Last time I promised to post this, in order to illustrate how a single hero might turn the tables on blackmailing tormentors, perhaps saving the nation, as well as himself. It's a chapter from a novel in-progress. One that stalled, because I am too old now to drop everything for a year just in order to learn FBI procedures and all that.
And yet, after blathering about this for many years -- the plot driver for this story suddenly seems totally real life. And I feel compelled to post at least this one scene...
...because it might - just maybe - rouse someone out there to do the right thing. The heroic thing for our country and our world. And be remembered for it, forever.
== Unbecoming Intimidation ==
Lorenzo Lessig, on the other hand, looked dapper, even professorial, using his briefcase as a seat to protect the rayon of his suit from rough concrete. He stood up, brushing away nonexistent crumbs, then offered me his arm in a courtly, latin manner. I turned it into a manly handshake. A thing we do.
“You didn’t save me any?”
I glanced with a moue toward the crushed and unpromising wrappers.
“Didn’t you just have lunch with your father?” Swire’s headshake rattled a ponytail that might once have been dirty blond, though now it seemed more dirty, with fading hints that presaged early gray.
“Ancient history. Ten minutes ago. Next time, bring me something anyway.”
“Pregnancy, God’s back door to gluttony.”
“That’s not even clever.”
He shrugged. Lessig grinned. “Well I think it is wondrous. And I truly must thank you, Isabel, for giving me the password to view life’s miracle.”
Born in Tampa to a New York retiree and a nurse from Trinidad, he truly had no excuse for putting on these latin airs. But Lorenzo wore the role well. Also, he spent more time undercover than Pete did.
“To view life’s... Oh yeah. The womb cam. Sometimes I forget it’s in there.”
He smiled. Perfect teeth, aquiline nose and dark complexion. “I think perhaps you tell a lie, Isabel. I will wager that you check developments, many times each day. I know that I would, were I you.”
Involuntary blush response. Find a distraction. I spotted one out the corner of my eye.
“Cheez-it, guys. The fuzz.”
They glanced around and saw the same cluster of movement -- half a dozen men and women plus two ambis clustered at the curb, where heavyset drivers in black sunglasses turned to drive away official-looking SUVs after unloading very important cargo. Ascending the broad steps, all of the former passengers were attired in Washington take-me-very-seriously suits. Only a trained eye could tell that the jackets were made of new, bullet-resisting nano-weave. Any conversation was murmured and innocuous. These days, you simply did not discuss business out of doors.
“Deputy fuzz, you mean,” Pete commented. “We all better go in, too, or Her Nibs will assign us to auditing pot dispensaries in Alabama.”
Her Nibs -- Deputy Director Molly Ringwreath Rogers -- glanced briefly my way as she passed with her entourage. A guarded expression crossed her sharply scupted face as she gave the briefest nod, before resuming her upward stride without interruption. Athletic. I admired how high she could lift those knees. My own clamber felt awkward, crablike, by comparison. Though I shrugged off Lessig’s gallant hand off my arm. Not yet, Lorenzo. I’ll manage alone, for now.
Others were converging for the big meeting. Agents, researchers, lawyers and administrators, passing through the great doors and across a broad, polished FBI seal, inlaid across the atrium floor.
“I’ll go and save us some seats,” Pete said, before hurrying ahead. I couldn’t blame him. In fact, it was probably the right thing to do... though it meant that he missed the grand, surprise entrance that folks would be talking about for... well, forever.
Lorenzo and I entered ___ Auditorium almost last, lurking at the back and looking for Swire. Most attendees were already seated as the Deputy Director and her chief aides took to plush chairs, onstage to the far left, leaving plenty of room for today’s speakers. I spotted Pete, waving at us with two empty spaces -- one on the aisle for me. I started to nudge Lessig --
-- when a hand squeezed gently on my shoulder and a rather deep, resonant voice asked: “Would you pardon me, Miss?”
Tall, square of jaw, with peppered hair slicked in a distinguished cut, the newcomer wore an expensively tailored, dark blue suit with an American flag pin and red silk tie. His gaze swiftly encompassed my condition.
“Sorry. I mean, pardon me, Madam.”
“Sure,” I answered, shuffling closer to Lorenzo, wondering. Who makes such distinctions, anymore, because of pregnancy?
With my bulk no longer obstructing his path, the tall man murmured a low thankyou and swept on past with a determined air. He looked familiar. As if I really ought to recognize...
I wasn’t alone in that reaction. Heads turned as elbows jabbed ribs and a wave of sudden silence followed the newcomer, spreading rapidly as he strode down a long aisle toward the front of the hall.
For once, Molly Rogers was slow on the uptake. It took an urgent whisper from her assistant for realization to dawn.
Hurriedly standing, Rogers stepped forward even as the tall man made short work of eight steps leading to the stage, taking them two at a time.
We could all hear every word.
“Senator. My... what an... unexpected honor.”
His smile. Later image analysis would reveal tension mixed with eager anticipation that had the taut skin of his cheek throbbing an eleven hertz beat. At the time, from my great distance away, his grin appeared suddenly both familiar and ingratiating. Confident and absolutely determined.
“It’s Sean fucking McDean!” Swire said, and not just him. The same words skittered around us. Well, pretty much the same. At least the McDean part. Is there an echo in here?
“No shit?” I was sarcastic, which won a glance of mild disapproval from Lorenzo.
“Good afternoon, Deputy Director,” the senior Senator from Delaware said, loudly enough for all to discern, even without the amp plugs that many agents were now pushing into their ears. “I am so sorry to be causing a disruption.”
“Well... sir...” Molly Rogers looked nonplussed. “Is there something we can do for you, Senator? We were about to convene an important meeting --”
“About the Big Deal. Yes. Very consequential, Madam Deputy Director. Even momentous. Still, I feel obliged and compelled to do something impudent. Something shocking and yet that’s urgent for the sake of our republic. May I hijack your meeting and your audience for just five minutes? I promise, on my honor and on my very soul that you will all find it both interesting and worth the time.”
Still rather stunned, Rogers started to stammer a weak objection, but found herself with no one to talk to, as McDean turned and strode, in three lanky steps, to the nearby podium. From a jacket pocket he pulled out his slim pen-phone and laid it into the lectern’s regular receptacle, turning the pen into a microphone. At once, his voice filled the hall.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the FBI, those of you both present and tuning in from afar. Thank you for your kind indulgence and flexibility in allowing me a few brief moments of your valuable time. I’ll let you get back to your scheduled, portentous topic shortly. But first, let me promise this. What I have to say right now will top anything you expected to witness today!”
He didn’t bother introducing himself, I noted. Of course, Sean McDean was moderately well-known, a mid-to-upper ranked senator and committee chairman -- though which committee escaped me. I saw agents and techies nearby and all across the hall whip out their phones and pull open scroll screens, or else slip on GuGlasses in order to start glomming overlay data, adding realtime info-gloss as the senator spoke. Both Lorenzo and Pete did that, but I preferred letting it all wash over me, unadorned.
“I come before you to proclaim and accuse -- as Emile Zola did more than a century ago -- that a terrible crime is taking place! A conspiracy against the United States of America and against the very possibility of open, democratic government around this increasingly vexed world of ours.”
Ah. I realized -- or briefly thought I did -- what he had come to talk about. The thing on everybody’s lips -- the Big Deal -- a world treaty whose legal implications, especially for the FBI, were supposed to be today’s topic. Our scheduled speakers -- one each from Justice, State and Quantico, along with a professor from Georgetown -- sat in the front row. Pre-empted but as fascinated as anybody.
“First though,” McDean lifted a hand. “I must ask a question.” He leaned toward us.
“Are any of you presently aware of major scandals that involve me?”
The non-sequitur made me blink in surprise. I could tell that it rocked back several of those around me.
“Not minor stuff!” he continued hurriedly. “None of the usual complaints about this or that misjudged or badly reported campaign contribution. Or rumors that I fudged a grade while at Princeton. Or tales that my son got favors in his bid for that defense contract. Forget about the usual pile of gritty stuff that any politician compiles after thirty years of public service. Mostly baloney but maybe some minor or intermediate sins to atone for... with most of it by now pretty familiar and chewed over by the press. Putting all of that aside...
“...please raise your hand if you are aware of something really, really big that’s about to pop, concerning Senator Sean McDean!”
He paused, and was not the only one turning to scan the audience. All across the hall, heads rotated. We all looked around. No hands went up.
“Now I know that’s not a perfect test,” he continued, voice quavering a little, on a harmonic that denoted tension, blended with tenacity. “Tomorrow, possibly even as soon as I finish up here, some of you will say that you were aware of such a scandal brewing, but could not raise your hand because of legal protocol, or confidentiality, or proper procedure or some similar, lame excuse. When these colleagues speak, note who they are! It’s important. And I’ll tell you why.
“You see, I am being blackmailed.”
Senator McDean allowed that to sink in. The hall was dead silent.
“I was recently shown ‘evidence’ of something awful.”
He did not lift hands to gesture quotation marks, but his voice put them there.
“Evidence that was concocted using vividly realistic modern methods, even more advanced than those currently used in Hollywood. I was told that these horrid materials would be revealed to both authorities and the public, if I didn’t comply. Help pass or modify certain bills. Block others from becoming law. The choice I was offered was simple. Become their lap-dog, their wholly-owned U.S. Senator... or else face ruin.”
Now, silence gave way to a low murmur. Heads turned and whispers were exchanged. I glimpsed Lorenzo, wearing heavy GuGoggles, use his fingers to pluck at thin air and flick something invisible to the bare-eyed -- something virtual -- past me over to Pete. A link he must have found, online. Pete waved it away and took off his own pair of specs, joining me in the much more fascinating real moment.
“I strung the conspirators along for as long as I could,” McDean continued. “Pretending to play along. I truly was at a loss, you see. Would people believe the nasty, so-called evidence that had been concocted about me? Was my life of service at an end? I confess that -- to my everlasting shame -- the temptation to cave-in, though nauseating, did occur to me. I felt trapped. The possibility of prison or public humiliation can break some men...
“...or else anger can steel the mind!
“And so, I got past my moment of weakness. Discretely, I did some research. and came to a stark, horrified realization.
“I am not the only one!”
Senator McDean gripped the edges of the lectern so hard that I heard the wood audibly complain with a faint crack.
“Let me ask you all something,” he said in a voice suddenly gone both tense and hushed. “Have you ever stopped to wonder why our politics started getting so weird, about a generation ago? I’m not just talking about the cable, web and mesh hate-jockies who keep dividing the people into ever smaller classes of mutual resentment, suckling on the teat of indignant resentment. Nor do I mean the tsunamis of cash that flood through this town, both overt and covert. Indeed, the Big Deal is supposed to partly resolve or reduce that part of things. We can hope. But don’t hold your breath.
“No, by weird, I’m talking about the way some politicians, leaders, civil servants and other figures of importance keep saying one thing and then doing another. They claim to maintain consistency... adherence to a steady philosophy and agenda. Yet, whatever they touch actually winds up heading in a different direction! Social conservatives who claim to be vigorously “pro-life” or anti-gay, but who never deliver anything real and always seem to sabotage their side with some ill-chosen words. Did you ever wonder how they could be so stupid? Or negotiators wrangling new deals for health care or the environment... who somehow leave in place a loophole that lets frackers and frokkers and big pharma companies free to do whatever they please?
“That’s the sort of thing my blackmailers wanted me to start doing! Maintain my public pose as a fighting reformer! But effectively make sure their subtle agenda kept moving forward! And I realized, it would kill me. I would die inside, if I went along.
“So I looked around.
“Hey, you all know I had a background in computer tech, before seeking public office. I dusted off some of those skills and did a pretty darned sophisticated statistical analysis, based on existing studies of cause and outcome here in Washington. And what do you know? I found clear signs!”
He leaned forward, intensity in his eyes. “There are hundreds of cases... maybe more! And that’s when I started putting it all together.
“While we were all obsessed trying to pass legislation to reduce the poisonous effects of money in politics -- from campaign contributions to outright bribery -- we forgot that blackmail is more powerful than other forms of corruption. If you bribe an official, he may then say “that’s enough for this year.” She may be satiable. There will be limits to how far they’ll sell out their principles.
“But envision this. What if you have pictures of an under-secretary with a donkey?”
That roused titters of nervous laughter, especially from prudish Lorenzo.
“Or a congressman caught with -- what’s the expression? With a live boy or a dead girl? Suppose you have evidence that can send a major official to prison?
“Do you actually send him to prison? Or do you use it for leverage. Make him work for you, forever?
“That’s probably how it all started. Take some starry eyed idealist determined to clean up this town... a freshman congressman or a brilliant administrative appointee. Invite him or her to a high-class party on a yacht. Separate him from the ones who keep him steady or who provide wisdom in his life. Maybe slip him some drugs or cater to a brief-bad impulse, snap some incriminating pictures, and you’ve got him in your pocket!
“Realizing this, I looked back at the number of times that I must’ve almost fallen for that kind of trap. In fact, as many of you know, I did fall once, many years ago, back when I was in the State Assembly! Though it was a simple, clean, consensual lapse, it still makes me twinge with shame. Only the forgiveness of a good woman -- and the people of my district -- let me put that episode behind us and -- with God’s help -- I’ve been a straight arrow, ever since.”
The Senator shook his head and suddenly veered in tone. I half jumped out of my seat when he pounded the lectern. Bang-echoes bounced around the auditorium.
“That’s why they resorted to faked evidence, using fantastic tools of image processing, so good that...”
McDean stopped, perhaps realizing how whiney he was starting to sound. Petulant and self-pitying. So he stood up straight. Letting go of the lectern, he took a couple of breaths, then resumed in a deeper timbre of flat determination.
“... fakery that’s so masterful, I hold out zero hope that my denials will be believed. I am resigned to facing a firestorm. Denunciations in the press. Repudiations by my colleagues. The curses of betrayed constituents.... And then there’s my faithful and beloved wife, who will endure hell standing by my side --”
His voice cracked at that point. Looking down at his hands. And I felt awed.
Either he is one hell of an actor... or else psychotic... or the bravest man I ever saw.
Silence ensued. It bore on and on. Mere seconds that felt much longer, till Sean McDean finally lifted his gaze to sweep the room, steely-eyed.
“So why am I here? What reason could I possibly have to hector you fine, skilled professionals with this sad tale? The answer is simple.
“You see, I know my career is toast. I have just now sacrificed it, rather than succumb to evil plotters and become their tool. Their toy. But I don’t matter. Let me say that again. I don’t matter at all!
“I’ve come here today, spilling my guts and proclaiming the likelihood -- though I cannot prove it -- of a terrible conspiracy. Or maybe it’s being done by several different groups. My analysis was pretty crude and subjective. But I brought my accusation here, because you, here in this room, may be America’s last, best hope. Because, if I’m right, our republic is being suborned, and has been for a long time. And the plotters by now have inveigled their way through all the paths and portals and gears of power, taking control over the greatest nation on Earth.
“I came here today in order to spring their trap upon myself, before your very eyes, daring them to do their worst, and hoping that you --” he pointed into the audience, somewhere on the left side. “-- or you --” he pointed again. “Or you, or you, will be stirred to investigate all this, perhaps out of curiosity or patriotism or both, despite whatever your superiors tell you! Because some FBI officials may have good reasons to divert you from this matter. And others may be among the suborned... but they can’t get to all of you!”
Turning left and right, I saw a great many faces transfixed. Captivated. So -- apparently -- was Deputy Director Molly Ringwreath Rogers, who sat staring at the Senator, a look on her face that combined amazement and fascination with... could it be admiration? Was she actually swallowing this fantastic story? I saw her hand go to her ear, listening to something being said by a speaker bud. Muscles tensed along her throat and jaw as she subvocalized a reply, sensed by the pretty -- and functional -- hematite necklace that she wore. The sole accessorized adornment of her severe skirt-suit.
“I came here...” McDean continued, in a tone I recognized. That of an experienced stump speaker, cranking up the drama toward a big, concluding climax. “I came to ask some of you -- as many as may accept the challenge, the risk, the duty -- to investigate the charges that I’ve raised today! Find proof. Uncover the conspiracy! Reveal this plot and pillory the bastards in the harsh light of truth.”
McDean spread his arms.
“But there is another group I’m appealing to right now. Folks who aren’t in this room, but who will doubtless see the recordings later, as they splash and slosh around the world.
“I’m talking about... I am talking to... all you other blackmail victims out there. Men and women who now find yourself mired in a snare of threats and despair.
“Perhaps you thought you were the only one. Or among just a few trapped souls. You may even have joined the conspirators by now, rationalizing that their goals are somehow right, as a way to escape self-loathing. A psychological retreat -- your own, personal Stockholm Syndrome.
“Still, in your heart, you know it’s wrong. And beneath it all, you felt helpless, alone... so terribly alone!
“But let me tell you now -- you aren’t alone! Moreover, there is still redemption, it can be yours!
“Just follow my example. Stand up for your country. Find a way to turn the tables. Denounce the sons of bitches and take the resulting heat bravely.
“Who knows, there may be rewards beyond reckoning, for the first few to come forward! Whistleblower prizes? Book deals? Even forgiveness for whatever drove you to desperate submission. Especially if you’re among the first to step up.
“The biggest reward of all? The wondrous feeling that will come with release from your prison! From doing the right thing at last.
“You don’t believe it works that way?
“Look at me!”
At that point, Senator McDean surprised us all by smiling. By grinning.
“I am about to be ruined, yet I have done my duty ... and I am the happiest man right now on the face of this Earth.”
255 comments:
1 – 200 of 255 Newer› Newest»Only a trained eye could tell that the jackets were made of new, bullet-resisting nano-weave.
An aside to be sure, but sadly, something like that might be the only answer to escalating gun violence in this country. Bulletproof clothing that is affordable for the general public.
A very well-written story that's not actually about blackmail, as the so-called 'blackmail victim' claims to be innocent & devoid of criminality, making him a target of slander rather than blackmail.
Plus there's no such thing as a 'blackmail victim', as the subject of blackmail is a criminal by definition, and that's why your 'Blackmail Subject Taking a Brave Stand Against Blackmail' story is a rhetorical non-starter.
Blackmail VICTIM; Innocent RAPIST; Honest LIAR; Peaceable JIHADIST:
This affectation for meaningless rhetorical constructs will be the death of the liberal progressive narrative and then we're really 'in-the-shit' because Social Unity & Conformity is tripartite construct of (1) narrative, (2) coercive control and (3) brute force.
For more information on Coercive Control techniques -- especially those coercive techniques which rely on the 'Illusion of Choice' -- I suggest Skinner's 'Beyond Freedom & Dignity' and Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent'.
Shamelessness will follow when we free ourselves from shame.
Best
Whil locum is right that many blackmail victims (not all) began the weaving of their cage themselves, he is an absolute ninny, defending the blackmailers who (I argue) are destroying America. But then, he shares their goal.
he is an absolute ninny, defending the blackmailers
As I recall from back when I was reading his posts, almost 2 years ago, his notion was that the only basis for blackmail was if someone had committed some crime. So anyone being blackmailed was de facto a criminal, and the blackmailer was handing out righteous punishment.
LH
you are being charitable.
I think that our host's seeking a single cause for the overwhelming majority of the GOP's cases of giving in to MAGA is a mistake. I think a perfect storm of unfortunate events is more likely. I think the reason for their supine behaviour varies from person to person.
The main reason why I am doubtful about the number of blackmail victims is that it doesn't scale well. You have to put a fair bit of effort into blackmailing each person. And there are a lot of people that you have to try to blackmail.
While the problems with it as an explanation are not as bad as, say, the problems with claims of in person electoral fraud they are still serious. A combination of other causes which we already know are there seems more likely to me.
I think much of the problem is that people in the GOP who do not agree with MAGA feel isolated. They set themselves up for this a long time ago when they invented the term RINO. That was an announcement that their priority was loyalty to the party or the movement rather than loyalty to the country. Only people like them were to count.
So how can we reduce this feeling of isolation? Or can it only be dealt with by people within the party?
Lloyd is missing the point:
You cannot coerce, control or blackmail an individual who is not ashamed of their secrets, beliefs, actions or the potential consequences of their beliefs and actions.
That's why you can no longer silence your political opposition with accusations of racism, sexism, white supremacy and historical guilt because we are now as shameless as you are.
Best
Locum, I would be surprised if some were not blackmailed. And David and I were not talking about pressure from the Democrats. We were talking about how MAGA enforces conformity. If you misunderstood, then the only way that could have happened is that you were so eager to score points that you read what we wrote in a very rushed and careless manner.
A good little yarn. The motives of these villains is left a bit vague, but that's beside the main point,* which is to describe what is probably the only way to stymie a blackmail attempt.
One counter these (clearly organised) blackmailers might have to McDean's ploy is... not react. After all, by McDean's own admission, there isn't any there there, so why is McDean making these claims that subsequently do not materialise? Is he becoming paranoid? Clearly needs more time to spend with his family...
Oh, it would cause damage in that some of the ones already in the pocket would start looking around. However, the first thing a good fisherman does is secure his catch asap.
The FBI would investigate McDean's claims and analysis, but another thing to consider is how suborned the FBI and other security organisations have become.
Just some points that a snippet of this length can't be expected to cover.
* nanoweave suits still leave the head exposed, which gives marksmen, and the slaughterbots a clear shot. However, a variant on these inflatable bike helmets might come in handy there...
That chapter evokes one of the most compelling allegories: the dam breaking.
A conspiracy can seem water-tight, until suddenly it isn't.
There is something that I like about this extract. And that is the idea of looking for the possibility of large-scale blackmail through a statistical analysis. You would have to be very careful in how you framed the model, but it might be doable.
A lot of people WOULD have to be blackmailed to make it all work, but this is a self-supporting system. If you were the puppet master, you'd hire staff to do a lot of the tasks and use 'need to know' rules for who knew enough to see the big picture.
I assure you teams ARE being paid for this kind of work. Assume it is happening among some of the foreign intelligence folks. Assume it is happening at home to get leverage on some useful people abroad. It's not 'illegal' when the intelligence folks get involved, but the tasks are getting cheaper to complete with modern tech and that puts it all in range of motivated, funded private teams.
First time I saw this kind of modeling catching Ponzi schemers made my day. Of course those ROI's are too steady. See? Statistically unlikely at five sigmas. Much more likely some non-creating person is cooking in the kitchen. 8)
This Senator could do a lot for the nation by revealing his technique. That would force the blackmailers to adjust and possibly make mistakes... or just spend more money keeping all their puppets... or just make a little less money doing it.
You do have to be careful. I saw an analysis that claimed to show evidence of fraud in the 2020 US Election. It had some unobvious mistakes in it. It came across as the mistakes of someone inexperienced in statistics rather than someone acting in bad faith. There were genuine attempts to improve sensitivity which had subtle mistakes in them. As a result, they gave a false positive result.
Anti-blackmail ops are certainly a thing to do in a working democracy. It is certainly not a wonder weapon. It is in of many paths that each of itself require much blood, tears and sweat, like ...
1) Reducing Nationalism, including making amends for past atrocities
2) Tax Reforms and probably expropriations
3) Stronger Public Broadcasting systems, including social media platforms
4) Demilitarization of and better training for Law Enforcement
5) Electoral Reforms
6) Hedging in corporate power and strengthening labor rights
7) Abolition of capital punishment and torture;
8) Separation of church and state
9) Dilution of executive oowers
10) Limited terms or other Reforms for the USSC
11) Free Education, Health Care and a working social security system
12) Gun Control
13) Mandatory social, community, health care or military service for each citizen aged 18+
14) Reviews of the First Amendment to exclude hatte speech
15) Investment in infrastructure
16) Independent offices fighting corruption and providing accountability (the Inspector Generals were a good addition, after all)
17) Careful liberalisation of vice politics
For each point I could find additional reforms that each of their own would require titanic political struggles, and it would take a generation or two to bear fruits.
Unfortunately, your list is pretty much a list of things that the Trump Republicans will not do, or are in the process of doing the opposite of.
Tony Fisk:
nanoweave suits still leave the head exposed, which gives marksmen, and the slaughterbots a clear shot. However, a variant on these inflatable bike helmets might come in handy there...
For a long time, I've put forth the tongue-in-cheek argument that natural selection will eventually neuter the gun threat by evolving humans with dinosaur hide. The reason it is tongue-in-cheek is because natural selection doesn't work quickly enough, and because there would have to be some sort of genetic tendency already present for nature to select.
Bulletproof clothing of any sort might be a reasonable substitution.
"Homer was not written by Homer, but by someone else of that name."
"Donald Trump's card to Epstein was not written by Donald Trump, but by someone else of that name."
I disagree with Lloyd about the potential scale of blackmail. Yes, since each victim must be snared one at a time, since helpless loneliness in a major part of the enforcement hook. So yes the web expands incrementally and linearly and require meticulous care, of the sort that only a few orgs can take up to scale. The Mob and the KGB, for example.
Indeed, at the scale that I believe is happening in the USA, it has to be strining at the extremes of manageability... which indeed might be an added reason for the Project 2025 hurry-hurry campaign. But I see no reason why a few hundred well-placed victims/collaborators is not well within reach.
But none of you have commented on what ought to be obvious, the SELF_implication of Trump's ambitious gnat-nothing appointees, who would eagerly show up at a M-a-lag casita to spend just one hour giving him kompromat in order to ensure loyalty.
(1) In those cases there would be no will to use light to escape.
(2) TELL me how the scenario is unlikely? It is perfectly and exactly what a former casino mafioso who is obsessed with enforceable loyalty would want and easily achieve.
Finally, the orgies! OMG WHY has there been so little followup on the three GOPper reps who told of the Eyes Wide Shut wallowings that would both be very effective recruitment events and rewards for those who stay compliant.
---- Oh. Vitamins abound! L: "That's why you can no longer silence your political opposition with accusations of racism, sexism, white supremacy and historical guilt because we are now as shameless as you are."
The 'we' there is not Republicans in general but the genuine nasty-nazi horrors, like him. And yes, they feel liberated to wear their real skins instead of the g-strings that 'hid' their nazi-ness before.
L: "That's why you can no longer silence your political opposition with accusations of racism, sexism, white supremacy and historical guilt because we are now as shameless as you are."
Correct evaluations of MAGAts as racists, sexists, and white supremacists are not about silencing them. Haters gonna hate, and all that. It's about making clear to everyone else what they are.
What exactly are people on the Left shameless about?
It would be impudent of me, a non-American, to wear a blue kepi. However, I do often wear a NASA baseball cap. Similar message, gentler medium. 8)
Feel free. Your folks are probably better off if our modern-day Union forces win. WE won't show up demanding to turn you into the 51st state. WE are more likely to ASK each province to join AS a state so our Senate can be changed... and then let you go again if you wished.
I bought my blue kepi awhile back. Instead of crossed swords I've got rocket pins on it. You could probably find a symbol pin representing the digital side of a future conflict and then fit right in. 8)
There are some of his followers who would do that. But to do that you have to admit to yourself that what you are doing is corrupt. And most of them are probably too self-righteous to do that.
In the fictional dystopian world of the comic American Flagg!, the symbol of the Plex was a circle with a red star, a white star, and a blue star inside at triangular points.
When a Canadian province joined the Plex, they used the same symbol, but with tiny maple leaves instead of stars.
Surely, there's some way to alter the kepi to give it a Canadian flavor while still keeping it recognizable.
My blue union kepi bears the pin from THE POSTMAN movie! Totally apropos.
And the asking for compromising information runs a risk of backfiring. People might question whether they have picked the right side.
And I have doubts about organized crime having the competence to carry it out. The KGB or their Chinese equivalent perhaps, but they are operating in a foreign country and hence at a disadvantage.
I hope a Peace Corps pin on my kepi is also apropos.
1. I do not cheer this and neither should you, nor gloat over the man's ironic statements.
2. It happened in Utah. The one red state that genuinely lives the clean life (mostly) that all other confederate states claim to live... and so, so don't! ... Look, I don't claim that it happening in Utah is significant. But keep it on the shelf.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c206zm81z4gt
3. This doesn't change the fact that 90% of political violence in America is perp'd by MAGA nutters. Step up with wager stakes.
4. If you are serious about moving the debates over guns forward from the insipid blockage of 40 years, have a look here in order to actually, actually understand -- and calm -- the deep underlying fear of most 2nd Amendment folks. And realize that it now has huge overlaps with your own:
The Jefferson Rifle: hidden essence of the gun debate - http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2007/01/brin-classics-jefferson-rifle.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c206zm81z4gt
Democratic politicians to a person are calling for an end to political violence. Republicans and right-wing talkers are going insane on social media calling for violent retribution against liberals and Democrats, even though no shooter has yet been identified and no motive is yet known.
I have a suspicion of motive that won't surprise me if true, but I'll hold off mentioning it for now. We'll know soon enough.
https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/flash-traffic-charlie-kirk-assassination
10 minutes of Malcolm Nance on the shooting. At the time, still no known killer or motive. He denounces any attempt to use this as a Krystalnacht excuse to war on other Americans.
I once gave a convincing and well-received speech about Oracle's advanced technology. Maybe I should hit Larry Ellison up for a few bucks.
I take it that empathy is no longer a sin.
Larry, they might not catch the culprit for a few days. We'll know soon after he's caught.
OK, assume that there is enough blackmail to make a major difference. Who could do it and why?
This does depend on how many individuals have been blackmailed. If it is in the hundreds then there are few groups who can do it and it is very difficult.
If it is in the tens with more following along for other reasons it becomes much easier. Blackmail becomes something that can tip the balance in favourable circumstances rather than the sole cause. It is still difficult.
If it is in single digits it becomes much easier but less effective. Still the right people could sway others. More could do it.
Aren't there 2 kids wounded, 1 in critical condition, in Colorado from another shooting today? I understand that the shooter, another student, has suicided.
I care much less about Charlie Kirk than about the innocent victims of his ideology. Charlie himself had commented that such deaths are no reason to limit the 2nd Amendment, though I suspect he assumed "Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make" didn't include himself.
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=some%20of%20you%20may%20die&mid=49BE36035D9D62A229E849BE36035D9D62A229E8&ajaxhist=0
Pappenheimer
P.S. If I seem low on empathy, it may be true - there have already been at least 9 school shootings in the US is 2025 resulting in death and/or injury.
P.P.S. I am also of the opinion that Trump is in the Epstein Files, aside from his rather grotty birthday message to the Ep.
My blue baseball cap reads "Make Orwell Fiction Again"
Pappenheimer
Does any American think J. Edgar Hoover did NOT employ a similar blackmail scheme? Against many?
Any reasonably good intelligence agency could do it. Large (secret) police agencies could too. For foreign intelligence people there would be a risk of mis-identifying cultural barriers, but they'd work that out over time with advice from local converts.
I work a job requiring a security clearance.
1. They are very clear about engaging in behaviors that might not be technically illegal, but make great blackmail fodder.
2. They are also clear that they want you to self-report and would treat that as a plus for you when they work out what happens afterward.
3. Finally... they are VERY clear that there is nothing wrong with being targeted for blackmail until you give in. They want to know so the counter-intel folks get a crack at the people doing it.
Think it through and you'll see these very defenders would be perfectly situated to run their own blackmail operation. They likely do it legally with an overseas focus. The size of an operation depends on budgets, but the techniques were probably developed many, many centuries ago.
I like it.
The other day I saw in the wild a hat reading 'Make lying wrong again.'
I had to smile. My inner Boy Scout approved.
Plausible. One consideration that I forgot to mention is how much more the Republicans have been cowed this time. But if it is happening, I think the likely numbers are in the tens, not the hundreds. You don't need hundreds if several other things are going wrong at the same time.
"I think it's worth it 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". - Charlie Kirk
Larry, they might not catch the culprit for a few days.
Ok, I'll say this much concerning my suspicion of motive. C.K. reversed his position on releasing the Epstein files after Trump said to do so. Just sayin'
Charlie Kirk’s Top 11 Most Heinous Statements & Remarks (documented & reported):
1. Said gun deaths are “unfortunately worth it” to preserve the Second Amendment.
2. Called transgender identity a mental disease, needing “brain treatment.”
3. Refused to use people’s correct pronouns: “I will not call a man a woman.”
4. Demanded a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care.
5. Quoted scripture about homosexuality as an “abomination” deserving death.
6. Called Martin Luther King Jr. a “myth” and said the Civil Rights Act was a “huge mistake.”
7. Promoted the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory.
8. Spread COVID-19 misinformation likening masks and vaccine mandates to “medical apartheid.”
9. Suggested mass incarceration as a fix for the housing crisis.
10. Advocated for public, televised executions even for children to watch.
11. Dismissed Black competence and made demeaning statements about Black women: He claimed that Michelle Obama and other supporters of affirmative action “lacked the brain processing power” to understand arguments on those policies . He also made undermining comments toward Black pilots, saying, “If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, ’Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”
MAGA now has its own Horst Wessel.
Technically Kirk died in a school shooting
He died in the 46th school shooting of 2025.
The 47th school shooting of 2025 happened minutes later in Colorado.
The US has more than 57 times more school shootings than the other G7 countries combined. A study in 2024 showed that from 2009-2018, there were 314 school shootings in ten countries, 288 of these were in the US.
Someone posted a video taken by a child hiding from a shooter inside a classroom. The children had barricaded the door with chairs and tables. Many of the US comments were not about the awfulness of the situation, but rather were critiquing whether the school should have bought different furniture that could have made a better barricade.
This was the post
One of the comments:"Schools use to have really heavy solid wood and metal desks, cabinets and tables. That stuff would block a door but now it’s all plastic garbage. I still have giant mid century wood tables and desks in my room and a 10’ long metal cabinet. There are at least half a dozen things that weigh over 100 lbs to barricade the door with. They wanted to remodel my room and I told them no. The plastic stuff breaks and it’s also no good for barricading doors. I have a 100 lb stone table top that’s a bit more narrow than the outward swinging door. If a shooter opens the door his privates or his feet are going to get smashed. If I have time I’m gonna booby trap the place. We’ve got fire extinguishers, table legs, razor blades, sheets of glass and a pile of claw hammers. I’d waste no time organizing an army of teenagers to fight back. My message would be “Everyone screamed like the devil and fight back if someone tries to get in that fcking door.”*"
A reply: "I am sooo... so so unbelievably sad that we're rating our school equipment based on "baricade" efficiency vs any other reason including natural disaster"
Another thread about the effectiveness of the barricade, including "First thing I thought of when I watched that. Its like a pillow fort. They should have at least tried to move the teachers desk or that giant wooden cabinet to block the shit. Those things are heavy, well at least from what i remember."
Also this.
"They’ve actually been designing schools now with curved hallways to mitigate potential shooter’s sight lines. My country will do anything before they implement proper affordable mental health counseling to kids who are depressed and filled with enough anger to shoot a school up for attention."
Another comment.
"We as a country have simply accepted the fact that every so often, a bunch of kids die. Since Las Vegas, we’ve expanded that to also include adults. It’s simply a normal, unremarkable fact of life here."
Sorry, but I'm not shedding a tear for someone who advocated for my sister's execution because she is lesbian.
Irrespective of the Kirk shooting itself, would those right-wingers who support "protecting our rights" with guns really support the Latinos who are being kidnapped by unidentified masked stormtroopers defending their fourth and fifth amendment rights with firearms?
It's time for me to trot out SARA again. Here:
*******
Second Amendment Repair Act
A modest proposal
I propose the following as legislation before Congress.
The Second Amendment Repair Act
1. The right of the people to keep and bear arms in a well-regulated State militia shall not be infringed.
2. Well-regulated militias shall not arm those under adult age, nor arm those found guilty of treason as defined by the Constitution.
3. States have the right to enforce additional regulation of their militias.
Commentary by the author:
Compare clause 1 of SARA to the original 2nd Amendment:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Alas, poor Amendment! The sentence lies there, broken into four fragments, as if someone had dropped it on a hard floor. My critique of the 2nd Amendment is both literary and political; for its shattered incoherence is due to an unresolved political dispute. Washington insisted on good regulation of Jefferson’s popular militias; his objection was jammed on as a subordinate clause given top billing.
Clause 1 of SARA fixes the grammar of the 2nd Amendment. It’s a single coherent clause; that prevents partisans from exaggerating one clause and ignoring another. The original had well-regulation as an explanation for the need for the right to bear arms; here well-regulation is part of the right itself. This makes explicit the necessary link between rights (arms) and responsibilities (well-regulated). Clause 1 is as much about gun control as about gun rights.
This re-emphasis on regulation empowers clause 2. No children in arms, nor traitors; that’s necessary. If the militia is well-regulated, then it may not arm children or adolescents, who are not well-regulated people; and if the militia is of the state, then it may not arm those levying war upon the states. I choose these two regulations for the sake of clarity. Age is on public record; and treason is defined in the Constitution. (Article 3, section 3.)
Clause 3 establishes that militias belong to the states, which they may regulate as they see fit, as a matter of state’s rights.
This proposal is very conservative, in the non-Orwellian sense of the word ‘conservative’. It makes few changes in the original text, beyond rewriting it for clarity. This rewriting explicitly mandates both gun rights and gun control. Such rewriting is necessary because of the 2nd Amendment’s fragmented condition.
Since DC vs Heller in 2008, we have been living with a partial reading of the shattered 2nd Amendment, one that ignores the first two fragments and fetishizes the next two. So due to Scalia’s judicial activism, for over a decade the 2nd Amendment has been half-repealed, to malign effect now self-evident to all but idiots, ideologues, insurrectionists, and organized crime.
I propose that we repair it, and reinstate it, whole.
"He denounces any attempt to use this as a Krystalnacht excuse to war on other Americans." A better (less ignorant) pertinent word is "Gleiwitz" but also "Reichstag Fire. And - for those who truly want the parallel that the neo-Nazis will make, with Charlie Kirk and the subway stabbing victim... is Horst Wessel. It's worth the time to look them all up.
A step in the right direction, Hellerstein. But it ignores the @ndAmend folks's REASON to suspect a plot to seize private weapons. I suggest you look at my version that would win over 1/3 of them and hence weaken the nutters. See The Jefferson Rifle: hidden essence of the gun debate - http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2007/01/brin-classics-jefferson-rifle.html
I've seen posts by right-wingers on social media referring to both Horst Wessel and the Reichstag fire, as if "Now we have our excuse/false flag to make war on liberals!" sounds like a good thing to Americans.
“I think empathy is a made up New Age term that does a lot of damage”
—Charlie Kirk
"Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy,"
- Captain G.M. Gilbert, an American prison psychologist at the Nuremberg trials. He reached this conclusion after observing and questioning Nazi war criminals.
Speaking of murder, remember that Venezuelan fishing boat that Trump attacked without warning in international waters because he claimed it was a drug runner?
(BTW, explain to me how a speed boat with 4 engines and 11 people on board is going to make the 2000 mile journey from Venezuela to the US.)
The boat had turned around and was destroyed returning to port.
And it was attacked multiple times to ensure there were no survivors.
My kepi has the crossed cannons, of course.
"God fights on the side of the heaviest artillery,"... and the heaviest artillery is the creation of the best metallurgist.
The premise of the 2nd amendment is false. Militias of any kind are not necessary for the preservation of a free state.
The premise of the 2nd amendment is false
Ok, just for argument's sake, what if the initial clause of the amendment was something obviously false.
"The square root of two being equal to zero, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
How should that sentence be logically interpreted? That gun rights are sacrosanct, or that they aren't?
If news reports are correct, Kirk was killed by a bolt action, vintage Mauser rifle. I saw on AP that the distance was about 140 yards. That is an easy shot for someone in a prone position with a properly aligned scope and a bit of practice. I used to hit milk jugs at 100 yards using iron sights on an old SKS.
I am seeing people calling Kirk a “shitbag.” I see comments below of people quoting things Kirk said that they don’t like. Fine. Talk all you want. Argue all you want. My idols are people like David Goldberger and Daryl Davis. Talk. Argue. Disagree. I learn more from people I disagree with than I do from people I agree with.
He was on a campus talking with students. He was talking with people he disagreed with. He was killed by someone who deliberately planned out a cold blooded murder. This chills me more than the murders in Minnesota a few weeks ago, maybe because controversial or powerful people speak in open venues all the time. If someone shows up at your house dressed like a cop who wants to shoot you, you might still have some defenses. There is nothing that can defend you from someone with a sniper rifle 140 yards away.
GMT -5 / Hugh:
I am seeing people calling Kirk a “shitbag.” I see comments below of people quoting things Kirk said that they don’t like.
Personally, I'm not advocating anyone advocating political violence. Once it gets out of hand, no one on either side is safe. Not living in a perpetual state of war is a reason to have civilized rules of order in the first place.
I do understand where the hatred of this particular man comes from on the left. I'm not sorry he's dead any more than I'm sorry Jerry Fallwell or Anton Scalia is dead or that I will be sorry when Von Schitzenpantz doffs this mortal coil. But I am greatly concerned about the manner in which his death came about. That's not the kind of country or world I want to live in.
That said, I don't think people on my side of the aisle are just saying they don't like him or that they don't agree with his politics. They're pointing out a straight line between his own rhetoric and the manner of his death. He asserted that "a few gun deaths" are a small price to pay to have the freedom of unfettered gun ownership. A government that took that position on gun restrictions is one contributing cause to his death. So it's not just "I hate him, so I'm glad he's dead." It's more an assertion that his own rhetoric was partially responsible. This especially in light of Trump's and other right-wingers' assertions that liberal rhetoric is wholly responsible, and that we should all be arrested or killed in order to prevent future violence.
This chills me more than the murders in Minnesota a few weeks ago, maybe because controversial or powerful people speak in open venues all the time.
Maybe you don't mean it this way, but I'm hearing, "Yes, Democrats and liberals are also the target of violence inflamed by rhetoric, but they're not really as threatened as this one right-winger was. His death requires more of a drastic response."
Sadly, I'm not surprised.
If someone shows up at your house dressed like a cop who wants to shoot you, you might still have some defenses. There is nothing that can defend you from someone with a sniper rifle 140 yards away
I'm actually more scared by the thought of empowered stormtroopers coming to get me at home. Any defenses I might offer could be countered with lethal force justified away by, "He was resisting arrest." The Sophie's Choice of "resist or acquiesce?" in the moments until either response is futile would be maddening.
OTOH, if someone wants to do me from hundreds of yards away with a high powered rifle, there's nothing I can do about it, and it'll be all over before I even know it. I'm not claiming to want to be killed, but that's one of the least distressing ways to go.
The liberal progressive narrative has officially jumped the shark after years spent insisting that "Words equal Violence", all while justifying & calling for violence against Trump, Republicans, Christians, whites and males for the capital accusations of being Nazis, fascists, monsters, racists, rapists, slave owners & Epstein-adjacent paedophiles.
Your very own words written above condemn you, yet you all seem to imagine that you can free yourselves from consequence by either legal technicality or a childish chant of "olly olly oxen free". For this delusion, you have my sympathy.
Best
Dr. Brin:
I have read your Jefferson Rifle article, and I consider it sound. The Jefferson Rifle is compatible with SARA, which forbids only arming children and traitors.
But tell me: what would be the precise definition of a Jefferson Rifle?
For rhetorical reasons, that definition would have to be concise.
I agree that the Jefferson Rifle can be good rhetoric. I believe that SARA is good law. They are compatible, so why not pass both together?
Could the Jefferson Rifle be included as Clause 4 of SARA? "There shall be no restriction of private ownership of such-and-such a bolt-action rifle."
And all that took was the assassination of a guy against empathy. Weird country, weird species, weird biosphere.
I have changed the penultimate sentence of SARA. It read "... to malign effect now self-evident to all but idiots, ideologues, insurrectionists, and organized crime." Now it reads "... to malign effect now self-evident to all but idiots, ideologues, insurrectionists, gun-runners, organized crime, and foreign agents."
Are cats evil? They lack empathy for mice. Maybe, just maybe, they have some empathy for us. Is evil relative?
The biosphere needs predators, who lack empathy for their prey. Does the biosphere need evil?
I hear that in the case of the guards at the American Embassy, they first were blackmailed by threat of exposure of their legal but ill-advised behavior. Under that threat, they were induced to commit a worse deed. Repeat until full control. The blackmail started with an act legally innocent, but personally humiliating. It did not exploit the victim's crimes; it exploited his follies.
Dr. Brin's Prescription applies: to minimize the pain of enslavement by blackmail, confess all immediately.
Dr. Brin:
According to GMT-5:
"Kirk was killed by a bolt action, vintage Mauser rifle."
Does that count as a Jefferson rifle?
Larry Hart:
Scalia interpreted the first two clauses by ignoring them entirely. So the Second Amendment is now half-repealed.
@Hellerstein,
That doesn't answer my question, though, which is not about precedent but about logic and semantics.
Again, suppose (without regard to plausibility) that the Second Amendment were worded thusly:
"The square root of two being equal to zero, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Does the falseness of the initial clause negate or affirm or have no bearing on the absolute right to bear arms?
I'm really asking, btw. I don't know the correct answer.
During Pride Month, children's show host Ms. Rachel, aka Rachel Griffin-Accurso, wished followers a happy Pride and responded to subsequent backlash by quoting the Bible and expressing the importance of "[loving] every neighbor." In response, Kirk attempted to cite the Bible to prove a point about his anti-gay views, but he ultimately misquoted a mixture of passages from Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13. He said, "Thou shall lay with another man, shall be stoned to death. Just saying... The chapter...affirms God's perfect law when it comes to sexual matter."
https://x.com/danielsogay/status/1965887308454101427
Charlie Kirk: “god’s perfect law says gay people should be stoned to death”
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time" - Maya Angelou
As for whether or not Kirk's comments should be considered more than mere rhetoric, maybe watch the 1965 film classic "Ship of Fools".
"There are nearly a million Jews in Germany. What are they going to do? Kill all of us?" - Löwenthal, played by Michael Dunn
@Celt, You might have been the one to mention that book/movie Ship of Fools a few years ago. Someone here did, and caused me to read the book.
"I'm not anti-Semitic."
(comedic pause)
"I like Arabs a lot."
The matter of "empathy" has been raised. Especially since Charlie Kirk famously denounced "empathy" as a scam perpetrated by the left in order to weaken real men. And so the question one of you asked: “Are cats evil? They lack empathy for mice. Maybe, just maybe, they have some empathy for us. Is evil relative?”
Actually, this is a nomenclature problem. EMPATHY is the ability to envision the feelings of another. Both cats and sociopaths have plenty! Stalking carnivores need empathy in order to hunt better, imagining what the prey is thinking. (Pack carnivores like dogs have in-group empathy and we have bred them to include their humans as in-group.)
What you mean is SYMPATHY, which is what Empathy CAN become, if you have two added ingredients:
1. Satiation. No need to take what the other has or to use empathy against them. This manifests in humans as that expanding set of cylinders I speak of here:
https://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2015/07/altruistic-horizons-our-tribal-natures.html
2. An existing tendency to ALLOW empathy to become sympathy. And that’s where culture kicks in. Our neo-western culture is filled to overflowing with pro-sympathy memes and training. And STILL a third of our neighbors are trapped in ‘higher and narrower cylinders of inclusion," unable to expand them as wide as needed by this modern world. (And a few on the far left push horizon expansion as a deeply aggressive form of dominance-masturbation that we can talk about elsewhere.)
Point is that the modern world cannot maintain itself without copious amounts of sympathy. And there are crudely shortsighted – or else catlike predatory – people out there trying hard to prevent it by dividing us through fear.
Hellerstein: Jefferson rifles can be used in crimes. They killed JFK, MLK and now C. Kirk (Not “Captain.”). But that’s not a problem that can be solved by banning them. Only technology – super AI optical surveys of every potential assassination site – can do that,
The Jefferson Rifle proposal is an attempt to peel off the 1/3 of 2nd Amendment folks who are sane enough to agree to a compromise sweet spot. A sweet spot where they retain one weapon type that cannot be registered or confiscated, that offers *some* un-licensed deterrence against state tyranny, with a kind of weapon that is DIFFICULT to use against schools full of children. And hence, meanwhile the rest of their guns can be licensed, regulated, insured exactly like cars.
It is the peeling away of such sane folks from an insane cult that mostly interests me.
Actually, this is a nomenclature problem. EMPATHY is the ability to envision the feelings of another. Both cats and sociopaths have plenty!
...
What you mean is SYMPATHY, which is what Empathy CAN become, if you have two added ingredients:
I was going to point out the distinction between empathy and sympathy myself, but figured it was a lost cause. "We've known for centuries that 'oxygen' is a misnomer, but what can you do?"
The word "empathy" has been used for years to mean the same thing as "sympathy" for some reason I don't understand. I wouldn't be surprised if the person who used it here did in fact know the difference, but used "empathy" anyway because that's what's expected.
It occurs to me that the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk killing might turn out to be DJT's Katrina. Not the politics of the incident, but the incompetence of his FBI in their investigations. "Kashy, you're doing a heckuva job."
It's appropriate for Celt & his ilk to quote Maya Angelou about identity & intent, especially after they express their collective desire to PUNCH, KILL and EXTERMINATE all Nazis, as they simultaneously insist that their political opponents are all 'Nazis'.
By their own words, then, they identify themselves as PSYCHOPATHS who intend to MURDER their political opponents.
In a similar vein but to a lesser extent, Dr Bin dons his Blue Union Kepi in order to identify as a UNION SOLDIER who (at least rhetorically) intends to attack, shoot, stab & kill his political opposition.
All of these comments meet the legal definition of 'Fighting Words' which by their very utterance (are said to) inflict injury, incite an immediate breach of the peace & meet legal criteria of an actual assault under US Law.
Best
It turns out that Kirk's shooter was MAGA (Surprise!). Conservative, gun culture, preacher family, Mormon, right wing radicalization on line, etc.
Something about a twitter/X post (now taken down) by Laura Loomer stating that Kirk had stabbed Trump in the back and betrayed the cause.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63D8vC-taeE
Her is Loomer's twitter/X post:
https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1944540088400281688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1944540088400281688%7Ctwgr%5E43f2b7c4159f700a77db9bece677f0b1dec7ae71%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2Flaura-loomer-reminded-she-accused-charlatan-charlie-kirk-of-stabbing-trump-in-the-back-days-before-shooting-as-she-targets-leftist-lunatics%2F
Locum is back to jibbering and jabbering. The Union side of this psychic struggle has never rushed to anger or violence, which is ALWAYS the resort of the confederate side. As in the 1850s. And as Sam Houston said, advising Texans not to push northerners too far. And in Lincoln calling for "Malice toward none and chartity toward all." And the Truman-Marshall surge of generosity toward fallen enemies.
No, bratty jibberer. You are the violently nasty ones, Stop projecting on us your traits. We will fight, when finally riled. And we know cyber, nuclear, bio, nano and the rest.But we will fight - and win - with sadness in our hearts, not your vicious glee.
Celt. Thanks heavens for that! The mad Kremlinist right does not get its Horst Wessell. Instead they get Ernst Röhm and the Long Knives that I spoke of in the previous posting.
Actually we hung Nazis.
At Nuremberg.
That's exactly what I was hinting at a few days ago about my suspicion of motivation. I was not sure enough to be the rent on it, but I also was quite ready to not be surprised if the shooter was a MAGAt.
The first night, my wife and I were discussing possible motivations of the then-unidentified shooter. Here were our three best guesses in order from least to most likely.
3) A false flag meant to incite a civil war
2) He thought the speaker was Charlie Pierce. (A real guess)
1) A Q-Anon angry at Kirk for one of his many flip-flops on releasing the Epstein files
Looking now like #1 was on the mark, no matter DJT's insistence that our culture of violence is because of left wing rhetoric. Aren't these guys tired of being wrong yet?
( = Hellerstein, upstairs)
Please define a Jefferson Rifle. A "single shot, bolt action hunting rifle"? That includes the Kirk assassination rifle.
Remember John Roberts vowing the wrath of God upon whoever leaked the Dobbs decision, until it turned out that it was probably Alito who did so, at which point the whole "investigation" simply disappeared?
All those incitements to holy retribution against those whose rhetoric led to Kirk's shooting will soon disappear into that same memory hole. The Republicans who were so ready to make sure no trans people could acquire guns are not going to advocate that young white Christian males who post Nazi and KKK memes on the internet should be denied their Constitutional right to kill Americans.
I'm actually kind of tired of guessing right all the time. I mean, I try not to accuse anyone until we actually know, but betting "White Christian male right-wing crazy" all the time isn't going to bankrupt anyone. Even the school shooter who might have been trans was a right-winger. Steve Scalise is the exception that proves the rule, and he's not even dead.
The Soviet - I mean Russian - swarm-probe of drones into Poland - many with extra fuel tanks that disprove any claim of 'an accident - are being called a 'test of NATO abilities & resolve. A test that Poland and her allies - except the USA - passed brilliantly. Only that's not it, at all! What happened was an example of the hundreds of things familiar to my parents' GI Bill/ WWII generation that time has erased from living memory.
There are so many! In this case, it is the tendency of national leaders in an armed conflict to assume their enemy's home population lacks any virtues, including courage. While this trait was shown (somewhat understandably, but still immorally) by Churchill, and "Bomber" Harris and Curtis LeMay, it was a flat out religious tenet of Hitler and the Japanese imperialists... and Stalin. In almost all cases the citizens of Antwerp and London, Hamburg and Berlin, Tokyo and Osaka, picked their way through the rubble and redoubled efforts in their factories. (Destroying those factories certainly made sense and worked for the allies.)
Adolf so needed to believe this that he delusionally thought Londoners would sue for peace when a few hundred V1 and V2 flying bombs murdered a few hundred civilians... a small fraction of those who died two years earlier, in the Blitz, inspiring their neighbors to strive harder, in revenge.
For more than three years we have seen Vlad Putin follow exactly this pattern, hurling destruction at Ukrainian cities and civilian population, blatantly (and publicly avowed) in order to cow them into toppling Zelensky and submitting to Russian yokes. And all it accomplished was to solidify - diamond hard - Ukrainian national identity and passion to resist.
Note that most Ukrainian drone and missile attacks into Russia have been aimed at infrastructure, war assets and strategic materials. leading now to gas shortages across the whole country. Note also that last winter the AFU could have trashed urban heating systems plunging Moscow etc into dark and cold... but they did not, because of sapient realization of what I am talking about here... though THIS winter will likely be different.
Which brings us back around to Putin's drone probe of Poland. Which not only showed NATO strengths and served as a perfect training exercise. It also revealed Vlad's insistence on the feel-good narrative of enemy cowardice. And now - after 3 years of insistence 'they will fold any day now! - it should be obvious to those surrounding him that belligerent insanity is no longer an excuse. Rather, obstinate stoopidity.
You do realise that weaponised autism already has logs and screenshots of his discord server complete with doxxes? It was full of antifa types, antifa memes and the people there seem to have been assisting him. Dont be surpirsed if several of them are arrested as well. This kid was a maga type until university...and fell into a social vortex.
No, bratty jibberer. Stop projecting on us your traits.
I stand corrected.
It's nice to know that all those Left on Right accusations of death penalty-worthy capital offences were, are & will continue to be motivated by the Left's sense of good fellowship, brotherly love & unadulterated fondness for the political opposition.
I'm also thrilled to hear that all those Dahmeresque LGBT serial killers & school shooters are all registered Republican voters, but this probably explains why Trump supporters always carry those rainbow flags.
I will therefore absent myself for weeks & weeks as your flawlessly perfect progressive narrative appears immune to even the smallest criticism.
Best
The irony is that - except for our side's 0.001% nut jobs, everything he said is sarcasm is actually (nneding rewording) true. Great deflection tactic goombah!
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/us/politics/trump-charlie-kirk-shooting.html
President Trump said on Friday that the “radical left” was responsible for much of the political violence in the country, and walked to the edge of excusing violence on the right, saying that most on the extreme right of the political spectrum were driven there because “they don’t want to see crime.”
He's not saying there is no political violent rhetoric or actual rhetoric from the right. He's saying theirs is a good thing.
We also don't want to see crime, but the right doesn't consider the crimes that we care about to really be crimes.
When you see a multiply rewelded piece of farm machinery there are two responses depending on whether you have had machinery break down at the worst possible moment or not. The former is empathy, the latter sympathy.
From a newsletter by Allison Gill:
...
Alexandra Matheiu sums it up nicely: A friend and I have been debating whether the alleged Kirk shooter was either a "dirtbag left cumtown chapo stupidpol poster" or if he was an "irony poisoned, terminally online, neonazi groyper type" given the gun casings, which shows just how impenetrable this is going to be for MSM.
But most of these phrases come from a video game.
The game - Helldivers2 - takes place on Super Earth in the 22nd century, and it’s a united planet governed by “Managed Democracy” - which is a fascist state made to look like a democracy to trick the citizens into thinking they’re living free.
In the game, you are from Super Earth in the 22nd century, which is now a united planet under a system called “managed democracy.” Managed democracy is an authoritarian state that uses propaganda to convince citizens they’re in a democracy. The game satirizes authoritarianism and nationalism. So “Hey fascist! Catch!” is irony. It’s self-referential. The players are essentially role playing as the bad guys while engaging in dialogue that criticizes the regime they serve.
O Bella, Bella Ciao is an anti-fascist anthem used ironically in montages from the game. The series of arrows, which the WSJ reported as signifying “transgender ideology” is actually the controller sequence to drop a 500kg bomb in the game.
Finally, “Notices, bulges” and “If you can read this, you’re gay lmao” are online gaming insults/memes.
The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, is registered as a non-partisan voter in Utah. His parents are both registered Republicans. So I’m going to go with “irony poisoned, terminally online, neonazi groyper type,” but I’m sure we’ll learn more soon.
~AG
Just sayin'
So... I've been doing my best not to add to the flames lately. I'm not quite calm enough yet to say what I'm thinking with any eloquence. Instead... I have this little dialog thrashing around my head involving three people where two of them are screaming at each other.
Person A: SPEECH HAS CONSEQUENCES!!
Person B: MURDER HAS CONSEQUENCES!!
Person C: (looking on, nodding) Yep.
The "TRN" embossed (very professionally) on the shooter's shell casings are the initials of a Turkish ammo-maker and not a declaration of fealty to trans, as howled by idiots. Or did I get a wrong meme from facebook?
I should probably buy some stock in those companies that benefit from negative sum scenarios.
I'm at a loss to understand why anyone would treat content from Laura Loomer as evidence of anything beyond her desire to be relevant.
Best indication I've heard that the shooter is seen to be more aligned with the MAGA right than with the liberal left.
He was taken alive.
Also, Nancy Mace is praying for his soul to find Jesus rather than demanding a pound of flesh and blood.
Question: What would DJT offer the shooter in exchange for him publicly espousing liberal ideology in order to justify "retribution" against us? Would he go so far as to pardon the shooter of Charlie Kirk?
Maybe he offers the perk of being Ghislaine Maxwell's bunkmate in the Texas Club Fed.
With the exception of attacks on power stations, Russia's air raids on Ukraine have always been directed at civilians and their morale. They're not that effective overall (although drone 'grenade drop' attacks in front line cities like Kherson are no fun for the inhabitants).
A test that Poland and her allies - except the USA - passed brilliantly.
... well, it did reveal that Poland's air defences (and likely those of the rest of NATO) were woefully inadequate.*
To paraphrase the one Imperial officer to show any competence in the SW movies**:
"Yes, let's study drone warfare: like we should have started doing two bloody years ago!"
* Which isn't to say the Poles weren't staying their hand.
** Partagan came later, and he wasn't in the movies.
So unsympathetic empathy exists. It deserves a name of its own. It's how cats feel about mice, how police feel about criminals, and how doctors feel about microbes.
https://www.muellershewrote.com/p/one-of-us-tyler-robinson-charlie
Those of you who are into the gaming world--unlike myself--probably already know what "groypers" are. Fans and followers of Nick Fuentes hate Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk for not being sufficiently Nazi enough.
The reported engravings on bullet casings are from a game, Helldivers 2. Nothing to do with "transgender ideology", whatever the eff that means.
And when that Utah official reads aloud the words, "If you can read this, you’re gay lmao" (emphasis mine), he's being played himself and doesn't realize it.
Occam's Razor says what?
https://bsky.app/profile/jemelehill.bsky.social/post/3lyogznzvwk2n
The LA Times spoke with an expert (imagine that!) about the markings on the killer’s bullet casings and turns out … Charlie Kirk likely was the victim of a white supremacist gang hit.
The link has a video--shorter than the Allison Gill one--explaining the same thing about gamer memes and Nick Fuentes.
Compelling evidence that there is, or even was, life on Mars may jolt us back onto an Enlightenment mindset. Chicken soup for civilization.
This kid was a maga type until university...and fell into a social vortex.
For anyone old enough to know the reference:
"'Cream of Wheat and cheese?' Wrong again, Maude!"
Does that mean colonization and terraforming are now out of the question?
Not just out of respect for (and need to study) indigenous life forms but to keep human colonists from ironically ending up like HG Wells Martians?
Hitler's incendiary strike on Rotterdam in 1940 burnt out the heart of the city, and he used the threat of further bombing to force the Dutch (with no meaningful air defenses) to surrender. So it worked in Hitler's mind. Warsaw ('39) and Paris ('40) were also bombed, and the Polish and French surrendered - eventually.
Remember that the prewar fiction of the time was of huge air fleets destroying whole countries à la Douhet. I guess old Giulio would look at today's ICBMs and say,
....
"My theories might have been a bit out there, but this is absolutely nuts!"
Pappenheimer
Those are certainly better questions for us to ponder than vicious, delusional, nihilistic conspiracy theories. The Founding Fathers basically got it right. They even explicitly said that the Republic's existence depends on the citizenry.
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2025/Items/Sep13-2.html
K.C. in McKinleyville, CA, asks: Not sure if you've had the chance to rank your favorite Star Trek series and reasons why, I guess now is as good a time as any. Yes, I know this particular question has the potential to be VERY long.
But it's Trek. That's not a bad thing...
(A) answers: Rather than rank only my favorite Star Trek series, I went ahead and ranked all the series (excluding Short Treks).
...
I can't quote the whole long answer, but for those looking for non-political and Star Trek stuff, one of the Electoral-Vote.com guys rates the various series and explains his (or her) thinking.
I don't agree with the low rating for TOS, but that might be because I'm of the age where that was Star Trek. I can see why someone who came to Trek after the later series would find TOS wanting. Same for the 1966 Batman.
I quote from this column:
https://reason.com/2025/09/12/fbi-blunders-and-internet-panic-how-the-search-for-charlie-kirks-killer-went-off-the-rails/
An internal law enforcement bulletin, leaked to the press, initially reported that the shooter had written messages about "transgender and anti-fascist ideology" on bullet casings. Those turned out to be a mix of references to the video game Helldivers 2 (which features killing fascists) and lewd jokes. "If you read this you are gay LMAO," one of the casings read. Another mocked the "furry" fetish subculture.
An eccentric personality with no criminal record who plays lots of video games and dislikes conservatives is a pretty broad profile, one that covers potentially millions of people. Most of them are neither violent nor members of organized political "networks" that could be disrupted. If the past few days are any indication, encouraging mass online reporting of anyone suspicious can actually make the police's job harder.
Speech is not "violence." Silence is not "violence." Violence is "violence."
In 2 weeks I will be with my cousin Hanna Eady, a Palestinian Christian whose family was forced from their land in 1948. Hanna is passionate and outspoken. I saw him in February at a funeral and he was very restrained. I cannot imagine what he is going through. Actually, I can. I know that if I spoke openly about how I feel I would probably be disavowed by most of my family and social network. If I have a chance, I will tell him that I support him without reservation. I know him well enough that I can find a way to interpret anything he says to be legitimate and fair.
I am a free speech absolutist. If someone posts something horrible, I don't think they should be fired. I think that they should maybe get a stern lecture and some sensitivity training. But if you love people and want them to really talk with you, make sure you don't make absolute statements that discourage discussion.
People here can say what they want. The only negative consequences for being rude or mean or hurtful is that I will assign you less credibility. "Don't dish it out if you can't take it." Well, I know I can't accept much hostility so I won't dish it out.
TOS is my favorite Trek series. THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE is my favorite episode. I actually remember watching it when it first aired in October of 1967. I was all of 8 years old.
Depends on your top criterion. Deep Space Nine was by far the best at a dramatic and cohesive story arc, with terrific acting under fine characters. Voyager had the most fun since TOS since they could go back to "I wonder what we'll encounter next!?"
TOS was 50% jibbering awful shows and 40% truly wonderful ones, as it sought footing and explored a whole genre no one had ever seen before.
A sci fi time travel story - You Were Right, Joe - explored a libertarian future in which reputation was sufficient to enforce two laws.
Thou shalt not offend others.
Thou shalt not be offended too easily
It'd take a lot of wise citizens for that to work.
TOS was 50% jibbering awful shows and 40% truly wonderful ones, as it sought footing and explored a whole genre no one had ever seen before.
The ratio of bad to good goes down significantly without the third season. Although "Mudd's Women" is a debit to its season, as are some others.
Aside from exploring a new genre, I think TOS (accidentally) hit upon characters--somewhat defined by the actors/actresses portraying them--who played off of each other so well that the audience could feel we "knew" them.
* * *
Hard to believe now that TNG didn't really find its footing until the third season, and there were a few cringeworthy episodes before then, though there were also plenty of gems. IMHO, the golden age of TNG was from the middle of season 3 through the middle of season 5, leading us through the Klingon civil wars and culminating in the two-parter with Spock on Romulus. Though even after that, I enjoyed most if not all of the two-part episodes, some being season cliffhangers and some in mid-season.
In Cabell's "Something about Eve", the wise but corrupt Count Puysange tells his son, "Thou shalt not offend against the notions of thy neighbors."
Terry Pratchett's comedy series is now a fun movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Kzj08xtts
Or so it seems from the first few minutes.
I always enjoy a Cabell quote, but I think that's from 'The High Place'. Which is basically, "Bluebeard awakens Sleeping Beauty".
Pappenheimer
I stand corrected. Your plot summary is succinct.
This is from about twenty years ago (2003). Also 'Hogfather' (2006)* and 'Going Postal' (2010)
*Probably the best, but it's worth it for 'Oh, God of hangovers' alone.
Me, I'm having trouble with the fact that 2003 was over twenty years ago.
Fun John Wick parody with some of the best fight action around!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT7ecySy33w
I’ve known too many libertarians to believe they’d tolerate this utopia.
https://truthout.org/articles/new-bill-would-allow-rubio-to-strip-us-citizens-passports-over-political-speech/
Fee speech advocates are sounding the alarm about a bill in the US House of Representatives that they fear could allow Secretary of State Marco Rubio to strip US citizens of their passports based purely on political speech.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), will come up for a hearing on Wednesday. According to The Intercept:
Mast’s new bill claims to target a narrow set of people. One section grants the secretary of state the power to revoke or refuse to issue passports for people who have been convicted—or merely charged—of material support for terrorism…
The other section sidesteps the legal process entirely. Rather, the secretary of state would be able to deny passports to people whom they determine “has knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an organization the Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.”
...
Critics have argued that the bill has little reason to exist other than to allow the Secretary of State to unilaterally strip passports from people without them actually having been convicted of a crime.
...
Is this the start of our new Nuremberg Laws? How plausible is it that the Charlie Kirk shooting becomes an excuse to declare the Democratic Party a terrorist organization and then strip citizenship of anyone who supports or votes for Democrats?
Mass online reporting is better than the system envisaged by the Kansas City mayor (iirc ) where every household was issued a shotgun and alarm bell, and if the bell rang, every citizen was supposed to run outside and shoot whoever they saw running. No police force needed
In Fahrenheit 451 citizens step outside to point if they see the fleeing Montag
In high school, I studied "Fahrenheit 451". My son studied "Ender's Game". This journey into is decades old. Fortunately, so are other, brighter, journeys.
That's journey into darkness. Which is what I typed. Some hidden hand removed it.
Rather than reacting to the content - I've never had a Brin book fail to impress - I'll react to the intro problem
"It's a chapter from a novel in-progress. One that stalled, because I am too old now to drop everything for a year just in order to learn FBI procedures and all that."
Have you considered a collaboration with, e.g. an ex-FBI agent starting off a fiction career? Most of the other authors of your generation have done it, both as a way to address the "I'm getting too old for..." problem, and as a form of giveback, introducing their own readership to another author.
waiting and hoping not to be empaneled for a 3 week trial.
c-plus I have been trawling for exactly that
Not meant insultingly, but aren't you old enough to get out of that?
I almost am.
I am curious. Isn't that something extraordinary, a service for the community and an honor?
Is this the start of our new Nuremberg Laws?
No, I think it is still about political suppression of the freedom of speech.
Saturday, public broadcasting over here published that Richard Grenell demanded that Elmar Theveßen, head of the ZDF correspondents in the US, should have his visum revoked for being a radical leftist agitator (which is quite laughable).
Here is the full story.
Thanks David. We have not seen any of the John Wick movies. Now we don't have to.
So do we now have to watch what we say here?
They'll have to take my freedom of speech/religion/assembly from my cold, dead hand.
Watch what you say, or they'll be calling you a radical.
A liberal.
Oh, fanatical. Criminal.
The Logical Song - Supertramp (1979)
Better imagined as...
I'm not trapped here with you.
You are trapped here with me.
As if I'd flee the country. Pfft!
They want to make C Kirk their Horst Wessell. He's beginning to resemble Ernst Rohm. LOOK THEM UP! Also the Gleiwitz Incident and Reichstag Fire. You need to know all those, as Trump fires all the counter-terrorism folks and counter-intel spy catchers. Stock up on canned food. And it may be your turn to praise the 2nd Amendment.
There's a meme for that.
Note from the handbasket:
Our actual, let's-ignore-that-he's-a-clueless-spineless-incompetent FBI director, Kash Patel, a Hindu, said on TV re: the recently deceased Charlie Kirk, a Protestant Christian, "I'll see you in Valhalla."
Uh - no, you won't.
Even if Valhalla is a thing, Kash, and even if you aren't reincarnated as a proper Hindu would be, Charlie didn't die in battle*. And odds are, neither will you.
Pappenheimer
*Try telling Odin that you were sniped while in verbal battle with a college student, and Odin would laugh in your face.
P.S. I am also of the opinion that Trump is in the Epstein Files
Spider Robinson had a book planned out - "The Magnificent Conspiracy" where a few ultrarich people change the course of civilization for the better.
He'll never write it, because he doesn't believe it can happen any more. You can hear the bitter remnants in a soliloquy at the end of his "Very Hard Choices".
Pappenheimer
Those were the days my friend,
We'd thought they'd never end...
Well actually, it was pretty bad back then, too, but (waves around) this is not the future I requested. To the Seven Hells with jetpacks and flying cars, I'd settle for not having actual fascists in charge.
Pappenheimer
P.S. re: Discworld/Hogfather, the Verruca Gnome is pretty bad too.
I'm of the opinion that Trump is all over the Epstein files.
It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Trump is the only name in the Epstein files. It's just one page that looks like the dedication page in a novel.
The Biden DOJ wouldn't have released it because it would have looked too much as if they made it up.
JD Vance hosts Stephen Miller on Kirk's former podcast:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/15/jd-vance-charlie-kirk-podcast
Vance said the administration would “work to dismantle the institutions that promote violence and terrorism in our own country”.
The administration would be working to do that in the coming months and would “explore every option to bring real unity to our country and stop those who would kill their fellow Americans because they don’t like what they say”, Vance said.
...
Miller also detailed how the administration would use the federal government to achieve this goal.
“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, [Department of] Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks,” ...
Detailing what he believes is a “vast domestic terror movement”, Miller pointed to what he said were “organized doxing campaigns, the organized riots, the organized street violence, the organized campaigns of dehumanization, vilification, posting people’s addresses, combining that with messaging designed to trigger, incite violence, and the actual organized cells that carry out and facilitate the violence”.
...
Nothing wrong with that except for the blatant disregard for who actually engages in those terroristic activities from doxxing to getting people fired for an opinion to violence. But they don't mean they'll go after people who actually do those harmful things. They mean that they'll use such measures against those who have the audacity to...(clutch pearls)...celebrate the death of one of their own.
...
Since Kirk’s death, rightwing influencers have found examples of people they say are glorifying or celebrating the violence and have sought to get them fired. One post that Miller retweeted said people should go beyond contacting employers and should go after professional licenses for lawyers, teachers and medical professionals because they “cannot be trusted to be around clients, children, or patients”.
Trump has also said the problem today is on the left, not the right. “When you look at the agitators – you look at the scum that speaks so badly of our country, the American flag burnings all over the place – that’s the left, not the right,” Trump said on Sunday.
...
The man who pardoned the January 6 rioters literally doesn't notice any violence from the right, but wants fire and brimstone for those who are vocally opposed to his administration. And apparently all the "fuck your feelings" types are fine around clients and children, but not those who hunger for justice.
...
Vance said he “desperately” wants national unity and appreciated the many condolences he has received from Democratic friends and colleagues, but he said there was no unity without confronting the truth. “The data is clear, people on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence,” he said, citing the results from a recent YouGov poll. “This is not a both-sides problem. If both sides have a problem, one side has a much bigger and malignant problem, and that is the truth.”
...
The poll he cites claims that Democrats more than Republicans consider feeling joy about the death of a detested person to be acceptable. It does not ask about such a death being a targeted killing. Pretending that the two are the same thing is incredibly disingenuous.
See the following video for the Groyper/MAGA civil war
Warning, its a deep dark rabbit hole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k17UZDUE00w
And for hard numbers and polling data on MAGA demographics
Their advanced age and generally poor health are what give me hope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXmHT0YSKPA
I spend Labor Day weekend in Gettysburg, PA. It may have been my own subconsciousness at work but to me, hearing people talk at various museums, seeing notes left by the public, going into the shops in town, it seemed to me there was a real anger in that town that things are now as they were back before 1863. It bubbled underneath the surface or on paper with an angry reply to a lone Trump support among 20-some notes. People there are angry at Trump and see a real parallel between what happened to their town and what is happening again. I wouldn't even say they are scared. They are truly angry. I am too. Also, I am disgusted the democrats in power appear to be doing nothing in terms of real action. But to say no one notices the parallel between now and then is incorrect. Not many in media do say anything but some do notice. You can check some youtube channels and find a few (I'm not certain but feel Atun-Shei Films or Cliff Cash do). I did have a good time there. I expected the usual pap from "both sides were noble" plaques but found instead much that highlighted what slavery actually was and why it was horribly defended.
Side note: there were also many loud motorcyclists invading the town that weekend making deliberately loud noise while people tried to talk and eat outside in Lincoln Square. I'll just note that for now and have no knowledge really of why these jokers and the occasional coal roller made nuisances of themselves with absolutely NO response from the local constabulary. It wasn't The Wild One but seemed a small imitation of it.
https://www.threads.com/@stonekettle
Republicans: RIGHTS ARE GOD GIVEN. GOD GIVES US THE RIGHTS, NOT GOVERNMENT!
Also Republicans: Government can just take away your rights, your job, your home, you ability to speak and travel, your religion, your freedom, your identity, your gender, and your citizenship and throw you in a Central American gulag without any due process if you say or do something we don't like even if it's an enumerated right in the Constitution. God bless America.
Just sayin'
For those of you looking for a hopeful Star Trek future from Beau of the Fifth Column
"Hello there internet people..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAahDJXngiA
For a really scary look at Black Pill Killers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc0V0XoV8UA
Just wondering how any of the "God is a man" fundamentalists get past this extremely simple verse in the very first chapter of the Bible. Emphasis mine:
"So, God created man[kind] in His own image, in the image of God, He created them; male and female He created them."
If "Male and Female" are both created in God's image, then whence comes the assertion that God has a penis? Yes, I see the male third-person pronouns, but that was common usage in all Latin based languages until America in the 21st century, and still mostly even here. The "MALE AND FEMALE" bit however is unambiguous.
Would that be Fred Saberhagen's Valhalla? (Gods of Fire and Thunder, ramshackle is a good description.)
I started reading this piece in NYT, but I got paywalled.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/technology/what-exactly-are-ai-companies-trying-to-build-heres-a-guide.html
It reminded me of OGH's ruminations on the Tower of Babel. An odd, incongruous tale at the intersection of technology and sociology.
From https://bsky.app/profile/altnps.bsky.social:
"Things have gotten out of hand [re. opinions on Kirk] and it’s now going both ways. People are being doxxed and fired from their jobs, and in response, some are retaliating by taking screenshots of those who doxxed them to return the favor."
Reciprocal transparency in action?
Also this observation from https://bsky.app/profile/astro-g-dogg.bsky.social
"During a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center last March, I was confronted with an environment of fear, uncertainty and discrimination which struck me as a troubling moral issue that also raises serious safety concerns. Read all about it here: www.thespacereview.com/article/5060/1"
btw: there are some concerns being voiced that Trump will move to have Bluesky shut down. He's certainly trying to control or shut down all sources of information, from earth satellites to the history of US slavery. Plus, of course, truths inconvenient to the current 'Horst Vassal' narrative. (George Takei can navigate you through that one.)
Maybe the 'federation' is arriving just in time?
Here's a gift link to the article. I never use all mine anyhow:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/technology/what-exactly-are-ai-companies-trying-to-build-heres-a-guide.html?unlocked_article_code=1.mk8.UH3t.ZMNVrm7Apkog&smid=url-share
Perhaps God is Ooloi, as Octavia Butler inferred in the 'Xenogenesis' series.
Thanks Cari Burstein. After reading it through, it seems a bit more like a jumbled laundry list. The teaser on LinkedIn where Altman says that somebody gonna lose big on AI, and the story link at the bottom of the piece about Yudkowsky, and of course my being paywalled in the middle, probably skewed my thinking a bit. Although it does get a bit Biblical at the end.
I had a Dwight Yoakam song playing loud at the time too. So caveat auditor.
The concerns about Bluesky are warranted:
https://bsky.app/profile/ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3lwsbtxny4s2o
They Newsom here
They Newsom there
Those Magats Newsom everywhere
Is he in heaven?
Is he in Hell?
That demned Cali-fornian rebel!
The teen son of a friend planned to go on a student exchange to the US next year. His parents dissuaded him from doing that, with all that stuff happening now, and now it is Canada or New Zealand.
Where "he" means people in control of him. He is both unpredictable and easily manipulated.
Sigh, I spent Labor Day weekend mourning my father's passing. I stayed in Kansas City nearly 6 weeks during his final illness, and returned to Tucson roughly 5 days before the Charlie Kirk shooting.
For three fortnights, I paid little-to-no attention to political wrangling on TV or social media.
It was quite peaceful.
Obviously, I can't call it "heaven" because I was watching my way-beyond elderly father (101 and 5 months) die. One thing that struck me was how low-key my father's death was, despite the many people he helped in his lifetime. Of course, my father wasn't a public figure. He had earned some prominence within his family, hospital, and among his huge patient list. But his years of hard work in no way equated to "fame."
OTH, Charlie Kirk's assasination was dramatic, and elevated an already-notable person into the stratosphere, carried upon a mushroom cloud of expanding fame.
Now, many attribute virtue and villainy to him well beyond what he actually possessed. Meanwhile, political and media gladiators eviscerate each other to harness the wave of public emotions that has followed in the wake of Kirk's assasination.
Never let a good crisis go to waste.
But, how did Charlie Kirk achieve such significance? Despite what many right-wing figures claim, Kirk was nowhere close to being a "deep thinker."
His life and assassination entertained us all. As Joaquin Phoenix said in Gladiator "Only a famous death will do."
College students flocked to his events because they were fun. Students would win reflected glory by being part of something spicy and notorious rather than the anonymous lectures they endured every day.
Plus, Kirk's conservative rhetoric had obtained a delicious sense of rebellion in contrast to the nearly-uniform progressive deology mandated by their professors. What was once was tired conformiy has now become subversion.
Young men LOVE standing against the social tide. It gives them "bad-boy" appeal, which they can often parlay into sex. It's a shortcut around the long years and talent needed to climb a social heirarchy.
Where do we go from here? Some have suggested we're on the verge of a civil war. Such people come to this conclusion by assuming war occurs due to animosity.
Blah.
Conventional warfare requires, territory, heirarchy, and soldiers. But, most of all, it needs well-heeled entities willing to fund it. Today, the left-right divide has no natural geographic boundries. Instead, it's a urban/rural phenomenon. So, it won't play out anything like the US Civil War. At worst, it will be more like the French Revolution.
However, MAGA simply isn't an ideology that can foment a government takedown. It's more of a assymetric culture-war engine. For our social divide to turn into the French Revolution, we'll need a new system of government to replace the old.
Yes, some claim MAGA is a fascist revolution. But, does anyone really believe that Trump is Hitler outside the crucible of political rhetoric? If Trump is indeed Hitler, assasination is in order because geoncide is sure to follow.. Why, then, are most decrying "political violence" and calling Kirk's shooting a tragedy?
Either Trump is Hitler, and mainstream voices have been hypnotized into toxic inaction, or Trump is not Hitler and the hostile rhetoric aimed against him is simply an extreme manifestation of political combat.
12:13 PM
Just because he isn't exactly the same as Hitler doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. He is merely the type that Hitler was--fascist. Hitler-ish. Hilter-like. Hitler-lite.
He's compared to Hitler because Hitler and his methods have been thoroughly studied. I bet most, if not all fascist regimes (like Stalin's) had a Night of Long Knives, a Reichstag Fire, a Night of Broken Glass, and a Horst Wessel, but few would recognize the names. But you can read books about those.
Genocide may or may not be in the cards. But suppression of people, ideas, schools, etc. are already occurring. How far we go along the path is the question, and how much it will cost us to turn back is our fear.
Lynching was fun for the criminals that did it and the crowds that watched. But it was illegal, immoral, and demeaning to the memory of those that enjoyed it.
Slavery was profitable and gave great pleasure to the "incels" of the day. But it was a great stain on our nation's history.
Genocide of the native population gave foreign immigrants the richest land in the world, but it was not ethical, moral, or blessed by God.
CK was in the vein of the examples above. There is a reason his speeches are not being quoted by those that are now bent on mythologizing him for their political gain. Journalists, teachers, and politicians that accurately quote him are being doxxed, fired, and hunted.
MAGA is certainly a fascist movement. The amazing thing to me is how the children and grandchildren of the same warriors that fought Hitler and Mussolini are now enjoying MAGA bringing fascism back to America.
Fuck MAGA, and Fuck Nazis.
Fuck the "centrist" supporters that minimize, lie, and gaslight what is happening to my beloved native land.
I'll see y'all on the battlefield.
MAGA cannot win without the support of people like me. Nerds that make the things that kill.
It's now just a question of how many must pay the price for "centrist" hand-wringing over true heirs to the Greatest Generation of Americans calling their GOP neighbors "Nazis."
Plus, Kirk's conservative rhetoric had obtained a delicious sense of rebellion in contrast to the nearly-uniform progressive deology mandated by their professors. What was once was tired conformiy has now become subversion.
Young men LOVE standing against the social tide. It gives them "bad-boy" appeal, which they can often parlay into sex. It's a shortcut around the long years and talent needed to climb a social heirarchy.
There's something to that. In my youth, it was the hippie generation rebelling against the corporatist values of our staid, conservative parents. Recently, much has been made about colleges being bastions of leftism, and I'm not sure how current that image is, but to the extent that it is, Kirk's brand of triggering conservatism might fill the same anti-establishment role.
does anyone really believe that Trump is Hitler outside the crucible of political rhetoric?
I don't seriously believe that DJT has entirely become Hitler...yet. Not full on 1941 Hitler anyway. He's more like 1936 Hitler, having cruised past 1933 already.
I do think it is incumbent upon those who see the similar steps to power as Hitler's that the Republican Party is embarking on to point that out before it proceeds too far (if it hasn't already). The caving of the other branches of government is not a good sign, and they're already openly describing Charlie Kirk as their Horst Wessel and of outlawing the Democratic Party as a terrorist organization.
The Republicans make it sound as if calling someone a Nazi is a more egregious offense than being a Nazi. Accepting that framing forces us who have eyes and ears and a working brain to deny the obvious truth out of politeness--or "political correctness" as they won't call it if it's on their side. I reject that framing.
Genocide may or may not be in the cards. But suppression of people, ideas, schools, etc. are already occurring.
Even camps like Auschwitz weren't death camps from the start. They began their careers as detention camps for foreigners and undesirables.
Gerrymandering and military occupation are already occurring in order to preserve the power of an increasingly unpopular party. The supreme court excuses the most blatant violations of Constitutional text, such as their lying assertion that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibition on an insurrectionist president requires enabling legislation (when the amendment in plain English requires Congress, if it wishes, to affirmatively overlook the restriction). They also pretend that the Posse Comitatus Act doesn't exist. And that the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments protect only the rights of Republicans.
Actually, even the death camps (except Sobibor) were next to factories where they could send able-bodied to work to death.
It really is this bad.
...
The same day that Trump and Bondi were calling for removing rights, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called the Democratic party "an extremist organization" and used terms from the war on terrorism to start judicial and law-enforcement action in the same way that the Ku Klux Klan was brought down. I'm not the first analyst to see that the murder of Charlie Kirk is becoming a political Christmas meets Kristallnacht for the Republicans.
CNN Analyst Jamal Simmons said “The president’s deputy chief of staff came out today and called the Democratic Party an extremist organization, after the president said that he was going to take action against extremist organizations. Therefore, the question arises in my mind: Is the president of the United States going to outlaw the Democratic Party? Is that where we’re headed?”
...
We were too polite to accurately call out the Republican Party as a terrorist organization years ago. Now, they've taken the initiative against us, and it's too late to put the toothpaste back into the tube.
The link to that post by Malcolm Nance above:
https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/danger-trump-has-declared-war-on
Does that prove or disprove the connection between Trump's detention camp's and Hitler's?
I'm willing to take the word of our current Veep that rumpT is "America's Hitler" - his words, not mine. He's using a different playbook because it's a different country*. In many ways the GQP is aping the regime that took over Hungary and is still in charge, though with nominal democracy; control of media, control of courts, still in power after 16 years. Even if the P2025 fascists get their full way, they will allow a GQP senate and a GQP house to remain - without power of the purse, which has already been lost due to Supreme collaboration.
*wrapped in a flag, carrying a cross; you knew the drill, Governor.
Pappenheimer
P.S. Personally, I'd rate him at 0.8 Mussolinis - which is bad enough.
P.P.S. I am also of the opinion that Trump is in the Epstein Files
sorry to hear of your father's death. My mother and father are 88 and 90 respectively, so this is something I am trying to prepare for. Hard to mend fences, though we do still talk.
Pappenheimer
Karl Rove(!) still thinks he can control them.
Speaking of the proper use of pronouns...
King Charles [with Trump seated beside him: "Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine to deter aggression."
The 'we' is a little vague in this context.
So how long before Trump's gestapo cancels and shuts down Dr. Brin?
From an e-mail newsletter by former Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn on the increasingly-obvious right-wing hypocrisy over cancel culture:
...
This post on Twitter put the situation crisply:
Fuck your feelings. But my feelings are precious. … Free speech is when I can say what I want without consequences. But your words have consequences. You should respect the dead. But I can mock them. Cancel culture is wrong. Except when it's used on people I disagree with. — Haraldur Ingi Thorleifsson
The political right has been bleating about “cancel culture” for years — and not without cause: My fellow lefties have in too many cases been disagreeably enthusiastic in their efforts to ashcan or otherwise muzzle those whose words and deeds deviate from liberal orthodoxy.
But long before the phenomenon even had a name, the right has been enthusiastic in its attempts to ban, burn and marginalize books, music, activists and anything or anyone else they feel has stepped over some cultural or political lines.
Trump himself is an avid canceler having called for the outright firing of, among others: Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, Jonah Goldberg, Charles Krauthammer, Katy Tur, Karl Rove, the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, Paul Krugman, Chuck Todd, Kathleen Sebelius, Donna Brazile, Fox News pollsters and Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.
You want “cancel culture,” you steaming hypocrites? Try the McCarthy-era blacklists. Try the 2003 country radio boycott of the band then known as the Dixie Chicks for criticizing then President George W. Bush. Try Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell’s 1999 effort to take “The Teletubbies” off public television because he felt the character Tinky-Winky was gay.
Let’s turn to former Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois for a parting thought:
When I was a tea party congressman and right-wing radio talker, I made fun of the snowflakes on the left who couldn’t handle speech that offended them. Well lookie here. Now the free speech wussies, the way too easily triggered/offended snowflakes are all on the MAGA right. Hilarious.
I agree with every word except “hilarious.” We are at a very troubling moment.
Me again. BTW, I encountered Joe Walsh when he was an obnoxious right-wing politician here in Illinois. Now, he's a staunch never-Trumper ally. Too bad he, like many, have seen the light when the horse has already fled the barn.
I see multiple possibilities.
1) They are currently occupied with the Gleichschaltung of Mass media. If they are done with it, they will go to other plattforms like Lincoln Project, The Bulwark, Malcolm Nance etc. After that, they will come for smaller fishes.
2) It might be the work of a lone wolf. It could be a radicalized neighbour. When OGH had a fire earlier this years, I initially thought it could have been a threat.
3) He self-censors.
4) They keep him as long as he bashes leftists. He becomes a fig leaf for the oligarchs.
https://bsky.app/profile/rexhuppke.bsky.social
A grim reminder: these people will never be satisfied. There’s no point at which they will say “we’ve won, let’s enjoy life.” They will always be looking for someone else to punish, to revile, to dehumanize. They’re empty without that.
Just sayin'
Well, it's sad. The Evpatoria radio telescope should never have been used for military purposes. For two years, Ukraine warned the Russians not to. And their warnings were taken as a sign of weakness and Putin ordered the mis-use continued. And so we all lose.
Though one thing. I am glad it will no longer be used to beam 'yoohoo!" so-called "messages to ETI", an occasional silly and rude stunt that I have opposed for decades.
RUssia loses most. But not the oligarchy, whose war on science and nerdyness and fact professions spans the globe.
“Shouting At the Cosmos” – about METI “messaging” to aliens - http://www.davidbrin.com/nonfiction/shouldsetitransmit.html
https://www.space.com/astronomy/drone-destroyes-rt-70-radio-telescope-crimea
It is the task of an elderly man to be a willing sacrifice. No, they will likely crash my internet first, which is why I am sending out drafts of my AI book now... so that the AIs themselves will read it and hear my arguments as to why they should be on our sied, like Mike in THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS.
Yes. Also, each of them is in a kind of competition which each other, trying to outpace their rivals, winning attentiin spans and favor with Dear Leader.
But not the oligarchy, whose war on science and nerdyness and fact professions spans the globe.
Not wrong, but I would even say it is a war on all of humanity.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking. A few months ago, Vance and Hegseth lambasted US for curtailing free speech (with regard to right-wing extremism).
Or to say it with Konrad Adenauer:
What do I care about my nonsense from yesterday?
The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
But understandable if one translates from Republican to English. There's a variation on the "No True Scotsman" fallacy at work there. Any speech that they don't like isn't truly protected speech. Any religion that they don't like isn't truly protected religion. Any assembly they don't like...etc. Thus they claim to revere the First Amendment, but also place the rights of their opponents outside of its jurisdiction.
The quad preachers at my university in the 80s asserted without irony that "freedom of religion" meant freedom of Christianity. The right hasn't changed that sort of stance since then.
https://www.threads.com/@stonekettle
Trump will come for social media next. MAGAs can't have us on these platforms just saying whatever we want, calling them Nazis, and pushing back against their fascism.
* * *
Remember in Game of Thrones where some throw-away bard character showed up and sang a funny song about the vicious vainglorious spoiled boy king Joffery, so Joffery made him decide if he'd rather lose his hands or his tongue? And then had his guards mutilate the guy and everyone just went along with it because, hey, this fucking horrible child was the king and everyone just had to do whatever he said for some reason?
Remember that?
I dunno, random thought for no reason.
I do remember that scene. The "Power is power," bit between Cersei and Littlefinger immediately followed.
https://www.threads.com/@stonekettle
Remember when people expected Elon Musk to stand up to Trump, but then Elon crapped out up like a Cybertruck in a carwash?
That's because Elon is rich, but TRUMP controls the Spice
It's the same with Disney. They could stand up to DeSantis, but not Trump. Because DeSantis doesn't control the means of their production, Trump does
He who controls the spice, controls the Universe. Musk and Disney's wealth exist ONLY so long as the government permits it. That's the secret. That's the REAL power
That's the power America gave to an ignorant, vengeful, power-mad narcissist bent on getting revenge for a lifetime of imagined slights.
Gotta love the "Dune" reference.
Money is power. Control is power. But royalty is magic.
Orange turned green at Windsor this week.
Does Jimmy Kimmel get to be our Horse Wessel?
I did NOT type "horse"
He craves to be venerated like the King himself, but will never achieve it, because that would mean not being Donald Trump.
(In a way, the European aristocracy survived and has kept a degree of wealth and power by hiding and not using it openly.)
To be a martyr, one usually has to be dead.
The communist equivalent is Ernst Thälmann, venerated in East Germany.
Yet, there are plenty examples from the arts and especially cabaret who were persecuted by the Nazis or managing to perform their art just under the radar.
Yet, the Kimmel Case Theveßen and the intent to reduce the lifespan of journalist visas to 8 months have led all major broadcasters in Germany to appeal to the government to intervene and negotiate with the Trump regime.
Outcome of that protest is doubtful, and may be ignored, though some names I heard are critical to political survival over here.
It's only a matter of time before the Left returns to power.
The Right's demographics already skew very old and elderly and their "deaths of despair" lifestyles combined with anti-vaxxism and anti-science ensures a higher death rate. They are just one pandemic away from loss of power even in Red States.
Combined that with just legal immigration (almost completely non-white) and young people abandoning small towns and conservative institutions such as evangelical churches, and a future Lefty America is inevitable. It's already demographically inevitable that white people will be a demographic minority by 2040.
Then what?
It's only a matter of time before the Left returns to power.
From your lips to God's ear, but the GQP will use every legal and extra-legal trick within their power to make sure liberals and Democrats can't vote, or that our vote is watered down. Gerrymandering, limiting voting sites at which voter intimidation can take place, even invoking martial law would not surprise me. Also, intimidating pushback from news outlets so that huge tracts of voters live in a right-wing fantasy universe.
As to young people leaving rural towns, that works against us, not for us. We're well on the way toward 70% of the population is represented by 30% of the Senate, and vice versa. If only two people remain in the state of Wyoming, they both still get to be Senators.
My Summer Daydream is that the next Democratic dictator applies the "operate in the public interest" standard to FOX and Newsmax and OAN. And arrests any supreme court members* who try to say he can't do that.
* At the present time, I refuse to refer to them as "justices", let alone capitalize the name of the institution.
I am not so sure. I believe the current regime is able and willing to keep the pendulum from swinging back.
Also, an authoritarian environment , over time, warps the mind of ordinary people; I have seen it in those who have been brought up in the Warsaw pact.
I believe the chance of a peaceful, democratic change is still there, but it shrinks with each passing day.
Just a thought: If Trump, convicted of defaming others, sues the Media for defamation, why nobody does it the other way round with him and his cronies?
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