That half these comments are whataboutism related is disappointing but unsurprising.

regularization 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones

verisimi 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If some entity is stating themselves to be an arbiter of truth, it's not unfair to critique other actions by that party, even if it's not directly relevant to the topic. Whataboutism can provide an indication of the underlying process/affiliation of that party.

^ A teacup defence of whataboutism.

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pessimizer 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That's not what "whataboutism" means. "Whataboutism" is an anti-communist propaganda term from the 1950s that describes when you criticize a country's economic liberties, and they remind you that you live in an apartheid state.

The fact that you live in an apartheid state is bad, but it has nothing to do with the restriction of economic liberties in my country. I am just trying to distract you by reminding you of how disgustingly you behave, rather than defending my system on its own terms.

The dumb lib version of this is when you tell me that I stole my watch, I point out that you already stole three watches and are currently slipping off my watch.

"Whataboutism!"

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pphysch 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[flagged]

	▲	8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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milemi 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

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cmrdporcupine 9 hours ago | parent [-]

"According to lexicographer Ben Zimmer,[14] the term originated in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Zimmer cites a 1974 letter by history teacher Sean O'Conaill which was published in The Irish Times where he complained about "the Whatabouts", people who defended the IRA by pointing out supposed wrongdoings of their enemy" (WP) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

Or we could just call it by its older name, the "Tu quoque" defense. "The Oxford English Dictionary cites John Cooke's 1614 stage play The Cittie Gallant as the earliest known use of the term in the English language.[1]"

C'mon, try harder.

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pasquinelli 9 hours ago | parent [-]

the point you're contesting is who coined the term, the unimportant part of the comment you're replying to. it sounds like you're saying, "of course the liberals are hypocrites, but they didn't coin the term!" is that what you mean to say?

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cmrdporcupine 9 hours ago | parent [-]

There is nothing "important" about the comment I'm replying to, it's well below HN commenting standards.

.. and yes, I see it's flagged/dead now.

	▲	milemi 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		If you go to the Google ngram viewer you won’t see a single occurrence of whataboutism before 2006. I’m not saying it was coined at the Liberals Coining Scare Words 2006 conference, but use of the word is a hallmark of a shitlib hypocrite. Whatabout and whataboutism are two different words.