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Something that Cotton also said recently on Twitter: "No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters." Literally, "no quarter" means that co

Something that Cotton also said recently on Twitter: "No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters." Literally, "no quarter" means that combatants are to be killed rather than taken prisoner. Figuratively, it means to give one's full effort to achieve an overwhelming victory. Especially with the inclusion of anarchists, it's hard to reconcile that with the idea that he really wants to cast this as a matter of law enforcement. His is, to put it bluntly, a fascist sentiment. I know some people feel like the f-word is overused, but it's pretty well accepted that one of the elements that separates a genuinely fascist movement from mere authoritarianism is the normalization of extrajudicial violence against political opponents. Not to put too fine a point on it: historically, anarchists were often specifically targeted for such fascist violence. I can't tell you that Tom Cotton is a fascist in his heart, but he is very definitely speaking their language.

11thEarlOfMar 6y ago
I can agree that anarchist can be a belief system or lifestyle that can be practiced without breaking the law. Anarchism as a belief, anarchist as a noun. Insurrection, rioting and looting are actions that are breaking the law. How long should this behavior be tolerated? Perhaps it's just a phase the people need to go through in order to release pent up energy. The concern is, though, that each time a city is burned and looted and people are beaten and killed and the rest of the country sees no consequence to the rioters, looters and insurrectionists, it lowers the barrier to partaking. By reporting only the mayhem, the press becomes the gateway drug to anarchy.
Mirioron 6y ago
"No quarter" also means [0]: >no pity or mercy —used to say that an enemy, opponent, etc., is treated in a very harsh way It's plausible that he meant this in the way you describe, but I think it's more likely he was using fancy language to emphasise that the city and police shouldn't tolerate things like the CHAZ or rioting and looting. Essentially, he's trying to criticize the local governments for tolerating these things and not putting a stop to it. (Easy way to try to score political points.) [0] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/no%20quarter https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/no%20quarter
- pm90 6y ago
  Cotton isn’t some rando posting a comment on Facebook. This is a US Senator whose essay was reviewed by his editorial staff before being sent to the times. He is saying exactly what he meant to say. If he meant something different there were other ways to express it.
  - leereeves 6y ago
    "No quarter" wasn't in the essay. It was a tweet. Does "his editorial staff" review everything he tweets? And should everything anyone says be given the worst possible interpretation, or should we, as in the Hacker News guidelines, "respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize."
    - pm90 6y ago
      > Does "his editorial staff" review everything he tweets? Most Senior Government officials do, yes. And Occam’s razor applies: I would argue that using an alternate interpretation of what he said rather than the well known one is going absolutely against the spirit of that hacker news guideline.
      - leereeves 6y ago
        Between the colloquial meaning listed in dictionaries, and the technical meaning found in military law books, which is "the well known one"?
deleted 6y ago
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11thEarlOfMar 6y ago

I can agree that anarchist can be a belief system or lifestyle that can be practiced without breaking the law. Anarchism as a belief, anarchist as a noun. Insurrection, rioting and looting are actions that are breaking the law. How long should this behavior be tolerated? Perhaps it's just a phase the people need to go through in order to release pent up energy. The concern is, though, that each time a city is burned and looted and people are beaten and killed and the rest of the country sees no consequence to the rioters, looters and insurrectionists, it lowers the barrier to partaking. By reporting only the mayhem, the press becomes the gateway drug to anarchy.

Mirioron 6y ago

"No quarter" also means [0]: >no pity or mercy —used to say that an enemy, opponent, etc., is treated in a very harsh way It's plausible that he meant this in the way you describe, but I think it's more likely he was using fancy language to emphasise that the city and police shouldn't tolerate things like the CHAZ or rioting and looting. Essentially, he's trying to criticize the local governments for tolerating these things and not putting a stop to it. (Easy way to try to score political points.) [0] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/no%20quarter https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/no%20quarter

pm90 6y ago
Cotton isn’t some rando posting a comment on Facebook. This is a US Senator whose essay was reviewed by his editorial staff before being sent to the times. He is saying exactly what he meant to say. If he meant something different there were other ways to express it.
- leereeves 6y ago
  "No quarter" wasn't in the essay. It was a tweet. Does "his editorial staff" review everything he tweets? And should everything anyone says be given the worst possible interpretation, or should we, as in the Hacker News guidelines, "respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize."
  - pm90 6y ago
    > Does "his editorial staff" review everything he tweets? Most Senior Government officials do, yes. And Occam’s razor applies: I would argue that using an alternate interpretation of what he said rather than the well known one is going absolutely against the spirit of that hacker news guideline.
    - leereeves 6y ago
      Between the colloquial meaning listed in dictionaries, and the technical meaning found in military law books, which is "the well known one"?

deleted 6y ago

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