Re: Sick Joke (Mostly non-Kate)

["Stuart M. Castergine" <scasterg@dispatch.com>]

On Thu, 21 Mar 1996 13:28:04 GMT E.L.Brookfield@mmu.ac.uk (E L BROOKFIELD)
wrote:
>               Who told that 'joke' about the policeman
>               beating up someone.... yes really funny
>               NOT.... I found it really offensive,
>               violent, sick. Is this what American cops
>               laugh about in the locker room after a
>               long, hard day ?
>               Whoever posted it feel ASHAMED. This is a
>               group dedicated to a beautiful woman, not
>               sick, fascist male humour.
>
>               There, had to get that off my chest.
>               Normal service can now be resumed.
>                            Esther.x

Sorry, just have to get this off *my* chest:

Relax!

If you think that was sick, fascist humor, then you have a serious
over-sensitivity problem. First, the joke was not  *not* a joke glorifying
violence. Nobody is really suggesting policeman ought to beat people up for
mintor traffic offenses. Get a clue. It was just a very illuminating analogy.
Let me recap:

Policeman: "I'm giving you a ticket for not stopping."
Driver: "But I slowed down."
Policeman: "But you didn't stop."
Driver: "But I slowed down."
Policeman: (starts beating driver) "Now, do you want me to stop or just slow
down."

The obvious answer from the poor driver is "Stop!"

It's not a real world situation. It's not a suggestion for appropriate behavior
in a real-world situation. It's the classic rhetorical device of using an
extreme example to highlight absurd or conflicting ideas, in this case
"stopping" and "slowing down."

Have you ever read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal?" It's a seriously
written proposal to combat hunger in England via the practical expedient of
cannibalism. Swift wasn't really advocating cannibalism. He would probably have
laughed very hard at anyone who was so foolish as to take "A Modest Proposal"
literally. Today it stands as a world-famous example of satirical rhetoric.

Relax.

Ob Kate: I bets Kate's read "A Modest Proposal," or at least "Gulliver's
Travels," another masterpiece of political satire by Swift.

Was Kate sick for writing "Coffee Homeground"? Isn't that sick, fascist female
humor, advocating poisoning people? Or how about "The Wedding List"? do we
really want to see more sick, revenge-crazed women out there taking the law into
their own hands? Wasn't it irresponsible for here to write that? How about "The
Infant Kiss"? Pedophilia! Child molestation! Sick, sick! I could go on and on,
that Bush woman is one disturbed individual and she should be ASHAMED!

     One in your belly, and one for Rudi.
     You got what you gave by the heel of my bootie.
     Bang-bang--Out! like an old cherootie,

Stu (And I'm coming for you!)
                              ;-)

--
scasterg@dispatch.com == Stuart M. Castergine        |              ---
All young gentle dreams drowning                     | "Mmm, yes."   |/
In life's grief                                      |               |\
Can you hang on to me? --Kate Bush, _Big Stripey Lie_|