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  • robinnist [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    6 days ago

    It’s impossible to be this stupid. He quotes Bin Laden’s letter to support his point but says that “he did quite literally hate Americans because they could vote and had freedoms,” a claim which is impossible to make after reading the letter:

    Free men do not forfeit their security, contrary to Bush’s claim that we hate freedom. If so, then let him explain to us why we don’t strike Sweden, for example.

    Nobody is running defense for Bin Laden, and Ethan is correct that he was antisemitic; but it’s him who rewrites history when he leaves out the reason of American imperialism, which is expressly stated. God what an idiot.

    • RedWizard [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netOP
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      6 days ago

      We used to watch pretty regularly. Leftovers was entertaining, but it was clear that when Hasan was doing serious political analysis, all of that would fly over Ethan’s head in a way that vexed him. Then they had that episode where they were talking about Socialism, and it seemed apparent to me that Hasan thought this was going to be a kind of informational episode, and Ethan’s only intentions were to “Own” Hasan in the “marketplace of ideas”. Ethan admits at some point that his only research on “social democracy” was conducted with none other than “ChatGPT” (something he was obsessed with at the time, and probably still is). That’s when I stopped really giving a shit about the dude and his content. I think the thing that frustrated me was not so much how “bad” that episode was, but that it clearly looked like a “bait and switch” on someone who Ethan presented as a Friend and how willingly and deliberately ignorant Ethan was.

      The nail in the coffin though was definitely the episode after Oct 7th (where this grudge Ethan has maintained sprouted from) and the preceding livestream where he angrily argued with Hasan. The total disingenuous nature of the whole thing showed many people the face under the mask. I haven’t watched an episode since.