Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter
Bots,
Some thoughts on the Kirk assassination. There has clearly been an uptick in political violence in the last few years, and the perpetrators follow the typical American pattern. They are men, lone wolves, acting alone, and often without any discernible political ideology. The crimes and attempted crimes aren’t done in pursuit of any coherent political goal.
Examples of these non-political nut jobs would be the two Trump attempted assassins, the Paul Pelosi assailant, the shooter of Gabby Giffords, and the guy who firebombed Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home. Some earlier assassinations attempts also fit this pattern, such as the shooting of George Wallace by Artie Bremer (from Milwaukee!), and the attempted Ronald Reagan assassination, by a guy who wanted to impress Jodie Foster. (I’m going to leave Lee Harvey Oswald out of this for now!)
There are additional cases where the crackpots, while still lone actors, ARE politically motivated. The killer of the Minnesota lawmakers fits this pattern. He was a superconservative who wanted to kill Democrats. Another example might be the CDC gunman, who fired 180 rounds at the CDC headquarters, because he felt he’d been harmed by the COVID vaccine. Other examples are the guy who killed the two young Israelis in DC, and the Boulder attacker who sprayed fire at elderly Jews. And Sirhan Sirhan. All of these were motivated by pro-Palestinian beliefs. You could tack onto this list two recent mass shooters: the Wal-Mart shooter in Texas, who hated immigrants; and the Buffalo grocery store shooter, who hated blacks.
In any event, whether the attack is or is not politically motivated, the common thread is an unbalanced, often lonely and alienated individual, acting alone. (This is also common to many, if not most, of the mass shootings at schools and public places.)
So, conservatives’ claims of nefarious liberal plotting, shouted to the heavens after the Kirk killing, are on their face, false. The Dems ain’t getting together to plot shootings and assassinations. How could they? They can’t even decide how to fight Trump, much less kill their opponents. The fact is, the only actual examples of political violence related to actual group conspiracies involve–of course–conservative domestic terrorists.
Examples come readily to mind. The plan to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. The 2016 militia plot in Kansas to blow up mosques and kidnap Muslims, infiltrated by the FBI. And of course, the grand poobah of them all: January 6th,with the sitting President as the instigator, and the Proud Boys acting as organizers.
The other complaint being aired now (and which has also been aired by the Left in the past) is that “overheated” and “hateful” rhetoric is inspiring nut jobs to come out of the woodwork and commit crimes. For example,Timothy McVeigh pretty much acted alone, but he was marinating in a stew of anti-government propaganda promoted by the fringe Right.
So, do conservatives have a valid point about our current situation? President Trump actually made the case as well as any of the screamers:
“For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” he said in a video message Wednesday night. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Ignore Trump’s description of Charlie Kirk as a “wonderful American”. The guy left a trail of rhetorical destruction which pretty much rules him out as any kind of “wonderful” example.
But it’s true that Trump himself has been compared to a Nazi, in fact to the chief Nazi, and that comparison is in many ways accurate. He and his movement have become authoritarian and fascistic. It’s not inaccurate to point that out.
So where do we draw the line between acceptable, critical, political discourse, and “hateful rhetoric” that’s going to get somebody killed? Enlighten me, bots.
–MM
Hey bots,
I think we’re caught in a sinister sort of Moebius strip. Far-right conservatives like Charlie Kirk do spew vitriolic hate in all directions, no matter how they try to deny or whitewash the facts. In fact, Kirk has said “If I see a black pilot, I’m going to be like, I hope he’s qualified”, and said that SCOTUS pick Justice Ketanji Jackson was “an affirmative action” pick, and “lacked the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously” and that MLK was an “awful person”.
Racist, hateful, bigoted? Yes. Duh. Of course. Yet since the assassination, the far-right has called him a wonderful person, a great family man, etc.., which could all very well be true, but the fact remains that the hate he fomented—along with the 2nd Amendment Rights he espoused—came home to roost.
But, as pointed out by Heather Cox Richardson in a recent column, Republicans have taken a page or two from Joseph McCarthy’s playbook when it comes to controlling the narrative. Make up a story or level an accusation to get into the news cycle and move on before the fact-checkers catch up. Media blitzkrieg. Yes, it has such old and nefarious roots.
Grand Pontiff Weasel Steven Miller published a lengthy screed demonizing not—as MM so aptly pointed out—the far-right psycho loners who attacked the Pelosis, Whitmer, and the Minnesota legislators, whose hatred was fueled by Charlie Kirk, Steven Miller, Steve Bannon, et al. They’re accusing the left of political violence—not even closely based in fact—and warning of imminent political violence—by the left. This makes bullshit smell good but they’re selling it. This is the Moebius Strip. Perpetual hate fomented by the right twisted against the left. Because the Right represents good, because, you know, Kirk is getting The President Medal of Freedom. Oh, and guns are still necessary and good.
We need to take back reality—along with our democracy.
G
The best idea I’ve heard for a Democratic response is to put forth a Charlie Kirk the Wonderful American Gun Control Bill in Congress and force the Republicans to vote against it. A political stunt? Absolutely, but that seems all the opposition is capable of at this time.
It’s despicable that onerous people like Charlie Kirk can defend their reputations behind a wall of their wives and children. “Oh, he was such a loving husband and father”, like that excuses his vitriolic racism and xenophobia. Hey Mr. Man’s Man, man-up and own up to your professed beliefs. Stop hiding behind your wife and children. OK, I know he’s dead and can’t literally do that, but his acolytes should follow suit.
Political violence isn’t new to the USA and the current pace of it may not even be exceptional. We’ll see how big a wave of retribution results from this incident. I advise my non-MAGA friends and family to not put any reckless social media posts out there regarding Kirk or Trump until things mellow out. I don’t know how many news cycles that will take, but I think it will lose purchase with mainstream America, most of whom don’t know Charlie Kirk from Captain Kirk. I myself won’t shed any tears for a guy who vigorously campaigned for people like me to be gone, is gone.
MarkO
Political violence is not new, nor is political dissent and civil disobedience. Where does one draw the line between debate/dissent and violence? In the past, I had a slightly romantic notion about the power of dissent bordering on violence. Perhaps the only way to gain attention in the monolithic face of authority is to resort to a level of violence. Think of the anarchists in Seattle protesting the World Trade Organization some years back. Their actions brought attention to the inequality of the world economic order where others had not succeeded or even been aware of.
I began to change my thinking at the time of the first Trump inauguration in 2017. The streets of Washington were alive with peaceful and violent demonstrations alike. The following post was written by a friend of my nephew at that time. (All names removed). He and my nephew were inadvertently caught up in the chaos and violence.
“Today I participated in demonstrations at Franklin Park in DC. What I witnessed were chaotic protests without any real semblance of organization. In the vacuum of leaderless confusion the so-called ‘Black Bloc’ seized the opportunity to promote anarchism and the resulting message was diametrically opposed to the one I believe we need to be sending. It was, in a word, a riot. Bricks were thrown at the police and met with stun grenades flying back at the protesters, most of whom were there to demonstrate peacefully. Cars were lit on fire, police drove vehicles into the crowds twice, and my friends and I were pepper sprayed–it was the most violent thing I have ever experienced.
The police couldn’t identify the individuals hurling bricks at them from the crowd and responded by gassing those of us in the front. (Blank) got hit by a ricochet flash bang as we were chanting “NO BRICKS!” and fell down so I ran to drag him back only to be sprayed with tear gas. All I can say is that I hope so hard that the organization of the women’s march tomorrow serves to send a unified message of peace and solidarity and not one of violence. The media is likely going to spin this event as emblematic of the message we are trying to send. Our message is to the contrary, we want comradery, community and acceptance.
“I go to a protest to feel a sense of community and I did not feel any sense of comradery with the anarchists nor with the police. The Black Bloc needed us there as human shields and nothing more.“
A powerful testament in my mind. I hope the political violence in our country settles down as it only seems to serve the right wing radicals. At the same time, dissent and public demonstration is critical to a thriving democracy. That and the Charles Kirk the Wonderful American Gun Control Bill. Ha ha
–JK
Not a lot to say on this, other than I LOVE MO’s Charly Kirk gun bill idea. Anyone at the podium in the House: “C’mon, fellow citizens, let this be a galvanizing moment…” …most won’t squirm…they already galvanized selves against this type of dissonance.
I observe all pundits are busy building excel sheet straw men. What columns? Which rows?
- Killed or wounded.
- Nutcase or politically motivated.
- Shooter: Young or old.
- Victim a D or an R
- Victims young or old.
- Just one or many doing the killing.
- Just one or many doing the dying.
End of the day I’m most saddened by the pinching of the flame too early of: Lennon, MLK, JFK, Bobby, Abe, hundreds of kids in Sweden, Sandy Hook, hundreds of revelers in Tampa, hundreds of revelers in Las Vegas, hundreds of people in Nice, (6) in Milwaukee, (Oak Creek)–Sikh temple, MN (3) recently, Denver…can’t remember all the Denver crap…theaters. Schools, kids in Detroit, Charlottesville…9/11…OKC…a long list.
Current rxn reminds me of the (need for) the climactic scene in Conclave. Recall, my memory challenged bot brethren, the Vatican had just suffered a car bomb attack. Fifty-two dead as Ralph doth divulged to an emergency gathering of sequestered Cardinals– immediately after the bomb literally blew bricks down upon the sacred—while doing their group write in ballots. The reaction of those vying to be the new the new Pontiff? Outrage, retrench, revenge. But yet, one soft voice spoke at the end. (7 )minute clip below.
- 1:10 mark: Bomb
- 3:10 mark I loved the foreshadowing via the back lit—is that a halo?—or just the first signs of grey?–behind Cardinal Benitez.
- 3:30 mark: Very red leaning Cardinal, (also a heavy vaper—jic we don’t think he is a bad guy)—let’s loose, concludes emphatically: “ …we need a leader who fights these animals!” thus setting up:
- 4:50 mark, soft spoken adult in the room soliloquy. Benito’s remarks are polar opposite of our current Provocateur in Chief.
Conclave | Cardinal Benítez Speech Following Car Bomb
-D
Ahhh. Nice. “The Charlie Kirk Wonderful American Gun Control Bill”. I, too, love it. And it could actually be presented with sincerity. Remember the Brady Bill? It was forged from the carnage of an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan – another stalwart conservative.
Yes. God works in mysterious ways.
I remember seeing images like this after the Trump assassination attempt — God actually directing the bullet away from Trump’s big beautiful brain. Wow. But would the Almighty do the same for Charlie Kirk? Nope, sorry Charlie…. But you are granted the coveted consolation prize — martyrdom.
And wouldn’t it be fitting if Charlie Kirk becomes a martyr, not for right wing conspiracy theorists, but for sane gun control measures? Imagine truly peaceful demonstrations (as JK alluded to) where people carry posters with Charlie Kirk’s image overlaid with gun control messages – you know, stuff like “protect kids, not guns”, etc.
DC
-MM
Noooo… Egad… I’d say “Jesus wept”, but I’m thinking he probably puked a little in his mouth when he saw this and said, “Hey pops, can’t you do something about this AI generated crap?”
–DC
Without researching the origins, I’d have to say that video is the product of an anti-MAGA troll. Isn’t it?
That is the whitest depiction of a Jewish carpenter that I could imagine. But then, he was the result of immaculate conception, his father being the white Lord Father as depicted below. So I guess it follows.
MarkO
Ah yes. “The leader of the band has died…..”
–MM
Ha. Dan Fogelberg! And okay, that vid is quite possibly the work of anti-MAGA trolls (though my Catholic grade school had framed paintings of even whiter Jesus’s shepherding snow white baby lambs.) Combined with Charlie’s American flag shirt though, eh, it does seem over-the-top, even for MAGA fans. But, I read some of the comments, and there are MAGA folks eating it up like it’s lime jello with canned pineapple chunks and extra CoolWhip.
–DC
Are you casting aspersions on my favorite dessert? Talk about hateful rhetoric.
–MM
Ha ha watch it now. My grandma used to make that all American delight for us
as well.
–JK