4 ms·
It's fascinating seeing the extent to which Republicans have monopolized both violence and victimhood. The entire article seems to be a standard exercise in ba
by atmavatar 1y ago
It's fascinating seeing the extent to which Republicans have monopolized both violence and victimhood. The entire article seems to be a standard exercise in bad faith commonly seen from right-wing pundits.
Here, labeling certain individuals on the right as fascists is claimed to necessarily also be a call for violence against them. The only example provided for this claim is a reference to a musician in the middle of WW2 sporting a "This machine kills fascists" sticker on his guitar, as if wartime propaganda from 80 years ago is still relevant today.
I certainly haven't seen any relevant individual on the left calling for violence - whether that be people with significant followings in media and especially not among elected individuals.
In contrast, not only do I see pretty significant calls to violence from the right (e.g., Trump's rallies calling for violence against media members, his speech on 2021-01-06 whipping his crowd into a frenzy before the attack on the capitol, the "enemies within" speech he just gave to top military brass, etc.), but we're also seeing ICE becoming increasingly violent.
The claims about attacks on freedom of speech are similar.
Those on the left organize protests and boycotts against people they disagree with, thus exercising their own freedom of speech. Occasionally, such actions have resulted in individuals losing their jobs and their reputation. I won't claim that cancel culture doesn't go too far sometimes or get started over some incredibly petty things, but by and large, it's a movement that relies entirely on exercising speech as its mechanism.
Contrast this again with actions on the right. We have a sitting president launching lawsuits against anyone who says something he doesn't like. At the same time, he's directed his FCC secretary to threaten removal of broadcast licenses and interfere with business mergers of anyone using speech critical of Trump. That is textbook government censorship.
And no, Biden's administration requesting things on social media being taken down is not the same thing unless you can demonstrate said requests were also accompanied by threats of government action. It probably shouldn't have happened, and it definitely should have resulted in political consequences of some sort (it did), but it's not the same thing without threats being levied.
- olelele 1y agoThat musician is woody guthrie, he was writing songs for the organized left in the US, what is on the guitar has nothing to do with europe. He was active when the US persecuted the entire left and workers movements for the capital owners. He was concerned with american fascism.
- RickJWagner 1y agoHe also wrote songs glorifying bank robbers that gunned down innocent bystanders. Woody had a knack for outrageous statements.
- tastyface 1y ago"Fascist societies rhetorically cast their enemies as 'at the same time too strong and too weak.' On the one hand, fascists play up the power of certain disfavored elites to encourage in their followers a sense of grievance and humiliation. On the other hand, fascist leaders point to the decadence of those elites as proof of their ultimate feebleness in the face of an overwhelming popular will." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur-Fascism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur-Fascism
- RickJWagner 1y agoDid you miss all the hoopla after Charlie Kirk was murdered? Many people lost jobs for making inappropriate comments. A prominent Democrat has just been lambasted for wishing a political opponent “two bullets to the head”. Recall all the cheering for Luigi when the healthcare CEO was gunned down. I get that we all live in different bubbles. What’s obvious to you is hidden to me, and vice versa. IMHO, it’s beyond time to work on de-escalation. Hopefully, we can swing the pendulum back.
- gusgus01 1y agoThe OP said "relevant individual on the left calling for violence". I guess we can quibble about "relevant", but none of those examples really fits the criteria as it stands. "Many People" - anyone relevant? And were they calling for violence? The Democrat who wished a political opponent "two bullets to the head" did so in personal texts 3 years ago. Not exactly calling for it, let alone nationally on television. "Cheering for Luigi" - again relevant people who did? And called for violence?