4 ms·

Jon Stewart (paraphrased) pointed out "These guys say 'why are blacks so sensitive [about issues]', 'why are muslims so sensitive [about issues]' .... but god f

• Sacho 10y ago
  Jon Stewart is really smart and knows how to turn a phrase. I'm not as good as him, so I'll try to copy him: "These guys say, why are christians so sensitive about their religion, but god forbid you draw a cartoon about their prophet, because then it's fucking terrorism" - except "the war on christmas" is rhetorical spin by fox news, whereas the terrorism committed against people who have breached muslim religious norms is real. That does not mean "these guys" actually support the terrorism, it's simply rhetoric to discredit your opposition. When Stewart says "these guys", I am sure he knows the fallacy he's committing - smearing a whole group by the actions of a subgroup within it. Since most such statements are not followed by rigorous statistical analysis to prove whether this sentiment is widely-held and core to the group, they're almost always just a rhetorical device to score points against your political opponents. Any sufficiently large group will have a dissonance of voices within it. By extracting a particular issue out of its context and reaching for the widest label possible to slap on it, you can accrue political capital without actually dealing with the issue.