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For the latter it seems pretty safe to conclude he was probably left-leaning politically All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it com

For the latter it seems pretty safe to conclude he was probably left-leaning politically All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights. It's not uncommon for right-leaning individuals to suddenly discover the humanity of groups they previously hated once they spend significant time with one of their members. However, there are plenty of conservative viewpoints that do not hinge on prejudice, so I'll wait for more evidence before believing he went full vegan hippie liberal. A picture of the guy in a drum circle or animal cruelty protest while wearing a Che Guevara or tie dye and peace sign shirt would do ;)

gruez 1y ago
>All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights. "left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights" is an understatement. From the wikipedia article: >When the roommate asked why Robinson had done it, he answered, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out." Maybe he was some sort of libertarian that thinks "hatred" from right wing influencers needed to be stoped via exercise of the second amendment, but you really have to bend backwards for that theory. The far more plausible explanation is that he was a run-of-the-mill illiberal-left that thinks speech from the right need to be curtailed. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
- Forgeties79 1y ago
  He’s hard to pin down tbh but I’d say he’s a bit more akin to a black pilled 4chan troll than a “illiberal-left” (never heard that before so I think I know what you mean…?) or Marxist or even a traditional democrat. You may as well say “video games did it” if we’re going down this path. Simply put: He’s complicated. Any attempt to slot him neatly as “left” or “right” is pointless. You are at least showing a little more nuance with this but my experience has been people are basically trying to boil this down to “your team did it, not my team.” The politicians who pushed that he was [insert whatever] are not remotely equipped to understand a person like him.
  - gruez 1y ago
    >He’s more akin to a black pilled 4chan troll Because... why? >“illiberal-left” (never heard that before so I think I know what you mean…?) "Left wing" but rejects classical liberal values like free speech (eg. favoring speech restrictions) or meritocracy (eg. favoring affirmative action or quotas). >with this but my experience has been people are basically trying to boil this down to “your team did it, not my team.” All of which makes the attempt by the left to insist that he wasn't left wing all the more the stranger. 45 and 43 percent of americans identify as "republican/lean republican" and "democrat/lean democrat" respectively. From those statistics you'd expect 88% of shooters to belong to one side or the other. Of course, just because a shooter belongs to one side, doesn't automatically delegitimize that side's political position, but the correct response to that would be something like "yes, he was left leaning, but his beliefs are not reflective of the left/democrats as a whole", not trying to insist "Any attempt to slot him neatly as “left” or “right” is pointless". https://news.gallup.com/poll/548459/independent-party-tied-high-democratic-new-low.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/548459/independent-party-tied-h...
    - Forgeties79 1y ago
      > All of which makes the attempt by the left to insist that he wasn't left wing all the more the stranger. I don’t understand why this is so one sided in your opinion…? Both major parties and their base are saying “he wasn’t one of ours.” I feel like I’m missing something here.
      - gruez 1y ago
        >Both major parties and their base are saying “he wasn’t one of ours.” I feel like I’m missing something here. Because even though there's no slam dunk evidence that he's left/right wing (eg. some manifesto saying "yep, I'm left wing!", it's far more likely that he was left wing rather than right wing, and therefore the left's attempt to distance themselves from the shooter is weaker and worth calling out more. If the circumstances were reversed (eg. this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Paul_Pelosi#Social_media_activity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Paul_Pelosi#Social_m...), and both the left and the right tried to distance themselves from the attacker, I'd call out the right more, even if there's vague tidbits implying he was left.

gruez 1y ago

>All we know for sure is that he's left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights. "left of his MAGA parents when it comes to gay/trans rights" is an understatement. From the wikipedia article: >When the roommate asked why Robinson had done it, he answered, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out." Maybe he was some sort of libertarian that thinks "hatred" from right wing influencers needed to be stoped via exercise of the second amendment, but you really have to bend backwards for that theory. The far more plausible explanation is that he was a run-of-the-mill illiberal-left that thinks speech from the right need to be curtailed. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.

Forgeties79 1y ago
He’s hard to pin down tbh but I’d say he’s a bit more akin to a black pilled 4chan troll than a “illiberal-left” (never heard that before so I think I know what you mean…?) or Marxist or even a traditional democrat. You may as well say “video games did it” if we’re going down this path. Simply put: He’s complicated. Any attempt to slot him neatly as “left” or “right” is pointless. You are at least showing a little more nuance with this but my experience has been people are basically trying to boil this down to “your team did it, not my team.” The politicians who pushed that he was [insert whatever] are not remotely equipped to understand a person like him.
- gruez 1y ago
  >He’s more akin to a black pilled 4chan troll Because... why? >“illiberal-left” (never heard that before so I think I know what you mean…?) "Left wing" but rejects classical liberal values like free speech (eg. favoring speech restrictions) or meritocracy (eg. favoring affirmative action or quotas). >with this but my experience has been people are basically trying to boil this down to “your team did it, not my team.” All of which makes the attempt by the left to insist that he wasn't left wing all the more the stranger. 45 and 43 percent of americans identify as "republican/lean republican" and "democrat/lean democrat" respectively. From those statistics you'd expect 88% of shooters to belong to one side or the other. Of course, just because a shooter belongs to one side, doesn't automatically delegitimize that side's political position, but the correct response to that would be something like "yes, he was left leaning, but his beliefs are not reflective of the left/democrats as a whole", not trying to insist "Any attempt to slot him neatly as “left” or “right” is pointless". https://news.gallup.com/poll/548459/independent-party-tied-high-democratic-new-low.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/548459/independent-party-tied-h...
  - Forgeties79 1y ago
    > All of which makes the attempt by the left to insist that he wasn't left wing all the more the stranger. I don’t understand why this is so one sided in your opinion…? Both major parties and their base are saying “he wasn’t one of ours.” I feel like I’m missing something here.
    - gruez 1y ago
      >Both major parties and their base are saying “he wasn’t one of ours.” I feel like I’m missing something here. Because even though there's no slam dunk evidence that he's left/right wing (eg. some manifesto saying "yep, I'm left wing!", it's far more likely that he was left wing rather than right wing, and therefore the left's attempt to distance themselves from the shooter is weaker and worth calling out more. If the circumstances were reversed (eg. this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Paul_Pelosi#Social_media_activity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Paul_Pelosi#Social_m...), and both the left and the right tried to distance themselves from the attacker, I'd call out the right more, even if there's vague tidbits implying he was left.