181 Comments
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Feral Finster's avatar

Watching liberals on the one hand get Holier Than Thou, like some P.C. version of The Church Lady over some abstract point of wokery, the equivalent of how many LGTBQXYZPDQ+ can dance on the head of a pin and treating this as an existential matter, while at the same time consciously voting for open genocide and trying to shame anyone who doesn't go along is tragicomic.

Murdering Palestinian children in cold blood is A-OK! As long as we don't misgender them. That would be unforgivable.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

The Black hand of the Italian Mafia probably pales to light gray by comparison to the Black hand and heart of the Mossad, who I might actually believe might be wholesaling choice cuts of Pals to Costco.

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pretzelattack's avatar

or at least harvested organs to some black market. what happens to murdered Palestinian hostages in Israeli prisons?

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Jamal Mohamed's avatar

Mossad/CIA=Mafia

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

Definitely!

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Too much work's avatar

There is only one Mafia now and it's connected to Mossad

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Jack Lomax's avatar

Right on! The thing is we all have to show a bit more unity and remember a war is being waged against sub-human Palestinians who are actually animals. And if a young sub human animal shows up cooked on a dinner plate. Well that will be fine. Unless you are a weird vegetarian of course.

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Vanessa's avatar

Oh, so you’ve met my family then?

God forbid we talk about reality.

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Indu Abeysekara's avatar

Caitlin, You have done it again! We are into shock therapy. No politics at the dinner table but it's okay to be blasé about a genocide. You are a genius for driving home the point this forcefully of the carnage which seem to have escaped the Western ruling class and its vassals and their compliant media.

If one of them can shoot their ugly mouth off, demeaning a helpless minority of "eating cats and dogs ", most boundaries of decency have been crossed. Actually they are bereft of any kind of restraint. All boundaries have long been crossed with no let up of crimes against humanity. Where is the outrage for the tragedy of Gaza?

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halafi's avatar

This is taking the insanity to its ultimate extreme, and is brilliant writing. And, you remind me of something I experienced as a teen, going into a store (browsing while Palestinian) in a posh suburb of Boston called Brookline (I was teaching music to bored rich white kids and was between torture sessions).

I saw this basket of plushy zoo animals that had zippers on their bellies for credit card and cash storage. Except one plushy. That one was an Arab with a zipper on its mouth, the only biped in the bunch. I froze, and then I ran.

The shop owner was absolutely delighted, in a really terrifying way, to see my reaction, and actually cackled as I ran out of the store as though I'd been pantsed.

That wasn't the first time I questioned whether or not I was seen as human, but it was a very tangible illustration. My fight-or-flight reaction was so visceral that I could only regret my cowardice after the fact.

As I retell it, it still plays in my head as absurd physical comedy, with exaggerated clown-like running movements and the shop owner as a caricatured version of the wicked witch of the west. (No offense to Elphaba, of course!)

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Rukshana Afia's avatar

Whoever designed that 'plushy' should have their mouth zipped shut .

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gypsy33's avatar

Fuckin hell. I wish I-da been there. That toy would have ended up halfway down the store clerk’s throat.

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CarbonCopy's avatar

"Where the Sun don't Shine" would be the proper response!

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gypsy33's avatar

GREAT response, CC!

Then I-da taken the rest onto the sidewalk and lit ‘em on fire 😁

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

Ah yes, Brookline! Arriving in Boston from NYC to my first academic position, my new colleagues naturally asked where I originated. "Grew up in Brooklyn", I replied. "Oh. wonderful, Brookline, they effused, thinking I was a Brahmin, a wealthy asshole with a trust fund. "Uh noooo, folks. Brooklyn, NYC, Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Prospect Park and all those good ol' plebeian haunts," I shut them up for the duration.

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russian_bot's avatar

Seems like you made sure the accent didn't show. Or they don't know how Brookline brat should sound like.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

Yep, by the time I exited grad school, the Brooklyn accent had been greatly smoothed. But you're right, if I'd have been really seeking max sarcasm, I should've feigned a Brookline nasal snooty-ness with Boston-area vowel/hard consonant murder. But I found it so distasteful, I could've never pulled it off convincingly.

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russian_bot's avatar

I'd think the opposite - hit them with a heavy native Brooklyn Italian-Jewish flavor while insisting on "Brookline" and see how they fumble.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

You mean like: "Uh, fu*kin'-A, but dese effin douchebags on my block on Brookline Av. was like the biggest dickheads y'evah wanna meet, so I hung out in Cambridge or I woulda punched their heads in just for bein' such stoopid goombahs"

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russian_bot's avatar

And finish it with a savory 'fugeddaboutit' to put them in a prolonged stupor. Yes.

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Patrick Powers's avatar

Brookline people don't have the Boston accent. That's a Southie/Charleston thing.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

Just shows how much time I spent in Brookline. Way above my pay grade. Winthrop, Brighton and eventually West Newton were more my stomping grounds. But I had plenty of students from Southie and south shore.

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halafi's avatar

I was from Uphams Corner (I think NYC's equivalent of Harlem to white folks?), the mention of which would strike terror in 99% of the white people who asked "where are you from?" Of the 1% that dared venture further, like, "No, I mean where are you from originally?" Me: New York. "But I mean before that?" Me: Uhm, my mother's womb? Or the "what are you?" question. Always loved that one. Me: Hominid (or biped). "Huh? No, I mean like what ethnicity?" Me: Any variation of "SWANA/Mixed" or crazier things that scrambled their brains. I stopped telling people my multicultural background because it is phenomenally irritating when people ask like it's their right to know or pin me down in a category or give an opinion on whatever they feel entitled to voice. OR when I ask them the same question in retort and they say "American" and I respond: Really? What tribe are you registered with?

Gah!

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russian_bot's avatar

And then lots of American Palestinians vote for the uniparty. Or vote at all, supporting the system. While probably complaining about Arab countries not helping Palestine.

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Gregor McIntosh's avatar

The PSL oppose the system.

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Andrea Cherez's avatar

This is today’s letter to Biden:

Dear Most Powerful Person on the Planet,

“Angry words have no effect on the actions of the Israeli regime. The pile of dead Palestinians grows higher than our tallest skyscrapers, and includes Americans. Israel isn’t fighting a war. It’s slaughtering an entire people. October 7th is just a long sought excuse for genocide. Ranting and raving about this is an empty gesture. I’m a life long Democrat and will still vote that way on 11/5, but this one enormous issue sickens us. Is there anything Israel may do that you would stop?”

Sorry Caitlin and readers - There’s no way I’m voting for Stein in this election. Trump could easily bring wholesale slaughter to America, too.

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russian_bot's avatar

By participating in a corrupt system you support it de facto. Are you really this dumb, Gregor?

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Gregor McIntosh's avatar

I’m guessing you think the American “communist” party are better

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russian_bot's avatar

Keep guessing, Gregor. If nothing else you're amusing.

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Ron Stockton's avatar

Ouch! That one is going to irritate a lot of liberals/progressives. Once they calm down they might reflect on what it means. Or, they might do what liberals usually do when their stability is threatened, move to the right.

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JennyStokes's avatar

No. They'll eat the sandwiches!

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Dx's avatar

And shoot the messenger.

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CarbonCopy's avatar

Oh my fucking @#&&#@! RESPECT! This has to get posted on the fucking Billboards all across the country! This is the best post I have ever seen! Woman you really have taken those gloves off and this time threw them Out The Door! 😂🤣😍😁!

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Irshaad's avatar

Reminds me of Swift’s satirical “A Modest Proposal” - full title “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick” - this to be done by serving up the babies of the poor as table delicacies for the rich.

The genocidal policies of Biden and Harris and Netanyahu where a vast percentage of victims are children is captured in Caitlin’s satirical piece. I would have liked to have seen Biden, Harris, Blinken, at Netanyahu at that table eager to carve up the child- a true representation of their heartless policies and state of their souls.

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Timothy Skeers's avatar

I was born in the mid-50s and, like most Americans, started learning about WWII ,Hitler, etc. pretty early. Hitler references and allusions were pretty common, as in someone who did something mean was “like Hitler.” I was probably guilty of it too, but by adulthood, I eventually came to realize that such references not only trivialized the real horror of Naziism and The Holocaust, but were stupid and intellectually lazy. Seriously, is that the ONLY historical analogy you know? When the internet became a thing, it just got worse, to the point that the practice even has a name, Godwin’s Law.

But now … there is an actual head of government of a country who is ACTUALLY doing what Hitler was doing. And our own government, whoever is actually in charge (who even knows?), helping that head of government, also doing what Hitler would be doing. And does anyone mention Hitler? Oh, wait, yes they do! It is the former President and game-show host, who has been out of office for four years, during whose term this wasn’t happening, at least not at this level, who is HHIIITTLERRRRRRR!!!!! *

Crazy.

* Don’t get me wrong; I’m pretty sure that if he were in office, it would be going pretty much the same.

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CarbonCopy's avatar

I too grew up from the 50's and my relatives many were war Vets from the Big One WW2. I had Swastikas and other war items given to me but did not really get the connection to what they actually meant until I got older. I can tell you though if those relatives were still alive today I have to believe they would be on the streets with canes, walkers and in wheelchairs because my father was one of them and he knew a fascist when he saw one!

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Susan T's avatar

you are lucky. When my father died and I had to clean out his stuff, I found antisemitic stuff in there. He fought in the second war too. I felt sick and didn't tell the rest of my family. I thought at the time it would be better to remember him as a kind, compassionate person. He was not that at all. Only so far as he had to be to make a good impression for his work or so people around him would think he was really a "nice guy". The trouble is, he was sometimes very kind to other people, but there was still this horrible, dehumanizing side to him.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Snap Susan. Although my father had nothing of value when he died I have photo's of our life in Sri Lanka under the British Raj.

Also a very jolly man but mention the Queen and UK!! Nasty

Still trying to come to terms with this at age 75yrs!

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gypsy33's avatar

Boy Howdy, Caitlin, this one was, er…edgy. But as always, right on point.

Hint: don’t talk about the genocide anyplace else besides the dinner table either. Unless you want to lose your relationships with pro-genocidal fucktards.

Scratch that. That’s actually a GOOD thing.

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Dan Tompkins's avatar

It might be a good thing morally, but it’s fucking lonely. I’m starting to feel like Aaron Bushnell had the only moral response to this. But even seeing someone burning to death in protest of this unacceptable, unconscionable horror is not enough to snap people out of their stupor. Dead babies on a platter indeed. Apparently the only way the U.S. public would actually care is if it’s their own children being bombed.

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russian_bot's avatar

It's not only US public. It's true for everybody. Humans, you know.

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teddyG's avatar

That's what happened to me me recently. I discovered some long time friends were quite pro genocide and likely irreversibly propagandized. My last word to them was 'goodbye.' They can come back to me when they sober up.

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Peter Sawchuk's avatar

The worst part of it is most people in the West won't get the message. So many actually are that willfully blind.

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Susan T's avatar

I sometimes miss things because I still believe, wrongly, that people are mostly decent. I know that isn't true, but I still buy into that fallacy sometimes.

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Peter Sawchuk's avatar

It isn't really a fallacy. Most people do have good in them even those you may think are not all that good. Unfortunately psychopaths don't and that is basicallt what is running our governments.

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JennyStokes's avatar

It's called HOPE Susan.

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S Lowrey's avatar

I have often imagined an upper-middle class couple, having planned a dinner party that just happened to be

the evening after Krystllnacht, not cancelling. Everyone arrives and they have an delightful time, because

it is not polite to discuss politics on social occasions.

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Ned B.'s avatar

It's probably not polite to bring this up at the dinner table, but...

A man set himself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Boston, Massachusetts on September 11. A video posted to YouTube on Friday revealed the man’s identity as Matt Nelson. In the clip, Nelson said, "My name is Matt Nelson and I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest. We are all culpable in the ongoing genocide in Gaza."

https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2024/09/14/3158355/boston-man-sets-himself-on-fire-outside-israeli-consulate-in-protest-against-war-on-gaza

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dick g's avatar

What “Politics”?!

This is and has been about the spiritual soul of Western Society.

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JennyStokes's avatar

True.

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Selene's avatar

Oh man, we are so deluded.

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Jim S's avatar

Thank You Caitlin

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Theresa Barzee's avatar

So effing exactly, perfectly on point that I want to get it to every single one of my relatives. Except. That, they've to a person blocked me. Thank you, precious, honest, brilliant Caitlin!

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