Rebecca Watson and Boycott Hypocrisy

It has come to the attention of Saint Becky Watson of Skepchick fame that one of the DragonCon co-founders (Ed Kramer) has been caught, yet again, with a young boy in a hotel room and is now in a bucket full of hot water. http://tinyurl.com/mhvwwgz

I’m not saying that I or Skepchick as a whole will definitely be boycotting DragonCon, as it’s something I have to think a lot about. But I do hope that DragonCon’s leadership will take this seriously and do the right thing, and save us all from a difficult decision. http://tinyurl.com/k8ns95b

This is what I’d call a ‘no-brainer.’ It doesn’t require deep thought. It doesn’t require a subtle understanding of morality or jurisprudence.

It just takes being a decent person who is revolted by a complete slime and doeesn’t want to have anything, directly or indirectly, with such a large piece of human excrement. And we’re talking a real slime here, not a made-up-slime (like Richard Dawkins) who must be vilified and boycotted over some sarcastic triviality offensive to poor little Becky. But, in fact, a real and true piece of filthy slime.

If there is anything that ever solidifies, in the minds of others, the Watson is nothing more than an opportunistic, amoral grifter I don’t know what it could possibly be at this point in time. This Ed Kramer fellow is as low as it can get in my book and she can’t see the necessity of a boycott?

How is that? Even the scum-of-the-earth in prisons look down on this kind of slime. And Watson, who was more than willing to boycott Dawkins, JREF, etc., can’t make this no-brain decision that even the most morally bankrupt can make? And she wonders why we criticize and mock her?

Note: It appears Ed Kramer, the accused pedophile, has been booted from Dragon*Con. http://www.avclub.com/articles/dragoncon-ousts-cofounder-and-accused-pedophile-ed,99911/ Something Becky wasn’t aware of, which moots her angst, but doesn’t change her behavior. When going to a convention that supports this particular person, she struggled to make a decision. OTOH, when she got a snarky, personal comment about her drama whoring, it was full-on boycott.

Good for DragonCon, but Becky, you’re still a waste of human flesh.

3 thoughts on “Rebecca Watson and Boycott Hypocrisy

  1. Valhar2000

    Well, I’m afraid I do have a problem with this. I am only going by what you quote in this article, so my opinion might change.

    You say that Mr. Kramer was accused of a crime, but you never mention that he was convicted of it. Meting out punishment to people who have only been accused of crimes is a recipe for injustice: even if the accusation turns out to be false, it is far too likely that the accused will face problems and harassment on the part of people who heard of the accusation but not of the exoneration, or of people who simply believe that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”.

    This is the very reason I don’t support what PZ and the people at FTB are doing to Michael Shermer.

    I do think that measures taken against the accused in situations like this should be carefully measured according to how much evidence there is of their culpability and what is necessary to prevent harm should the accusation turn out to be true, and always ensure that the measures you take can be undone if the accused is exonerated.

    Reply
  2. Anton A. Hill

    Though I disagree with “waste of human flesh,” I’m glad you wrote this so I don’t feel like I have to. In a vlog entry I’m editing, I brought up these questions, though, at the time, I hadn’t done any reading to see what, if any, Watson’s reaction to the whole Kramer thing was. I was deeply disappointed to find that not only at the first allegation, Watson and SkepChick didn’t immediately withdraw their support, but even with Kramer’s guilty plea and conviction, she and they still struggle with the moral implications of a boycott. That said, though, this incident only serves to remind me of why I have such a strong anti-Watson and anti-SkepChick bias.

    Reply
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