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US Politics: the Lying Liars Who Lie edtion


Fragile Bird

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And here we go , the narrative is formed. - "

Reports indicate James T. Hodgkinson is the Alexandria shooter. He was a fanatic Bernie supporter, radicalized by anti-Trump Media."

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6 minutes ago, denstorebog said:

I understand the anxiety about the repercussions of this, but at the same time, things should be kept in perspective. I think Trump will come out in a couple of minutes, say something leader-ish that was hastily written for him, his approval will go up a couple of points for a while, Infowars and Breitbart will peddle their usual warfare shit, and things will pretty much go back to normal.

Any attempt to start using this to twist the lawmaking narrative will divide Congress and the population along the usual lines. Any attempt to make some sort of crazy power play could just as well backfire.

People have already made up their minds about why these things happen and who the bad guys are. This is not gonna change it. When the time comes to place blame, Democrats can always point to Gabrielle Giffords and the pizzagate shootings, and the fight continues as usual.

Yes, except that each time something like this happens and then things go back to "normal" there's always a little less stability in society, government, etc.. Like one more Jenga block has been removed from our foundation. When enough blocks are removed...

That is what scares me.

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3 minutes ago, drawkcabi said:

Yes, except that each time something like this happens and then things go back to "normal" there's always a little less stability in society, government, etc.. Like one more Jenga block has been removed from our foundation. When enough blocks are removed...

That is what scares me.

Yeah, I don't disagree with that. Also, in light of Repubs' attempts at limiting press recently, we might see more security vs. press conflicts in the near future. Can't even say I blame them. But it seems like some people worry that this could be some sort of pivotal moment for Trump the authoritarian. That sounds a bit far-fetched.

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Just now, denstorebog said:

Yeah, I don't disagree with that. Also, in light of Repubs' attempts at limiting press recently, we might see more security vs. press conflicts in the near future. Can't even say I blame them. But it seems like some people worry that this could be some sort of pivotal moment for Trump the authoritarian. That sounds a bit far-fetched.

This gives Trump a distraction from Russia-Comey-gate and he'll take advantage of it, no not a pivotal moment, just one more cut in a death of 1000 cuts. Just makes it scary when events like this help it being made to be seen so clearly coming.

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2 hours ago, Relic said:

Well, if it doesn't justify gun control...

However, yeah, the same thoughts have crossed my mind while reading about this. I'm so fucking glad I don't live in America anymore. 

I don't blame you for the sentiment, but there's really no escape from any of this in one form or another in any part of the world.

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1 hour ago, drawkcabi said:

It's sickening in itself there will be individuals using this for argumentative and political gain and I so hope none of the injuries are fatal for all reasons the people hurt and their families chief among them. I'm just horrified by all this, the possible implications of it all, I am literally shaking right now.

To be fair, most people on this thread would not have been surprised if a white supremacist had shot a Democratic congressman and would have seen it as a vindication of their world view.

Sadly, although I personally am as non-violent as can be, one must accept the fact that there is a lot of violence and anger on both sides of the political spectrum now.

28 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

This looks like his FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/jthodgkinson

That page is incredibly convenient. Though I do believe the shooting will turn out to be politically motivated, that page is a textbook example of what you'd expect...

Edit: oh ok. Fuck, this is bad. Just what motivated that guy to shoot at Republican congressmen exactly?

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1 hour ago, drawkcabi said:

I don't blame you for the sentiment, but there's really no escape from any of this in one form or another in any part of the world.

I'm not blind to that but it feels SOOOOO different here in Europe than it does back in the States. Tons of problems here too, no doubt, and an uphill fight against fascism is one we all have to fight now, but Europeans are just far more...chill. Anyway, not really here nor there. Back to the joyful topic at hand...

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1 minute ago, Relic said:

I'm not blind to that but it feels SOOOOO different here in Europe than it does back in the States. Tons of problems here too, no doubt, and an uphill fight against fascism is one we all have to fight now, but Europeans are just far more...chill. Anyway, not really here nor there. Back to the joyful topic at hand...

Well, very few of us have guns.

Sorry to point it out, especially now, when I know it's so f***ing obvious for most people here, but seriously, that's the one fundamental difference.

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6 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

To be fair, most people on this thread would not have been surprised if a white supremacist had shot a Democratic congressman and would have seen it as a vindication of their world view.

 

While I acknowledge my bias, I do see these things as much different considering white supremacy/nationalism/nazism are all inherently violent. These groups also tend to be more pro gun.  These are the people who recently participated in anti-muslim rallies across the US and reading about those protests is chilling. Furthermore, the major leader figure for this group, Trump, has on multiple occasions advocated for violence against the opposition and the Others.  

It's unfortunate because both sides have common ground here.  This is a white male terrorist and both sides hate terrorists.  The problem is that because this man is white, he's unlikely to be called a terrorist across the board.  Some outlets might, but not everyone.  The white male terrorist problem is significant in the US, but it's ignored because muslims make for easier punching bags.

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12 minutes ago, Relic said:

I'm not blind to that but it feels SOOOOO different here in Europe than it does back in the States. Tons of problems here too, no doubt, and an uphill fight against fascism is one we all have to fight now, but Europeans are just far more...chill. Anyway, not really here nor there. Back to the joyful topic at hand...

That's because you have health care!  (The shooter, btw, has died -- the only one who has, because presumably he didn't have the great health insurance that those he shot did.)

But never fear -- these unhampered sledgehammers will destroy that as they destroy ours and leave your economy just like ours a smoking heap of rubble.

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13 minutes ago, Relic said:

I'm not blind to that but it feels SOOOOO different here in Europe than it does back in the States. Tons of problems here too, no doubt, and an uphill fight against fascism is one we all have to fight now, but Europeans are just far more...chill. Anyway, not really here nor there. Back to the joyful topic at hand...

I'm happy for you and anyone who feels they've found their place, or at the very least where their place isn't and remedied that.

5 minutes ago, Dr. Pepper said:

While I acknowledge my bias, I do see these things as much different considering white supremacy/nationalism/nazism are all inherently violent. These groups also tend to be more pro gun.  These are the people who recently participated in anti-muslim rallies across the US and reading about those protests is chilling. Furthermore, the major leader figure for this group, Trump, has on multiple occasions advocated for violence against the opposition and the Others.  

It's unfortunate because both sides have common ground here.  This is a white male terrorist and both sides hate terrorists.  The problem is that because this man is white, he's unlikely to be called a terrorist across the board.  Some outlets might, but not everyone.  The white male terrorist problem is significant in the US, but it's ignored because muslims make for easier punching bags.

I admit my bias too. However from my subjective viewpoint it does seem that the right this morning has been all out condemning the left for this. While the left has made some political maneuvers more than outright condemnations and still that's with like you and me admitting bias, trying to hold back accusations, and leaving room that their objectivity is probably compromised.

Just like with the craziness in politics, it seems like the crazy is tipped more to one side than the other.

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1 hour ago, drawkcabi said:

I admit my bias too. However from my subjective viewpoint it does seem that the right this morning has been all out condemning the left for this. While the left has made some political maneuvers more than outright condemnations and still that's with like you and me admitting bias, trying to hold back accusations, and leaving room that their objectivity is probably compromised.

Just like with the craziness in politics, it seems like the crazy is tipped more to one side than the other.

Cheers Draw.

What disturbs me most about the response to this incident today was how quickly the "Left Wing Terror!!!" narrative was established, and how quickly it was repeated by many "media outlets", and by people in positions of power. Almost as if the talking points had been circulated before hand. 

Reading through Twitter today it is becoming more and more obvious how insidious and out of control that platform is. There is just a total flood of fake stories being re-shared hundreds of times currently about this, which is truly frightening. Twitter needs to be held accountable. 

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4 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

This is the best damn news we've had in a long while.

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GOP lawmakers are already blaming "Democratic rhetoric" for the shooting. http://thehill.com/homenews/news/337738-gop-lawmaker-links-alexandria-shooting-to-dem-rhetoric

 

Quote

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) on Wednesday linked the political rhetoric of Democrats to the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and others at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va.

"I can only hope that the Democrats do tone down the rhetoric," Collins told WBEN. "The rhetoric has been outrageous ... the finger-pointing, just the tone and the angst and the anger directed at Donald Trump, his supporters."

Collins said that it was inevitable someone was going to act based on the "rhetoric" toward President Trump and the GOP.

"You know, some people react to things like that. They get angry as well. And then you fuel the fires," said Collins, who is among the most vocal Trump backers on Capitol Hill.

A police spokeswoman said the shooter was in the hospital after being shot by police. Collins said Democrats should take the attack as a "wake-up call."

"Maybe this is a wake-up call. I'm not saying it will be," Collins continued. "But let's hope we could disagree on a more polite, conversational basis and not do things like what they did at my office a couple weeks ago."

Protesters held a "die-in" at Collins's office last week to protest the GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Collins said the move went "too far."

 

Remember how every time there's a mass shooting someone (usually right wing) says it would be too early and disrespectful to use this as a time to politicize things? Yeah.

Meanwhile, I'm just going to leave this old Rand Paul tweet here as a reminder of right wing approval of using guns to shoot at government figures. 

(Full quote in case you can't click the link "Why do we have a Second Amendment? It's not to shoot deer. It's to shoot at the government hen it becomes tyrannical!")

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