On Faggotry

After nineteen years of blogging, I’m largely indifferent to being called names. The various blog wars, and especially the Breivik affair, have made me inured to insults. You can call me whatever you like; just don’t call me late for supper. The exception, of course, is that comments on this blog must follow the guidelines for civility and decorum — which severely limits the customary range of expression for those who like to insult.

When moderating comments, I don’t let people insult their fellow commenters, but they can trash me as much as they like, provided that they stay within the rules posted on the sidebar.

Many years ago Dymphna and I observed that certain topics tended to make commenters abandon civility and descend into rage-filled tirades. The top three hot-button topics were Russia, abortion, and Jews. If we posted about any of those, we knew that the comment thread would degenerate into vituperative name-calling and intemperate recommendations unless we proactively prevented it from doing so.

Seven or eight years ago I discovered another topic that was likely to set people off: the Confederacy. During the sesquicentennial I started posting more about the Civil War. After Black Lives Matter picked up steam, and especially after the summer of rage in 2020 over the martyrdom of St. George Floyd, the topic became even more relevant. I joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans when the statues started being pulled down in earnest, and have been posting about the Confederacy regularly since then.

Vituperative hostility can be expected to appear in the comments whenever Dixie is featured prominently in a post. This is especially true when the post is linked by certain sites whose readership is, shall we say, less intellectual than the estimable regulars at Gates of Vienna. These occasional visitors either don’t read my commenting policy or choose to ignore it, and commence to insulting each other and myself using all manner of epithets and obscenities. Readers don’t see all that, because I redact the nasty bits from the comments. More often than not everything but the articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns would have to be removed, leaving a comment that would look something like this:

You are an [obscenity redacted] who deserves to be [redacted] with your [redacted] and [intemperate recommendation redacted].

So I just delete those, and you never see them.

Nasty comments can come from either the left or the right, but for some reason the most foul-mouthed remarks seem to be made primarily by people on my side of the political divide.

Recently I’ve noticed that the most frequent epithets used (besides the standard obscenities) are “faggot” and “cuck”. As far as I can tell from the context, the meaning of the two words seems to be about the same: they refer to people whose inclinations and policies are perceived as timid, weak, ineffectual, and lacking in grit.

“Cuck” is a shortened version of “cuckservative”, which is a portmanteau of “cuckold” and “conservative”. Dymphna and I both detested the word, not because of its meaning, which is unremarkable, but for its extremely unpleasant sound. When she was still with us, she always redacted it from comments. I am more lax in moderation than she was, but I still tend to get rid of it a lot of the time because it is so unpleasant to the mind’s ear.

Generally speaking, from what I can gather, a “cuck” is someone who purports to be a conservative but allows the Left to have its way (with the legal process, with the legislature, with the larger culture, etc.), which is where “cuckold” comes in.

I am often the target of that particular epithet, obviously, but so are other commenters, political leaders, media commentators, and anyone who happens to walk by at the wrong moment. Anyone whose proposals do not immediately immanentize the conservative eschaton — expelling all migrants, hanging all progressives, dynamiting Congress, whatever the preferred trope-du-jour might be — is a cuck. If I’m not in favor of massive and immediate violence against all who disagree with me, then I’m a cuck.

Very well, then, I’m a cuck. I am large; I contain multitudes of faggotry.

26 thoughts on “On Faggotry

  1. Just giving a heads up, Wiki has your real name and location.
    Flak in the air means you’re doing something right.

    • Oh, yes, I know about all that. I was in the klieg lights back in 2011, during the Breivik affair. That stuff has been there since then.

      But I’ve been public with my real name since 2010, when I wrote for Breitbart for a while.

  2. I think you have the makings of a Monty Python skit. At least one line. The last one. Quick before they are all dead.

  3. The fact that some people are getting triggered because some “have the audacity” to voice opinions that are slightly different than their own is one of the reasons why we have so many problems today. Someone says something on a college campus that the mob disagrees with and they’re permanently dispelled. Brett Weinstein is a perfect example of that, and I wouldn’t call him a diehard conservative.

    Having said that, I would have to say that it is mostly the other way around, namely conservative students voicing opinions that their left-leaning peers don’t agree with and subsequently are booted out.

    In Europe and most of the English speaking world this intolerance towards different ideas have been weaponised. It has even been codified into law and transgressors are being hauled before courts on preposterous “hate speech” charges. Geert Wilders, Ezra Levant and Tommy Robinson are just a few of the people that have had to spend huge resources and paid a tremendous price for fighting ludicrous and highly politicised accusations.

    These days where most of the public discourse is taking place on social media this intolerance is even more troubling given big tech’s ruthless censorship of “unpalatable” voices. The way things are progressing unopposed in this day and age, it seems to me that China is going to be the new normal with social credit systems and the whole enchilada. In twenty years from now, we’ll probably see a society where you’ll be sent to reeducation camps if you dare to go against the official narrative, whatever that official narrative may be.

    If someone had suggested to me that this could be the reality only four or five years ago, I would have laughed. But after Covid and the neofascist mentality that swiftly rose to the surface and reared its ugly head during that time, I’m starting to believe that we’re heading in that direction. And the sad thing is that the silent majority are willing to be herded there without lifting a finger.

    Living in today’s world is like being an unwilling participant in some evil, dystopian psychological experiment. The men in the white coats have all the power and call all the shots. And if you don’t follow their every command you’re dead meat.

    I’m glad that I got to a chance to grow up in a time where common sense was the norm and people weren’t hounded by the authorities for wrong think. I do worry about my kids though. Sadly, that privilege will not be extended to them.

    • Bring back dueling.

      Fisticuffs and name calling have given way to lawfare and cancel culture. And the truth is they’re better at it than we are, or just more ruthless and immoral. Victory at any price is their virtue as long as their physical safety isn’t on the line.

      I think it’ll come about anyway once what’s left of society has deteriorated further. By then it will be dangerous for the lawfare types to fornicate with dangerous men who don’t have anything left to lose. Threatening a duel if one doesn’t desist as the last step before gunning down someone in their law office or courtroom will be seen as preferable to killing by those who would rather not kill but are prepared to do so when legal remedies are unavailable.

      Perhaps the worry of being challenged to a duel will bring about some civility on the other side of the troubles we are facing.

      • Perhaps. Retaliating physically against a bully was widely accepted when I was growing up in Norway in the seventies. And it certainly discouraged the bully from continuing his activities, especially in those cases where the bully suffered a black eye, cracked ribs or a broken nose.

        These days activities like that are frowned upon and the target of the bullying is more likely to get punished than the bully himself, that is if the victim manages to land a solid right hook. And what are the results of such policies? Well, the bully is never taught a lesson, or rather the bully is taught the lesson that it’s ok to bully others.

        It’s the same thing with law-fare, the person or organisation with the most resources, i.e., most money and most ruthless lawyers will prevail. It doesn’t matter whether the person/organisation is morally correct or not.

        This is also the case with self defence. If you’re unfortunate enough to live in a place where the authorities insist that you just roll over and take it every time someone tries to harm you, the consequences for standing up for yourself can be disastrous. True, you solve the immediate problem you’re faced with there and then, but on the other hand you’re creating another and much bigger long term problem. If you hurt the SOB that attacked you badly enough, the odds are you get locked away for a couple of years. So what do you if you’ve have a family and kids? A long prison sentence will destroy a family. You lose your home and as a last and final insult the courts will demand that you pay reparations to the person responsible for it all.

        I don’t know if what is happening at the moment has been planned or not, but what it has achieved is to emasculate law abiding citizens and hand a carte blanche to scrupulously career politicians and criminals who have no interests in respecting you and your property. And there are plenty of those around these days.

        Push will eventually come to shove, I guess. When people don’t have jobs, when they can no longer afford food and when their neighbourhoods start resembling war zones they will act. But how will they act, will they become criminals themselves in order to survive or will they decide to punish those responsible for creating the mess in the first place?

        One thing is guaranteed, they will react. Desperate people with nothing left to lose will eventually do something. That’s a lesson history has taught us. And when that happens, it’s not always pretty.

        The question is how far can those in power stretch the metaphorical rubber band before it snaps and comes flying back in their faces. And will that be the case or will their evil strategy of divide and conquer work in their favour? Will they simply sit back and watch the disgruntled parties have it out among themselves, then double down and tighten their grip on society when the fighting is over?

        Who knows? Only time will tell. But like I mentioned in my initial post, I think the ultimate goal is to introduce a China like regime with a social credit system and mass surveillance of the plebs. That is pretty much the stated goal of the WEF. And god help us all if that ever happens.

        • Those most responsible are usually the most removed physically from those who are the worst harmed by their policies.

          Just about everywhere in society functions the same. Think of a corporation where the executives who come up with the woke social justice twaddle usually occupy their own special suites on the top floor with controlled access and security or are in a different site altogether, while the HR goons who enforce it are also in their own separate offices insulated from the peons they harass. DC might as well be it’s own planet for the remoteness of the lizard people who inhabit it have from those they rule, or Silicon Valley, where only members of the tribe are allowed to congregate.

          If it wasn’t thus there would be far more vigilante acts taken against the elites. Locally, such violence also rarely happens since it is still easier to just move elsewhere than build a Killdozer to rampage the houses and businesses of those who have aggrieved one’s self. When there isn’t anywhere to move to because everywhere is equally bad, or there’s no jobs or food to be had then it will be dangerous for the local elites.

        • When fighting back, always remember to clean up the mess and remember the mantra, no bodies, no crimes. Police your brass and remember a good shovel is a great investment.

  4. so it is Cuck Season and we can go Cuck hunting as I just saw a good-sized flock of cucks flying over my yard.

  5. Baron, I must admit I too have been intemperate at times, but you have done an excellent job maneuvering through the minefields in this most uncertain world of words are now considered weapons era.

    • Thank you, G!

      You’ve been hanging around here a long time, and have mostly abided by the guidelines. Mostly.

      • Yes Baron, you have admonished me a few times, and well I deserved it for not playing by the rules. Your Vlog has been a treasure trove of information that would take days to collect and form informed opinions, you do it in a day. Believe it or not, police and spooks cannot do a better job and use you Vlog to keep informed and up to date.

  6. Good Evening Baron, I believe the term “cuck” may also refer to an effeminate husband, with a diminished machismo and wandering wife.
    Regardless, you’re a rock star and the world’s a better place when you’re behind the keyboard.

  7. From Australia. I saw a photo of the Robert E Lee? statue being ripped apart. It was a nice piece of bronze art and I thought very sad that such a good piece of art work seemed to be being destroyed. He wasn’t a mass murderer like some other statues around.

  8. “You are an [obscenity redacted] who deserves to be [redacted] with your [redacted] and [intemperate recommendation redacted]”.

    My first laugh of the day and a much more effective repost to a weak minded post than any number of obscenities.

  9. I am a lurker on this site and seldom comment. I think your civility policy is the right thing. I have watched over the last year as the insulters have virtually destroyed the Instapundit community. That is a group that is mostly conservative and I have been around there long enough to recognize the regulars from the trolls so it is actual conservatives slinging the insults. Not much abortion insulting over there with GOPe supporters picking up the slack. Jews are a favorite topic over there for the insulters as they are here. But by far the biggest problem is that the partisans of the war on Russia will brook no disagreement. This even extends to value free discussions of how the war is going which is absurd given that no one actually knows. This group is probably unanimous in believing the MSM and Deep State has lied about everything for years but somehow they are telling the truth about Ukraine.

    So thanks and keep it up.

  10. Mel Brooks, in his famous “The Two Thousand Year Old Man” comedy routine (with Carl Reiner; yes, that Carl Reiner), referred to George Washington, General Custer and Dwight Eisenhower as “FAGS.” Federal Army Generals. Of course, being 2,000 years old, Brook’s character had to be alerted to the fact that “FAGS” was no longer an acceptable term.

    In Great Britain, well before genderism became a thing, faggots were just sticks, and fags were cigarettes.

    • “Fag” was also a British boarding-school term for a (male) pupil who acted as a servant to an older (also male) student. Depending on the inclinations of his master, the younger boy might be expected to provide certain sexual services in addition to being a gofer. I think that may be where the slang meaning of “fag” originated, with an extension to “faggot”.

  11. You recently removed a word from my comment on words beginning with “mother…”,
    And how else can I call people who bring evil and distort the human body and soul?

    • There are many words that can be used to express strong feelings without using those that are commonly considered obscenities.

      The distinctions made are not rational. There’s no rational reason to consider “feces” acceptable and “shit” unacceptable. Deprecating the latter is a matter of custom. The traditionally deprecated words are then used to pack an emotional load into what is said, punching the reader or listener in the eye with it. The use of them ratchets up the anger and hostility in a conversation, and makes it far less likely that participants will actually pay attention to the meaning of what is being said. Once the exchange has descended into such invective, it’s virtually impossible that anyone’s mind will be changed by what is being said.

      That’s why I consider it important to maintain civility in this space.

  12. Speaking of Jews, for years I was an ardent defender of them. Then Election 2020 and the Covid Scamdemic unfolded, and my mind was blown and I now question everything and entertain anything. As the rarely anti-Leftist comedian Jim Breuer half-facetiously put it, “I’m ready to put lizard people on the table!” It’s irrational to cordon off Jews from all substantive criticism, particularly when the censorship emanates from the anti-Left. And it won’t do to indulge in the Argumentum Ad Hitlerem, where any substantive criticism is branded as a slippery slope that will lead to “another Holocaust”. The two biggest counter-jihad venues still, Jihad Watch and GOV, remain both irrational custodians of Jews, where their bud-nipping would be the envy of the most zealous mohel.

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