Blogger Ken Santema maintains a dubious documentarian agnosticism about the moral merits of the now monthly hate fests taking place to foment false fears of immigrants in our fair city. The Aberdeen High School Democrats express a clearer moral vision: there’s no room for bigotry or willful ignorance in Aberdeen.
“High schoolers and just people in general need to know what’s actually going on….
“Me personally being a Muslim, I get offended, and I know there’s a lot of Syrians in Aberdeen that also get offended” [Sulaiman Jamal, in Kayleigh Schmidt, “High School Students Protest Bigotry,” KSFY, 2016.10.20].
About ten Aberdeen teenagers took to Second Street yesterday evening to shame the Aberdonians who attended Usama Dakdok’s second anti-Islam propaganda fest. I hope these young people’s visible protest says more about the moral character of our community than the fearful, deceitful folks inside the meeting.
You go, So Dakota teenagers, I’m proud of you! Stand up for human rights! Take a Stand against racism!
Would Aleppo Syrian orphaned muslim babies be welcomed in pro-life SD?
I wish they had done their walk from the park to where they were protesting a little sooner. I had hoped to get some video footage of the high school kids and have a couple of them speak on camera. But unfortunately they weren’t there until the meeting had already started. I would have thought it would be more opportune to be out protesting as people are arriving to the event.
Ken, you’re going to critique the teenagers’ methods and timing, but you’re not going to critique and factcheck Usama Dakdok and the Keep South Dakota Safe PAC? Do you think your blogging priorities might be a little messed up there?
I didn’t write blog a critiquing the teenagers methods or timing, I just commented here I wish they had showed up a little sooner. I think that would have been more effective for them; plus given me a chance to record them before the event. I do have some upcoming post planned about the topics coming out of this meeting, and conversations I’ve had with pro-refugee individuals in town. But honestly it is very low on my list of priorities right now.
How To Get Rich Off the Fears of the Timid
“The more we learn about the brain, the more we learn it’s not something that’s supposed to make you happy all the time,” says Andrew Huberman, a Stanford neurobiology professor who runs a lab studying fear. “It’s mostly a stress-reactive machine. Its primary job is to keep us alive, which is why it’s so easy to flip people into fear all the time.”
– The fact is: Anything can happen in the future. For some people, that’s exciting. For others, that’s scary. And even if both kinds of people are working toward a better world tomorrow, only one of them gets to be happy today.
– Why We’re Living in the Age of Fear by Neil Strauss
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/why-were-living-in-the-age-of-fear-w443554
These seem like very nice young kids. grudznick approves, and I still think Mr. Dakdok made that name up because it sounds neat to say.
I don’t know, Ken—how much work does it take to recognize that Dakdok is rousing fear and bigotry to keep his RV fueled? How much work does it take to say there’s no place for this irrational fear of Muslims in Aberdeen? How much work does it take to say all of these Klan meetings are contributing absolutely nothing to the effort to solve practical problems in South Dakota? How much work does it take to recognize that Dakdok’s rhetoric is a numbing moonshine for lazy thinkers who don’t want to think through the complexities of South Dakota issues and instead want to impose a mostly irrelevant template of home-brew Fox News falsehoods on local politics?
If recording and posting the speeches can be a priority (and I’ll grant, you’re at least making that much effort—I learned all I needed about the new Klan at the August meeting), how does that simple commentary not also work into the priority list?
Outstanding assessment, Mr. Heidelberger.
And it only took me five minutes, Porter!
An anonymous backchanneler mocks the protest for being small, just ten kids. Organizer Briggs Tople informs me that, after marching from Aldrich Park, they stayed at the Eagles Club for two hours, until 8 p.m., by which time it was getting pretty chilly. Their number actually grew to 15 by 8 p.m. I’d say 50% growth over the course of the event is a positive sign of the group’s ability to grab attention and recruit supporters.
Plus, they got more press than however many yahoos were inside.
Five minutes from the heart can outshine hours from the brain.
~ “One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.”
Lewis Carroll
A whole lot of this festism is because people who are autistic or heuristic or read bad see “islamaphobia” and thing “obamaphobia” or muslinism and such. This is all getting lumped together into the collective fears of people who aren’t paying close attention. Which is why, for all of those people, I urge you to Vote NO on Everything! It is the only safe way.
After you start drinking, Nick you need an interlock device on your brain.
Mr. Lansing, I think you misread my word “festism” as that word you often use, “fetishism.”
lol … Porter got your goat. ? …… ?
Aberdeen teens are apparently very knowledgeable about the Islam ideology. I bet besides reading the Quran they read “Ahmad iba Naqib al-Misri Reliance of the Traveller”.
Muslims don’t bet. Your agenda is showing.
I’m not a Muslim. So were you referring to all who post here are? Then forget about the bet about knowledge of the Traveller. You all must be admitting knowledge of the Traveller and therefore also an understanding and support of it.
lol … Porter got your goat, ele. ?
No Porter. You did not get my “goat”. Again, I’m not Muslem. I don’t have a “goat”. However, I see my question is still being avoided.
I’m not taking questions.
~ In public speaking it’s vital to know who you’re talking to. I’ll go first. I’m ridiculing you and I’m speaking to all the Young Dems who’re reading these blog posts. Your turn, ele. Condense your message and tell us exactly who you’re talking to.
I didn’t direct my initial post to you. So why did you take it upon yourself to answer? Could it be that you’re underestimating the intelligence of all the Young Aberdeen Dems, who are reading these posts, to answer for themselves?
Because I fight bullies and you’ve documented yourself as one. “Put ’em up, Satan!”
LMAO! Now YOU have documented yourself. You’re one hell of a nut. I’m done playing with you. Enjoy playing with yourself. Bye
Once again, Mr. Lansing does not understand his goat is in my yard and I am being mean to it at my own will. He does not understand the game. But grudznick approves and he may continue.
Mr. Lansing has a fine time educating the young Mr. Nick. In fact, it’s damn delightful however his memory is failing. I taught you this just a few weeks ago. Don’t you remember? heh HEH ho
GET YOUR GOAT – Urban Dictionary
Basic Definition: To annoy you to the point of getting pissed.
Sub Definition: Goat: The goat is a metaphor for your state of peacefulness. When your goat is with you, you are calm and collected. When your goat is stolen, you become angry and upset.
Notes: Getting someone’s goat can’t be a quick process and must be done by not being directly mean. The best way t get someone’s goat is by means of clever annoyance.
Ele, don’t play coy. Just make your point. Enlighten us.