
Richard Stallman Resigns from CSAIL and FSF - jes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2019/09/17/mit-computer-scientist-richard-stallman-resigns-after-claiming-epstein-victim-was-entirely-willing
======
wrs
This comment is about _Forbes_ , and news reporting, not Richard Stallman, so
no flames please.

Forbes twists the quote in the "topline" (" _claimed [she] was_ 'entirely
willing'"), then includes a more-complete quote two paragraphs later (" _most
likely 'presented herself to him_ as entirely willing'"). I don't know how an
editor can see both of those things in their field of vision and think they're
equivalent.

Again, ignoring the actual topic completely for the purposes of this comment,
this is a good example to frame on your wall of how the "content industry"
will squeeze any nuance out of a statement to generate clicks.

~~~
whamlastxmas
Forbes probably felt compelled to write an article about this but also didn't
want to go against the narrative and be accused of sympthathizing with someone
who is now widely believed to be a pedophile apologist.

~~~
wrs
The misquote actually alters the narrative from “pedophile apologist” to
“child slanderer”, since he’s supposedly declaring his knowledge of the mental
state of the child concerned. Which, amazingly, is an even worse narrative.

------
JBerlinsky
Existing discussion here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20990583](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20990583)

~~~
r721
Also

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20989696](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20989696)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20994245](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20994245)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20992381](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20992381)

~~~
fenomas
To be fair, earlier submissions all got flagged off the front page fairly
quickly, so later submitters may well not have known about them.

------
glofish
I find it surprising to the extreme that a person like Stallmann, supposedly
smart and well versed in legal matters lacks the understanding of how the
legal system works:

"Unintentional crime is still a crime."

Unwittiness in committing a crime is, at best, a mitigating circumstance, that
does not justify or excuse the conduct.

The second issue is that does not matter what you and I (or Stallman) think.
All that matters is what the law says - it is a crime when the law says so -
we can't be going around redefining laws so that they don't apply when it does
not suit us. The most one can hope for is to have a law redefined in a court
of law (precedents, interpretations etc).

~~~
cameldrv
Some unintentional crimes are crimes, but many, maybe most require intent.
This is called mens rea and it’s so important you’ll learn it in your high
school introduction to the law course.

~~~
glofish
Actually what we learn (or should learn in high school) is that pleading
ignorance: "I did not know this or that" is a terrible starting argument for
many crimes.

This is what I was referring to in my observation. Stallman should know better
than to argue ignorance.

Beyond that, the law is complex and generalizations (which I myself did) run
the risk of oversimplifying realities.

I was specifically referring to this case, where Stallman argues that his
friend was just misled. I believe that argument not just "tone deaf" but
actually wrong.

------
rrss
We can imagine a number of scenarios, but the most plausible scenario is that
RMS presented himself as entirely willing to step down.

~~~
criley2
His statement says he is stepping down due to misinterpretations and
misunderstandings (AKA he stands by his statements), which IMO means he was
given the ultimatum of "your job or your opinion" aka if he wanted to stay he
would need to repudiate the things he said, and he likely chose to stand by
his interpretation of the discussion and resign.

~~~
rrss
Read his recent emails and you'll understand my comment better.

------
ecmascript
Good article for me as someone who is entirely outside the news cycle about
this.

Pretty insane that you loose your job just because you have the wrong opinions
about something. I don't understand why not FSF and others simply stand behind
him in events like these?

This is pretty ridiculous and I hate this PC-elite that is currently ruling
tech. I don't care about your code of conduct or what your thoughts are about
different words.

I just hope Stallman the best and that he should not back down to the kind of
bullshit that's been thrown on him. That is simply letting them win.

Fuck everyone that has the "you said something that I do not like, now you
must resign"-mentality.

~~~
lukebitts
Simplifying the issue this much to boil it down to "a difference in opinions"
is a bit dishonest. It was a very specific opinion that crossed the line, it's
not like he said he prefers chocolate to vanilla.

