Usually, I ignore personal attacks from people of other parties. However, today, Jason Cherniak, the administrator of Liblogs, somebody who claims to want debate on the issues, somebody who claims to respect people of other parties, posted a personal attack against the majority of New Democrats on the Internet.
Now, it seems like this personal attack came from "he said, she said" arguments coming from the Ontario minimum wage debate. Personally, I don't care what the reasoning for Cherniak to begin personally attacking New Democrats was, I'm just rather angry that he did it.
Anyways, what was the personal attack that Cherniak made against most New Democrats? Well, he claims, and is trying to get the media to report this, that New Democrats on the Internet are extremist and unwilling to debate properly.
To "prove" this assertion, he provides three links. One to Bread 'N' Roses, a far left feminist forum. Another to Le Revue Gauche, an anarchist. And final one to Politics’n'Poetry, a self professed "Feminazi".
Unfortunately, these sites, with respect to them, are on the ideological margins of New Democratic thought on the Internet. Most New Democrats on the Internet are actually center-left moderates who want to debate issues and do it with common decency. Yes, there are a few exceptions, and they know who they are, but it is unfair to paint all New Democrats on the web in such a manner.
I mean, it's possible to grab three links to Liberal websites that espouse extremist views and claim that all Liberals on the Internet are like this; however, that claim would be plain wrong.
So I mentioned this to Cherinak. His reponse: "It could just be the Ontario group that are like this."
Wow, so now Ontario New Democrats are extremists. Somehow, I'd think bloggers like Devin Johnston, Dinner Table Donts, and Rambling Socialist would be surprised to find out that they are extremists all of a sudden.
It's interesting too, because Le Revue Gauche is an Albertan, and Politics’n'Poetry is from Saskatchewan.
So personally, I'd like to see an apology to Blogging Dippers from Jason Cherniak on his personal attacks. I won't speak for everybody else, but I am a moderate, centre-left New Democrat, and I don't like to told that I'm actually a far-left one, because I'm not. I'm pretty sure that other New Democrats on the Internet feel the same way.
I personally hope that Cherniak will do the right thing.
9 comments:
I must admit, 'extremist' has never been used to refer to me, unless you count some of my far right conservative friends. But I hardly count those. I have certainly never been called an extremist by a Liberal. I do hope that Cherniak will not be so flippant in his future comments about the NDP. Thanks for writing this rebuttal, and I will admit, I am flattered that you mentioned my blog by name.
Thanks for the link, but I must clarify something.
If you had done your research more thoroughly, you would have found a thread where women and men were carrying on about being vagina warriors, which is taken, fyi, from the Vagina Monologues, a very important and powerful piece of work that details the abuses women endure because they have a vagina.
Berlynn,
First, let apologize about saying that Bread 'N' Roses was communist. I was not thinking too well when I made that comment.
The fact is, I do agree that women in our society are given the short end of the stick, earning less then men, not begin represented on the high board of our society and so on. And I agree that some adjustments need to be make to improve gender equality (however one defines it). It's why I'm a New Democrat.
But serious doesn't the title "Only sexist pigs say no to a $10 minimum wage" seem a little too insulting (and yes, I'm aware that my track record in the past couple of weeks in this area has not been great).
The thing is, words like "man-hating vagina warrior feminazi" makes people cringe, and seems very extreme to me. Let's reverse things a little here: what if I'd said that I was a "woman-hating penis warrior mascu-nazi". I'd be called a sexist and rightfully so! It's true that men have been terrible to women over the ages, but "eye for an eye" seems kinda extreme to me.
My god you guys...the vagina warriors is a response to ACTUAL WORDS that have been used against us in combination with an already popular response to sexism that berlynn mentioned.
We are trying to make light of the sexists. J-o-k-e. Maybe it's because feminists aren't supposed to have a sense of humour. *sigh*
So do your middle of the road social values not allow for people to be paid a decent wage?
Interestingly, I know a small business owner who happens to believe that people deserve to be paid a living wage. Who has seen small businesses suffer because of declining wages and welfare cutbacks. Low income people shop in town. The pretentious go out of town to shop at the Gap and other "in" stores.
Rather than cause the end of the world as we know it, he feels it would help the small businesses stay afloat. After all people with no money don't buy goods.
It also ticks me off that people keep making assumptions about the board. Yes we are leftists, we believe in a system of democracy that cares for and appreciates the value, needs and work of all.
We have plenty of men on our board and their voices are welcome and respected. They just happen to welcome and respect our voices too.
Well, this is why I think you guys are a bunch of extremists that embarrass the rest of us. It is because you keep on attacking and attacking, even when somebody apologizes for some of the words they said in an attempt to make up and find a common position.
And where are you getting that idea that I don't support a higher minimum wage? Because I do. Inserting policy positions into my mouth does not impress me, as I stated earlier.
What this is all about is both Cherniak's and B'n'R's Behavior on the Internet.
Did you even read my post?
I did not attack you in any way shape or form.
I explained the concept of the graphics and lines that you brought up to attack us with.
I gave you an instance of a real business owners thoughts.
And I tried to explain what the board is really about.
That is an attack?
and yet your constant use of extremists and other choice words is not?
Try to extent a hand and get it cut off. Nice.
Maybe if you get a list that is not run by a man who accuses me of being an anti-Semite, I will visit it more often and get a better sense for what Blogging Dippers are saying.
Mr. Cherniak, that response is totally immature. It sounds like something an adolescent would say. I think you love the attention, hence you seem to always run for the spotlight. You sound and act like a Conservative. Your position on the minimum wage proves that as well.
So, Jason Cherniak can insult the 65% of Canadians who work for minimum wage (that's women, btw, from Stats Canada) by not even considering the impact it would have on that 65% of the minimum-waged population. But I can't call him a sexist pig for what is so glaringly a sexist line of argument? The double standard is alive and well, even within the NDP, isn't it?
If you had even a clue as to what it is like to live as a woman in a world dominated by male ways of working, thinking and being, you would ask a lot more questions and contemplate the answers for a very long time.
And you certainly would not question the way in which women who have been called horrible, vilifying, and degrading names use those words as a means of coping with the very real consequences of that name-calling, especially when those words are tossed at them because they've had the goddamned courage to stand up to the bullshit they live with each and every day of their lives and name it sexist!
Furthermore, if you said you were a "woman-hating penis warrior mascu-nazi" you would likely be embraced and applauded by many for standing up to those loud-mouthed, frothing feminidiotic feminazi bitches!
'Nuff said!
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