I have believed for the past ten years or so, that trump is an evil menace who through his hate and bigoted speech were the cause of the rot. He has done nothing except divide and destroy democracy. He has enabled and encouraged people to speak and do monstrous acts.
It influences people whether they agree or disagree with him, because it obliterates a boundry and changes what used to be deemed unacceptable.---Jason
The problem is that I needed my son, who is 28, works with AI, and also plays Helldiver 2, to explain things like up-right-downdowndown is a bomb drop. The Urban Dictionary cannot keep up with this. If you don’t have someone around who can answer these questions about gamer culture, you have even less idea than me what’s going on. Ideologies and religions and lies about history all get tossed in a blender, and whatever comes out is their “belief system lulz”
I agree with your comments. Trump is not doing anything to unite this country. I believe that it is HIS hateful rhetoric that is the cataylst for a lot of this violence. He uses every opportunity to fan the flames depending on who he hates most at the moment. That is not a leader. That's a destroyer.
Donald Trump is the human manifestation of social media. Loud, crass, unchecked, unrepentant. He’s not an app but he is an asshole and that’s what always rises to the top on social media.
People susceptible to the deadly algorithms, have there minds scrambled while Zuckerberg and ilk fight to be the richest person on earth.
20 years on, social media and other menaces:
—Elites paying no taxes
—The monopolization of industry (with political help)
"None of this is to say that Donald Trump causes political violence."
I beg to disagree. He is the PRIMARY cause of physical violence because of his being in the highest office in the land, and troubled folks out there takes in everything the inciter-in-chief says and gives it very heavy weight. Of course, he also made physical threats even while he was out of office, yet he was never arrested like an everyday American would be.
Pete Buttigieg is correct. At least in part. But I believe at the epicenter of the cabal of angry white men (straight pretend Christian white men) is Donald J. Trump. Trump is a cavalier and capricious actor on the world stage who brings darkness and irreverence into every quarter and every corner. He has the unique quality of being able to tap into the inner darkness of a certain population mostly comprised of men. Tapping into their darkness, they do not realize how they are being manipulated and how their soul is being darkened and corrupted.
There are many factors (in my opinion) which can be attributed to the rise in political violence, but if one looks at the messaging coming from this administration- starting with Trump and continuing down through every cabinet member as well as media spokespersons- the viscous comments are unlike any I have heard from a sitting president in my lifetime. He shows disdain when the violence is directed towards Democrats- with the murders and attempted murders in Minnesota of lawmakers, he didn’t give them one iota of respect, when Paul Pelosi was so gravely injured he mocked him. So I find it rich to hear lectures from the left- when they immediately blamed Democrats for the murder of Charlie Kirk, based on nothing but their reaction yet offered no apologies when the opposite was found to be true regarding the shooter- about lowering the tone. And I do not support violence of any kind, no one should be harmed for speaking their opinions no matter which side they speak from. Somehow this needs to end- and this starts at the top!
It is deeper than Donald Trump. It is conservatism itself, after all, conservatives have been killing people for millennia. Sure, the term conservative wasn't applied to them in the past, but people with the values we know call conservatism have been killing and exploiting and devastating people for a long time.
Pretending that Trump is a problem is to ignore all of the violence and hate the Right inflicted on minorities in all of the decades before Trump showed up.
I can agree it's not social media alone. Yet it has played a big part. Especially the 'dark web' that most lonely white men seem to drift to. These sites offer a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. Instead of seeking conversations with humans face to face they are afraid of being denied that so they don't try. Not everybody is a social animal. I'm certainly not but I'm still happy with my life and willing talk to strangers who talk to me. For-instance, I go out early every morning to walk my dog. At that time of the day I see people going to work and always wish them a cheery Good Morning and soon people recognise that I'm not somebody to be afraid of or a "loony-tune" and they return the greeting. That makes me very happy. I recognise a person and I think that's what people want. To be recognised and not invisible to strangers.
Trump is the core reason for this age of rage. There can be NO doubt or argument about it.
America is unrecognizable since he came on the scene with his poisonous lies and vile immorality.
Add this to low education standards among a large cross-section of Americans, mixed with an overabundance of toxic testosterone levels affecting a large percentage of US males, as your stats point out, and throw in the unconscionable access to weaponry in the country, seasoned by racist supremacy mysoginistic Christo-fascist ideology, and you end up with all the fixings for the current lethal American social cocktail.
The internet is NOT the cause, simply the accelerator to the unavoidable finale which has now arrived.
Sadly, true, decent, brave Americans must tear all this down and rebuild, no matter what the final body count is.
And we best not just leave it to our young people to put it all on the line, as it's a mess they've inherited in most cases from their uninformed, jingoistic, flag on every house, fat, lazy, deaf, dumb, and pseudo-entitled parents.
Well said. There have always been angry young men, but the worst outcome used to be fistfights. Those didn't last long because they involved physical pain for both combatants. Now, easy access to powerful guns has made their anger deadly. I don't have much sympathy for mediocre white young men who think they are entitled to an imagined glorious future. For some reason, America seems incapable of moving forward to embrace a better future for all of us. Let's face it...white men have been solidly in control since our inception, and we have been in decline for decades. It doesn't have to be this way. Other countries are moving towards a brighter, more equitable future for all of their citizens.
Thank you for this column. While watching several Sunday political shows, I kept thinking when is anyone going to finally mention Rump? He’s spewing the most hatefulness from the largest platform in the country. He’s made hate great again. Although quite obviously he’s not responsible for this murder, he is responsible for creating a massive environment of hate.
Leadership matters. Elected leaders who validate the crap that is found online are dragging citizens deeper into the polarization. This starts at the top, but when the rest of elected leadership refuses to denounce it, it becomes part of the political narrative.
It appears that Tyler Robinson MAY have had more personal reasons, mixed up with his own personal problems, for his actions. It’s all rather preliminary, but he appears to have been lonely and have found a friend/partner about whom he felt protective in a hostile environment. Assassination is not the typical reaction we would expect, but a lonely, desperate young man feeling angry about his life being demonized might be pushed over the edge.
I have to admit that with the immediate flurry of hate for the left after the killing of Kirk, I was more than happy to see that the shooter was far right. With no evidence at all, the right and the White House were declaring war on the left. Young men probably need to get out and join a team to get some exercise. Particularly before their brains mature at 25.
I was in law enforcement as a corrections officer for 21 years, the age went from 18 to 21 on my department. 18 is still the minimum in many areas, all im saying is from personal experience. Are there 18 year olds that can't make good decisions, of course their are, but there are 40 year olds that can't make sound decisions. But letting people blame a social media account for making them murder? That's a bridge too far for me, and simply is an excuse, not a reason.
I have believed for the past ten years or so, that trump is an evil menace who through his hate and bigoted speech were the cause of the rot. He has done nothing except divide and destroy democracy. He has enabled and encouraged people to speak and do monstrous acts.
It influences people whether they agree or disagree with him, because it obliterates a boundry and changes what used to be deemed unacceptable.---Jason
So true. Raising awareness will help, I hope.
The problem is that I needed my son, who is 28, works with AI, and also plays Helldiver 2, to explain things like up-right-downdowndown is a bomb drop. The Urban Dictionary cannot keep up with this. If you don’t have someone around who can answer these questions about gamer culture, you have even less idea than me what’s going on. Ideologies and religions and lies about history all get tossed in a blender, and whatever comes out is their “belief system lulz”
I agree with your comments. Trump is not doing anything to unite this country. I believe that it is HIS hateful rhetoric that is the cataylst for a lot of this violence. He uses every opportunity to fan the flames depending on who he hates most at the moment. That is not a leader. That's a destroyer.
I concur that trump is a huge part of the problem and the other part lies with the Supreme that caters to his every criminal whim.
Donald Trump is the human manifestation of social media. Loud, crass, unchecked, unrepentant. He’s not an app but he is an asshole and that’s what always rises to the top on social media.
People susceptible to the deadly algorithms, have there minds scrambled while Zuckerberg and ilk fight to be the richest person on earth.
20 years on, social media and other menaces:
—Elites paying no taxes
—The monopolization of industry (with political help)
—Permanent political class (Citizens U)
—etc.
Find us in this place. Anyone but the 0.1% happy?
This sht’s gotta stop.
"None of this is to say that Donald Trump causes political violence."
I beg to disagree. He is the PRIMARY cause of physical violence because of his being in the highest office in the land, and troubled folks out there takes in everything the inciter-in-chief says and gives it very heavy weight. Of course, he also made physical threats even while he was out of office, yet he was never arrested like an everyday American would be.
We are confronted with a new disease. It's called "trumpism" and it has an extremely low cure rate.
Pete Buttigieg is correct. At least in part. But I believe at the epicenter of the cabal of angry white men (straight pretend Christian white men) is Donald J. Trump. Trump is a cavalier and capricious actor on the world stage who brings darkness and irreverence into every quarter and every corner. He has the unique quality of being able to tap into the inner darkness of a certain population mostly comprised of men. Tapping into their darkness, they do not realize how they are being manipulated and how their soul is being darkened and corrupted.
There are many factors (in my opinion) which can be attributed to the rise in political violence, but if one looks at the messaging coming from this administration- starting with Trump and continuing down through every cabinet member as well as media spokespersons- the viscous comments are unlike any I have heard from a sitting president in my lifetime. He shows disdain when the violence is directed towards Democrats- with the murders and attempted murders in Minnesota of lawmakers, he didn’t give them one iota of respect, when Paul Pelosi was so gravely injured he mocked him. So I find it rich to hear lectures from the left- when they immediately blamed Democrats for the murder of Charlie Kirk, based on nothing but their reaction yet offered no apologies when the opposite was found to be true regarding the shooter- about lowering the tone. And I do not support violence of any kind, no one should be harmed for speaking their opinions no matter which side they speak from. Somehow this needs to end- and this starts at the top!
It is deeper than Donald Trump. It is conservatism itself, after all, conservatives have been killing people for millennia. Sure, the term conservative wasn't applied to them in the past, but people with the values we know call conservatism have been killing and exploiting and devastating people for a long time.
Pretending that Trump is a problem is to ignore all of the violence and hate the Right inflicted on minorities in all of the decades before Trump showed up.
I can agree it's not social media alone. Yet it has played a big part. Especially the 'dark web' that most lonely white men seem to drift to. These sites offer a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. Instead of seeking conversations with humans face to face they are afraid of being denied that so they don't try. Not everybody is a social animal. I'm certainly not but I'm still happy with my life and willing talk to strangers who talk to me. For-instance, I go out early every morning to walk my dog. At that time of the day I see people going to work and always wish them a cheery Good Morning and soon people recognise that I'm not somebody to be afraid of or a "loony-tune" and they return the greeting. That makes me very happy. I recognise a person and I think that's what people want. To be recognised and not invisible to strangers.
It’s elected officials who are responsible for inciting political violence— and TACO and his sycophants like Kirk need to be blamed more often.
Trump is the core reason for this age of rage. There can be NO doubt or argument about it.
America is unrecognizable since he came on the scene with his poisonous lies and vile immorality.
Add this to low education standards among a large cross-section of Americans, mixed with an overabundance of toxic testosterone levels affecting a large percentage of US males, as your stats point out, and throw in the unconscionable access to weaponry in the country, seasoned by racist supremacy mysoginistic Christo-fascist ideology, and you end up with all the fixings for the current lethal American social cocktail.
The internet is NOT the cause, simply the accelerator to the unavoidable finale which has now arrived.
Sadly, true, decent, brave Americans must tear all this down and rebuild, no matter what the final body count is.
And we best not just leave it to our young people to put it all on the line, as it's a mess they've inherited in most cases from their uninformed, jingoistic, flag on every house, fat, lazy, deaf, dumb, and pseudo-entitled parents.
Well said. There have always been angry young men, but the worst outcome used to be fistfights. Those didn't last long because they involved physical pain for both combatants. Now, easy access to powerful guns has made their anger deadly. I don't have much sympathy for mediocre white young men who think they are entitled to an imagined glorious future. For some reason, America seems incapable of moving forward to embrace a better future for all of us. Let's face it...white men have been solidly in control since our inception, and we have been in decline for decades. It doesn't have to be this way. Other countries are moving towards a brighter, more equitable future for all of their citizens.
Thank you for this column. While watching several Sunday political shows, I kept thinking when is anyone going to finally mention Rump? He’s spewing the most hatefulness from the largest platform in the country. He’s made hate great again. Although quite obviously he’s not responsible for this murder, he is responsible for creating a massive environment of hate.
Leadership matters. Elected leaders who validate the crap that is found online are dragging citizens deeper into the polarization. This starts at the top, but when the rest of elected leadership refuses to denounce it, it becomes part of the political narrative.
It appears that Tyler Robinson MAY have had more personal reasons, mixed up with his own personal problems, for his actions. It’s all rather preliminary, but he appears to have been lonely and have found a friend/partner about whom he felt protective in a hostile environment. Assassination is not the typical reaction we would expect, but a lonely, desperate young man feeling angry about his life being demonized might be pushed over the edge.
I have to admit that with the immediate flurry of hate for the left after the killing of Kirk, I was more than happy to see that the shooter was far right. With no evidence at all, the right and the White House were declaring war on the left. Young men probably need to get out and join a team to get some exercise. Particularly before their brains mature at 25.
I was in law enforcement as a corrections officer for 21 years, the age went from 18 to 21 on my department. 18 is still the minimum in many areas, all im saying is from personal experience. Are there 18 year olds that can't make good decisions, of course their are, but there are 40 year olds that can't make sound decisions. But letting people blame a social media account for making them murder? That's a bridge too far for me, and simply is an excuse, not a reason.