6 ms·

Not sure why you've been downvoted. I wasn't aware of that comment. A real surprise given his image as a dorky guy.

hombre_fatal 6y ago
It's politically incorrect and not very tasteful, but they're acting like it's Jennings who has to "get past" that six year old tweet when it's actually people like that HNer who link it any time his name pops up hoping that others tar him for it. It makes we wonder how much this HNer is still dwelling on it. It's not the best joke but he's also not wrong btw. Let's not suggest that having shriveled up wheelchair legs is a boon in the dating market. It's just not nice to point out such inconvenient truths.
- ianai 6y ago
  I agree that society would do well to consider learning forgiveness. Forgiveness though does require that the attack stop - repeating your agreement with some kernel of the post doesn’t help that effort as it reopens the wound. I really really wish society to learn forgiveness. Life is too short - and the internet can be so incredibly destructive in its current lack of grace.
  - rexpop 6y ago
    Shocking, to me, that you consider forgiveness a higher priority than accountability.
    - ianai 6y ago
      Accountability is a way for society to correct societal ills - put people in prison so they stop committing crimes and to serve justice, for instance. Forgiveness is a way for society to move forward. There’s an infinite amount of “tomorrow”, but few things need to be infinitely repeated.
      - rexpop 6y ago
        Putting someone in prison is an external imposition of retribution, not an internal act of contrition. It's completely inadequate, especially when discussing micro-aggressions, or cultural acts of bigotry which dehumanize at-a-distance.
    - dlivingston 6y ago
      Forgiveness is the next moral step after accountability. Jennings took accountability and apologized [0]. Therefore, forgiveness is now where we go. My comment is already getting too political and culture wars-ey to be suitable for HN, for me, but at the risk of pushing that further I would like to add this: the moral nitpicking and flogging of public figures needs to end. There are real villains out there, like Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby who need to be and have been held to account, and there are real issues out there, like ageism and sexism in hiring processes. Focusing on trivial matters like this not only doesn't help the movement to justice, but actively harms it. A recent quote from Andrew Yang: > “I would say, ‘Hey! I’m running for president!’ to a truck driver, retail worker, waitress in a diner, and they would say, ‘What party?’ And I’d say ‘Democrat’ and they would flinch like I said something really negative or I had just turned another color or something like that.” Yang told CNN host Don Lemon during a panel. > “So you have to ask yourself, what has the Democratic Party been standing for in their minds?,” he continued. “And in their minds, the Democratic Party, unfortunately, has taken on this role of the coastal urban elites who are more concerned about policing various cultural issues than improving their way of life that has been declining for years.” [1] [0]: https://twitter.com/KenJennings/status/987423884436647936 https://twitter.com/KenJennings/status/987423884436647936 [1]: https://nypost.com/2020/11/07/andrew-yang-calls-out-democrats-for-being-coastal-urban-elites/ https://nypost.com/2020/11/07/andrew-yang-calls-out-democrat...
      - rexpop 6y ago
        To decry accountability as "public flogging" is not an example of accountability and apology. It's a pretty good example of a non-apology. It reads as evidence that he's really detached from the harm. You are not the authority on what constitutes "trivial matters". You read as someone extremely privileged, and entitled, who would rather have their own trespasses swept under the rug. I don't, by the way, give a fuck about the Democratic party. I am not a member. I do not care what their reputation is.
- fatjokes 6y ago
  I'm not saying he (Jennings) is wrong, just that it's a douche thing to say. I'm not sure how I feel about cancel culture and I don't think Jennings needs to get "tarred" for a tweet. That said, I also don't think he's being robbed of any basic human rights here and knowing this, I'd rather give the (presumably well-paid, relatively prestigious and very public) job of Jeopardy! host to someone who isn't on record as needing to broadcast a message with no known benefit to anybody.
  - reaperducer 6y ago
    I also don't think he's being robbed of any basic human rights here In some countries, freedom of thought and speech is a basic human right.
    - InitialLastName 6y ago
      Name some countries where you can be free of all social and economic repercussions for your speech? You clearly can have the right to state your opinions. Other people also clearly have the right not to do business with you based on those stated opinions.
      - rexpop 6y ago
        Repercussions scale inversely with wealth, and power.
        InitialLastName 6y ago
        Homeless people can say whatever they want without repercussion too.
        rexpop 6y ago
        ...but also without harmful impact.
  - xfitm3 6y ago
- pengstrom 6y ago
  First rule of comedy: don't kick downwards. It's essential if we want to collectively get over our intolerance.
  - oh_sigh 6y ago
    That's just something you made up. If you google for the first rule of comedy, the results I see are similar to "be funny", "surprise", "timing", etc.
  - NewOrderNow 6y ago
    Never listen to anyone making rules about comedy. Clearly they don't have any clue what they are talking about.
  - Der_Einzige 6y ago
    I'm not convinced that exclusively "kicking up" does anything to meaningfully solve intolerance
  - dlivingston 6y ago
    Comedians like Dave Chapelle, Louis CK, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Bill Burr, and many, many others, kick in every direction: up, down, left, right. Policing comedy with a lens of wokeness is a profoundly bad idea.
    - selimthegrim 6y ago
      Chappelle has gotten a lot of stick for it lately if you haven’t noticed.
      - dlivingston 6y ago
        They all have, and the world is worse for it. An anecdote: someone like Dave Chappelle is wildly popular on both the left and the right. Several friends of mine on the right devour his specials like a gourmet buffet. So when Chappelle gets up on stage and talks about his experiences with racism, police profiling, and inequality (as he did on yesterday's SNL monologue [0]), those same people on the right listen. They hear him. It moves the needle of justice forward by reaching an audience who otherwise wouldn't necessarily hear these stories. [0]: https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs
- sterlind 6y ago
  That's a very limited idea of attractiveness you have. For instance, you could say the same thing about trans people, and that might be true among mainstream straight people, but personally I found dating far easier once I transitioned, and find trans people hotter. Also, disabled people often date each other, which comes with some downsides (like not having an able-bodied partner to be a caretaker), but means you're shielded from that icky stigma and you don't have a partner who's ashamed of you.
  - crankyoldcrank 6y ago
    My wife has multiple sclerosis. She was diagnosed while we were dating. It's extremely insulting that you think I, her abled partner, would ever be ashamed of that fact. Fuck you very much.
    - Talanes 6y ago
      Please assume good intent. I don't believe the poster jumping in to attack the (ridiculous) idea that disabled people are inherently less attractive is trying to say that being ashamed of a disabled partner is inevitable or excusable.
      - sterlind 6y ago
        Yes, thank you. I was speaking from experience: I have a disability myself (though I don't look it), so I've felt the stigma first-hand, but I don't think it's universal. I've had partners who were ashamed of me before. My current partner isn't but still gets grossed out when my joints dislocate, though they know it's bad and try to help me when that happens. It varies.
  - zamadatix 6y ago
    I'm glad things worked for you and I think people can always find someone to be with regardless of who they are but let's be honest, is it "a very limited idea of attractiveness" the GP has or are you just sidestepping "Let's not suggest that having shriveled up wheelchair legs is a boon in the dating market."? Yes it's a horrible thing, yes it's horrible to tweet about... but you know what, it's also horrible to try to act like it's just not a hinderance and this kind of thing needs to be called out. It's great, in fact it's easier! No, it's not. It's significantly harder life. Nobody thinks "man, if I just woke up tomorrow without the use of the lower half of my body my dating life would be so much easier" because it wouldn't be easier, it'd be a great hurdle. In fact nearly everything would be harder. Again this doesn't mean you can't find happiness or that nobody will ever like you for you, I think that's literally impossible in this world, but this is unfortunately sure as hell not an easy path to either of those things. <- this also means you don't have to be in the same situation to not be "ashamed" of your partner, though some may certainly be it's not a requirement of how society operates. I'm not sure you can make the jump "you could say the same thing about trans people" (more power to you) as the alternative to being or liking trans people is lying to yourself about who you like while the alternative to being disabled is being abled. One is all about who you are attracted to and who's attracted to you, the other is about being able or unable to use part of your body. Of course being true about the former leads to greater success in dating, the latter seems a bit of a stretch.
jchw 6y ago
For me it’s because I didn’t know about the tweet, and I assume it simply isn’t that well known of a tweet. Why would it be, as a joke made in poor taste 6 years ago. However, the comment is written as if everyone implicitly knows about it. This to me is disingenuous. It may seem less vain to phrase it like that, but it feels more scummy. I assume the reason why is because the alternative would be going mask-off and admitting that the intent is to raise awareness of some stupid off-hand remark from 6 years ago, which I suspect wouldn’t land well on HN. Could be wrong! But that was how I felt reading through this. Do I defend the remark in question? No. But at least people should cut the shit and admit that saying something horribly inappropriate once in a while isn’t actually that weird. Funny how we all have people we know that have done this, often people like our close family members, then act like it’s the end of the world when someone moderately popular does it. Let’s be realistic: nobody should care about this tweet. If it stops them from getting a job six years down the road, I would find that immensely more fucked up than the inappropriate joke itself. If Ken Jennings is actually a terrible person, it would probably manifest in more ways. edit: Not that anyone thinks it would, but my opinion on this is not going to change due to a low score, so if you are stopping by to leave a vote please consider commenting to explain why you disagree. Otherwise, I am left puzzled.
mdoms 6y ago
How sad it must be to be as joyless as you.

It's politically incorrect and not very tasteful, but they're acting like it's Jennings who has to "get past" that six year old tweet when it's actually people like that HNer who link it any time his name pops up hoping that others tar him for it. It makes we wonder how much this HNer is still dwelling on it. It's not the best joke but he's also not wrong btw. Let's not suggest that having shriveled up wheelchair legs is a boon in the dating market. It's just not nice to point out such inconvenient truths.

ianai 6y ago
I agree that society would do well to consider learning forgiveness. Forgiveness though does require that the attack stop - repeating your agreement with some kernel of the post doesn’t help that effort as it reopens the wound. I really really wish society to learn forgiveness. Life is too short - and the internet can be so incredibly destructive in its current lack of grace.
- rexpop 6y ago
  Shocking, to me, that you consider forgiveness a higher priority than accountability.
  - ianai 6y ago
    Accountability is a way for society to correct societal ills - put people in prison so they stop committing crimes and to serve justice, for instance. Forgiveness is a way for society to move forward. There’s an infinite amount of “tomorrow”, but few things need to be infinitely repeated.
    - rexpop 6y ago
      Putting someone in prison is an external imposition of retribution, not an internal act of contrition. It's completely inadequate, especially when discussing micro-aggressions, or cultural acts of bigotry which dehumanize at-a-distance.
  - dlivingston 6y ago
    Forgiveness is the next moral step after accountability. Jennings took accountability and apologized [0]. Therefore, forgiveness is now where we go. My comment is already getting too political and culture wars-ey to be suitable for HN, for me, but at the risk of pushing that further I would like to add this: the moral nitpicking and flogging of public figures needs to end. There are real villains out there, like Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby who need to be and have been held to account, and there are real issues out there, like ageism and sexism in hiring processes. Focusing on trivial matters like this not only doesn't help the movement to justice, but actively harms it. A recent quote from Andrew Yang: > “I would say, ‘Hey! I’m running for president!’ to a truck driver, retail worker, waitress in a diner, and they would say, ‘What party?’ And I’d say ‘Democrat’ and they would flinch like I said something really negative or I had just turned another color or something like that.” Yang told CNN host Don Lemon during a panel. > “So you have to ask yourself, what has the Democratic Party been standing for in their minds?,” he continued. “And in their minds, the Democratic Party, unfortunately, has taken on this role of the coastal urban elites who are more concerned about policing various cultural issues than improving their way of life that has been declining for years.” [1] [0]: https://twitter.com/KenJennings/status/987423884436647936 https://twitter.com/KenJennings/status/987423884436647936 [1]: https://nypost.com/2020/11/07/andrew-yang-calls-out-democrats-for-being-coastal-urban-elites/ https://nypost.com/2020/11/07/andrew-yang-calls-out-democrat...
    - rexpop 6y ago
      To decry accountability as "public flogging" is not an example of accountability and apology. It's a pretty good example of a non-apology. It reads as evidence that he's really detached from the harm. You are not the authority on what constitutes "trivial matters". You read as someone extremely privileged, and entitled, who would rather have their own trespasses swept under the rug. I don't, by the way, give a fuck about the Democratic party. I am not a member. I do not care what their reputation is.
fatjokes 6y ago
I'm not saying he (Jennings) is wrong, just that it's a douche thing to say. I'm not sure how I feel about cancel culture and I don't think Jennings needs to get "tarred" for a tweet. That said, I also don't think he's being robbed of any basic human rights here and knowing this, I'd rather give the (presumably well-paid, relatively prestigious and very public) job of Jeopardy! host to someone who isn't on record as needing to broadcast a message with no known benefit to anybody.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  I also don't think he's being robbed of any basic human rights here In some countries, freedom of thought and speech is a basic human right.
  - InitialLastName 6y ago
    Name some countries where you can be free of all social and economic repercussions for your speech? You clearly can have the right to state your opinions. Other people also clearly have the right not to do business with you based on those stated opinions.
    - rexpop 6y ago
      Repercussions scale inversely with wealth, and power.
      - InitialLastName 6y ago
        Homeless people can say whatever they want without repercussion too.
        rexpop 6y ago
        ...but also without harmful impact.
- xfitm3 6y ago
pengstrom 6y ago
First rule of comedy: don't kick downwards. It's essential if we want to collectively get over our intolerance.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  That's just something you made up. If you google for the first rule of comedy, the results I see are similar to "be funny", "surprise", "timing", etc.
- NewOrderNow 6y ago
  Never listen to anyone making rules about comedy. Clearly they don't have any clue what they are talking about.
- Der_Einzige 6y ago
  I'm not convinced that exclusively "kicking up" does anything to meaningfully solve intolerance
- dlivingston 6y ago
  Comedians like Dave Chapelle, Louis CK, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Bill Burr, and many, many others, kick in every direction: up, down, left, right. Policing comedy with a lens of wokeness is a profoundly bad idea.
  - selimthegrim 6y ago
    Chappelle has gotten a lot of stick for it lately if you haven’t noticed.
    - dlivingston 6y ago
      They all have, and the world is worse for it. An anecdote: someone like Dave Chappelle is wildly popular on both the left and the right. Several friends of mine on the right devour his specials like a gourmet buffet. So when Chappelle gets up on stage and talks about his experiences with racism, police profiling, and inequality (as he did on yesterday's SNL monologue [0]), those same people on the right listen. They hear him. It moves the needle of justice forward by reaching an audience who otherwise wouldn't necessarily hear these stories. [0]: https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs https://youtu.be/Un_VvR_WqNs
sterlind 6y ago
That's a very limited idea of attractiveness you have. For instance, you could say the same thing about trans people, and that might be true among mainstream straight people, but personally I found dating far easier once I transitioned, and find trans people hotter. Also, disabled people often date each other, which comes with some downsides (like not having an able-bodied partner to be a caretaker), but means you're shielded from that icky stigma and you don't have a partner who's ashamed of you.
- crankyoldcrank 6y ago
  My wife has multiple sclerosis. She was diagnosed while we were dating. It's extremely insulting that you think I, her abled partner, would ever be ashamed of that fact. Fuck you very much.
  - Talanes 6y ago
    Please assume good intent. I don't believe the poster jumping in to attack the (ridiculous) idea that disabled people are inherently less attractive is trying to say that being ashamed of a disabled partner is inevitable or excusable.
    - sterlind 6y ago
      Yes, thank you. I was speaking from experience: I have a disability myself (though I don't look it), so I've felt the stigma first-hand, but I don't think it's universal. I've had partners who were ashamed of me before. My current partner isn't but still gets grossed out when my joints dislocate, though they know it's bad and try to help me when that happens. It varies.
- zamadatix 6y ago
  I'm glad things worked for you and I think people can always find someone to be with regardless of who they are but let's be honest, is it "a very limited idea of attractiveness" the GP has or are you just sidestepping "Let's not suggest that having shriveled up wheelchair legs is a boon in the dating market."? Yes it's a horrible thing, yes it's horrible to tweet about... but you know what, it's also horrible to try to act like it's just not a hinderance and this kind of thing needs to be called out. It's great, in fact it's easier! No, it's not. It's significantly harder life. Nobody thinks "man, if I just woke up tomorrow without the use of the lower half of my body my dating life would be so much easier" because it wouldn't be easier, it'd be a great hurdle. In fact nearly everything would be harder. Again this doesn't mean you can't find happiness or that nobody will ever like you for you, I think that's literally impossible in this world, but this is unfortunately sure as hell not an easy path to either of those things. <- this also means you don't have to be in the same situation to not be "ashamed" of your partner, though some may certainly be it's not a requirement of how society operates. I'm not sure you can make the jump "you could say the same thing about trans people" (more power to you) as the alternative to being or liking trans people is lying to yourself about who you like while the alternative to being disabled is being abled. One is all about who you are attracted to and who's attracted to you, the other is about being able or unable to use part of your body. Of course being true about the former leads to greater success in dating, the latter seems a bit of a stretch.

jchw 6y ago

For me it’s because I didn’t know about the tweet, and I assume it simply isn’t that well known of a tweet. Why would it be, as a joke made in poor taste 6 years ago. However, the comment is written as if everyone implicitly knows about it. This to me is disingenuous. It may seem less vain to phrase it like that, but it feels more scummy. I assume the reason why is because the alternative would be going mask-off and admitting that the intent is to raise awareness of some stupid off-hand remark from 6 years ago, which I suspect wouldn’t land well on HN. Could be wrong! But that was how I felt reading through this. Do I defend the remark in question? No. But at least people should cut the shit and admit that saying something horribly inappropriate once in a while isn’t actually that weird. Funny how we all have people we know that have done this, often people like our close family members, then act like it’s the end of the world when someone moderately popular does it. Let’s be realistic: nobody should care about this tweet. If it stops them from getting a job six years down the road, I would find that immensely more fucked up than the inappropriate joke itself. If Ken Jennings is actually a terrible person, it would probably manifest in more ways. edit: Not that anyone thinks it would, but my opinion on this is not going to change due to a low score, so if you are stopping by to leave a vote please consider commenting to explain why you disagree. Otherwise, I am left puzzled.

mdoms 6y ago

How sad it must be to be as joyless as you.