I guess it is a stupid way to get your idea across... and it does tend to alienate people.

[MADem]

237. This is just yet another example of that business we see all too often.

The whole premise of this pathetic thread was to try to defend those smartass punks who broke into the Oakland City Hall, STOLE a flag, and burned it on the steps. Aside from the lawbreaking aspect of the vandalism and theft involved in this piece of...er, street theater, that's just cheap. I always thought flag burnings were a BYOF type event.

So, unable to make their case, they root around and .... voila! Surprise, surprise--it's like that Back of the Bus Defense yet again! Let's throw some black people up against the barricades!! ANYTHING can be justified as a "civil right" if you can find some black guy who did something similar once upon a time--even if you have to kill off poor James Meredith in the process...!

That's why we saw this effort to Google like hell and find "a" black guy who once burnt a flag, alone, on a streetcorner in a section of NYC! Never mind that it was HIS flag, not a stolen one, and only had 48 stars on it...! It's the same, it's exactly the same!

This particular exchange was one of those "takes the cake" ones, but by no means the worst one I've been involved in here. I'd say the "Being black is the same as being obese" commentary I got a few days ago was probably the low point. It's amazing, and what's doubly amazing is that it's coming from a place of sheer...er, lack of knowledge...not deliberate racism (about the only saving grace to be found). Just whoosh--right through the old noggin without slowing down never mind stopping for reflection. No understanding why the words offend, either, and a double-down on a failed argument when ya try to point it out.

Ya just gotta laugh--if ya don't, you'll cry!