Ryan Girdusky clashed with British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan on Monday night.
CNN has banned a conservative commentator from appearing on the network again after he told a Muslim journalist “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” an apparent reference to the spate of exploding pagers in Lebanon that killed members of the Hezbollah militant group last month.
Ryan Girdusky made the comment during a heated debate with Mehdi Hasan, a prominent British-American broadcaster and an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, on “CNN Newsnight” with host Abby Phillip.
The guests were discussing the racist jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, which overshadowed former President Donald Trump’s rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday and continue to make headlines two days later.
As the debate turned fractious, Girdusky and Hasan sparred over whether the latter had been labeled an anti-Semite. “I’m a supporter of the Palestinians, I’m used to it,” Hasan said.
Girdusky replied: “Well I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”
what a goddamn idiot
Video clip of the comment and aftermath during discussion (via twitter): https://x.com/Acyn/status/1851085909435039789
“Are you a supporter of Hamas?”
“Are you a racist, violent person inciting violence against me?”
Not just any Muslim journalist, Mehdi is a die-hard anti-Israel propagandist, so much so that MSNBC dropped him for his abhorrent comments after the Hamas terrorist attack
Mehdi Hassan is amazing, what are you talking about.
Going on Twitter to complain that your bigotry wasn’t well received and then suggesting that Qatar funding is partially to blame is peak irony
Who financed Hamas to destabilize the PLO? Israel.
Reminds me of when you guys invaded my country, murdered my people and fucked off home to call us names and racist sluts for decades. No apology. Now you guys want to moralize to the rest of the world while your hands drip with blood.
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Mehdi is the GOAT.
Good that they banned him. Wishing someone that has a conversation with you but does not agree with you this kind of harm means you need to be excluded from the discourse.
Israelis are now using the same arguments as they do in Israel on American TV.
Not even Western media can protect them from themselves anymore.
The absolute state of Hasbara.
western media will always only protect israel. this dude isn’t going to face any consequences. “banned from CNN”, yeah we’ll see about that. bro probably just had to get back to englin airforce base to post more zionist propaganda on reddit, he wasn’t ever asked to leave and certainly not told to never come back. mark my words, he will be back on CNN within the next two months.
I am moreso hinting towards completely insane Israeli articles such as this not getting western coverage: https://lemmy.world/post/21368819
“I’ll bet you wouldn’t say that joke about Muslims or Jews”. The joke they actually have in mind:
I’m still flabbergasted that there hasn’t been more of an international outrage concerning those pagers.
The use of mines as an indiscriminate weapon are already frowned upon,
And here they are using them, scattered throughout a civilian population with absolutely no regard to who could be standing next to their target.
Un-fucking believable.
They bombed dozens of hospitals and orphanages across two countries and also started a starvation siege since that time.
There is no outrage left
There is no outrage left
This really hit me. As in maybe it explains some things since the internet was created. It’s indeed so hard to keep up.
It’s indeed so hard to keep up.
I know it’s different, but that reminds me of the Gish gallop.
“The Gish gallop is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, with no regard for their accuracy or strength, with a rapidity that makes it impossible for the opponent to address them in the time available.”
Oh no… Israel is doing the Gish gallop but for human rights atrocities… this explains it perfectly.
It was a terrorist attack. We must condemn all terrorist attacks
We must condemn all terrorist attacks
At this point it’d probably be less work to praise them when (if?) they don’t commit any…
Every day Israel doesn’t commit an atrocity, they get a cookie.
Fortunately, I like cookies, cause it looks like I’m going to be hanging onto them for a while.
Don’t eat them all yourself though.
Otherwise Israel would have no incentive to stop.
There hasn’t been outrage because blowing up people with pagers is actually the most targeted thing Israel has done in the past year. Certainly a step up from killing hundreds of refugees to maybe take out one hamas guy.
They killed children in that pager attack. Which I guess is part for the course, so ya, nevermind, you might be right.
Accused hamas guy
well we know who could be standing next to their target- another brown person in a majority muslim country. IE, nobody western supremacist racist pigs give a fuck about which is why there was no punishment and there will be no punishment against israel for any single thing they do. if it were gonna happen it would have by now. it’s not as tho once they get to that 300,000th dead palestinian suddenly the “rules based order” is gonna enact some of those “consequences for breaking the rules” on israel. not gonna happen. someone needs to dylan crooks netanyahu.
There has been minimal pushback to the Israeli apartheid regime and decades long genocide in Palestine. You think a few more deaths are going to inspire real international action?
Not mines, IEDs. It was an indiscriminate terrorist attack on a civilian population using improvised explosive devices.
indiscriminate terrorist attack on a civilian population
You’re describing what the Palestinians did to Israel on 10/7, and have continued doing this entire time, when they launch rockets at Israeli population centers.
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population centers
Why does one side have population centers and the other human shields? It’s wrong regardless.
One side at least wants to pretend to have military targets?
You know that is actually insightful to the PTSD that many IDF soldiers are experiencing.
I’m sure the IDF soldiers feel very bad about all the women and children that they’ve driven bulldozers over.
That’s also bad. Both of the sides are bad, and the Palestinian civilians are caught in the crossfire.
I didn’t realize that HAMAS was as large an organization as the Israeli government and armed forces.
We’re also talking about a completely different country from Palestine that had nothing to do with any part of any of these conflicts, and even then, an indiscriminate terrorist attack on Palestinian civilians wouldn’t be justified by HAMAS’s terrorism. That’s like saying that the US bombings on Iraqi civilians are justified by Al Qaeda’s attack on the WTC on 9/11.
Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel for a year now. It’s hard to claim they have nothing to do with any part of these conflicts
And yet, that still doesn’t justify killing civilians randomly.
And Israel has been running a military campaign to exterminate Palestine since the 1950s. It’s hard to claim their hands are clean in any of these conflicts.
I still remember when they were offering Israeli citizenship with the purchase of former Palestinian homes to American Jews in the 2000s.
Say what you want about Americans, we have yet to respond to a terror attack with fucking genocide.
Indiscriminate it was not. It was hyper targeted at everyone in the command chain that got a beeper. It’s not as if they sold them through normal stores to the general population.
They literally set off bombs in grocery stores and doctors offices. They killed a kid.
Right, because pagers blowing up in public is not indiscriminate.
Not improvised, and not on the civilian population, but you’re correct about the rest lol
Not on the civilian population, other than pagers blowing up in public?
You can see footage of some Hezbobros blowing up in the middle of a supermarket, with the people standing around them being unharmed. They were intended to maim the user of the device, the explosives were too small to cause much more. Sure, there are a handful of civilians hurt or even killed but this is was a lot ‘cleaner’ than throwing bombs from planes or Hezbollah’s own preferred method of firing rockets over the border.
As per Wikipedia, Hezbollah has to kill one civilian for every 2 soldiers. With the pager attacks, Israel hit 2750 Hezbobros and ‘only’ killed 2 kids.
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What’s even crazier for me to wrap my head around is those pagers were a safer method for civilians than what they’ve been doing. They’re indiscriminately leveling city blocks killing thousands of innocents.
Yeah no, the exploding pagers and radios, which were from an intercepted supply specifically for Hezbollah, was far more targeted than anyone could reasonably ask for.
Like yes, Israel’s overall actions in Gaza and Lebanon have been horribly ruthless and against civilian well-being. And there is the broader context of Palestine. But this is what you’re outraged by?
If everything between bombing Hezbollah and targeted attacks like the pagers/radio are off the table, like what would you actually do if a non-governmental military was indiscriminately firing hundreds of rockets into your cities for an entire year? Seriously, how would you actually respond if you were in the leadership position?
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No dude, it’s pretty reasonable for me to ask that they don’t kill children with IEDs.
Serious question, would you condone assassinating Putin with an IED even if several children were killed? Would it be better if they used a missile strike with 5x the civilian casualties because at least it isn’t an IED? Would it be better to do nothing and allow an opposing military force to continue bombarding your cities and your children with rockets and missiles?
I abhore the mass bombings and utter destruction Israel has wrought over the last year. It is beyond the pale. I would genuinely have prefered it if they could’ve taken out all of Hamas by blowing up cell phones in their pockets instead.
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There’s no risk of Putin being at a random grocery store or hospital so your hypothetical doesn’t tea make sense.
That doesn’t answer the question. Let me rephrase to be more direct.
What do you believe makes for acceptable and unacceptable civilian casualties (e.g. children) in urban warfare and what principles do you draw on to form these beliefs? Please use an example from a side you feel are “the good guys”.
If you’re a pacifist or believe not a single civilian casualty is acceptable, what would your approach be to resolving a conflict where your civilian population is being attacked with rockets/missiles?
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According to international law it’s acceptable when you’re being occupied, as is the case with Palestine. Not saying I agree, but the law makes a big distinction for those under apartheid.
I mean it was wrong when the US bombed weddings in the middle east and was a bad look. Don’t even need hypotheticals.
Idk dude, generally things like booby traps are considered illegal in part because they’re not selective. Like if someone breaks in and you kill them with a gun it’s self defense, but if it’s a booby trap then we view it differently. Disguising bombs as typical civilian items seems pretty messed up.
Did you forget that
every “responsible” western power(Edit: Ottawa treaty) the US and Ukraine (who was a signatory of the Ottawa treaty) also has an arsenal of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines which are specifically meant to be hidden and disguised? Quite literally booby traps with long-lasting risks for civilian lives. Many children have lost their lives due to mines, yet they are still deemed acceptable in war.Anything that risks civilian lives is pretty messed up. But even compared to the mines being used in Ukraine, the pagers/radios were far more targeted and posed less risk to civilians.
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Did you forget that every “responsible” western power also has an arsenal of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines which are specifically meant to be hidden and disguised?
This is not true.
Oh snap, that’s awesome! I wasn’t aware of this. I assumed NATO would be consistent with the US on mines. Thank you for sharing this.
I’ll modify my argument to “Even the US and Ukraine use mines”
It’s interesting though, according to my research the distinction between mines and weapons lie in how it’s activated. For example, the C19 ex-Claymore is now remote detonation only to comply with the Ottawa treaty because it can only be activated remotely and cannot be used with an indiscriminate activator like a tripwire. Therefore it is a weapon. With this les, the pagers/radios are more akin to weapons rather than mines.
So booby traps are allowed, as long as someone is there to decide when to press the button, which the Israelies clearly did.
The use of mines as an indiscriminate weapon are already frowned upon,
Did you forget that every “responsible” western power also has an arsenal of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines which are specifically meant to be hidden and disguised?
No, I didn’t forget. Someone even mentioned them in this same comment chain.
Okay, so let’s go with your position that attacking soldiers with explosive weapons in civilian areas are not justifiable.
Based on your beliefs, what do you see as a justifiable response to Hezbollah’s year long barrage of rockets and missiles into Israeli cities. Keep in mind Hezbollah by and large conducts these strikes directly embedded in or right beside civilian sites. And they also store weapons in civilian sites.
The goal now is not to say which is worse, there’s plenty of blame to go around. The goal is to understand how you think about conflict and the principles you believe in that shape your views.
let’s go with your position
This was never a debate, I was just saying that I feel like disguising bombs as everyday, civilian objects is bad. The comment where I even posted that I literally began with “idk dude” to make it clear I wasn’t trying to engage in debate about this topic. The only reason I even replied again was because land mines were mentioned in the context of “did you forget” when literally above in this comment chain land mines were already mentioned.
Pretty clear from the footage and lack of civilian casualties that the collateral risk was very low though
Girdusky appeared indignant on social media in the hours afterwards and said in a tweet “apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke.”
“It was a prank, bro!”
The last refuge of the Trumpist shitheel.
Playing off hate as a joke, this is why it’s okay to punch nazis
Punching nazis always produces a smile if not a laugh
Yup, there’s also this idea that certain people like to posit that Nazis never laugh or attempt to make jokes. It’s not that you aren’t joking, it’s what your joke says about you.
I can understand that in a particular moment you’re not calling for the literal death of your political opponents, yet still believe you’d be pretty okay with the literal death of your political opponents, and your “joke” may well help me be more confident in my conclusion.
That’s because it’s true. Fascists fundamentally destroy humor. They aren’t joking when they say this stuff. They just say they are.
It’s so much more straightforward than people act like.
Yeah. This was definitely a joke. It’s also definitely not a joke whose teller I want anywhere near a political panel or as the guest on a news show. I wouldn’t think of this joke, it makes my skin crawl. The fact that he not only thought of it, but found it worthy of saying, speaks volumes as to how he thinks about people.
Nazis never laugh or attempt to make jokes
To be fair, the original Nazis were German…
German comedian in monotone: I just flew in to Zurich and my armz, zey are tired.
Audience: cough.
Yup. It came off as ignorant hate, not a joke.
“I’m a supporter of the Palestinians, so I’m used to it.”
“Well, then I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.”
“Did you just say I should die?”
“Are you a Hamas?”
That was my point. His response was, “It was a joke, bro” which is the last refuge of Trumpist shit heels like him. “I’m sorry that my racist, hateful comment offended you.”
Absolutely. I was supporting your point with the interview itself, since it wasn’t linked in the article.
Thanks! I misunderstood.
No worries. You’re totally right.
It’s always a joke when these folks get pushback.
That’s called a Schrödingers douchebag. Something is both a joke and not a joke until one is called out.
aka the Trump superposition.
I thought that was when he cheated on his wives
This goes back a long way. There are posts on neo-nazi BBS systems from the 80s where they are talking about the strategy of making a racist comment, then playing it off as a joke if there’s pushback, and noting that a given audience may be receptive to more extreme and overt racist messaging in the future.
Well, people like this Girdusky are a joke. At least that much is certain.
Basically telling someone who’s Arab, “I hope you die” in the most racist way possible.
This hate is brought to you by Israel.
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He hoped the beeper didn’t go off though, isn’t that the opposite of “I hope you die”?
Still not a good thing to say. Even if one were to believe him that it was a joke, it would still be pretty horrendous
It’s like if they were in the context of black folks being hanged, and he said to a black guest: “I hope they run out of rope for you”.
Like yeah, they’re technically saying they hope his life is spared, but only through a mistake.
It’s even a little bit worse than that. Here’s a quick Youtube video with, I think, just enough context.
It’s quick and glib and is structured like a bit of political wit, but he’s pretty earnestly comparing Hasan to Hamas/Hezbollah and the “joke” is more about his comic persona (to the extent you develop one in the three seconds of buildup to being Mr. Funny on a news panel show) hoping that he and the entire table don’t get blown up by Hasan’s beeper during the show. I didn’t get any subtext or subtle implication that Hasan should be spared, except for duration of the oh-so-funny Gidursky being in the blast radius.
It’s the sort of thing that somebody might feel safe saying on CNN if, in other environments, they’d be perfectly happy wishing death on people who oppose the war. A cheap shot from a racist asshole.
Well said. I too was confused that he said doesn’t, but he was basically saying “I hope I’m not collateral damage when Israel murders you”. Absolute psycho…
exactly
Yeah, just like how my dad was sincere when he told me “I hope you dont get AIDS” while kicking me out the house after i came out
Fuck man. I’m really sorry.
I hope you’re doing ok.
Well, I genuinely hope you don’t get AIDS. And that you find better family to replace that asshole…
It still implies he’s a terrorist for supporting Palestinians.
And that the other people were in the blast radius. Truly fucked-up.
How?
Those pagers weren’t just distributed to the general population.
Good point
Wow, you’re fucking dumb.
You must have many friends, with charm like that
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And yet you’re still fucking dumb
True. Also unrelated: I hope you and your family don’t die in a car crash.
Thanks! Same to you!
Ever hear of sarcasm? That’s the way it came off to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
GOP: “stop canceling me!!! everyone should be able to say whatever they want!!!”
also GOP: “stop kneeling for the anthemmmmm!!!”
We Girdusky’s last brain cell doesn’t go on strike.
What an utter piece of trash. I’m sure he’ll have a good home at Newsmax or whatever.
