often than other ethnic or racial groups.
Without looking it up, IIRC, deliberate suicide like the example of Jeffrey Epstein may be the only death statistic in which whites or Asians beat Blacks.
Black Lives Matter and they shall not have no police protection
White Lives Matter and they shall have police protection.
They used to "red-line" areas where the black community lived and deny them mortgages. Now they "blue-line" areas where the black community lives and deny them police protection. And this blue-lining is what Black Lives Matter has demanded. But I don't think it's right at all. And in my opinion, the new policing plan will turn out to be "social and behavioral adjusting" based on genetic testing which will include childhood interventions and drugs from an early age. And it will impact the black community the most for that community has been rioting which indicates pain and that community wants the police and the Constitution out. (Or so BLM is saying.) And so, what takes the place of police methods? Where will the billion dollars go? I think it will go to behavior adjusting. At any rate, behavior adjusting as a social solution is what the new eugenics is proposing based on studies funded by little sections on social behavior buried inside NIH like early cancers. Government + minority + eugenics - what could go wrong?
Just ask him if he has stopped beating his wife.
All lives matter, except Biden's life. What the fuck does he do every day that would make him an important person in life?
It doesn't matter because if Biden gave a poor set of answers the press would just ignore them.
Who was the last person who asked Biden a real, penetrating question? And when was that?
Asking for a friend.
Biden seems to get downright angry with ANYONE who asks him an incisive question... journalist or citizen.
How will that work out For the rest of us when he does this same thing as POTUS?
> She was not a pilot, she was a CO-pilot and she was shot down flying a utility copter not a combat attack helicopter. There's no evidence for it, but my suspicion is she was a competent pilot but also an Affirmative action baby.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6160431/Senator-Tammy-Duckworth-talks-losing-legs-Iraq-poses-Vogue.html
: Duckworth earned that medal, a Purple Heart, while serving in Iraq at age 36. On November 12, 2004, she was flying back to her base after getting groceries when the plane was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
HER LEGS ARE HER BIG ZINGER NOW - ala McCain as the war hero
"Just ask him if he has stopped beating his wife."
"I haven't beat her once. She's good at checkers."
They should just put Biden on Black Jepardy.
The whole thing is great but the last question is key.
There are lots of ways to make a mistake. You can tell the truth. You can tell a lie. It is rarely a mistake to change the subject. If Biden is asked these questions, he will respond by speaking of the disparities and discourtesies routinely shown to black people by policemen. He will tell a few stories, get moist-eyed, and tell about Cornpop’s death at the hands of the police. “They beat him senseless and then this big bastard knelt on his neck until he died. I’ll never forget the cold feeling in my gut. Come on, man!”
It's a witch test.
At this point I don't think Biden is capable of reasoned thought. I'm pretty sure he can't even repeat the lines he's been fed. So asking him these questions are for entertainment purposes only. However the questions will never be asked-don't even enter the arena. I like Adams, but sometimes he overthinks this shit.
Can both of these be phrased “does your life matter?”
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