Charles Krauthammer reveals he has only weeks to live.

[ProudModerate2]

A brave man to disclose and be so open about his coming death.
Though I disagreed with him quite often, I hope his passing will be painless and surrounded by loved ones.

[Calthrina950]

It's extremely distressing to see people I agree with politically putting those political beliefs before a person's humanity. I dislike Krauthammer. I don't think think he's some super intellectual person (though compared to who else is on the channel he's on, Krauthammer, Wallace, and Shep Smith all look like veritable geniuses). But you know what he is? An effing human being, which, in my mind, means that I should hope his last few weeks are happy and painless because I'm a decent human being and don't put virtue signalling over a dying man.

There is certainly a time and place to discuss whether Krauthammer has made great contributions to society. This is neither the time not place.

I agree 100% with this. I am glad that there are at least some people with decency on this forum.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

I'll regard his passing the same as he did the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths he lustfully extolled.

What is your problem? It seems like you cannot even give due consideration to the death or misfortune of someone without digging up the "bad things" about them. I recall how you did the exact same thing to Barbara Bush when news of her death was posted here.

Leaving Barbara Bush out of this, why shouldn't the truth about a person be allowed to come out when they die/are about to die.  I personally can't stand these 'weren't they a wonderful person?' B.S eulogies.

Nothing that is said by industrialjustice about Krauthammer here isn't true.  He was evil and I don't see any reason why that shouldn't be said just because he's about to die.

These B.S eulogies can have a real world impact as George Mason University was clearly inspired by them to name their prestigious law school after the vile Antonin Scalia.

So, 'weren't they wonderful?' eulogies are clearly part of the partisan games and there is no way the evil Krauthammer should be allowed to be made out as some wonderful person.

See, this is a false dichotomy. By failing to post something smarmy and self-superior about Krauthammer, you aren't tacitly endorsing him, you're just not being an asshole to someone who is literally dying. It's almost as if you people think that if you don't post something self-congratulatory about how much you hate those people, then Bhaskar Sunkara himself will come and rip the Bernie Sanders sticker off the back of your MacBook and you will suddenly be a Registered Republican with a 10K bonus from Goldman Sachs.

Like, I understand that you feel like you need to project purity in order to satisfy other people who share your ideology, but do you really need to crap in every thread to remind us how much better you are than Charles Krauthammer of all people? I've never been a fan of anything else he's written but I don't feel so insecure about my political identity that I feel the need to turn a thread about his imminent passing into a measure of how awesome my beliefs are.

So, where is the false dichotomy?  If nobody had made a 'wasn't he wonderful' B.S comment (I don't doubt some of them actually believe it) I wouldn't have written anything.  Maybe I missed your point there, if you have one. The double negative in your sentence makes it impossible for me to understand.

How can this be to do with ideology from me when I haven't stated any of my political beliefs here?

It seems you think I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter. I'm not.  

If by 'ideology' you mean that we should tell the truth as we see it about people, places and things at all times, then that's certainly my ideology, and I stand behind it.

The false dichotomy is "if I am not dancing on Charles Krauthammer's grave, then I'm calling him wonderful." There are plenty of bad people who die or are on the verge of death and most users on this board are capable of showing the restraint of not using it as an opportunity to criticize them and, lo, it does not compromise their political beliefs at all.

The Bernie Sanders comment was flippant (and directed at other users) but the point is that the left (as the right has done a few years before) has fallen into a need to signal ideological purity in order to maintain status. I think you people entering this thread to dump on a dying man, in addition to being startlingly dehumanizing, is another instance of this, where you feel the need to signal to each other, or to other people you have ideological differences with, or yourselves, that you hold a moral superiority to Krauthammer (and probably to other people on this board). It's grotesque and an unhealthy feature of discourse.

[136or142]

I'll regard his passing the same as he did the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths he lustfully extolled.

What is your problem? It seems like you cannot even give due consideration to the death or misfortune of someone without digging up the "bad things" about them. I recall how you did the exact same thing to Barbara Bush when news of her death was posted here.

Leaving Barbara Bush out of this, why shouldn't the truth about a person be allowed to come out when they die/are about to die.  I personally can't stand these 'weren't they a wonderful person?' B.S eulogies.

Nothing that is said by industrialjustice about Krauthammer here isn't true.  He was evil and I don't see any reason why that shouldn't be said just because he's about to die.

These B.S eulogies can have a real world impact as George Mason University was clearly inspired by them to name their prestigious law school after the vile Antonin Scalia.

So, 'weren't they wonderful?' eulogies are clearly part of the partisan games and there is no way the evil Krauthammer should be allowed to be made out as some wonderful person.

See, this is a false dichotomy. By failing to post something smarmy and self-superior about Krauthammer, you aren't tacitly endorsing him, you're just not being an asshole to someone who is literally dying. It's almost as if you people think that if you don't post something self-congratulatory about how much you hate those people, then Bhaskar Sunkara himself will come and rip the Bernie Sanders sticker off the back of your MacBook and you will suddenly be a Registered Republican with a 10K bonus from Goldman Sachs.

Like, I understand that you feel like you need to project purity in order to satisfy other people who share your ideology, but do you really need to crap in every thread to remind us how much better you are than Charles Krauthammer of all people? I've never been a fan of anything else he's written but I don't feel so insecure about my political identity that I feel the need to turn a thread about his imminent passing into a measure of how awesome my beliefs are.

So, where is the false dichotomy?  If nobody had made a 'wasn't he wonderful' B.S comment (I don't doubt some of them actually believe it) I wouldn't have written anything.  Maybe I missed your point there, if you have one. The double negative in your sentence makes it impossible for me to understand.

How can this be to do with ideology from me when I haven't stated any of my political beliefs here?

It seems you think I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter. I'm not.  

If by 'ideology' you mean that we should tell the truth as we see it about people, places and things at all times, then that's certainly my ideology, and I stand behind it.

The false dichotomy is "if I am not dancing on Charles Krauthammer's grave, then I'm calling him wonderful." There are plenty of bad people who die or are on the verge of death and most users on this board are capable of showing the restraint of not using it as an opportunity to criticize them and, lo, it does not compromise their political beliefs at all.

The Bernie Sanders comment was flippant (and directed at other users) but the point is that the left (as the right has done a few years before) has fallen into a need to signal ideological purity in order to maintain status. I think you people entering this thread to dump on a dying man, in addition to being startlingly dehumanizing, is another instance of this, where you feel the need to signal to each other, or to other people you have ideological differences with, or yourselves, that you hold a moral superiority to Krauthammer (and probably to other people on this board). It's grotesque and an unhealthy feature of discourse.

There is no false dichotomy there.  As I wrote in a number of previous posts before you responded to me, had the comments on his passing been along the lines of this, I wouldn't have posted here:

Not a fan of him, but sad news. My best wishes go out him an his family.

Had that comment not included the 'not a fan of him' I also would not have responded.

However, as I also wrote in a comment, if people here are going to praise him, then I think those comments deserve to be replied to.  Essentially, if people are going to use the news of his passing to build a positive legacy for him, I think that should be challenged when it is based on B.S about him, or does not include negatives.

[forgotten manatee]

He is confronting death with bravery, resolve, and dignity. I'm not sure I would be able to muster up the same amount of courage in the face of the imminent end to life.

I used to get so enraged by Krauthammer's articles in the early Obama years; yet, at the same time, I had to respect that his arguments were well written and rooted in conservative principles that he genuinely believed. I also respect that he did not throw in his lot with the Michael Barones of the world at the start of the Trump administration just to remain relevant.

I hope he and his family are able to make the most of their remaining time together. How very sad for those he will leave behind.

[136or142]

It's extremely distressing to see people I agree with politically putting those political beliefs before a person's humanity. I dislike Krauthammer. I don't think think he's some super intellectual person (though compared to who else is on the channel he's on, Krauthammer, Wallace, and Shep Smith all look like veritable geniuses). But you know what he is? An effing human being, which, in my mind, means that I should hope his last few weeks are happy and painless because I'm a decent human being and don't put virtue signalling over a dying man.

There is certainly a time and place to discuss whether Krauthammer has made great contributions to society. This is neither the time nor the place.

Except you and especially this comment are also engaged, to some degree, in virtue signaling:

I'll regard his passing the same as he did the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths he lustfully extolled.

Your callousness makes you no better than what you accuse him of.

Grow up.

The reason I wrote 'engaged to some degree' is because psychological research actually makes it fairly clear that the seeming compassion extended here is actually based, to some degree, on selfish motives.  Of course I don't know about any specific person who has posted here, but I have no doubt that many of the people who wrote  positive things about him, don't actually care about Krauthammer but are doing so in the hopes that people will either say nice things about them, or at least, no negatives things about them, when they die.  My attitude is that 'people can say anything about me when I'm gone' so I couldn't care less about any such reciprocity.

Krauthammer was a cheerleader and an enabler of a war that led to the deaths of up to 1 million innocent people in Iraq, among many other vile causes that he championed, I see no reason why any compassion should be extended to him.

If Americans, at least, actually believed that 'everybody deserves compassion' they wouldn't have the death penalty. (Not saying that Krauthammer deserved the death penalty either, but pointing out that Americans don't actually extend compassion to everybody.)

I do, however, extend thoughts and prayers to his family.

Edit: Also, I wonder if those who express sadness for his death or, especially have written kind things about him, could show me their posts expressing sadness or saying kind things about the innocent people killed as a result of the Iraq war that Krauthammer championed based on a series of lies.

[DC Al Fine]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

[forgotten manatee]

Edit: Also, I wonder if those who express sadness for his death or, especially have written kind things about him, could show me their posts expressing sadness or saying kind things about the innocent people killed as a result of the Iraq war that Krauthammer championed based on a series of lies.

I agree with you that the Iraq War as a huge mistake and inflicted unspeakable suffering on innocent Iraqis, but I'm not sure its fair to put their blood on his hands. Save that stuff for the administration that sold and started it.

[IndustrialJustice]

I agree with you that the Iraq War as a huge mistake and inflicted unspeakable suffering on innocent Iraqis, but I'm not sure its fair to put their blood on his hands. Save that stuff for the administration that sold and started it.

The Bush administration's efforts in selling their lies were aided significantly by the reporting and column space of the New York Times and Washington Post. That's... pretty much the point here.

[forgotten manatee]

I agree with you that the Iraq War as a huge mistake and inflicted unspeakable suffering on innocent Iraqis, but I'm not sure its fair to put their blood on his hands. Save that stuff for the administration that sold and started it.

The Bush administration's efforts in selling their lies were aided significantly by the reporting and column space of the New York Times and Washington Post. That's... pretty much the point here.

Got it. My point is that I'll give Krauthammer the benefit of the doubt.

[136or142]

I agree with you that the Iraq War as a huge mistake and inflicted unspeakable suffering on innocent Iraqis, but I'm not sure its fair to put their blood on his hands. Save that stuff for the administration that sold and started it.

The Bush administration's efforts in selling their lies were aided significantly by the reporting and column space of the New York Times and Washington Post. That's... pretty much the point here.

Got it. My point is that I'll give Krauthammer the benefit of the doubt.

And I don't.  He was a straight down the line Bush Administration propagandist for the Iraq War and after.

For those here who need a reminder of how big a liar Krauthammer is and how vile he truly is, there is this:

http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2006/11/krauthammers_re.html

And this, I thought this was made up at first, it's so vile:

https://twitter.com/Atrios/status/1005280426167078913

[Calthrina950]

This thread has degenerated, and it is unfortunate as well. But this is a discussion forum, and people have the right to air their views. I have the right also not to agree with those views.

[136or142]

This thread has degenerated, and it is unfortunate as well. But this is a discussion forum, and people have the right to air their views. I have the right also not to agree with those views.

And in my opinion the thread 'degenerated' when people claimed that the sleazebag liar and piece of trash Krauthammer was/is a 'wonderful person' or a 'great intellectual.'

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

They don't believe in the image of God. They don't believe in God. They don't believe in universal sin or inherent fallibility. They believe that they are good and those who disagree are evil and it's as simple as that and can't believe everyone else doesn't see it that way.

[136or142]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

They don't believe in the image of God. They don't believe in God. They don't believe in universal sin or inherent fallibility. They believe that they are good and those who disagree are evil and it's as simple as that and can't believe everyone else doesn't see it that way.

Are you referring to the same God who drowned all but one family over 40 days and 40 nights?

[Pouring Rain and Blairing Music]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

They don't believe in the image of God. They don't believe in God. They don't believe in universal sin or inherent fallibility. They believe that they are good and those who disagree are evil and it's as simple as that and can't believe everyone else doesn't see it that way.

Are you referring to the same God who drowned all but one family over 40 days and 40 nights?

Oh FFS

[136or142]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

They don't believe in universal sin or inherent fallibility. They believe that they are good and those who disagree are evil and it's as simple as that.

This describes your anti-abortion position perfectly.

[WritOfCertiorari]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

Most of those negative people on this thread essentially are lost. The are broken, sad people, who use politics not as a way to make people's lives better, but instead to spew vitriol against people they know little to nothing about. No one will make a thread about them, ever, in their lives. Nobody will remember them when they leave this world. And nobody will read anything they have to say. We should feel sorry for them.

[Calthrina950]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

Most of those negative people on this thread essentially are lost. The are broken, sad people, who use politics not as a way to make people's lives better, but instead to spew vitriol against people they know little to nothing about. No one will make a thread about them, ever, in their lives. Nobody will remember them when they leave this world. And nobody will read anything they have to say. We should feel sorry for them.

I'm not sure if I would go as far to say this, but I do agree that it is something, on how people can find negativity out of everything, and at every point, even when someone who has had no negative effect on their lives whatsoever, is facing the throes of death.

[136or142]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

Most of those negative people on this thread essentially are lost. The are broken, sad people, who use politics not as a way to make people's lives better, but instead to spew vitriol against people they know little to nothing about. No one will make a thread about them, ever, in their lives. Nobody will remember them when they leave this world. And nobody will read anything they have to say. We should feel sorry for them.

Is this one of your sh**tposts?

You people win. I'm done trying to make rational debate here. It won't happen. It's like trying to light the ocean on fire. There'll be only sh**tposting from here on out for me.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

Most of those negative people on this thread essentially are lost. The are broken, sad people, who use politics not as a way to make people's lives better, but instead to spew vitriol against people they know little to nothing about. No one will make a thread about them, ever, in their lives. Nobody will remember them when they leave this world. And nobody will read anything they have to say. We should feel sorry for them.

Is this one of your sh**tposts?

You people win. I'm done trying to make rational debate here. It won't happen. It's like trying to light the ocean on fire. There'll be only sh**tposting from here on out for me.

He's right, though. 

[136or142]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

Most of those negative people on this thread essentially are lost. The are broken, sad people, who use politics not as a way to make people's lives better, but instead to spew vitriol against people they know little to nothing about. No one will make a thread about them, ever, in their lives. Nobody will remember them when they leave this world. And nobody will read anything they have to say. We should feel sorry for them.

Is this one of your sh**tposts?

You people win. I'm done trying to make rational debate here. It won't happen. It's like trying to light the ocean on fire. There'll be only sh**tposting from here on out for me.

He's right, though.  

Maybe, but I'd much rather be ignored and forgotten than make a name for myself by being an evil piece of trash and a sleazebag liar like Krauthammer.  (I know Krauthammer was of some prominence before he became a neo-conservative Republican.)

[IndustrialJustice]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

They don't believe in the image of God. They don't believe in God. They don't believe in universal sin or inherent fallibility. They believe that they are good and those who disagree are evil and it's as simple as that and can't believe everyone else doesn't see it that way.

No, I don't believe in any of these things, but I don't know what that has to do with being honest about Krauthammer's near-genocidal foreign policy beliefs that he espoused for decades as a career.

[136or142]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

Karma.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Reason?! You need a reason to show even token amount of compassion for someone made in the image of God dying of a a horrid disease? Good grief.

They don't believe in the image of God. They don't believe in God. They don't believe in universal sin or inherent fallibility. They believe that they are good and those who disagree are evil and it's as simple as that and can't believe everyone else doesn't see it that way.

No, I don't believe in any of these things, but I don't know what that has to do with being honest about Krauthammer's near-genocidal foreign policy beliefs that he espoused for decades as a career.

Industrial Justice?

I'll bet you've never worked a day in your life at a dirty or dangerous job.