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hexola

(4,835 posts)
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:05 AM Jan 2019

What is "whataboutism"?

DU poster since 2003 - never heard of this until today - and there are folks here driving this idea hard to the basket...

What the fuck are you talking about?

Sorry I don't appreciate the pushback...so help a brother out!

So...what about that!!!?

18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
 

hexola

(4,835 posts)
5. No - Im asking here
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:14 AM
Jan 2019

I don't give a crap what a "search engine" says!

I heard it here first - and have been accused - so lets just get it out there!!!

greyl

(22,990 posts)
12. Here, let me Urban Dictionary that for you:
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:35 AM
Jan 2019
To demand satisfaction is to right wrongs occuring to the author/speaker by means of a pistol duel.

I demand satisfaction, sir.

uppityperson

(115,674 posts)
2. when you are criticized, say that someone else is worse.Or on any issue, there is something
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:09 AM
Jan 2019

not being addressed that the whatabouter attacks as you not caring about or focusing on.

For example : "Trump broke the campaign finance law. What about Obama, he did too!" = what trump did isn't so bad.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/whataboutism-origin-meaning

uppityperson

(115,674 posts)
14. What? How did you get that out of what i wrote? Is this complaining about an alert or hide?
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:39 AM
Jan 2019

Another random example: on a thread about the the Covington High schoolers' actions, saying the Black Israelites were behaving badly. I

Deflecting from 1 action by saying someone else did it too, and thereby it's not so bad.

Response to uppityperson (Reply #14)

Salviati

(6,002 posts)
10. From Wikipedia:
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:30 AM
Jan 2019

It explains a lot of the connections to Soviet propaganda:


Whataboutism (also known as whataboutery) is a variant of the tu quoque logical fallacy that attempts to discredit an opponent's position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly refuting or disproving their argument,[1][2][3] which in the United States is particularly associated with Soviet and Russian propaganda.[4][5][6] When criticisms were leveled at the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the Soviet response would often be "What about..." followed by an event in the Western world.[7][8][9]

The term "whataboutery" has been used in Britain and Ireland since the period of the Troubles (conflict) in Northern Ireland.[10][11][12] Lexicographers date the first appearance of the variant whataboutism to the 1990s[1][10] or 1970s,[13] while other historians state that during the Cold War, Western officials referred to the Soviet propaganda strategy by that term.[7][14] The tactic saw a resurgence in post-Soviet Russia, relating to human rights violations committed by, and criticisms of, the Russian government.[7][15][16] The technique received new attention during Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Ukraine.[17][18] Usage of the tactic extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.[19][20][21]

The Guardian deemed whataboutism, as used in Russia, "practically a national ideology".[22] Journalist Julia Ioffe wrote that "Anyone who has ever studied the Soviet Union" was aware of the technique, citing the Soviet rejoinder to criticism, And you are lynching Negroes, as a "classic" example of the tactic.[23] Writing for Bloomberg News, Leonid Bershidsky called whataboutism a "Russian tradition",[24] while The New Yorker described the technique as "a strategy of false moral equivalences".[25] Jill Dougherty called whataboutism a "sacred Russian tactic",[26][27] and compared it to the pot calling the kettle black.[28]
...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

Salviati

(6,002 posts)
13. I'm not sure I know what you mean by "exercising this concept"
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:36 AM
Jan 2019

Most of the times I've seen the term used on DU, it's people pointing out that someone else is trying to defect the discussion via whataboutism. Recognizing and calling out the tactic is a way to fight back against it and to keep the discussion on topic. Like calling out when a panelist is engaging in a Gish Gallop on TV.

 

hexola

(4,835 posts)
17. I've never heard the term on DU until today
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 01:52 AM
Jan 2019

And never heard of it at all otherwise...

So - using it on DU = "Exercising"

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