The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

In Defense of Scott Adams

Posted on | February 27, 2023 | 2 Comments

As everybody knows now, “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams has been #canceled because of what is being called a “racist rant” he posted on his daily video stream last week. An acquaintance who knows Adams passed along the word that Adams is wealthy enough that this is basically his way of taking early retirement. What’s most interesting in this controversy is that none of the people rushing to condemn Adams has even bothered to explain why what he said was wrong.

As a matter of fact, good luck finding any media outlet that has actually quoted Adams — at length, in context, so that readers can judge for themselves whether he said anything “racist.” When I went searching for a transcript, I couldn’t find one, nor did any media sources quote more than a few phrases from his “rant,” and this ought to be your first clue that maybe you’re being misled by the shrieking maniacs in this cancel-culture lynch mob. Click here to see for yourself the full “rant,” and perhaps many people would say Adams “went too far,” or suspect that maybe he was engaging in hyperbole, exaggerating for effect — which, if you think about it, is what his cartoons often do, exaggerating the behavior of people in office environments for comic effect.

Is it possible that Scott’s humor is too subtle for some people? During his “rant” (which wasn’t actually a rant), Adams says, “As you know, I’ve been identifying as black for a while — years now — because I like to be on the winning team.” Satire much? The claim of “identifying as black” is obviously a joke, intended to mock the likes of Rachel Dolezal or the whole “identity” thing, as such. With that humorous preamble, then, why are we supposed to treat what comes after it as entirely serious?

But that’s just how it is with cancel culture. The target of the shrieking mob is presumed guilty, and people are afraid to defend the target, lest they become tainted with guilt-by-association. Too many people buy into this mentality, believing that the accusation of “racism” (or “transphobia” or whatever) must always be treated seriously, as if the cancel culture lynch mob can be presumed to be acting in good faith. There must be something wrong with Adams, many people will assume, because why else would people be saying these things about him? Here, for example, is Lincoln Brown “defending” (?) Adams at PJMedia:

In an already polarized nation, Adams’ comments are the red meat over which the blue media salivates. The Daily Kos began its piece with the 1963 quote from former Alabama governor George Wallace, “I say, segregation today… segregation tomorrow… segregation forever.” The comparison was obvious. The Daily Beast’s headline called Adams “unhinged” and kicked off the article by calling him a Trump supporter. Because you can’t write a news piece today without mentioning Trump at least once.*
Adams did make some inflammatory comments. Calling 47% of blacks a hate group certainly qualifies. Urging white people to get away from black people has raised some eyebrows, as has his talking about his own decision to move. But he also quoted CNN’s Don Lemon as saying that there are problems in black neighborhoods that are not present in white neighborhoods. The Left can be as outraged as it wants, but Lemon said it. Start with him.
Was Adams’ video a racist rant, or the sound of a man giving up?

How about, neither? Consider the possibility that what Adams was doing was trying to call attention to a serious social problem and choosing, as his weapon, his accustomed hyperbole. Or as an alternative theory– if you think his remarks about white people needing to “get the hell away from black people” were meant literally — how about the possibility that Adams was merely guilty of saying out loud what a lot of white people (including liberal white people) actually do in their day-to-day lives. Like, when was the last time any of you crackers visited West Baltimore? Or do any of the people denouncing Scott Adams as racist have any intention to relocate to Philadelphia’s Tioga-Nicetown neighborhood?

Because I’m not a mind-reader, I won’t pretend to know what Scott Adams had in mind when he said what he said, but I know him to be an intelligent person who probably doesn’t plan to start painting swastikas on synagogues or fire-bombing black churches to express his “racism.” Nor do I think he intends to incite anyone else to “hate crimes.” The risk of oppressed minorities being attacked by “Dilbert” fans is probably close to zero. The idea of Scott Adams as a 21st-century Hitler is ludicrous and yet, because the shrieking mob of lunatics is yelling “RAAAAACISM!” at the top of their lungs, every newspaper in the country has to cancel the only comic strip that is still funny. Perhaps the best thing you can do is to order some Dilbert books like Eagerly Awaiting Your Irrational Response, or maybe some Dilbert T-shirts, and then go spray-paint swastikas all over the place. No, wait — that was a joke!

You can never be too careful about this stuff nowadays.



 

 

Category: Racism

Comments

2 Responses to “In Defense of Scott Adams”

  1. Soooo, about what Scott Adams said - The DaleyGator
    February 28th, 2023 @ 5:19 pm

    […] The Other McCain has a lengthy commentary […]

  2. FMJRA 2.0: Too Much Too Young : The Other McCain
    March 5th, 2023 @ 5:31 am

    […] her (or somebody very much like her) in mind. Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam. In Defense of Scott Adams Okrahead The DaleyGator A View From The Beach EBL 357 […]