For the Record, Craig T. Nelson is an Idiot
It's an unhappy 66th birthday to knee-jerk, right-wing bump-on-a-log Craig T. Nelson, aka Steve Freeling and Coach Hayden Fox, who last year famously and apparently without irony asserted that "no one helped [him] out when [he] was on food stamps and welfare." Idiotic charlatans of political engagement like this — unfeeling creatures who don't understand the difference between socialism and a societal safety net, and reflexively bristle at social/mental health/outreach programs that don't conform to the prescribed rigidities of the manner in which they believe others should be living their lives — are in a certain sense citizens of the worst order, because they have the means to be better educated, but almost willfully choose not to be. They put on blinders and ignore the world at large, or indeed the very notion that there could be major problems that do not (yet) immediately impact their lives. Their opinions are rooted in having achieved a certain hard-fought success, and then — instead of celebrating living in a country which ultimately rewarded all their effort with a lottery-style win — becoming embittered with taxation and/or the inability to extend control and ultimate authority across all areas of life. I mean, clueless statements like the one above almost guarantee that the guy has an alcoholic past or has been in some sort of trouble with the IRS, right? Which one is it?
I love this site...
:)
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HA... funny! ;)
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The video you linked to, that I presume shows Craig making the alleged statement, has been removed and I don't care enough to research this more, but it appears as though you wrote this entire rant, not because of what he said, but simply because you being "open minded" don't agree with his views, therefore he is the enemy and you must slander him. It looks like you took one quote, out of context, and wrote an article about it. Besides the fact that that's just petty, you know what he meant.
You're calling him an idiot because he said no one helped him out when he was on welfare and food stamps, yet taxpayers paid for his welfare and food stamps. Does that make him a hypocrite? Kind of. But not really. You know what he meant. He worded it poorly, but you still know what he meant. And even still, if anything he is just a hypocrite, not an idiot.
You sir, are an idiot for writing this entire article on one quote, taken out of context. And realistically, I'm an idiot for taking time to write this reply to an idiot.
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No Anon, I chose my words carefully, actually. Sure, Nelson is a hypocrite, but his words also reveal him as an idiot. Watch the whole interview clip with him (it's easy to find online), or even just the excerpt.
That's why I use the phrase "idiotic charlatan of political engagement," because Nelson reveals himself to be a socially and fiscally conservative guy (no great whoop in that -- that's fantastic) who merely parrots right-wing radio talking points, without grasping any of the intellectual heft behind their positions. He's a hands-off-mine! type of guy -- blind and oblivious to the entire concept of a social safety net, despite having personally benefited from that in the past, when he was much less fortunate than he is today.
You simply saying I should "know what he meant" doesn't change this.
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