18 Comments
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Josh Kornbluth's avatar

Another wonderful post, Parker! You are a Super example of kindness, empathy, and intelligence.

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Loren Bliss's avatar

Wonderfully revealing disclosure indeed, but no real surprise; inspired as much by Matthew Hopkins and Ayn Rand as by Hitler, the Christonazis and their Neoconfederate allies have always sought to outdo the Original Nazis in manifest hatefulness.

Aside to Parker: though a born New Yorker, I was in Jacksonvoille, Fla. c. 1945-48 (ages five to eight) and was a regular listener to the Superman show. I vaguely remember it was disappointingly off the air for part of 1946. Was this perhaps Southron censorship, vindictive suppression of the anti-KKK programming? (Knowing as I do the bottomless, zero-tolerance hatefulness that defines the Christian white South, it would again be no surprise.)

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Joseph Mangano's avatar

I think there's a certain subset of the electorate that equates kindness with weakness, esp. as concerns kindness towards those associated with the "other." As I think most readers here understand, however, showing kindness to others, including people who aren't like you, is a sign of strength. Try telling that to the Trump supporters who believe that "Alligator Alcatraz" is a model that should be replicated across the country, though.

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SteveB's avatar

"the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy" - Elon Musk

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Joseph Mangano's avatar

He really did say that, didn't he? 🤦‍♂️

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SteveB's avatar

To Joe Rogan, so you know he means it!

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Shai's avatar

Great post.

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Dawn Aberg's avatar

I live in NW Alabama. (I know.) And I am going to the local opening of the movie tomorrow wearing my "Proud Member Of The Woke Mob" t-shirt.

People probably won't notice. Around here in the movie theaters, it's mostly (sorry) really heavy people buying lots of food and chowing down all through the movie. Making it hard for their neighbors to hear.

But who knows? I might mix it up a bit!!!!!

You're the best, Parker.

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Gillian Rosheuvel's avatar

There's a whole cottage industry now of people writing articles and books about how empathy is actually bad - even a sin. And I just...don't even know what to do with that.

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SteveB's avatar

A lot of it's coming from Christian fundamentalists. I'm taking that as proof that people can read absolutely anything they want into the Bible.

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Kerry O'Malley's avatar

Brilliant. Thank you.

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Frank Lee's avatar

LOL. Well, Superman is a straight white male so you would think that leftists would applaud the right's criticism of the movie genre.

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SteveB's avatar

Here's a grown man angry that real leftists don't match the imaginary leftists who live in his head.

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SteveB's avatar

Also, obligatory LOL

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defineandredefine's avatar

The irony, of course, is when there's an outrage about the identity of characters or actors or whatever, it's right wing melons like frank freaking out about non-white actors playing the Little Mermaid or whatever.

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SteveB's avatar

Hey, for the Little Mermaid he has... um... feelings.

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defineandredefine's avatar

Yes, I’m sure he does…

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J.K. Anderson's avatar

The Feb 1940 "The Adventures of Superman" radio intro; it was shortened in Sep 1945:

"Up in the sky! Look!

It's a bird!

It's a plane!

It's Superman!

Yes, it's Superman—strange visitor from the planet Krypton who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great Metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice."

Disney's original 1943 "Der Fuehrer's Face" excerpt:

"Is we not the supermen?

Aryan pure supermen?

Ja, we is der supermen

Super-duper supermen!"

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