Stalin
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- Apr 4, 2008
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As political violence is escalating in the country – what the University of Chicago professor Robert Pape has dubbed “violent populism” – it is being performed with a mix of motives. Sometimes this violence comes from the left; more often it comes from the right, while the motives of some others, such as Thomas Crooks, the young man who shot Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024, remain unclear.
But if you listen to the Maga-sphere, today’s political environment is made uniquely murderous only because of a mythically powerful and extremely organized radical left. (A passing familiarity with the disputatious US left will quickly cement how far-fetched such beliefs are.) The motives driving Kirk’s shooter, still at large as I write this, are unknown. But that doesn’t matter. Sensing an opportunity, some of the most influential Maga conservatives are now hellbent on completely destroying “the left” – which in practice is anyone who voices opposition to their agenda – with all the might the federal government holds.
Christopher Rufo, an influential conservative activist with close ties to the Trump administration, posted on X that the “last time the radical Left orchestrated a wave of violence and terror, J. Edgar Hoover shut it all down within a few years. It is time, within the confines of the law, to infiltrate, disrupt, arrest, and incarcerate all of those who are responsible for this chaos.” Hardly a call for lowering the temperature of the discourse.
Jesse Watters, a Fox News host, told his audience: “We are going to avenge Charlie’s death in the way that Charlie wanted to be avenged.” He continued: “They are at war with us. Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us.” The Maga political strategist Steve Bannon told his audience that “Charlie Kirk is a casualty of war. We are at war in this country. We are.” Elon Musk wrote on X that “The Left is the party of murder.” The far-right activist Laura Loomer (who holds significant influence with the president) wrote: “The best way President Trump can reinforce Charlie’s legacy is by cracking down on the Left with the full force of the government,” adding: “We can’t allow for these people to live among us in society. If you threaten people over their political views, you should be jailed for 25 years or more.” Loomer seemed oblivious to fact that she was in fact threatening people over their political views.
Not to be outdone, Trump chimed in with a statement: “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity,” he said, “and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it … From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on Ice agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House majority leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.”
Trump makes no mention of, say, the assassination of Melissa Hortman or the attack on Paul Pelosi. He conflates public opposition to Ice’s militarized policing with extreme political violence, and he insinuates, without evidence, that a broad leftwing conspiracy is directing events behind the scenes. Fanciful in description, Trump’s words are utterly terrifying in their meaning.
Why? Because despite what you might think, Trump is not saying that all political violence comes from the left. Rather, he is suggesting that all that comes from the left is political violence. And once that lie is accepted as true, the call to destroy any and all opponents, and by every means available, won’t lag far behind. Our collective commitment to democracy and the right to free speech, including Kirk’s, demands that we reject such destruction.
www.theguardian.com
comrade stalin
berlin 1933
But if you listen to the Maga-sphere, today’s political environment is made uniquely murderous only because of a mythically powerful and extremely organized radical left. (A passing familiarity with the disputatious US left will quickly cement how far-fetched such beliefs are.) The motives driving Kirk’s shooter, still at large as I write this, are unknown. But that doesn’t matter. Sensing an opportunity, some of the most influential Maga conservatives are now hellbent on completely destroying “the left” – which in practice is anyone who voices opposition to their agenda – with all the might the federal government holds.
Christopher Rufo, an influential conservative activist with close ties to the Trump administration, posted on X that the “last time the radical Left orchestrated a wave of violence and terror, J. Edgar Hoover shut it all down within a few years. It is time, within the confines of the law, to infiltrate, disrupt, arrest, and incarcerate all of those who are responsible for this chaos.” Hardly a call for lowering the temperature of the discourse.
Jesse Watters, a Fox News host, told his audience: “We are going to avenge Charlie’s death in the way that Charlie wanted to be avenged.” He continued: “They are at war with us. Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us.” The Maga political strategist Steve Bannon told his audience that “Charlie Kirk is a casualty of war. We are at war in this country. We are.” Elon Musk wrote on X that “The Left is the party of murder.” The far-right activist Laura Loomer (who holds significant influence with the president) wrote: “The best way President Trump can reinforce Charlie’s legacy is by cracking down on the Left with the full force of the government,” adding: “We can’t allow for these people to live among us in society. If you threaten people over their political views, you should be jailed for 25 years or more.” Loomer seemed oblivious to fact that she was in fact threatening people over their political views.
Not to be outdone, Trump chimed in with a statement: “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity,” he said, “and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it … From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on Ice agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House majority leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.”
Trump makes no mention of, say, the assassination of Melissa Hortman or the attack on Paul Pelosi. He conflates public opposition to Ice’s militarized policing with extreme political violence, and he insinuates, without evidence, that a broad leftwing conspiracy is directing events behind the scenes. Fanciful in description, Trump’s words are utterly terrifying in their meaning.
Why? Because despite what you might think, Trump is not saying that all political violence comes from the left. Rather, he is suggesting that all that comes from the left is political violence. And once that lie is accepted as true, the call to destroy any and all opponents, and by every means available, won’t lag far behind. Our collective commitment to democracy and the right to free speech, including Kirk’s, demands that we reject such destruction.
Charlie Kirk’s shocking killing sets the stage for a federal crackdown | Moustafa Bayoumi
Maga leaders blame a mythically powerful left for political violence. Now, they are bent on destroying anyone who opposes them
comrade stalin
berlin 1933
