Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
from the speak-up dept
This week, both our winners on the insightful side come from our post about a facts-free op-ed defending the bipartisan bill to repeal Section 230. In first place, it’s Stephen T. Stone reiterating a rule that holds true:
Once more, with feeling:
No one can oppose Section 230 without lying about it.
In second place, it’s Strawb with a reply to the claim that Section 230 allows “blatant viewpoint discrimination”:
No, that’s the First Amendment. But keep telling Mike how he “doesn’t understand the law”.
For editor’s choice on the insightful side, we start out with a comment from Dan B about Ajit Pai supporting the TikTok ban:
What makes this weird, to me, is that this isn’t even good politics for him.
Trump is (currently) against the ban, as are a plurality of independent voters. On top of that, there are solid, non-crazy legal arguments that the ban is unconstitutional. So this would have been an opportunity for Pai to simultaneously suck up to Trump, help the Republicans’ chances in 2024, and… do the right thing.
Next, it’s Drew Wilson with a comment about the potential (or not-so-potential) sale of TikTok:
I’m with Mike on this. The likelihood TikTok getting sold is very low at this point. TikTok made it very clear that they aren’t selling. They have their litigation effort (along with creator litigation next to them) fully ahead of them at this point. It makes WAY more sense that both TikTok and the creators that use the platform to focus on the lawsuits they filed. If it’s looking unlikely that the lawsuit is going to win and they change their mind on selling afterwards, then we’ll talk, but that’s a LONG way down the road and, what’s more, that’s a very big “if”.
Over on the funny side, our first place winner is an anonymous comment from last week’s winners post, responding to the winning insightful comment from that week, which was itself a reply to a comment throwing around some legal nonsense and included the line “the irony is that your hallucinated ‘facts’ are more offensive than ChatGPT’s”:
Hey, good news. Humans are still better at hallucinating than AI. Who’da thunk it.
In second place, it’s Boba Fatt with a comment about the bogus takedowns of “Fuck the LAPD” shirts:
I predict a new T-shirt design
now with “and the LAPDF, too”
For editor’s choice on the funny side, we start out with a comment from i havent had coffee yet confessing a misreading of the headline on our post about “the streaming sector”:
I first read the title as “Screaming Sector Continues Its…” and assumed it was about maga/conservatives.
Finally, it’s an anonymous comment about the latest nonsense from the mayor of New York City:
Someone should just switch Eric Adams with Eric André one night just to see what happens.
That’s all for this week, folks!
Comments on “Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt”
You’re thinking this would be a win, win, win. What you don’t realize is that last item is a deal breaker for Pai.
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
“and assumed it was about maga/conservatives”
Yet it is Hilary and others doing all the screaming, persecuting…
Obama for 8 years, Trump for 4, Obama for 4 more.
Everything is Trumps fault!
Really, who is doing the screaming? (I’m not counting the nazis who left twitter after Musk purchase who have now moved onto UNIs)
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
Re:
lol tough shit white boy
Re:
People who don’t fit their idea of normal get respect, rights, or a modicum of power:
Conservatives: full-on howler monkey
Objective reality is pointed out as not matching their narrative:
Conservatives: full-on howler monkey
Re: Re:
Elections not giving their preferred candidate:
Conservatives: KILL EVERYONE
Re: Re:
Girl, baby girl! you don’t even want to play!
Re: Re: Re:
Speaking of howler monkeys…
Re: Re: Re:2
…one just re-entered the chat.
Re: Re: Re:3
Is that your only introduction?
Re: Re: Re:4
For you? Of course, no other is needed.
Re:
username checks out
Re:
FTFY. YW.
This guy is Barack Obama? In what universe? You are either more politically unaware than the average 1st grader, or I’ve subverted the racist attack that was coming.
I think Chris Cox (R), co-author of Section 230, said it best…
“Because the First Amendment gives wide latitude to private platforms that choose to prefer their own political viewpoints, Congress can (in the words of the First Amendment) ‘make no law’ to change this result.’
https://knightfoundation.org/for-rep-chris-cox/#:~:text=Because%20the%20First%20Amendment%20gives%20wide%20latitude%20to%20private%20platforms%20that%20choose%20to%20prefer%20their%20own%20political%20viewpoints%2C%20Congress%20can%20(in%20the%20words%20of%20the%20First%20Amendment)%20%E2%8
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
Just once I would like to laugh at the “funniest” comment. Or even chuckle. Or even dad-joke groan.
Either Beadon is bad at the job or the +1 Commenteriat has no humor in it. It’s more likely the latter as the extreme left represented by the commenters is made up of humorless “that’s not funny” frowners. To these fringy lefties the only definition of funny is something that panders to their political onanism while soothing their self-righteous hatred.
So it’s a tough job, to find something that’s actually funny while still pandering to the extreme lefties populating the comments section.
But if the job is going to be done, Beadon needs a better sense of humor, or a “no comment qualified” disclaimer, or better commenters, or bigger balls (metaphorically). Good luck.
Re:
Just because a comment or idea isn’t literally-laugh-out-loud funny doesn’t mean it lacks humor. To wit: the idea that most commenters on Techdirt are “extreme left … humorless ‘that’s not funny’ frowners”. That’s not “Joker laugh” funny, but I can still see the humor in that gross misrepresentation of the Techdirt commenter community.
Re:
Or maybe, just maybe, humor is subjective.
Re:
Meanwhile, white supremacists only find violence meted out to outgroups and minorities funny.
And I don’t find a lot of things funny.
Verdict: It’s a you thing.