A Deeply Fractured US

[NavyShooter]

Some thoughts from an author who has some things to say:

His words:

A friend of mine who is a political activist said something interesting the other day, and that was for most people on the left political violence is a knob, and they can turn the heat up and down, with things like protests, and riots, all the way up to destruction of property, and sometimes murder… But for the vast majority of folks on the right, it’s an off and on switch. And the settings are Vote or Shoot Fucking Everybody. And believe me, you really don’t want that switch to get flipped, because Civil War 2.0 would make Bosnia look like a trip to Disneyworld.

The 2nd Amendment is Obsolete, Says Congressman Who Wants To Nuke Omaha | Monster Hunter Nation

monsterhunternation.com

I've seen social media posts asking if this is 'it' ? Is this the one that 'flips the switch' - and I truly hope that the switch never flips.

It wasn't much fun to watch Libya implode from 3 miles off-shore in 2011....watching our neighbours to the south implode would be....bad on toast....and there would be spill-over up here.

 

[ModlrMike]

People calling Mr Kirk the first victim are conveniently forgetting Melissa Hortman.

 

[RangerRay]

Some thoughts on the evil of political violence.

The Assassin's Veto

What the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk tells us about the dangers facing the American Republic.

yaschamounk.substack.com

Charlie Kirk Was Murdered. Political Violence Is Surrender.

The shooting of Charlie Kirk at a Utah college today is a tragedy that endangers our democracy.

www.thenextmove.org

 

[Furniture]

People calling Mr Kirk the first victim are conveniently forgetting Melissa Hortman.

Are they "conveniently forgetting" or are they genuinely forgetting, because there is so much push from the online world about every dumb thing, like this, that many people forget the real events because they are overwhelmed with outrage and "major" events?

 

[Brad Sallows]

Let's not pretend, the GOP is only using her murder to further a narrative. They are still doing everything in their power to avoid treating the root cause of her being in the US in the first place.

On a topic fraught with politicized tangents, that's a mighty impressive segue.

 

[Brad Sallows]

For the hard of thinking here: the US is not OK with gun violence, but the US is OK with lawful and responsible ownership. Scrub the gang violence out and many jurisdictions in the US are not international outliers. States and municipalities decide the rules which foster or suppress irresponsible and anti-social behaviours. The "root causes" of most of the grief are social, most particularly the K-12 education systems.

 

[Brad Sallows]

The man died from the gun violence he made public statements as acceptable.

His death is tragic. It's the outcome of his advocacy. One can simultaneously say that you regret his death, and note that it's the logical conclusion of his advocacy.

It is a long stretch from the plain position of tolerating a less-than-zero-defect 2A to assassination-is-acceptable.

 

[Halifax Tar]

I would reply but I've been told I'm being a disturbance, so.

I want to give you credit. At least you seem to stand by what you say and don't delete a post.

The one place that I overlap him on the Venn diagram

https://twitter.com/x/status/1965889591090753651

A true statesman.

 

[Altair]

It is a long stretch from the plain position of tolerating a less-than-zero-defect 2A to assassination-is-acceptable.

"You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won't have a single gun death. That is nonsense. It's drivel. But I am—I think it's worth it.

I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe."

~Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk was okay with gun deaths to avoid needing to put any common place gun laws on the books in the USA.

Universal background checks.

Red flag laws.

Sales reporting and registration.

Waiting periods.

Notice none of these involve mass confiscation of firearms. But it doesn't matter. Charlie Kirk wasn't okay with gun violence per say, but he was willing to accept it rather than do anything that could be seen as gun reform.

That he died to gun violence, at a school no less, is simply a dark irony.

 

[Altair]

I want to give you credit. At least you seem to stand by what you say and don't delete a post.

I'm jaded.

I'm tired.

I don't care who in the USA gets shot these days.

That makes me come off as an asshole but it's not agaisnt the rules to be an asshole. I don't think I've broken any rule.

So why would I delete my post? Nobody needs to like it. But as long as the no mod tells me I'm breaking the rules, it can stay there as a reactions magnet.

 

[Halifax Tar]

The death of Charlie Kirk was a political assassination. Trying to blame it on guns is an attempt at deflecting the responsibility away from who it really belongs with. Which is the criminal and their ideologies. The gun was just the tool.

The hammer doesn't build the house, the carpenter does.

 

[Halifax Tar]

I'm jaded.

I'm tired.

I don't care who in the USA gets shot these days.

That makes me come off as an asshole but it's not agaisnt the rules to be an asshole. I don't think I've broken any rule.

So why would I delete my post? Nobody needs to like it. But as long as the no mod tells me I'm breaking the rules, it can stay there as a reactions magnet.

I've learned a lot about my fellow army.ca folks in the last 12- 14 hours.

Some, I had no idea we would be so deeply aligned. Some, I saw behind their curtain and I remain deeply disappointed.

 

[Altair]

The death of Charlie Kirk was a political assassination. Trying to blame it on guns is an attempt at deflecting the responsibility away from who it really belongs with. Which is the criminal and their ideologies. The gun was just the tool.

The hammer doesn't build the house, the carpenter does.

The extreme proliferation of firearms with minimal restrictions on ability to acquire one allows for a lot of people who shouldn't have one having one.

Nobody should be comfortable with people with mental health issues having a gun for example, but there are no red flag laws. Or waiting periods to do background checks on individuals. Or a federal registry like PAL here in Canada.

So sure, blame the individual. But if you ignore the environment that allows the individual who shouldn't have access to guns having access to guns due to the steadfast opposition to any common sense gun laws on place, well, it's akin to trying to bail water out of a boat without plugging the leak.

Charlie Kirk was comfortable with "some guns deaths" to preserve the 2nd amendment. He ended up as some gun death.

Unfortunate.

 

[Altair]

I've learned a lot about my fellow army.ca folks in the last 12- 14 hours.

Some, I had no idea we would be so deeply aligned. Some, I saw behind their curtain and I remain deeply disappointed.

I care about disappointing my wife and my child, and as far as I know you are neither.

 

[IKnowNothing]

People calling Mr Kirk the first victim are conveniently forgetting Melissa Hortman.

Assasination of Melissa Hortman and husband + assasination attempt on Senator Hoffman, + two more lawmakers

Assassination Attempt on on DJT

Attempt to kidnap and " interogate" Nancy Pelosi leading to hammer attack on Chuck Pelosi

January 6th.


Americans on both extremes feel like the other is a legitimate threat their way of life, their existence, their country. Not a fun time to be neighbours.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Assasination of Melissa Hortman and husband + assasination attempt on Senator Hoffman, + two more lawmakers

Assassination Attempt on on DJT

Attempt to kidnap and " interogate" Nancy Pelosi leading to hammer attack on Chuck Pelosi

January 6th.


Americans on both extremes feel like the other is a legitimate threat their way of life, their existence, their country. Not a fun time to be neighbours.

The real question where does the USA go from here ?

 

[brihard]

The real question where does the USA go from here ?

It continues down the same path and things get shittier. In a few months or a year someone takes a serious shot at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or Laura Loomer, or Marc Elias, or Candace Owens, and the downwards cycle of political violence continues. I’m not sure that at this point the cycle is recoverable.

We still haven’t really seen drones used for domestic political terrorism yet, but that’ll be soon.

 

[The Bread Guy]

People calling Mr Kirk the first victim are conveniently forgetting Melissa Hortman.

Has POTUS47 ever called the MN Governor to express his condolences on that one yet? Last I heard, he said it would be a waste of time - although he did condemn the violence in general.

Meanwhile, in Kirk's case ....

As a mark of respect for the memory of Charlie Kirk, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, September 14, 2025. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.

DONALD J. TRUMP

....and this:

President Trump Delivers Remarks on Charlie Kirk

www.whitehouse.gov

Or, shown another way ....

 

[Altair]

We still haven’t really seen drones used for domestic political terrorism yet, but that’ll be soon.

I'm not too worried about this.

The founders of the USA didn't allow for the right to bear drones.

 

[Remius]

Assasination of Melissa Hortman and husband + assasination attempt on Senator Hoffman, + two more lawmakers

Assassination Attempt on on DJT

Attempt to kidnap and " interogate" Nancy Pelosi leading to hammer attack on Chuck Pelosi

January 6th.


Americans on both extremes feel like the other is a legitimate threat their way of life, their existence, their country. Not a fun time to be neighbours.

Because the political narrative in the US has become and is that your political competitors are your enemy.