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John Byrne
Imaginary X-Man
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 9:17am | IP Logged | 1
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USATodayDoes he get to walk away from this? I think not.
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Steven Brake
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 January 2016
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | 2
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I can't understand WHY he said it?
I can almost understand it if Neeson had said something to someone and, alerted to it, a journalist pressed him on the point - but why say this when no-one was pressuring him to do so? When it was a private incident, or private consideration that - presumably - nobody else knew anything about?
What did he think the response would be?
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 12:44pm | IP Logged | 3
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I`m sure many of us have had dark thoughts during our
lives, but never acted on them. Why he vocalised those
thoughts to the media, is a mystery, as he must have
realised the result?
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John Byrne
Imaginary X-Man
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 12:52pm | IP Logged | 4
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I’ve said things over the years that have left me surprised by the reactions. Often, of course, people are not reacting to what I said, but some out of context sound byte. But to effectively say “I wanted to murder a random innocent person because of his race”... This slides Neeson into Mel Gibson territory.
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David Allen Perrin
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Joined: 15 April 2009
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 1:13pm | IP Logged | 5
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He's got a movie coming out. Is this some fantastically misguided PR move?
Edited by David Allen Perrin on 05 February 2019 at 1:15pm
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DW Zomberg
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 1:19pm | IP Logged | 6
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And Mel Gibson eventually made his way back, sadly (with a little love and support from his good buddy Robert Downey Jr).
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Charles Valderrama
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 1:21pm | IP Logged | 7
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Gibson was caught ranting in a drunken rage racial slurs.... Neeson was commenting on his (raw) feelings toward a violent crime committed on a close friend decades ago. He admitted that his reaction to his friend's rape was just "awful."
I see a difference worth recognizing. Neeson has guts to bring up this discussion.... Gibson was just caught being a jerk.
-C! |
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John Byrne
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 1:44pm | IP Logged | 8
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No excusing Gibson, and no excusing Neeson. It’s the deep current of race hatred that makes the comments of both so disturbing. That whole peoples can become targets, in someone’s mind, because of the actions of individuals.
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Steve De Young
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Joined: 01 April 2008
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | 9
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I don't see how, "This one time I seriously contemplated committing a hate crime" can be spun as being brave or honest.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 2:17pm | IP Logged | 10
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There is so much to this, full of ifs & buts.
I can understand wanting to take revenge BUT on a random stranger? I can understand wanting to take revenge on a male, BUT a black male?
Black. Male. Stranger. & he acted on those thoughts.
No, that’s not right, that’s not good & this cannot be defended.
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Stephen Churay
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 2:42pm | IP Logged | 11
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This is an apology piece. If you read the
transcript of the original interview and
what was said, in context, you understand
this is a bit of click bait.
Neeson himself said it was unacceptable.
It was also 40 years ago.
I have dealt with a raped family member. I
have seen my loved one, knowing that at
gun point, someone sexual foced themsevles
on her and beat her. When he was finished,
left her in a field to scrape her boken
self off the ground to find help. I know
that anger. In that blind rage, you want
someone to die. You want it to be the
person who did this, but in that moment,
anyone who fits the description will do.
For me, I went to batting cages for about
two weeks. I'd hit baseballs until
exhaustion. When the baseballs became
baseballs and not human heads, I stopped.
It's terrible to feel this. It's not sane.
But I can not condemn a man for his grief.
In both Neeson's case and mine, no one was
hurt. No one wants to come near you when
you look and are acting like a crazed
lunatic. Thankfully. Eventually you come
to peace with what has happened.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 4:22pm | IP Logged | 12
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This puts "I will find you and I will kill you" into a very different context, now, doesn't it? Yikes.
We all have our dark sides. This was decades ago, although that doesn't excuse it. Perhaps he just wanted to make the point that we're all human, and are all capable of repulsive thoughts--and even actions--under the right circumstances. I'd like to believe that people can change, but you never do know.
However, in today's climate, a public admission like this seems like PR/career suicide. Mel Gibson immediately came to mind when I saw this story, especially since anti-Semitic remarks are a few rungs down the ladder than actively contemplating and trying to provoke cause for a race-motivated murder.
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Stephen Churay
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 5:50pm | IP Logged | 13
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Greg, you need to understand. When
dealing with that anger, its not race
motivated, at least you don't see it that
way in the moment. Somebody caused
massive, life altering harm to someone tou
love. If the rapist were white with red
hair, that's the target of your anger.
More than just race, its stereotype group
think. My issue was 30 years ago, when I
was fifteen. In a situation like this you
learn to grow. You have to or that anger
never leaves. I now treat every person as
an individual with there own merits. Race,
sexual orientation, and gender really
don't come in to play. That grew out of my
letting go of my grief and realizing how
destructive it was.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 6:20pm | IP Logged | 14
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Oh, I understand, Stephen. I understand more than you could possibly know. There's been a parade of young women in my life who have been molested and/or raped. I've seen the damage it causes firsthand, and I've been damaged by association. As a result, I've developed a deep hatred of rapists and pedophiles. Nothing else--nothing--in this world has caused me more pain and fury than watching people I've loved suffer because of those crimes. The perpetrators have caused an incalculable amount of damage to them, and to me.
Frankly, I'm still furious. And it'll probably never go away. But, I overcome it by choosing to treat all people I meet with kindness, and to give them all a fair shake. We can't let a few bad apples ruin our perception of every single person out there.
I absolutely understand where Neeson's emotions were surely at, 40 years ago. I'm just thinking about how the world will view this "confession", especially due to the racial factor. As has been apparent for some time, "forgive and forget" seems to be a dying concept. The Internet keeps dirt and scandal alive and kicking for anyone to dig up at any time, and such confessions as Neeson's tend to lead to people dog-piling on rather than understanding or forgiving.
I'm not saying what he wanted to do was right, but rather that I doubt people will be willing to try and look at it from the point of view of someone who seems to feel guilty about it.
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Charles Valderrama
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 10:41pm | IP Logged | 15
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There are so many problems with what Liam Neeson said - I understand why people are upset... but a conversation in the open is better than silence and what lies beneath that silence.
We need another conversation in this country about redemption... and it isn't happening.
-C!
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Thomas Woods
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Joined: 09 June 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 11:00pm | IP Logged | 16
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Wasn't Gibson hating on Jews? I really didn't get that
since he seemed so into the story of Christ.
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Michael Roberts
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Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 3:50am | IP Logged | 17
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QUOTE:
| There are so many problems with what Liam Neeson said - I understand why people are upset... but a conversation in the open is better than silence and what lies beneath that silence. |
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A discussion on how even seemingly rational people can be caught up in racial animosity is an important conversation to have. What Liam Neeson did is not that. If you read his original interview, he doesn't even directly address the racial factor. His story was to underline the point that revenge and violence can lead one to do horrible things, but he just glosses over the horrible thing.
What Neeson said is not a conversation. It's laying a big turd in the middle of the room and asking people to deal with it:
QUOTE:
| “I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could,” another pause, “kill him.” |
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There might have been a path for Neeson to confess what he did, acknowledge that it was wrong and why, and ask for redemption. What Neeson did was not it though.
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Stephen Churay
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 4:58am | IP Logged | 18
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Try watching the full interview. He very
much acknowledged that this was insane and
terrible behavior and he himself grew from
it. And again, 40 years ago. The USA TODAY
article above is taking the pieces,
jumbling them around to create a specific
narrative and adding a click bait title.
It is not how that interview went.
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Michael Roberts
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 6:47am | IP Logged | 19
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QUOTE:
| Try watching the full interview. He very much acknowledged that this was insane and terrible behavior and he himself grew from it. And again, 40 years ago. The USA TODAY article above is taking the pieces, jumbling them around to create a specific narrative and adding a click bait title. It is not how that interview went. |
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Didn’t even read the USA TODAY article, but looking over it now, I’m not clear what you think is misrepresentative. When I said that Neeson dropped a turd, I’m referring to the initial press junket interview in THE INDEPENDENT.
Watching the GMA interview, Neeson doesn’t seem to get it despite Robin Roberts’ best efforts in trying to lead him there. It’s not just about Neeson realizing that his behavior was horrible 40 years ago, but how his words and attitude in recounting those events affect people today.
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John Byrne
Imaginary X-Man
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 8:09am | IP Logged | 20
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The question getting lost here is why he would mention it at all. This is not something uncovered in an old yearbook, or a speech or interview given decades ago. Neeson volunteered his private thoughts, something no amount of investigative snooping could have uncovered. Why?
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Thomas Woods
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 8:44am | IP Logged | 21
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The question getting lost here is why he would mention
it at all. This is not something uncovered in an old
yearbook, or a speech or interview given decades ago.
Neeson volunteered his private thoughts, something no
amount of investigative snooping could have uncovered.
Why?
--
My guess is a somewhat twisted sense of virtue
signalling? That he felt confessing past crimes would
somehow get him pats on the back?
On a deeper conspiracy level, maybe he told a few
people this in private that he now feels threatened
by, and he feels it better to get it out now before
someone sells the info to a tabloid?
Edited by Thomas Woods on 06 February 2019 at 8:46am
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John Byrne
Imaginary X-Man
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 9:16am | IP Logged | 22
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My guess is a somewhat twisted sense of virtue signalling? That he felt confessing past crimes would somehow get him pats on the back?•• That is very much how it feels to me.
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Brennan Voboril
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 9:31am | IP Logged | 23
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That is exactly what I thought of Neeson's reveal too: why even bring it up?
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 1:54pm | IP Logged | 24
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Thankfully Minority Report isn`t real, or we`d all be in
deep shit.
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Thomas Woods
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| Posted: 06 February 2019 at 3:07pm | IP Logged | 25
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Thankfully Minority Report isn`t real, or we`d all be in
deep shit.
--
I am guilty of wishing an asteroid would hit the earth
every now and then.
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