4 ms·

> This isn't a false equivalency situation; both left and right are being pushed into division. In this case, it is a false equivalency. At least in terms of D

> This isn't a false equivalency situation; both left and right are being pushed into division. In this case, it is a false equivalency. At least in terms of Democrat and Republican. Antifa is a fringe far-left group. They are not Democrats. They do not support Democrats. You don't see mainstream Democratic politicians supporting them. The Republicans, on the other hand, have embraced the far-right fringe groups. You have the leader of the Republican party calling the press the "enemy of the people" and making jokes about attacking reporters. This is one of those cases where both sides are not the same.

dragonwriter 8y ago
> Antifa is a fringe far-left group. Antifa was started by far-left activists, but has support much closer to the center-left than the people that started it because it has a narrow focus that is fairly uncontroversial left of center and has mostly been fairly restrained, both in its methods and in maintaining focus without making Antifa about the extracurricular stances of it's core members.
- IntelMiner 8y ago
  I like to consider myself fairly far-left (at least as far as the Australian political spectrum goes) But I still have no idea what "Antifa" actually stand for. Are they against Fascism? If so, I can get behind that. Nazism is a failed experiment and needs to be kept in the dustbin of history All I know is right-wingers screech about "the left" and "antifa" while trying to defend being awful people
  - mcv 8y ago
    Antifa stands for anti-fascistic action. They don't just oppose fascism from the arm chair, they oppose it with violence where necessary, because they figure fascists use violence too. If not now, then certainly once they gain power, therefore use all means necessary to prevent that. It's absolutely a case of the end justifying the means, and there's no doubt an anti-democratic aspect to it. It's driven by a fear for fascism and a perceived need to use extreme measures to stop it. Some people argue that Antifa is itself fascist in a way, and if you consider how fascism uses (and stokes) fear for a common enemy to unite people in support of their ideology, there might be something to it. There's some very slippery slope there.
nailer 8y ago
It seems fairly mainstream for Democrats to think people who advocate for a white ethno state ('the alt right') are everywhere, varying in their degree of support for violence towards the largely imaginary foes (who in reality could be anywhere from center left to center right).
ajvs 8y ago
The majority of the country have been polled and consistently agree with the President that the media is intentionally creating a divide and often lie to the people. Conservatives undoubtedly make up more of that number but both political sides clearly think along similar lines in this instance. This isn't a "fringe group" that hate the corporate media.
- pjc50 8y ago
  Subtlety: there are at least two groups who hate each other's corporate media. People at the Presidential rally(+) aren't going to denounce Fox as corporate media. (+) is this a thing? Did all the other presidents do this?

dragonwriter 8y ago

> Antifa is a fringe far-left group. Antifa was started by far-left activists, but has support much closer to the center-left than the people that started it because it has a narrow focus that is fairly uncontroversial left of center and has mostly been fairly restrained, both in its methods and in maintaining focus without making Antifa about the extracurricular stances of it's core members.

IntelMiner 8y ago
I like to consider myself fairly far-left (at least as far as the Australian political spectrum goes) But I still have no idea what "Antifa" actually stand for. Are they against Fascism? If so, I can get behind that. Nazism is a failed experiment and needs to be kept in the dustbin of history All I know is right-wingers screech about "the left" and "antifa" while trying to defend being awful people
- mcv 8y ago
  Antifa stands for anti-fascistic action. They don't just oppose fascism from the arm chair, they oppose it with violence where necessary, because they figure fascists use violence too. If not now, then certainly once they gain power, therefore use all means necessary to prevent that. It's absolutely a case of the end justifying the means, and there's no doubt an anti-democratic aspect to it. It's driven by a fear for fascism and a perceived need to use extreme measures to stop it. Some people argue that Antifa is itself fascist in a way, and if you consider how fascism uses (and stokes) fear for a common enemy to unite people in support of their ideology, there might be something to it. There's some very slippery slope there.

nailer 8y ago

It seems fairly mainstream for Democrats to think people who advocate for a white ethno state ('the alt right') are everywhere, varying in their degree of support for violence towards the largely imaginary foes (who in reality could be anywhere from center left to center right).

ajvs 8y ago

The majority of the country have been polled and consistently agree with the President that the media is intentionally creating a divide and often lie to the people. Conservatives undoubtedly make up more of that number but both political sides clearly think along similar lines in this instance. This isn't a "fringe group" that hate the corporate media.

pjc50 8y ago
Subtlety: there are at least two groups who hate each other's corporate media. People at the Presidential rally(+) aren't going to denounce Fox as corporate media. (+) is this a thing? Did all the other presidents do this?