Categories
Bioethics Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

A little schadenfreude over animal rights activist Steven Best’s latest little problem

It’s no secret that I have little but contempt for radical animal rights activists. I make no apologies for this and, quite frankly, consider my contempt for them well-justified based on their behavior and words. Be it their fetishization of violence against researchers who use animals, their threatening of students in order to frighten them away from careers in scientific research that might involve the use of animals (for example, Alena Rodriguez), intimidating researchers by declaring their children as “not off limits,” trying to burn investigators’ houses down, harassing researchers, and in general behaving like criminals in their quest to stop all animal research. Indeed, most recently, I couldn’t help but feel a most satisfying sense of schadenfreude when Camille Marino, head loon at the animal rights blog Negotiation Is Over (negotiationisover.net) was finally jailed for her activities. Overall, NIO is a group that cleverly doesn’t explicitly advocate violence but makes threats and tries its best to intimidate.

Other “luminaries” in the animal rights movement include Jerry Vlasak, who, embarrassingly to me, is a surgeon who’s known for his justifications for murdering researchers. Basically, from my perspective, he eggs on the younger, more easily malleable members of the movement with flaming screeds of hate-filled rhetoric, while he maintains plausible deniability for his involvement in any crimes they might commit. Then there’s Steven Best, whose recent activities have revealed what a despicable piece of work hie is, in particular his hypocrisy.

Best is a tenured professor of philosophy at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) known for his incendiary rhetoric, for example about how he wants to make his enemies “feel the fear” (warning: language not safe for work):

Best was also co-founder of the North American Animal Liberation Press office and is widely known for his endorsement of violence as a legitimate, even preferred, means of achieving “total animal liberation.” The concept behind his views is “extensional self-defense,” whereby Best and his fellow travelers have decided that they are completely justified in using violence to achieve their aims or (preferably) in inducing various dupes to commit whatever crime it takes to stop animal research.

Consistent with the concept of “extensional self-defense” and speeches like the one above, Best used to be affiliated NIO in a big way, being a frequent contributor to its blog as recently as last year and having apparently actively assisted Marino and her wandering band of animal rights thugs in a a more material way, as described at Death And Taxes last year. Basically, Best appears to have allowed NIO to use one of his PayPal accounts to collect donations to use as a “bounty” for snitches willing to provide addresses, phone numbers, and personal information of students and professors whose research used animals, whom NIO would target for harassment. Marino and Best seemed to be the best of buddies, comrades in arms in the eternal struggle to harass and frighten “vivisectors” until they give up animal research, fellow travelers in the radical animal rights movement.

Not anymore, it would appear.

Late last month, in a delicious twist of fate, Steven Best and Camille Marino had a bit of a falling out. The entertainingly ironic thing about this whole kerfuffle between the two is that, when his own preferred methods of intimidation and threats were turned against him, suddenly Best’s bravado and rhetoric were no longer quite so bold. Suddenly, his proclamations of no fear weren’t quite so full-throated. In fact, they were nonexistent. Whereas Best is known for encouraging violent action on his website, publishing on his website the names, photos, and addresses of the scientists he targets, and speaking internationally about his justification for extremism up to and including violence in the service of animal rights activism, when such tactics were turned against him, he didn’t like it, not one little bit:

Steven Best, an outspoken advocate of animal rights and philosophy professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, obtained a restraining order on 15 October against fellow activist Camille Marino after she allegedly stalked Best and threatened violence against him. Marino was arrested at her home in Wildwood, Florida, on 19 October for violating the injunction. According to Marino’s website, she had e-mailed Best against the terms of that order.

Indeed:

In his request for protection filed in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, Best described Marino as “an old friend”, saying that they had worked together in the past “for the animals”. But he said that Marino had developed a “fatal attraction, love/hate” relationship towards him. Best alleged that in the past several months Marino had harassed him by phone and e-mail, threatened his life and slandered his reputation online.

Best would not speak about the case to Nature, but wrote in his petition that he feared Marino could pose a physical threat to others. “I now fear that person will not be a medical researcher/vivisector she loathes so intensely, but rather me,” he said.

Speaking of Research has the complete restraining order posted on its website. It’s worth reading (or else I wouldn’t have posted the link). In it Best complains that Marino has harassed and stalked him, sending him threatening e-mails in which she says she is going to destroy him and that she can taste his blood. According to Best, she also started a special blog in which she slanders him and posts his e-mails. While I don’t approve of such activity, it’s very hard not to feel a lot of schadenfreude at this development. Here is Steven Best, who once wrote, “Fuck the law! When the law is wrong the right thing to do is break it!” and “Let every motherfucker who shoots animals be shot; Let every motherfucker who poisons animals be injected with a barrel of battery acid; Let every motherfucking vivisector be vivisected and thrown away like the shit they are,” now running to the law for protection from a woman who is only giving him a taste of the medicine that he recommends for “vivisectionists.” I must admit, I feel guilty in the amount of glee that I feel in witnessing such a spectacle. Maybe I shouldn’t, but it’s hard not to feel a bit guilty at the discomfiture of even a man as vile and hypocritical as Steve Best when what he starts to reap what he has sown. It’s not unlike seeing Frankenstein’s monster turn against him, except that Victor Frankenstein and his monster were both much more sympathetic characters than Steven Best or Camille Marino.

In other words, Best should be able to do anything he wants when it comes to threats and intimidation, but the law should protect him from the same tactics. The police, who are his enemies when protecting scientists, suddenly become his best friends when he needs them to protect him from Marino. In actuality, the law should protect everyone, even slime like Best and Marino, but one marvels at the utter hypocrisy on display here. It’s a hypocrisy that is even more blatant than that.

what do I mean? Well, one of the most consistent characteristics of an utter crank that ‘ve come to appreciate is the double standard. For instance, Best thinks he’s perfectly justified in threatening violence against scientists, harassing and intimidating them by posting their contact information in places where animal rights activists will see it, and in general thinking he’s above the law when it comes to his cause, but let someone else turn his tactics on him and he goes running, tail between his legs, looking for a cop to protect him.

And when someone says something he thinks to be too mean about him, like many cranks he thuggishly resorts to legal threats in response to what Speaking of Research wrote, largely based on the article I cited above describing Best’s letting Marino use one of his PayPal accounts. He disputes its accuracy (which is his right, although in my reading he does it quite unconvincingly), and then he pulls out the legal threat, using a rather curious rationale:

you are violating my academic free speech rights with these false unproven claims, and I will take the most aggressive legal action against all of you, just as I have against Marino, who is soon to go down on federal charges for further violations of my PPO.

What a silly man. Even if everything Speaking of Research wrote were false (and it is my opinion that it is all well documented and therefore appears to be likely to be true), it would not be “violating his academic free speech rights” to criticize him, even falsely. Best has not been shut up. Unfortunately, he remains free to spew his venom under the cloak of “academic freedom.” (The hateful rhetoric of despicable, self-important twits like Best, who thinks that the law should apply to you and me but not to him, is, after all, the price of freedom, so to speak.) As Janet Stemwedel has explained in detail, academic free speech is not without limit. In fact, she makes a convincing argument that what Best does is far more an assault on academic freedom of speech than anything Speaking of Research has written:

Calling for violence towards other academics who do work of which you do not approve, then, seems like a failure of academic responsibility. And, such calls for violence are arguably more of an impediment to academic freedom than is a blog post critiquing a philosopher’s rhetoric or the use to which it has been put by activist groups.

Exactly. Steven Best thinks nothing of trying his very best to limit or extinguish the academic freedom of medical researchers through intimidation and threats of violence, but views criticism of his words activities, no matter how legitimate, as somehow infringing on his academic freedom. In this, he shares much in common with various quacks and antivaccinationists that I’ve seen in that he he seems to think that free speech means “freedom from criticism” for his speech and that such criticism, when he suffers it, is akin to infringing on his academic freedom. He seems also to think that freedom of speech means freedom from suffering consequences from his speech.

As I said before, what a silly man! That anyone, even animal rights activists, can take him seriously continues to amaze me.

One would hope that Best’s conversion to seeing the value of the law, his having seen for himself the effect that the sorts of tactics he’s been advocating for years can have on their targets, his sudden realization that he is not safe from the sorts of methods he advocates would lead him to a genuine change of heart. One might think that a reasonable person, having had his ally turn against him and subject him to the tactics of which he once implicitly approved and that he more than implicitly encouraged might teach him a lesson about the limits of behavior that is acceptable to use to forward one’s goals in civil society. One might think that Best might figure out that in a world where people like Camille Marino aren’t reined in no one is safe, not even him. Perhaps having been forced to slink off to the police for protection, his tail between his legs, might have taught him that and that the rule of law has a purpose.

You might think that, but you would almost certainly be wrong. The only thing that matters to Steve Best is the glory that is Steven Best and whatever Steven Best believes. Steven Best might advocate violence against his political and ideological opponents, but how dare anyone threaten him? Don’t believe me? Then take a look at a particularly revealing bit of Best’s complaint against Marino used to obtain a restraining order:

She has always talked about killing herself, and that she would “take someone out with her”; I now fear that person will not be a medical researcher/vivesector she loathes so intensely, but rather me.

In other words, it’s perfectly fine by Best if Marino were to kill herself and take out one of his enemies, but how dare she threaten the great Steven Best?

As Ken over at Popehat points out, Professor Best has any number of slimy ways he can try to argue that he is not a sniveling hypocrite. He believes that his ideas and his belief in the moral rightness of using threats of violence to serve his cause should (and will) only be used in the service of causes he supports. As Ken correctly further points out, the rule of law doesn’t just protect scientists. It should protect anyone who might be subject to threats, intimidation, and attacks, even a someone as thoroughly odious and hypocritical as Steven Best.

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

68 replies on “A little schadenfreude over animal rights activist Steven Best’s latest little problem”

So what Best is discovering is that mentally unstable people can be mentally unstable people? Gosh. My heart bleeds for him.

false unproven claims

Double negative? Does he mean it’s false that these claims are unproven?

I am working on a skeptic-related project and would love some feedback from the people here. It’s not however worth derailing threads for, so I wonder if the regulars wouldn’t mind giving me a shout via flippingflipperburgers AT gmail DOT com. It won’t take anything except a little of your time.

Thanks for posting this Orac. If Steve Best thinks he can encourage harassment and violence and then play the victim when his weapon of choice turns on him he is very much mistaken!

I read about this over at Popehat.com and thought it very ironic. And also a reminder of just how unbelievably empathetic people can be: up until the target is themselves.

Also, do they forget that humans are animals too?

Orac you really should edit the text of the “I now fear that person will not be a medical researcher/vivisector she loathes so intensely, but rather me” bit. The original includes italics which clearly suggests going after medicos is ok, but going after him isn’t.

@me

And also a reminder of just how unbelievably empathetic people can be: up until the target is themselves.

should be

And also a reminder of just how unbelievably *lacking* in empathy people can be…

The phrase “Hoist on his own b/tard” has seldom been more apposite.

“I now fear that person will not be a medical researcher/vivisector she loathes so intensely, but rather me,”
Says it all, really.

Great piece Orac. Steve Best is nuts and it seems his silly threats against SR are turning against him.

“extensional self-defense” … If I were a researcher who used animals, would Best think I was justified if I shot him because he’s egging on my harassers?

You know, chop off the head and the body will eventually die.

Heliantus
false unproven claims

Double negative? Does he mean it’s false that these claims are unproven?
***
No, that would be written correctly as “falsely unproven claims.”

Sorry – that’s just the English major in me…

Ah, the delicious irony and double standards of steven best, showing the world his true hypocrisy.

To be honest, I don’t feel any pity for this man, he is reaping what he has sown. May he enjoy the full fruits of his ill-gotten gains.

Animal research… (OT) The coolest news since Dolly the cloned sheep:
“Researchers discover how mole rat wards off cancer” http://phys.org/news/2012-11-mole-rat-wards-cancer.html
Two different mechanisms, one for each species of mole rat!
— — — — —
I want those anti-cancer genes inserted into my genome, pronto !!!
I suppose one could start by germline treatment of small monkeys to see there are no lethal side effects, but since we are talking about f*cking cancer, I will be happy with any non-lethal side effects.
In addition, give me a set of genes to drastically reduce the risk of dementia, and a set of genes to postpone senescence…

At first I read this and didn’t realize where professor best came from…the guy is in TX? Seriously? He’s in TX and he is scared? Seriously…go buy yourself a piece and learn how to use it. It isn’t like it’s hard to get one in that state. They practically come out of vending machines.

As far as his complaints, this is certainly a case of reaping what he sowed. The term crazy is there for a reason and it’s usually only a matter of time before the beast turns on it’s master.

He’s tenured in TX, he took out his restraining order in NM. With other words, he doesn’t even dare living in the state that tenured him.

In my experience, the Wacky portion of the Left tends to frown on the ownership of firearms.

Best has the weirdest definition of academic free speech I have ever heard…..But I should remenber that next time one of my papers comes back as rejected…..the reviewers are obviously impeding my academic freedom…shame on them! I wonder if the argument would get the paper accepted….

Just delighted that I live in a State that has strictly enforced hand gun laws. Too bad, there isn’t a strict national gun law.

@Mu: I also noticed that he took the order out in New Mexico. Presumably that’s where he actually lives (IIRC the county in question includes Las Cruces, which is close enough to El Paso that he could commute). I don’t think it’s necessarily that he is afraid to live in Texas, but rather that he chose some time ago to live in New Mexico.

Don’t the Christians have a saying: “He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword”?

I am continuously amazed how often poetic justice is visited upon the alties: Hulda Clark is unable to cure herself, Gary Null poisons himself with his own supplements and *this*!
I’m sure that I can work AJW in there somehow** but I don’t have the time now..
As they say..’ it bit you in the @ss’.

** it would have to involve lawyers.

@ColBosch

Yes, but this is the wacky portion of the left that promotes violence and does everything but dance gleefully on graves.

Denice: “As you sow so shall you reap” is appropriate as well. It’s also a perfect example of karma in its true sense: an intentional action causing effects that come back to the original actor.

And given that the people in question were clearly drawn to each other because they were brimming with misanthropy and rage to begin with, I’d be surprised if the relationship hadn’t ended this way.

I thought that she was in FL….so he took out a restraining order in NM against a woman in the state of FL and he teaches in TX?

I see why it’s called the loony left now.

Actually lilady, we have lots of firearm control laws. Our problem is that we don’t enforce them anywhere enough.

@Lilady

“Just delighted that I live in a State that has strictly enforced hand gun laws. Too bad, there isn’t a strict national gun law.”

A topic which leads to heated collars 😉

I’m in not only such a state, but a city which outlaws private handgun ownership for all but the politically connected.

It’s also the only place I’ve ever been held up in an armed street robbery, and the only place where there have been multiple shootings within 1/2 mile of where I live.

@kruuth: Adding to lilady’s reply to you: the TRO lists an address in Anthony, NM, which is presumably Best’s residence. Best states that this is his mailing address. If you are going to request a TRO against somebody, you would normally do so in the jurisdiction where your residence is located. (It’s also possible that he is pursuing a TRO in Texas.)

Anthony is located just over the state line. From there to El Paso is an easy commute.

There are plenty of reasons for thinking Best is a whack job, but his choice of forum is not one of them.

@herr doktor bimler: What’s an Orac post without a pedantic comment from me?
The phrase is not “hoist on his own b/tard”, although your spelling suggests possibilities. It is “hoist on his own petard”.
A petard was a crude Renaissance era bomb consisting of a ceramic crock filled with gunpowder. Bombs of that era were actually pretty sophisticated, but fuses weren’t, so oftentimes Renaissance demolition experts were hoisted high in the air by the premature demolition of their handiwork.
I have to agree with your sentiment, though.

@ Spectator:

I’d still rather live in a State with strict gun laws. I was somewhat comforted that when I sent my kids to school, that the chances of them being victimized by another student or stranger armed with an assault rifle, were a lot less, than if we resided in a State with lax gun laws.

“It’s also the only place I’ve ever been held up in an armed street robbery, and the only place where there have been multiple shootings within 1/2 mile of where I live.”

How many of those *shooters* were *politically connected* individuals…who, according to you, are permitted to carry a gun?

I’m still very glad that my State is one of 25 States that hasn’t enacted “stand your ground” gun laws:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-nra-pushes-stand-your-ground/2012/04/15/gIQAL458JT_story.html

The fun part, Anthony NM is next to Vado, NM, home of one of the largest cattle feed operations I’ve ever seen. Great place to be a animal rights activist, I’m pretty sure he’s not mouthing off in his local bar.

@ Mu: Have you ever been on Interstate 10, passing through Anthony, Texas? It is the sister city of Anthony NM. The cattle pens are very close to the Interstate and I’m gagging now, remembering the awful stench that permeated our rental car.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony,_Texas

There’s the perfect spot for Best to get *active*. Oops, I forgot; he only incites others to do the dirty work.

Orac, you are definitely full of hatred. Hope you enjoyed your rant at least.

so oftentimes Renaissance demolition experts were hoisted high in the air by the premature demolition of their handiwork.

I always use “hoist by his own petard”. It sounds possibly obscene to those who do not know what a petard is.

The RationalWiki entry on Best is up-to-date:

The irony of Best’s bid to seek police protection — despite openly advocating tactics like Marino’s when applied to “vivisectionists”, and often viewing the police as an enemy when they protected research scientists from his own threatening behavior — was so delicious that it caused diabetes to spontaneously appear in Skeptics everywhere.

From the SPLC entry on NIO as a hate group, we learn that Best’s Enemies List includes people who share his goals but disagree with his methods. He describes non-violent animal advocates as “a cancer to be CUT OUT of this movement ENTIRELY, no compromise, no negotiation, no kumbaya, dead and gone”… and “traitorous individuals and organizations who identify and collaborate with exploiters and cops over the exploited and militants in the animal advocacy movement”.

So again, his complaint about Marino is that she is following precisely the behaviour he prescribed.

In other news, the latest weather forecast is for a 75% chance of rain on your wedding day.

Orac, you are definitely full of hatred. Hope you enjoyed your rant at least.

Wow, Lavender Lady, you sure put a lot of thought into that.

For the record, whether or not Orac is right that Best has now displayed himself to be a mewling hypocrite is, in fact, independent of whether Orac has “hatred” or not. Which, you know, some people would take to mean that by focusing on Orac’s supposed “hatred,” you’re just trying to change the subject.

But, giving you the benefit of the doubt, how do you interpret Best’s sudden declaration that he should be protected from exactly the same tactics he endorses using on others? If the answer’s anything other than “hypocrisy,” I’m sure we’d all love to hear your reasoning.

@lavender lady

So you support a terrorist who supports violence against scientists and students.

Nice to know that you are, at heart, a terrorist yourself.

@Eric Lund

You’re correct. I should have consulted a map before posting that. It leads me to wonder if he would also take one out in TX if that is his place of employ.

Orac, you are definitely full of hatred
Clearly not true, as it would leave no room for glee, amazement, amusement and schadenfreude.

“Clearly not true, as it would leave no room for glee, amazement, amusement and schadenfreude.”

Don’t forget giggles, guffaws, snickers, and belly laughs.

Orac’s link to this pathetic hypocritical wanker’s request for a restraining order reveals that he has the gall to include this in his application

She has a history of this, in fact the Wayne, State University has her banned from there and a Professor has obtained an order of protection against her to stay away from his home and the University but she violated that and was arrested

He even includes press clippings about this.

http://speakingofresearch.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/steves-tro.pdf

Also, how can he claim “Domestic Abuse”?

I can endorse violence in situations (that I don’t want to list) while simultaneously agreeing that others have the right to be protected from it. It’s not a question of hypocrisy, only a matter of what works. It’s common to conclude that violence or the threat of it never work, and I wish it were true, but I don’t think it is. John Steinbeck has things to say.

herrdoctorbimler, I was not aware of the usages of /B/tard before, but did have a dim notion that you were implying such.
lmachintelligence, I am somewhat of a language traditionalist. As far as I can tell, “on” was the original usage.
In any case, Best Of The Worst is getting what’s coming to him, and I am still a little too civilized to wish on him a literal catastrophic failure of his fired-clay IED (although I wouldn’t cry very long if it happened).

Orac’s link to this pathetic hypocritical wanker’s request for a restraining order reveals that he has the gall to include this in his application

She has a history of this, in fact the Wayne, State University has her banned from there and a Professor has obtained an order of protection against her to stay away from his home and the University but she violated that and was arrested

I don’t know what qualifies as domestic abuse but did you see this part?

C. Did drugs or alcohol play a role in the domestic abuse?
_ YES
D. Were weapons used during the abuse?
_ YES
If yes, what weapons?
[nothing specified]

Ms. Marino violated the RO by emailing him, no personal contact so how could weapons be involved and how could he know drugs and/or alcohol were involved? What a whiny little tosser. I can only hope he has suffered substantial humiliation by having to avail himself of the very agencies he acts against.

Oh this is good too:

The respondent will contact my email, text, facebook or any othel media. She leaves me messages cursing at me and threats. She has a history of this, in fact the Wayne, State University has her banned from there and a Professor has obtained an order of protection against her to stay away from his home and the University but she violated that and was arrested, I know that this last part has nothing to do with me but I just want the court to understand the kind of person we are dealing with and why I fear her and her threats. I just want her to stop stacking, harassing me, I have attached copies of the threats posted on facebook, emails and the new article on her getting arrested at the University along with a cover sheet on the history. I am a Dr.
Professor at UTEP and I can’t have her slandering my name and the threats she is posting. Please help me [Obi Wan; you’re my only hope].

Ok, I couldn’t resist a little artistic license (in [brackets]). But a Dr. Professor? A bit redundant. And he seriously can’t spell “stalked” in spite of his numerous claims he is? He engages in the same vile, contemptible behaviour against others including the Wayne State professor as she does and he is mewling about her actions and his professional reputation? Gah, what an over-entitled piece of horse dung Best is.

Best makes a reference to his “son, soul mate and the love and joy of his life” dying of cancer.

It was his freakin cat.

OK, I’ll stop now.

Old Rockin’ Dave:

The phrase is not “hoist on his own b/tard”, although your spelling suggests possibilities. It is “hoist on his own petard”.

And, per Shakespeare’s reputation, it’s also a double-entendre. In Elizabethan times, the word (which comes from French) meant two things. One, a shaped charge used principally by specialized sappers attempting to breach a castle’s defenses during a siege. Two, a fart. 😉 In context, it’s clearly referring to the explosive device, except for one thing — the text spells it “petar”, which is more like the French verb from which the bomb’s name originates. And that verb means “to fart”, so he probably intended the dirty pun.

She has a history of this, in fact the Wayne, State University has her banned from there and a Professor has obtained an order of protection against her to stay away from his home and the University but she violated that and was arrested

That is perhaps the cream of the jest, as Cabell was wont to say. As evidence for Marino’s dangerousness and serial-stalking procilivities, Best is citing her previous harassment campaign which he himself instigated.

Best makes a reference to his “son, soul mate and the love and joy of his life” dying of cancer.
It was his freakin cat.

Why are veterinary researchers doing so little to find a cure?!

Best “was there when his ‘son, soul mate and the love of his life’ was euthanized”. He buried ‘his son’ in his front yard.

-Just be grateful he hasn’t spread his “seed” around.

Time for the unofficial Australian national anthem:

Restraining order, restraining order,
He took out a restraining order on me.
And she sang as she sat there, watching while his bunny boiled,
He took out a retraining order on me.

@Calli Arcale: Live and learn! I did not know this, but I am glad I do now. Thank you.

Best makes a reference to his “son, soul mate and the love and joy of his life” dying of cancer.
It was his freakin cat.

He didn’t starve it to death with a forced vegan diet. Perhaps that was the point of contention resulting in the schism with Marino.

@ herr doktor bimler: There’s always room for another GREAT blog-post….thanks.

@Dave
In an additional bit of totally useless information, the French produce a delicious little fritter called, for some reason, pets de nonne (nun’s farts).

how ironic. Best ran me off from the local veg society cuz i wasn’t veeeegan, accusing ovo-lacto vegies of “stomping on the earth in jackboots.” not surprised to hear he’s still an asshole.

In my experience, the Wacky portion of the Left tends to frown on the ownership of firearms

That misperception arises because 1) you mislabel progressives with the term “the left”, as a propaganda technique, and 2) you also dishonestly stereotype progressives. It’s partly the fault of Fox News but partly your own fault, too. You get your stereotypes from Fox News because you like the high.

The “wacky left”, that is, authoritarian collectivists, have been much depleted since the Soviet Union broke up, whether by coincidence or not, but when they were at their peak they were quite in favor of violence. E.g. the Bader-Meinhoff “gang”, etc.

It’s fairly amusing that you stereotype a guy who constantly calls for violence as being against firearms. Do you think he must want people to attack researchers with halberds and crossbows or something?

As a progressive who supports science, humane animal research, and who doesn’t give a rat’s ass how much you fetishize firearms as long as you don’t use them illegally, I would respectfully ask you to rethink your stereotypes, and also to consider abandoning silly misuse of terms like “the left”.

I see why it’s called the loony left now.

I’m wondering what the left wing have done to deserve being saddled with Best. He does not sound like a political conservative, but his philosophy-prof status (i.e. ‘intellectual’) isn’t enough to consign him to the Progressive side either — unless one begins with the premise that “leftwing extremists are crackpot, therefore all crackpots are leftwing extremists”.

It’s not as if Best is interested in improving the position of the working class… he seems to hate & despise the human race in general (apart from anyone able to maintain a vegan life-style).

Best makes a reference to his “son, soul mate and the love and joy of his life” dying of cancer.
It was his freakin cat

The fact that he liked his cat is one of the few things I can stand about this guy…

That misperception arises because 1) you mislabel progressives with the term “the left”, as a propaganda technique, and 2) you also dishonestly stereotype progressives. It’s partly the fault of Fox News but partly your own fault, too. You get your stereotypes from Fox News because you like the high.

That’s just uncalled for. I’m a card-carrying member of the left and I acknowledge that yeah, we have a wacky contingent. We’re talking about people who think that if white males perceived to be arrogant and entitled are accused of a horrible racist offense, they should be convicted in order to send the message that racism is unacceptable, even after it’s established that the offense in question never occurred. Don’t tell me there’s not a Wacky Left; don’t tell me that everyone who acknowledges the existence of the Wacky Left must fit the stereotype of the Fox-“News”-guzzling gnoron.

I’m curious, I’ve seen the extreme right in action but what about the extreme left, I know nothing about it despite being a lefty (how lefty I am I’d like to compare with the extreme left). Do any of you have an example of the extreme left?

Thanks
Alain

@ Lilady

According to that text, I am the very extremist they are fearing. Glad to be an extremist 😀

Alain

Comments are closed.

Discover more from RESPECTFUL INSOLENCE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading