Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

We’ve got one commenter taking both top spots on the insightful side this week, but also… not really. Because in what I believe is a first, our top winner on the insightful side is Samuel Abram commenting on the previous comments post to celebrate a comment from last week, by Stephen T. Stone, that didn’t quite make the list (and it’s a very good comment). Got that? Here it is:

I want to give a shoutout to my favorite insightful comment of the week, which is this one by Stephen T. Stone:

Trans people are being denied gender affirming healthcare in multiple states thanks to specifically targeted laws, whereas cis people (including teenagers!) can get gender affirming treatments such as breast enhancements without any real trouble. Trans people are being targeted by laws that try to force them out of the public sphere by way of determining what public restrooms they have to use⁠—something cis people will never have to worry about. Trans people are being murdered, harassed into suicide, blamed for crimes against children that they didn’t commit, and generally treated like subhuman filth by conservative jackoffs only because trans people are transgender.

You may not think that’s persecution because trans people aren’t being systematically rounded up into concentration camps or murdered in the streets by a military police group. But that’s the thing about persecution: It never starts with death camps⁠—but on a long enough timeline, it sure as hell ends there. The only way to stop that from happening is to stop the persecution. To do that, you must first admit the persecution is real.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

The point of that bit of prose: Those who would have defended you against persecution will already be gone thanks in part to you and your indifference towards their persecution. Before you know it, the leopards you thought would never eat your face are making you their next meal. And no one will stop them because the people who might’ve saved you already learned their lesson from your indifference: They’re not you, so they don’t need to speak out when the leopards (fascists) come for your face (your life).

Transgender people are being persecuted regardless of your position on the matter. Will you be courageous and raise your voice against that persecution, or will you be a coward and stay silent as the persecuted suffer and die?

I really felt it was a powerful defense against the genocide that is happening in the US right now against Trans people.

In second place on the insightful side, it’s one of Samuel’s own comments, on our post about Elon Musk talking about paywalling ExTwitter:

To Koby, Matthew M Bennett, and all of the Elon Stanboys…

To every Elon defender here, I say this:

You think X/Twitter is doing so great, eh? Pay up. Put your money where your mouth is.

For editor’s choice on the insightful side, we start out with a comment from Somewhat Less Anonymous Coward in reaction to ExTwitter’s dwindling trust and safety team:

20 trust and safety people for purported 350m active users? I don’t even have a witty comment on that one, this is just staggering.

Next, it’s an anonymous comment about the Biden Administration seeking a deal where it oversees content moderation on TikTok:

Still with the “concerns” about privacy/security somehow leading to control of moderation. How the hell does this work?

The TikTok thing, while being a bunch of xenophobic security theatre, is also a bunch of bafflegab to get a foot in the door. “Well, TikTok is controlled by the government, so shouldn’t all the things be controlled by the government?”

Over on the funny side, our first place winner is an anonymous comment about Musk’s abject failure to eliminate bots leading to the idea of a paywall:

So his solution to kill the bots is to make the product far worse than the bots ever did.

[insert Obi-Wan meme here]

“It was said that you would destroy the bots, not join them!”

In second place, it’s another anonymous comment from that post:

“Twitter Blue failed, so now EVERYONE has to use Twitter Blue! By making it cheaper for everyone!”

I… I’m gonna need to actually develop a drinking habit to handle Elon’s stupidity.

For editor’s choice on the funny side, we’ll start out with Bobson Dugnutt and one more comment about the proposed paywall:

What’s worse than a Nazi bar? A Nazi bar with a cover charge.

And finally, it’s an anonymous comment that could easily go on the insightful side too, regarding the sorry state of the Supreme Court:

There aren’t any justices anymore. Just Justifiers.

That’s all for this week, folks!