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 If there were Shakespeare plays killing Obama, what do you suppose the Left would say? (37)

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FromWithin(8241) pic



If there were Shakespeare plays killing Obama, what do you suppose the Left would say?

First of all, there would be non stop coverage of the killing by all the Liberal news outlets. They would repeatedly show slow motion depiction of the actual killing.

They would show how the killers were all white men and therefore a racist lynch mob mentality. We would be reminded how it was during slavery and that the makers of this play were rightwing White Supremace Republican racists putting Black people in their place.

There would be screams of boycotting this play and any sponser who helped fund it.

They would call it hate speech and do all in their power to shut it down.

They would be screaming that the Right was trying to get Obama assasinated.

This Play, coming after numerous depictions of Trump's severed heads on Public College walls, etc., would bring down the total wrath of these hypocrite Democrats. They would be crying in front of the cameras telling us all how unbearable and barbaric it was to see these scenes.

The hypocrisy and double standards from the Democrat Party is beyond rational thought. For any person to vote for these hypocrites shows how low low end voters can get.
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3 points

It depends on the context, intent and nature of how it was portrayed.

The OP appears to ignore that and simply leaps to the conclusion that regardless of context, nature or intent of the portrayal the left, as a whole will be outraged is not based on reality.

The portrayal of Obama in a play whose moral lesson is that those who act use political violence even for supposed good reasons end up destroying the very thing they claim to be defending (and it has been portrayed thus), there is a legitimate thought provoking reason for that portrayal; and there'd probably be free speech defence from the left.

If, however, such a portrayal was typical of some of the more outspoken and outrageous anti-obama rhetoric from the right (think Ted Nugent); where the intent was merely demonization, and the nature was based on the persons inherent hatred or dislike of the person in general and serving no other purpose; there'd probably be a negative reaction.

The OP is basically a misrepresentative false equivalence; trying to make it seem that what the left normally takes issue with (see: Ted Nugent) is equivalent to this example.

It's not, and self-evident it is not.

A Better example would be the likes of Kathy Griffin; which is almost identical to the nature and intent of Ted Nugents comments about both Obama and Hillary.

Kathy Griffin has earnt almost complete rebuke from the left in both the media (with massively negative portrayal), and from politicians.

So, contrary to the OP's deliberate mis-equivalence of context; the left in general often acts in the same way when equivalent situations occur.

Does "the entire left" act in the same way: no. There may always be outliers, offshots and fringe elements of the left that will act hypocritically

However, it is dishonest to portray the left as a whole based on the actions of the minority fringe element.

While the "Left" isn't always perfect at uoholding this standard; in recent politics, both politicians and the media have been clear about the distinction between "Republicans" and fringe elements such as white nationalists and the Alt-Right.

FromWithin(8241) Disputed
1 point

What planet do you live on? Because it sure ain't this one if you actually are trying to make the claim that the Left is acting responsibly and not totally hypocritical with constant double standards.

We are not talking about a private citizen (such as Ted Nugent) who says some provacative things. We are talking about the Democrat Party on a witch hunt to take Trump down.

We have spent 7 months of constant attempts to accuse Trump's campaign of conspiring with Russia, WITH NO EVIDENCE!

You did not mention how we have State sponsered hate speech when a Public College (Berkeley) chose to display a painting of Trump's severed head on their walls. This is State sponsered hatred for our President.

What Kathy Griffin did was barbaric but compared to Government sponsered hate speech on College walls, her's is nothing. Where is the outrage for Berkeley? Where are the demands to take that painting down or lose any Government funding!

If you can't see and admit this rabid hatred from the Democrat Party and the Liberal media against Trump, then you are a total waste of time to debate.

Ramshutu(227) Disputed
2 points

despite your claims to the country we are not talking about the democratic parties which hunt; the topic of the debate is clearly talking about how the left would react to equivalent events.

We are talking about private citizens and organizaions, its right there in the title.

The bottom line, is despite your assertions to the contrary, the left most assuredly acts consistently in a number of ways; accepted the caveats I mentioned.

You seem to ignore every example of the left doing what you claim they should be doing; while I won't deny there are some examples where the left should be more vocal, it's not examples I've been aware of (from fox, or the liberal media).

The irony, here is your selective memory and comfirmagion bias; with a total ignorance of the behaviour of Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Fox News and republicans attitudes to the Clintons, Obama over and the left in general the last 25 years; including te multiple investigations on single subjects.

This is not to excuse examples where the left hasn't reacted how it should; which I'm sure are numerous, but simply to point out that you're ignorance or the horrifying sentiment and rhetoric that have come from the right.

Mass claims of racism, white nationalism, and violent riots in the streets. CNN would be unhinged. Armageddon would begin.

2 points

You think no one did Julius Caesar when Obama was president? Well, we don't have to just 'imagine' Shakespeare plays that depict Obama's death, because it happened. In 2012, the Guthrie theatre in Minneapolis (which is not just some regional theatre, it's rather high-profile) performed Julius Caesar, portraying the title character as Obama-esque. You can see pictures from the production here.

But you know why there wasn't outrage, or at least not this much outrage? Because Julius Caesar, the play, does not advocate violence. Have you ever read the play? Have you ever seen the play? Because it really sounds like you haven not and you're just repeating what Sean Hannity told you to say.

2 points

You and I are on the same page as this. I vaguely remembered there being an Obama likeness that was murdered in a theater production so thank you for finding it.

1 point

Have you ever read the play? Have you ever seen the play?

Yes. It's about a group conspiracy to murder the leader of Rome.

pirateelfdog(2655) Clarified Banned
3 points

Yes. It's about a group conspiracy to murder the leader of Rome.

Uh hu. And how do things turn out for the people who conspire to murder the leader of Rome?

outlaw60(15368) Clarified
1 point

Did anyone on the Right ever try to pull off what Kathy did ? Tell me !

pirateelfdog(2655) Clarified Banned
1 point

You're off-topic, careful, Fromwithin might ban you because he is completely consistent with banning people who go off-topic.

But, yes. People on the right created tons of art depicting the murder of President Obama.

1 point

You think no one did Julius Caesar when Obama was president

That wasn't the question he asked. The question was "if Republicans did it".

pirateelfdog(2655) Clarified Banned
2 points

Well, I know he elaborates in his description, but the title of the debate is: If there were Shakespeare plays killing Obama, what do you suppose the Left would say?

But theatre companies, at least the Guthrie and the Public, do not identify with political parties. Both have producers and donors from both sides of the political spectrum. The theatre world, especially in New York, is predominantly liberal, but not exclusively.

FromWithin(8241) Disputed
1 point

I'm not a moron tryng to excuse anything the Left does. For you to not admit the insane doube standards from the Left is unbelievable.

This ws no Trump-esque portrayal. It was intended to be Trump and anyone who denies this is a waste of time to debate.

1 point

There was a movie in Hollywood called Kingsman: The Secret Service which featured the murder of President Obama. Big deal, it's meant to be shocking and thought provoking. And if you knew ANYTHING about that play, it is a warning against fighting tyranny using tyrannical means.

After killing Caeser, Brutus's actions brought about the death of the republic that they had been trying to save, including their own lives. It's a warning AGAINST murdering the leader to try to make things "better".

2 points

Sounds like the logic I use when I warn atheists about getting rid of Christianity to "make things better". No. It'll just make things less Christian and more something else. And the something else is probably worse. Nevertheless, the play was inappropriate seeing the climate of politics in the U.S. at the moment. If it was meant simply to make your point, then Trump wouldn't have been the one killed in the play. Caesar would have been.

pirateelfdog(2655) Disputed Banned
1 point

Nevertheless, it was inappropriate seeing the climate of politics in the U.S. at the moment.

I'm sorry, what? It's inappropriate for art to try and reflect contemporary times? Why?

Mint_tea(4641) Clarified
1 point

I don't necessarily agree with the notion that getting rid of Christianity to "make things better" would ever actually make things better. It would breed contempt and destroy a lot of good in this world and people wouldn't be able to freely turn to God without fear of backlash.

The play was a play, it was a social commentary which is almost exactly what art is if it's looking to have shock value. A trump look alike was used in a play that was set in current times, if he wasn't President I would wager they would have used whoever was. That is a guess of course.

outlaw60(15368) Clarified
2 points

If someone had done what Kathy Griffin did when Obama was in office the Left would have lost their mind.

Mint_tea(4641) Clarified
0 points

Kathy Griffin was an idiot. They can call that "art" all they want but I don't agree with it. Do you remember all of the Obama lynching's though? We've gone through this before, it wasn't right then and it wasn't right now, in my opinion.

1 point

Some of the left would probably say the same thing as some of the right are saying now. Good point.