Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/05/30/ambien-maker-sanofi-responds-t.html
…
17 Likes
I am reminded of a guy back in college that would say obnoxious and insulting things and then say “just kidding.” He was NOT a popular guy.
edited to ad: As obnoxious as he was, he showed no sign of being a racist, just an equal opportunity asshole.
30 Likes
Personally, I find her story somewhat plausible - but it’s no excuse. If I started tweeting while drunk as a lord, racism is not what would come out. I may not be perfect, but racism is not my default position. For her, maybe it is.
42 Likes
OTOH, racist tweets are a side effect of, you know, being a racist.
65 Likes
“In Ambian, veritas”?
40 Likes
I’m not sure I’m a fan of screenshoting tweets instead of embedding them. If it has been deleted that’s one thing but if the Tweed is extant it feels a little dodgy. A screenshot can be faked more readily than an embed. I understand the desire to not link to terrible people but it feels more honest.
4 Likes
Racists really do think that everybody thinks like them - but most of us are too chicken to say it out loud. And there’s no way to prove to them that’s not what you “secretly think.” It’s pretty much true of all the “isms.” They refuse to believe their beliefs are not normal.
26 Likes
I’ve heard of people cooking entire meals or walking their dog while on Ambien; y’know, habitual stuff that they would normally do while awake.
59 Likes
That a giant pharmaceutical manufacturer can also throw some masterful shade is a wonder to behold. Made my day.
34 Likes
Yeah, that’s what gets me about this-- she said “forgive the joke, it was in bad taste” but I didn’t see any joke there.
20 Likes
Not relevant to anything, but I think “Extant Tweed” would be a great name for an avant garde electro-folk indie band.
19 Likes
Whoops. “Extant Tweed” is the name of my eleventh Doctor fanfic.
21 Likes
Dear Sanofi:
22 Likes
Well, I find one too many shots of Old Grandad Whiskey does tend to push my politics to the right. “Cut your damn hair, you dirty hippie!” (hiccup!)
9 Likes
I feel the need to do some scientific research and indepth comparison testing.
Now I just need to find a bottle of “Young Whippersnapper Whiskey”! 
8 Likes
When I’m sleepy, I don’t go down the racist rabbit hole, I just roll over and snore.
12 Likes
40 Likes
I’ve certainly known people who would say racist or sexist things while drunk, or get violent, or whatever – things they are ashamed of when sober. Its OK (not ideal, but normal) to have instincts that you don’t like, to occasionally feel things that you know better than. And alcohol and other drugs can make it harder to override those instincts.
Here is the thing. The people like that which I respect take effort to prevent that from happening. Like moderating or eliminating drinking. I know a bunch of people who stopped drinking because they didn’t like who they were when drunk.
I don’t know much about the effects of ambien. I know that insomnia is really bad, and I sympathize with anyone who suffers from it, so maybe “not taking mediation” is not an option. But maybe don’t leave the phone on the nightstand if this is a thing? You might find that you need less ambien then as well. Also, the people I know who have taken ambien – it works. They take it and they sleep. They don’t tweet at 2 in the morning. If you are doing that, maybe you should look for a different treatment for insomnia?
7 Likes
Does Twitter lower a person’s IQ, or does it just expose it?
18 Likes
Blamed the drug and whined about other comedians saying worse things, it’s the classic 12 year old defense.
Also…
Ambien doesn’t racist people, people racist people.
or something
5 Likes
