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    DanCopelandJ.K. Trotter
    9/24/13 3:48pm

    A simple primer on whether something is a a lynch mob:

    Is the intent that someone dies?

    Yes = Lynch mob

    No = Not a lynch mob

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      GemmabetaDanCopeland
      9/24/13 3:50pm

      or at least severely beaten.

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      VtDkDudeGemmabeta
      9/24/13 3:56pm

      And dragged behind a truck through dirt roads.

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    MoeHandlebarJ.K. Trotter
    9/24/13 4:02pm

    To Robert Benmosche's point though, if someone in fact literally wants to form a lynch mob for AIG executives, I have strong arms and ample supplies of rope.

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      SmitrosMoeHandlebar
      9/24/13 4:35pm

      I'm not too strong, but I'll help as best I can.

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    RussianistJ.K. Trotter
    9/24/13 4:07pm

    It's also somewhat ironic (in an historical sense) that those most likely to complain about being victimised by "lynch mobs" these days are powerful or affluent white American males.

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      dinglebushRussianist
      9/24/13 4:24pm

      It's because we are so racist against them.

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    John BoehnerJ.K. Trotter
    9/24/13 3:48pm
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      TractorchickJohn Boehner
      9/24/13 4:17pm

      Points for using Tintin! :D

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    DVA1J.K. Trotter
    9/24/13 4:01pm

    I don't know that I'm a fan of any use of the term "lynch mob" for anything other than an actual lynch mob.

    But I think we should all recognize that there was something unique about Mr. AIG's usage: he actually referenced actual lynch mobs. And then had the balls to say that what happened to AIG (where no people died from harsh criticism) was just as bad. There is a difference between a casual usage of the term to just mean "people were outraged" versus stating that "what happened in actual lynch mobs was just as bad as what happened when people said harsh things about me and my employees."

    He should be shamed. Maybe forced to resign (its not like he can't afford to lose his job). But what will probably happen is that he'll be all "I'm sorry if I've managed to offend anyone with my totally true statement. And anyway, see? People just keep saying mean things about me!"

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      benjaminalloverDVA1
      9/25/13 9:16am

      I'm not sure that the phrase can never be used metaphorically without being offensive. If you're saying "Hey people, snap out of it; we're behaving like a lynch mob" I would never say that, but i'd give it a pass. That's quite a bit different than "i am being lynched over my bonus". Thatz not O.K.

      Same thing with the rape metaphor, which i also loath; i wouldn't freak out if someone said "Strip mining has raped this sacred land" but i always do when they say "i'm being raped on my cell phone plan". Thatz not O.K.

      It's really about how you, the speaker, position yourself relative to these loaded metaphors. If you're going to use a metaphor to position yourself as a victim, you're going to have to justify presenting yourself that way with the non-metaphorical victims' who's suffering you're exploiting to make a point. It makes me wish this asshole ran into the descendants of actual lynch mob victims to explain just how lynchmobby his critics are.

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    he7788J.K. Trotter
    9/24/13 4:29pm

    Probably too literal here. There are countless examples of expressions that people don't really understand or use too casually, mixed metaphors, etc.

    In these examples I think people are trying to convey that their critics have taken on a mob mentality. That they are not using logic and evidence, instead they are using anger to push each other to lash out at their intended target. I would say angry mob or mob mentality rather than lynch mob.

    I think they are whining, but I don't really think they are trying to compare their plight to that suffered by victims of lynchings.

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      benjaminalloverhe7788
      9/25/13 9:23am

      But the fact that they chose to describe themselves as victims of a lynch mob merely underlines their insensitivity and warped view of reality. It sort of sums up the very mentality for which they're being criticized.

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      JesuitGradhe7788
      9/25/13 9:32am

      I agree. It was an insensitive and stupid comment, but idioms do exist

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    kathotdogJ.K. Trotter
    9/24/13 4:17pm

    Great - can you do the Things that are not like appeasing Nazi's now?
    I'll get you started:

    Cruz Likens Obamacare Defunding Skeptics to Nazi Appeasers

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      NobodyJ.K. Trotter
      9/24/13 3:53pm

      democracy is a lynch mob.

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        BeastisFed1Nobody
        10/05/13 10:48am

        Hey, I just wanted to communicate with you without stirring up the hornets' nest of first grade idiocy that the DPR thread became, just checked it this morning (hope this doesn't come off as weird,Ive looked around and there's no real way to PM on kinja so I i just scrolled down your page and found an older comment, if you want to make this private/discuss you can dismiss this and then reply or whatever or i could give you my email, but really I just want to say, wow, what a bunch of obtuse morons)

        I cannot believe the basic mental defect or whatever it is that so many people have that they cannot even try to see any argument more complex or nuanced than "if he didn't want to risk having a bunch of people arrested then he/they shouldn't have broken the unjust law that has ruined countless lives, and you can't commit self defense against the state ever" (what would they have said during the american revolution? lol) or if they are actually like trying to show how much of 'good citizens' they are to score NSA brownie points by discouraging the rabble from breaking any law no matter how ridiculous or criminal that law itself may be or that if you don't like a law against personal choices that harm nobody else it's your responsibility to magically gather enough people to change that law no matter the history of coercive forces that made and kept and profit from the law.

        I don't know, I just wanted to give you some kudos for at least trying and also needed to vent about that repetitive basic idiocy [I don't know if you're aware of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, where basically, inexperienced people are unable to perceive their lack of capability and in fact believe that they themselves are the smart ones and believe that the people who do know what they're doing/talking about are the actual idiots, but every day I spend trying to debate online it seems more and more blatant] that drowns out any attempt at reasoned argument or sharing of knowledge more complex than what was learned in 8th grade civics. And it really made me mad how 'brilliant' they thought their arguments/comebacks were... like, Oh really, you've seen breaking bad? haha that guy sure did make drugs and did bad stuff because of the criminal underworld around it

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        NobodyBeastisFed1
        10/05/13 7:31pm

        do you have skype? if not then I will gladly take your email.

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      JesuitGradJ.K. Trotter
      9/24/13 3:57pm

      The idiom "lynch mob" does bother me slightly less than the idiom "X raped my childhood"

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        fo3J.K. Trotter
        9/24/13 4:38pm

        You know what Benmosche?

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