Which is bizarre to lump those together.
Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
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figmentPez
Staff member
And I can't find that quote on the website they linked. In fact, what they link is this chart. 37 right wing, 11 left wing, 7 Islamic exremists, 10 unknown.
Only if we assume the unknown incidents follow the same distribution do we get a 2/3rds right-wing number, though. So I assume that's what the article did.
Oh. Excellent. You found the number that matters to what I was saying. 11. Compared to 2006 at least (when there were only 6 acts total) left wing domestic terrorism is not down. Unless all six were by lefties, it's more than double.
Yeah. The article was really just talking about Right Wing acts, so everything else just seemed to get lumped in together.
(I'd consider Islamic Terrorism as Rightwing because they all look like they want to essentially establish a fascist dictatorship that controls whay people think, say and wear. But I'm guessing in this context Rightwing more means the American or Christian Right)
I mean, it really doesn't, but if they keep getting in bed with anti-Semites, then it gets harder and harder to separate the two.
I want to believe his professed naiveté stems from a belief that he doesn't think one group of humans could treat another group of humans so callously, and so he wants a second opinion, but he's old enough that he was around while it was actually going on, so he should definitely know better than that.
--Patrick
I want to believe his professed naiveté stems from a belief that he doesn't think one group of humans could treat another group of humans so callously, and so he wants a second opinion, but he's old enough that he was around while it was actually going on, so he should definitely know better than that.
--Patrick
Rep King, of Iowa? The man - if it can be called that - has been reprehensible for decades. He wholeheartedly supports Kavanaugh, disagreed with the idea that he should be investigated, and has voiced his support for Senator Grassley's opinion that it should be illegal for women to accuse "powerful" men of assault - because they're totally just doing it to ruin good men's lives. He's also shown his support for Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, and Viktor Orban. This guy's never met a far-right populist he didn't like. He knew exactly what he was saying, and he said it for a reason - because he believes the Nazis weren't bad guys.
Are they?
Dave
Staff member
Yes. In a lot of ways, Iowa is pretty progressive. They were one of the first to have same sex marriage and have had legal medical marijuana since 1979 (although they are still overwhelmingly opposed to recreational).
But in some ways they are backwards idiots. Steve King is one of those ways.
It's really hard to predict Iowa sometimes.
Dammit, Brazil.
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus
And this is why the growing far-right violence in America is so scary - because the entire world seems to be swinging back to the right. It hasn't been 100 years since one man and his regime attempted to exterminate all of the Jews, and now we have right-wing populists in charge in Poland, Italy, Brazil, The Philippines, and America. Oh, and Merkel is stepping down and won't be running for Chancellor again, and her strongest opponents are also right-wing populists. Apparently it takes less than a century for enough people to turn their backs on their fellow humans for yet another attempt at extinction to begin.
Genocide isn't just a right wing idea, unfortunately. Tread carefully.
Seriously?! We're going back to "both sides are bad?"
I don't think so? I'm saying that yes, in the US right now there appears to be a violent, horrid tactic from the right to stoke those fears, but lets not pretend that only right wing governments do horrible things. Being right wing isn't the disease of hatred and fear, but just one of the symptoms right now. There is one thing which crosses all platforms, all governments which commit atrocities- the desire to hold into power.
I'd think by now you'd know I am a dirty lefty, and I don't make the comment lightly.
We are grinding slowly toward a tipping point where the majority opinion on both sides becomes “The Other Side is evil and the only workable solution is to
—Patrick
That's fine. But I'm not talking in sweeping generalizations. I'm giving real, honest to goodness, factual, and current examples of far-right populist leaders around the globe who have already, in one form or another, started down the path to genocide in their countries - or are already there. Duterte has admitted to committing extra-judicial drug killings by the thousands. The leaders of Poland made it illegal to mention the words Poland and Nazi in the same sentence without first clarifying that the Nazi was German in Poland and not Polish, just before they sacked their entire Supreme Court. The Italian government has already been called upon by the EU to step up their efforts to control the dangerous rhetoric in their country toward immigrants, but has pledged to their own residents to eliminate them instead. The president of America went out today and called the free press the true enemy of the people, lied about the NYSE being open on 9/12 to justify holding a rally the day after an attack on a synagogue; and his press secretary reamed the targets of a bunch of bombs for daring to defy the president. Now we have this post from Brazil.
I don't need to be reminded that there are bad people on both sides, but right now I'm talking about five specifically far-right populist governmental leaders who have been working steadily to incite violence toward their opponents. Stop playing the both sides card - it's insulting, infuriating, and makes you look like an apologist.
I'm not talking about "both sides" as a way to say we're all the same, happy together, otherwise identical, etc.
I'm talking about both sides because if this atmosphere leads to conflict, it will not be a conflict started by That One Bad Guy Who Always Starts Shit, running around kicking over sandcastles, it will be a conflict caused because both (xenophobic) sides were being unreasonable and both sides were spoiling for a fight.
--Patrick
I'm talking about both sides because if this atmosphere leads to conflict, it will not be a conflict started by That One Bad Guy Who Always Starts Shit, running around kicking over sandcastles, it will be a conflict caused because both (xenophobic) sides were being unreasonable and both sides were spoiling for a fight.
--Patrick
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B
BErt
This whole fucking thread. The gall of Pence. I dont even have the words at the brazenness of this. Step all over the dead as a means of promoting Christianity and the Republican party. What the fuck.
You know, I'm very glad that this conversation happened tonight. It frees me up a lot. It frees me from spending hours upon hours a day wondering what Halforums is discussing. It saves me from caring what the vast majority of people here think of me.
When this situation, whatever it becomes, is all over - my conscience will be clear knowing that every step of the way, each and every time someone in authority in our country (regardless of political party) tries to use that authority to suppress the rights of others, I stood up and said "no, this isn't right, we need to stop this." I hope that all of you will be able to say the same. I'm guessing, however, from the amount of mental gymnastics taking place in the Funny Political thread to justify calling white people "White Trash" but not being ok to call black people the n-word, that some of you are going to have a lot of regrets.
I never thought that merely expressing my concern for the amount of violence that has recently occurred - three right-wing terrorist attacks in a week, last count - would be such a contentious issue. Remember - what I said is "That's why the violence right now is so scary." I'm sorry that my being scared is going to be the tipping point that causes the conflict. I'll try to do better, and be less concerned for the path our country seems to be on next time.
When this situation, whatever it becomes, is all over - my conscience will be clear knowing that every step of the way, each and every time someone in authority in our country (regardless of political party) tries to use that authority to suppress the rights of others, I stood up and said "no, this isn't right, we need to stop this." I hope that all of you will be able to say the same. I'm guessing, however, from the amount of mental gymnastics taking place in the Funny Political thread to justify calling white people "White Trash" but not being ok to call black people the n-word, that some of you are going to have a lot of regrets.
I never thought that merely expressing my concern for the amount of violence that has recently occurred - three right-wing terrorist attacks in a week, last count - would be such a contentious issue. Remember - what I said is "That's why the violence right now is so scary." I'm sorry that my being scared is going to be the tipping point that causes the conflict. I'll try to do better, and be less concerned for the path our country seems to be on next time.
Oh no, it’s definitely tipping, all(t) right.
My hope is that the ones who still possess some shred of sanity can see this and are actually able and willing to do something to stop its fall before the momentum is too strong to arrest.
As for you and yours, I legitimately wish you the best, no matter what your future holds nor where it takes you, and hope you’ll swing by again later once things have calmed down.
—Patrick
But how are people supposed to stop this if just saying "this is concerning" is attacked as being divisive?!
Tell the people saying so to get their head out of their ass and don't back down.
It's SUPPOSED to be divisive, you fucking clown. Those idiots want people dead. And you want to invite them to fucking tea and "discuss our differences"? FUCK YOU.
figmentPez
Staff member
Genocide is never an acceptable political stance. It is not okay to hold the political stance that a group of people needs to die because of their race, religion, sexual identity, quirk of genetics, etc. That's the problem right now. White Nationalism is the loudest voice in the Right Wing of United States politics, and that voice is calling for the death of Jewish people, black people, transgendered people, and more. What they are promoting is mass murder. They are not promoting a political ideology that can ever be accepted. It's a non-negotiable issue. We're not talking differences on economic policies, or debating how to handle health care. We're talking about groups that want people dead, versus those that very much do not want to die. There is no acceptable middle ground where we "just kill some of the people".