Cory Doctorow: Outraged Idiot

Cory seems to be outraged that the recent restrictions on certain kinds of materials in carry-on luggage doesn’t effect those who fly on Air Force One.

I know Cory’s a lib. That’s all well and good. In essence it means he is completely incapable of saying George W. Bush without saying something irrepressibly stupid immediately thereafter, but when you read something like this, you just have to laugh:

Here’s a question: Does Tony Blair get to bring his laptop on his government plane? Can Laura Bush keep her lipstick with her on Air Force One? Does Dick Cheney take off his shoes and get them x-rayed before he flies? How about Condi Rice’s knee-high lace-up boots? Is her mission to Israel delayed while she tries to re-lace them while balancing her laptop bag on one shoulder and trying to get her watch back on?

It seems to me like our glorious leaders are pretty good at setting out the “minor inconveniences” that the rest of us have to put up with, but when was the last time you heard of any of them enduring the same measures?

Now, GW Bush may say, “But I’m no terrorist! Why shouldn’t I be able to bring my hip-flask onto Air Force One with me?” But I’m no terrorist either. I don’t see why the man should be exempt from his own rules. If it’s sauce for the goose, it’s sauce for the butcher.

Dammit, dude, are you really that frigging stupid?

Wait.

He is.

Cory, here’s a piece of advice for you, you whiny piece of idiotic trash.

When you submit to security checks, background checks, a complete and thorough vetting by the government, and an oath of office, then I’m sure you can fly on Air Force One without leaving your shampoo behind or your marvelous Ubuntu-loaded Chinese-made Thinkpad in your stowaway luggage. Until then, shut your mouth, quit your whining, and stop pretending George W. Bush is the first President to set rules that don’t apply to them.

I know that Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter waited for every traffic light in their motorcade, and got on the security lines at airports just like you and I, but the world has indeed changed.

Moron.

And now you know why Boing Boing doesn’t allow comments.

[tags]cory doctorow, idiot, moron, schmuck, dope, dumbass[/tags]

http://journal.pdsys.org/ Nicholas

I stopped reading Boing Boing on a consistent basis long ago, due to (as you said) lack of the ability to comment, and the outright stupidity of most “political” posts, especially ones by Xeni.. ugh.
DV

His rant is over-the-top. However, many other aspects of his presidency point out the deep divide between GW’s view of reality and most others’ view of reality. It was telling that, in the midst of the heaviest fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, on the verge of an all-out war in the Mideast (and some would say verge of WWIII), that GW found it okay to get out of Washington and spend 10 days on the ranch. A true leader would have realized that taking a vacation on the verge of Mideast meltdown does not send a very good message about his view of what’s important – even if it is indeed a “working” vacation.
http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Vinny

Congratulations. You managed to write quite a few words that were completely irrelevant to the point at hand.

Keep ranting all you want, but your point is not relevant to the discussion at hand, which is “can the President take a laptop on plane that is exclusively his where every single person is security screened and employed by the government?”

The obvious answer is yes.

Any rants about Bush’s presidency, his policies, and anything else is utterly irrelevant and not related in any way to Cory’s rant.
DV

The rant was about the disconnect between how people at the top (GW, in particular) view the world, and how “everyday” people view the world. Although he uses a bad example, his point was that Bush shows a lack of empathy with normal Americans, and he comes across as aloof. It used to be that presidents cared about how they are perceived by their citizens – that they “feel their pain”. GW doesn’t even try to make us Americans feel that he understands us or the world around us. Even small gestures would help (including the suggested actions in the rant, however inconsequential), because he has never given us any indication that he would be willing to sacrifice things that we “normal” Americans sacrifice every day. Normal Americans don’t just take a vacation when, say, a family crisis happens, or when your company is about to go bankrupt. But GW does.
http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Vinny

So if he pretended to “feel your pain” and stood there with a bit lower lip, you’d feel better even if it wasn’t true?

Normal americans also don’t work on their vacations or host diplomats on them, or have a fricking war room in their shed.

But that’s really neither here nor there. The ran in question is still pointless because (ready for it?) the rules of “normal” people don’t apply to the President, never did, and W. isn’t the first President they didn’t apply to. This isn’t some remarkable new construct of the evil George.

He may be an idiot and clueless, but that does not have any relevance to him bringing a laptop on Airforce One. Airforce One is not Delta Airlines, he’s not a civilian, and Cory Doctorow is a blazing idiot for coming close to trying to draw a comparison.

It really is that simple.
DV

True, true. I guess I have been thinking about it lately, and, though his rant was misplaced, it made me want to at least defend the concept he was driving at (lack of empathy for everyday Americans), even though the airplane example is quite a stretch. But yeah, it is an idiotic example.
http://journal.pdsys.org/ Nicholas

I stopped reading Boing Boing on a consistent basis long ago, due to (as you said) lack of the ability to comment, and the outright stupidity of most “political” posts, especially ones by Xeni.. ugh.
DV

His rant is over-the-top. However, many other aspects of his presidency point out the deep divide between GW’s view of reality and most others’ view of reality. It was telling that, in the midst of the heaviest fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, on the verge of an all-out war in the Mideast (and some would say verge of WWIII), that GW found it okay to get out of Washington and spend 10 days on the ranch. A true leader would have realized that taking a vacation on the verge of Mideast meltdown does not send a very good message about his view of what’s important – even if it is indeed a “working” vacation.
http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/ Vinny

Congratulations. You managed to write quite a few words that were completely irrelevant to the point at hand.

Keep ranting all you want, but your point is not relevant to the discussion at hand, which is “can the President take a laptop on plane that is exclusively his where every single person is security screened and employed by the government?”

The obvious answer is yes.

Any rants about Bush’s presidency, his policies, and anything else is utterly irrelevant and not related in any way to Cory’s rant.
DV

The rant was about the disconnect between how people at the top (GW, in particular) view the world, and how “everyday” people view the world. Although he uses a bad example, his point was that Bush shows a lack of empathy with normal Americans, and he comes across as aloof. It used to be that presidents cared about how they are perceived by their citizens – that they “feel their pain”. GW doesn’t even try to make us Americans feel that he understands us or the world around us. Even small gestures would help (including the suggested actions in the rant, however inconsequential), because he has never given us any indication that he would be willing to sacrifice things that we “normal” Americans sacrifice every day. Normal Americans don’t just take a vacation when, say, a family crisis happens, or when your company is about to go bankrupt. But GW does.
http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/ Vinny

So if he pretended to “feel your pain” and stood there with a bit lower lip, you’d feel better even if it wasn’t true?

Normal americans also don’t work on their vacations or host diplomats on them, or have a fricking war room in their shed.

But that’s really neither here nor there. The ran in question is still pointless because (ready for it?) the rules of “normal” people don’t apply to the President, never did, and W. isn’t the first President they didn’t apply to. This isn’t some remarkable new construct of the evil George.

He may be an idiot and clueless, but that does not have any relevance to him bringing a laptop on Airforce One. Airforce One is not Delta Airlines, he’s not a civilian, and Cory Doctorow is a blazing idiot for coming close to trying to draw a comparison.

It really is that simple.
DV

True, true. I guess I have been thinking about it lately, and, though his rant was misplaced, it made me want to at least defend the concept he was driving at (lack of empathy for everyday Americans), even though the airplane example is quite a stretch. But yeah, it is an idiotic example.

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