Spearthrower wrote:... In my eyes, the proper response to a bill curtailing freedom of assembly is mass protest - how many people are the state of Florida prepared to arrest?
Rioters will not be arrested, they will be dispersed with water cannons, shoved off the streets with bulldozers or simply shot.
Spearthrower wrote:... In my eyes, the proper response to a bill curtailing freedom of assembly is mass protest - how many people are the state of Florida prepared to arrest?
Rioters will not be arrested, they will be dispersed with water cannons, shoved off the streets with bulldozers or simply shot.
It does appear though that despite popular support for the bare minimum of rational gun control measures [as well as some other issues, including among registered Republicans and even NRA members, the elected GOP fuckwits that stand in the way of this are still getting elected. That seems to be an important part of the problem that, despite everything, these reprobates are not being voted out, not in any meaningful ways. Not for gun control, not for anything else.
At least that's what I see as an outsider looking in, when your only recourse is to vote the clowns out of office but not enough people are for one reason or another it all looks a bit FUBAR.
Lose it - it means go crazy, nuts, insane, bonzo, no longer in possession of one's faculties, three fries short of a happy meal, WACKO!! - Jack O'Neill
I imagine this pic is doing the rounds, I wonder how representative it is?
Ez7Gl1xUUAETWEp.png (816.13 KiB) Viewed 809 times
Lose it - it means go crazy, nuts, insane, bonzo, no longer in possession of one's faculties, three fries short of a happy meal, WACKO!! - Jack O'Neill
Just looking at Maine, that map is bull. There are no dots where people live, and the northernmost dot looks like it's in a place where no one lives. If it's in fact in the MAdawaska/Ft Kent part of the northern tip, it should be red.
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
Ah cheers. It was an interesting map but it looks like a good idea to verify.
Lose it - it means go crazy, nuts, insane, bonzo, no longer in possession of one's faculties, three fries short of a happy meal, WACKO!! - Jack O'Neill
If there's some kind of key to it it might make sense, but as presented it doesn't.
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
The endless bleating coming from the right about 'cancel culture' is a tell. Of course it is. If you want a starting point to finding out what sort of shit the right is up to, simply observe what they're accusing the left of.
You know who's not canceled? The endless parade of conservative pundits and politicians complaining about "cancel culture." You know who is canceled? George Floyd is canceled. Breonna Taylor is canceled. Ma'Khia Bryant is canceled. Andrew Brown Jr. is canceled. They are the true victims in America's longest-running culture war. Anyone who tells you different is just gaslighting. You want "cancel culture"? America is plagued with cancel culture. And no one is more American than conservatives, as they never cease reminding you.
... [Some explanation of the history of the term, which shows that the right-wing use of it contradicts its original significance. Of course it does.]
In short, canceling everyday people in the way that conservatives portray "cancel culture" to work was the exact opposite of what motivated Rodgers to coin the term in the first place, as well as how it's been used on Twitter. Think about that anytime you hear the term used.
You should also think of everything conservatives are doing — or trying to do — right now to cancel the views of those they disagree with. The following are just a few prominent examples. In each case, it's about those who wield power "canceling" — or at least trying to cancel — those who would challenge them. Their efforts to cancel democracy at the ballot box (with 361 bills in 47 states as of March 24) and in the streets (81 anti-protest bills in 34 states as of April 21) are deadly serious threats to American democracy.
But the right's most persistent, long-running cancel-culture attacks center on education. As Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting noted on William F. Buckley's death, "Buckley's career began in 1951 with the publication of 'God and Man at Yale,' an attack on his alma mater that urged the firing of professors whom he felt were insufficiently hostile to socialism and atheism."
And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed -if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth. Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. 'Reality control', they called it: in Newspeak, 'doublethink'.
(George Orwell, 1984)
Edit: Bloody hell, there are even more apposite quotes one of which slapped me between the eyes:
In a way, the world-view of the Party imposed itself most successfully on people incapable of understanding it. They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening.
It's as if the Republican Party took the book 1984 and used it as a blueprint - but, of course, Orwell was just writing large the playbook of fascists everywhere.
None are so hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. - Goethe
Chomsky, regarding some polling data from Republicans: "This is so out of relation to the reality of the world that you can actually wonder whether society can survive."
Has there EVER, in all of human history, been a more dangerous and destructive political dogma? Yes, fascism and communism are terrible, but the climate/science denial/nihilism is what puts Republicans over the top.
"What? We're destroying the ecosystem that sustains all life on earth? Well then, let's do more of what's causing the destruction! It's ok because god will save us!"
"One movement, one people, one family, and one glorious nation under god!" —Donald Trump "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!" —Adolf Hitler
Didn't watch the video since the NY description was graphic enough when the video first surfaced.
Are the NRA particularly politically relevant any more? After the movement of their HQ, the established links with Russian money and the corruption scandals with the leadership they seem (from over here) to have been a bit quiet recently.
None are so hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. - Goethe
They're pretty quiet in the news lately for sure. they'll be back, or something like them. I still occasionally see people with NRA stickers/hats/ etc. Sheep. So in a parallel universe * Mrs LaPierre is a serial killer. God she was so impressed with herself for the equivalent of shooting a duck in a barrel. You have to be a sociopath to do that imo, or at least have some elements of the personality disorder. Mr LaPierre knows as much about hunting elephants as I do. Zilch. You literally couldn't pay me enough to do that. I understand it's a job for the crew and people need money, but damn.
* it is my opinion that parallel universes, of the "many worlds" idea, do not exist. Because it's dumb. What's the mechanism for an entire universe with all of the matter, galaxies, black holes, etc to appear because I decided to put cheese on my burger?
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
Liz friggin' Cheney is not right-wing authoritarian enough for the modern Republican party. Just think about that.
This woman is no moderate. She is extremely conservative on both economic and social matters, but she's being purged for committing the cardinal sin of refusing to go along with the FASCIST lie that Trump won. She refuses to get on board with the rest of Republicans in declaring that Democrats have no right to participate in democracy, and for that, the dominant wing (the fascist one) of the party is stripping her of her leadership roles.
The obliteration of truth is necessary feature of authoritarianism. I'm talking about real, genuine authoritarianism, not "Biden might tax Jeff Bezos" "authoritarianism", I mean Stalin disappearing people from photographs levels of authoritarianism. When a party is too right-wing and too authoritarian for friggin' Liz Cheney, then it is no longer conservative; it is something that is to the right of conservatism.
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"One movement, one people, one family, and one glorious nation under god!" —Donald Trump "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!" —Adolf Hitler
Their hero-god Trump. A manchild who's tiny ego can't even bear not having the biggest piece of cake at dinner. Literally.
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
Perhaps we need a laugh. This guy is so profoundly stupid and craven. I can't even give him the benefit of the doubt anymore that it might just be an act for money.
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
Animavore wrote:There's talk of her and others forming a separate party. If it splits the votes I'm all for it.
There's been talk of a party split since Trump left office. I'll believe it when I see it, and when I do, I'll try to not be shocked when it's only a tiny proportion of Republicans because most of them have their heads shoved up Dear Leader's ass.
"They call it the American dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it." -- George Carlin
Animavore wrote:I guess. The splitting of votes may not be needed any way. Joe is well up in the polls. Could end up being a two-termer.
I wouldn't count my chickens just yet. The Republicans control more states than Dems and they are full steam ahead on voter suppression as they also work diligently to alter the way elections are done at the state level in order to make it easier to ensure their guy "wins" in the future.
Meanwhile, the chickenshit Dems are dithering on ending the stupid racist filibuster (which is required if they want to pass voter protection laws) because they're worried about being too radical.
What I'm say is, don't get your hopes up 'cause this will all go to shit in the end because the Republicans are insane zealots who are willing to break all the rules while Dems are wishy washy centrists who are worried about decorum and shit.
"One movement, one people, one family, and one glorious nation under god!" —Donald Trump "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!" —Adolf Hitler