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From being arrested?
> finding it impossible to have any sympathy for Mr. Bailey
Nobody asked for sympathy. Just whether you think the state has the right to arrest people who make jokes “in poor taste.”
Are we going to arrest the entirety of the GOP and Fox news next?
For example, if a black man walks into a neighbourhood and someone claims to the neighbours that he is armed and on a killing spree, they are possibly putting that man's life in danger.
Edit: actually a better example is swarming. It's seriously endangering someone's life, so someone doing it can get arrested for what police could have done.
Calling the commenter a “boot licker” is an accurate critique of a pro-authority sycophant that has the virtue of brevity.
We’re adults having a discussion. And it breaks HN Guidelines; “be nice” and “reply to the argument instead of calling names” [1].
Even my own comment, by continuing this conversation serves in rhetorical, political, and philosophic capacities; many of which I don't intend but are implicit to how the medium is presented
We aren’t on many forums. We’re here. I wouldn’t think twice about that comment on e.g. Reddit. But that’s why I’m no longer there. The people who go into “loud public arguments” and win often had an adult discussion before. That an increasing fraction of world chooses to only engage in the former is creating problems and the necessity of moving important debates, including political debates, away from them.
In this case I genuinely believe the post was borderline criminal and grossly irresponsible given the situation the world was in on March 20, 2020.
You could rewrite this as "Not criminal". So you agree, the arrest was illegal. Great!
I would put it in the 0.001-0.00001% possibility. If you fear the mentally ill and make policy choices on that fear, you would necessarily have to ban free speech to mitigate such low risk.