5 ms·
Whataboutism
by number6 7y ago
Whataboutism
- bsamuels 7y agoNo, it's not whataboutism. His statement is that "the NSA is the shadiest agency". I am arguing that it is not the most shady. If I tried to justify the NSA's behavior _because_ of what the GRU/IRA/CIA does, that is whataboutism. Hope this was a bit helpful.
- blodorn 7y agoI thought this was a really good example. I see the word, whataboutism, thrown around a lot and have a hard time understanding what is/isn't. So, thank you.
- smolder 7y agoNot really, a comparison was implied. They didn't say "shady agency", they said "shadiest", which makes a claim and invites dispute about the others' relative shadiness.
- TaylorAlexander 7y agoI felt like “shadiest” was hyperbole meant to mean “very shady”. Also while the others mentioned might be bad, the NSA is probably the “best” at being covert and probably the most active of all of them. So they might truly be the “shadiest” by sheer volume of covert things they do.
- whytaka 7y agoThis is definitely not a case of Whataboutism as it is literally about comparing one with others.
- lwansbrough 7y agoPlease substantiate your claims. It's not whataboutism if the claim is making a comparison against all other possibilities. "shadiest government agency on the planet" may be an objectively false statement as applied to the NSA. You can compare the NSA to other contenders for "most shady" using any number of metrics and create an ordered list. None of that is whataboutism.
- mhh__ 7y agoWhen did the NSA last assassinate someone in public?
- ta1771 7y agoThis is not a response in this "argument", but, please watch "Citizenfour" and/or Hollywood version "Snowden".