@phryk Not sure – it’s their internal meeting. I’ll let you know.

@aral Thanks. :)

@ghost I’m not sure if there’s a synonym for “useful idiot” (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot) – if there’s a phrase that means that same thing, I’m open to using it.

@bob @aral oooo i like unwitting accomplice! alternately, there's "pawn" but that might be even more hostile than "idiot." :)

incidentally i'd never heard the specific phrase "useful idiot" before, and now that i know the meaning, i'm even more opposed to the use of "idiot" in that context.

@ghost @aral you should be determined _not_ to use the term "idiot" regardless 😒

@aral @ghost the wiki article you linked earlier mentions two synonymous terms with historical precedent: "useful fool" and "useful innocent" (the latter seems more descriptive and less pejorative).

anyway this looks like a cool talk, hope you can post the slides later

@ghost @aral pawn

@Shotagonist @aral thinking on it more, I'm even more into pawn than before. It's not offensive to any specific groups and is more of a call to action for the audience. Like "hey I'm not a pawn! How can I not be a pawn?"

@ghost @aral it also perfectly captures what a "useful idiot" is at the bottom of the line.

@ghost @Shotagonist I ended up using useful fools. Pawn is even better. Thanks for the feedback :)

@aral thank you for ditching the ableist phrase. That's awesome. And "useful fool" is a great choice, too. @Shotagonist

@beardyunixer @aral at least pawns are generic and can apply to anyone from any minority or majority group. "idiot" pretty hostile specifically towards people with disabilities: http://disabledfeminists.com/2009/10/11/ableist-word-profile-idiot/