Fat Mike Talks Vegas Backlash • Page 2

This just in: people can care about multiple things at once! I know it’s like your personal mission to make sure everyone knows you don’t think this shit matters- you pop up in every thread that is even slightly focused on social justice to post something like this.

These things don’t happen once a vaccuum. Politicians influence on subset of people, musicians another. But there are intersections and in those intersections, people choose to listen to their heroes.

It’s also an absurd, absolutely offensive statement to make that anyone is more upset by Fat Mike than mass murderers. Again, you can care about two things at once. No one is holding him to higher standards. No one is like “you know, I’ll give Mike Pence a pass, but Fat Mike? I need him to act a certain way!”

 

@personalmaps covered much of what this post made me wish to say, but I just have to add:

As someone who has been to that bar from the shooting you're referencing, and has friends who frequent that bar, and has lost people in a mass shooting: it is the epitome of fucked up to imply calling out someone as awful as Mike means we don't care about other shootings or the politicians/gunmakers/whatever who enable it. There are forums on this site that could tell you it's not even true in the small bubble of Chorus. Stop it. You're 100% out of line and out of pocket, and I don't need to "do any research" to know that's true.

 

Personally, I think this whole thing is fascinating and extremely troublesome for reasons most people here aren’t considering.

Yes, what Fat Mike said was terrible. But like he said in the interview - it’s not even the worst thing he said that night, arguably. He’s Fat Mike. Being horrible is his whole schtick. Literally everyone on earth who knows who he is knows this.

But one night, some people decided to cherry pick one comment on one night and run it through the news cycle to promote a socio-political agenda. And in response, people who’d booked him/backed him knowing full well who he was suddenly caved to the pressure of a news station/the propaganda arm of President Trump and his cult of backers.

To put it more simply: Fat Mike had shows canceled and took a massive fall in the public eye not because he said something shitty (because, again - he ALWAYS does that), but because he was that week’s target of a news organization that decided to make an example of him. And that’s a news organization that should, frankly, scare all of us with it’s outsized power in our nation and world.

This whole thing should bother all of us, even if we despise Fat Mike and his comments (and I do). Because this shit happens with people we should be supporting as much as those we shouldn’t be (see: today’s incorrect and bigoted reporting on Caster Semenya), and our first response (I think) should be ‘fuck Fox News and the culture it’s created.’

 

Political censorship and public backlash isn't the same thing, and beyond that I'm not gonna acknowledge an argument based on the premise that saying this harmful behavior is unacceptable is the equivalent of being a pawn of Trump's propaganda machine and contributing to Fox News culture.

Ironically, that's a logic thread that Trump would very much applaud. I hope you stretched before that reach.

 

Just because someone "always does something" doesn't make it okay. The fuck?

 

This describes a total of zero people here.

 

You seem significantly more hostile than you need to be towards someone who’s on your side here.

Fat Mike is wrong. Always. Endlessly. Which is why you, me, and 95% of this site never supported him. He didn’t lose your support because you never supported him; mine either.

The point I made is how terrifying it is to see people see Fox News go after someone and then, about someone they supported and whose actions they previously were fine with, say, ‘well, now I can’t support them anymore.’ That’s what happened here. And I stand by that being frightening, and think most people should.

Fuck Fat Mike. But let’s also recognize he isn’t the guy with the power in the room - Fox News is. So fuck those guys more.

 

Showing up? I’ve listened to this band since 1992, and was commenting on the disasterpiece that was the Cokie the Clown record in other threads, so it very much makes sense to read this article and interview. If you don’t like the guy, why even go into a thread and hurl obvious insults (even if they may be deserved at times).

It’s true people can care about more things at once. You are absolutely right.

The critic of Fat Mike for many is a result of a comment on an event. It’s actually really sad how many of us know people who died from these mass shooting events or terrorist attacks to the point it’s not unique anymore. That’s far more messed up than anything Fat Mike can say.

 

Yeah, don't tone police me. I was being appropriately firm when confronting the false equivalence you made - not being hostile.

I don't know why you keep bringing up Fox News - it could be your experience that they're the reason people stopped supporting Mike. Fine, that's your experience. But to come in here and lay that out in context of the conversation that was happening in here? It's distracting and unnecessary and at best you were preaching to the choir. Yes, fuck Fox News, but that's not who we were talking about in here right now, so because words mean things and don't exist in a vacuum there is NO scenario where what you wrote didn't read as playing devil's advocate for Mike. None.

 

The article was about the response to this issue, which was driven by Fox News. It’s relevant because it’s a massive piece of the interview, and the story of what happened. I keep bringing it up, because it’s in the article we’re all commenting on. It isn’t a devil’s advocate - it’s a comment on the topic in the interview.

You immediately attacked me and talked down to me. I said you were being hostile, and that’s ‘tone policing.’ I think that’s unnecessary. If me saying so is bad, I’m not sure what else to do, because I haven’t done anything but try to share my thoughts on this forum with people I respect. And I’m not sure how to have a conversation when whatever I say is assumed to be something it isn’t.

 

honestly if Fox News is the reason why Fat Mike and NOFX got "cancelled" it's the only good thing that network has always done.

being punk rock isn't being an asshole

 

I didn't attack you. I said I wasn't going to bother responding to your premise because it was a reach. If that's an attack, I don't know what to tell you.

And yes, telling someone they're being unnecessarily hostile when the discussion is something this reactive is tone-policing.

I didn't say you intended to be devil's advocate. I said that's how your comment reads in context. This is an incredibly sensitive and personal issue for a lot of people, and if you're going to have these discussions you need to compensate for that if you don't want hostility. Which again - that wasn't me being hostile, it was me being firm. But hey, feel how you feel.

 

Why do so many of these threads have to bog down into "don't hurt my feelings" territory? Maybe acknowledge the tonality of the topic at hand before throwing your arms in defense.

 

Ok. I’m out.

 

You mean like Dan did in the interview where he pointed out that maybe releasing a record call "You think vegas was bad" might not be the greatest idea and Fat Mike went "lol doing it anyways"?

 

I did it for you!

 

It's almost like he's an unrepentant tool and the real issue was that his crap was supported for so long, not that folks are ceasing to support him now

but no, that can't be right

 

I spent a decade thinking it was Cookie The Clown. Mind blown / I’m a dope

 

Agreed. Being punk is about being kind to all walks of life. Being punk isn't a license to be an asshole.

 

I grew up listening to NOFX , the vandals, guttermouth and other deliberately offensive music and comedians. While I do believe that being offensive has it's place in music, comedy, and art when it's done with a purpose or to make a statement...there is no statement to be made here. Just stupid and insensitive shock value bullshit, which is a shame because there was a time when Fat Mike meant the world to me. I mean the dude has written great music but I can't get behind making light of the shittiest of situations. I can't imagine he meant the words he said and I know he's a victim of some mental health and addiction issues, but there are no excuses. People are dead. Punk rock is about kindness and helping your fellow man, not making fun of dead people for the music they like.

 

Very well said.

 

Thank you! :)

 

Literally no one said they’re more upset about mike and Melvin, you’re making that up. For the first time in my lifetime there’s a large powerful movement trying to take down the NRA and change gun laws in this country.

 

I thought reading this would change my mind on him, and all it did was reaffirm what a huge asshole this guy is and that he’s never grown up. He clearly at no point in his life has done any self reflection on the things he’s said. He literally cites other terrible things he says as though thats an excuse for the other terrible things he’s says, and then he says it’s punk rock. Dude you’re 52 living on large piece of land with a pool and tennis courts, you’re not punk rock, you’re just an aging asshole who doesn’t want to grow up.