Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/04/fragile-fascist-oaf.html
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Seems like a bunch of fascist oafs.
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What was it that Big Willy Style once said " “The lady doth protest too much , methinks”
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Can you call dead politicians fascists?
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Can one get away with Neanderthal and Goose-stepper?
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This highlights what I see as the tension between monolithic platforms and, what I call, federated platforms.
Monolithic platforms, like Facebook, can squelch content when they feel the need. Which is great when you believe the content is poison. Tragedy when you believe the facts are being censored. Great (in theory) if you want to crack down on fake news. Tragedy when some government labels your speech as fake news.
Federated platforms, like email, have the opposite situation. It’s far harder to get every independent system to agree what content they feel like squelching. Great for avoiding censorship. OTOH: spam.
Where I think federated systems have an edge is, well, their edges. A monolithic system has to trust itself, accept its own decisions, etc. A federated system can decide who to trust and doesn’t need to abide by decisions of others.
Blah blah blah, but what I’m getting at is that I predict Facebook (and Google, Amazon, etc) might be better off splitting up by territory. Even if independently run, they can still be profitable. What does Facebook-EU care about US users? That data isn’t all that valuable to them. And Facebook-US can tell EU regulators to go self pollinate themselves. Meanwhile, they can cooperate in ways that still make 3rd party competition difficult. I don’t think this will be a good thing for the rest of us.
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What is the name of the goose-stepping fascist oaf who got offended?
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Looks like it’s Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek:
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How about calling them entirely made up words? 
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Quick: Everyone should post on facebook that CJEU’s Advocate General Szpunar and Ms. Eva Glaswisching-Piesczek are fascist oafs.
I mean, if you file a lawsuit because someone calls you a fascist oaf… you’re a fascist oaf.
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Maybe this could lead to Facebook shutting down in Europe.
Fingers crossed… 
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So fascist oaf Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek is a Green. I don’t know much about the Austrian Greens, but as I recall that in the 80s the German Greens had some issues both with ex-Stasi officers and pedophiles in the leadership. Is this the case for the Austrian Greens as well? And, if they’re fascist, what does that make the FPÖ?
It is depressing. Europe is lost. America getting more lost daily. The world needs real structural change.
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So you’ve already accepted that she’s a fascist based on an article that claims someone called her a fascist?
I’m generally a fan of free speech and anonymity, but I think we can all agree that the two together, as practiced in the US, have some dangerous consequences for democracy.
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The legal judgment describes the issue as follows:
On 3 April 2016 a user of [Facebook] shared on their personal page an article from the Austrian online news magazine oe24.at entitled ‘Greens: Minimum income for refugees should stay’. That publication had the effect of generating on the platform a ‘thumbnail’ of the original site, containing the title and a brief summary of the article, and a photograph of the applicant. That user also published, in connection with that article, an accompanying disparaging comment about the applicant accusing her of being a ‘lousy traitor of the people’, a ‘corrupt oaf’ and a member of a ‘fascist party’.
So the thing that orginally got her called a “fascist oaf” was…being in favor of minimum income for refugees.
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I’m calling fascists fascists right now.
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I like learner’s dictionaries. You can expand big words out into smaller ones step by step.
The politician who did this supports a political system in which people’s lives are completely controlled by the state and no political opposition is allowed, and also shows a lack of ability to form an opinion that they form, especially after thinking carefully and about something, and often acts in a way similar to feeling embarrassed so that they are not sure what to do or say.
(This politician is a facist oaf. “Oaf” apparently basically expands out to “stupid and awkward”, which I have expanded out further into their full definitions. Says the same thing except, now what fascist oafs, you gonna block descriptions like this of yourselves too? Probly.)
Nah, I would have figured that they were wrong. Calling a politician a Fascist Oaf is kind of like water off a duck’s back. Most of the time it’s just plain wrong, such as I would have presumed in this case. Just some wanker calling her a fascist oaf doesn’t make her one.
But her actions in reacting to it… she filed a lawsuit and pushed it to the top court in Europe to try to make sure that Facebook removes negative comments about politicians. She is intentionally stifling free speech because some wanker called her a fascist oaf. Which ironically, at least in my opinion, shows that she is a fascist oaf; because she is trying to punish someone and curb speech for daring to speak out against the Nation And It’s Leaders. (OK, that’s the fascist part. Oaf is… well, really, I would have gone with “moron” or “idiot” or “asshole”. If she prefers these insults, if they are more factual than Oaf, then I’ll be happy to change it. In my version of English Oaf is a very mild insult.)
The irony is unless her position varies greatly from other Green parties internationally, I’d probably support the rest of her platform.
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Calling someone an oaf is a matter of opinion, but calling someone a fascist is implying much more than that they don’t like government leaders to be insulted. We take a broad view in the US what is permissible to say about public figures, and I think that is at least partially responsible for our current political climate. Perhaps taking a slightly less permissive approach would result in more truthfulness.
So you think I should be punished for saying that I think Donald Trump is a clod and a boar who was elected at least partially by the efforts of the Russian government, has attempted to incite violence against people, has ties to the White Supremacy and Nazi movements (and is sympathetic to them)? That I am concerned because he has tweeted fascist opinions that are contrary to our constitution, which it is literally his job to protect?
I think that me being allowed to say those things is a cornerstone of a democracy and that the problems we are having stem from a lack of education and an attitude that values ignorance over knowledge.
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