Y'all, please, we gotta stop pretending these guys are fat losers.
Right after 01/06 I was at a gun show and bought an old army canteen off a guy. 35-40, fit, military demeanor, all that. As I was walking off, another guy saw something that clued him in that the vendor was an Oath Keeper and they had a low-key chat. He talked about their preparations! Fucking terrorist.
My neighbor is still flying his Trump flag high. Proper flagpole, well lit, all that. Young man, fit, ex-military demeanor. I refuse to speak to him, and never will. No one else has an issue with this! They are meek and complicit.
His next-door neighbor was a former friend of mine. Again, 37 and fit as hell, but not military. First night I met him he told us his brothers were at 01/06. I gave the FBI what I knew, which wasn't much. This guy is a smart, reasonable man, and while not a supporter, still will not disavow Trump.
I'm 52, fairly fit, well-armed and practiced. I shoot every weekend at my camp for fun. Shotguns, various pistols and rifles, I shoot it all. I'm no expert, but I can shoot better than your average bear. If it came down to brass tacks, and we were equally armed, I seriously doubt I could prevail against any of those 3 men.
For the love of god, please get armed, learn safety and practice. FFS, the GOP front-runner is speaking more and more radically.
He just called me "vermin" that must be eradicated. He's speaking of "internal enemies". He means you. And it's not just his usual inane rhetoric, look up Project 2025. It a fleshed-out plan to take over the executive branch and impose their will.
What the fuck will it take to get libs off their ass and prepare?! Harsh words and votes are not gonna suffice if Trump gets back in. I fully expect my neighbors to come knocking once Brown Shirts are authorized. Committee of Public Safety anyone?
"Look man, we understand you don't agree, and that's all good, but we gotta take your guns for your own safety. Trust us, you'll be OK, just hand 'em over."
Your country and your very life may be on the line soon. And yes, fighting back may mean your personal extinction. But that was in the cards anyway.
(Apologies OP! Just using your comment as a jumping off point for a rant!)
Cryptosporidium, forget kill for him, did you see that one dummy who took a bullet straight through the chest? She'd never even been to a government meeting before.
Only adjustment here is she was shot in the shoulder, not through the chest. I didn’t know you could die from getting shot in the shoulder.
edit: although initially MAGA reports said she was shot in the neck, so maybe it was technically in the shoulder but close enough to the neck to get major blood vessels.
Because the chances of someone who disagrees with progressives being a murderous lunatic is much higher than someone who agrees with progressives being a murderous lunatic.
Because the people who would disagree with a bad person are generally good enough people that they wouldn't kill someone. If a bad person disagrees with a good person, all bets are off.
It's as if saying "will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest" is a time-tested means of getting meddlesome priests murdered, and somehow it's still effectively legal for the Trumps of the world to incite that kind of violence.
It's also as if America's justice system plain doesn't want to hold wealthy or powerful people accountable
It's not just him. It's the whole right of the spectrum right now. Here in Canada the head of the opposition in parliament tweeted a wanted sign on two senators. One of them in Cornwall, Ontario. This is growingly a radical element of shitheads that are ruining the world for the large majority.
"The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."
"alright now I'm gonna turn around and count to ten, and when I turn back around you boys better have those safeties on or I'll be really upset with all of you"
People are very eager to throw their lives into the volcano for him. My only question is why do people want to do this for a reality TV personality and a man who looks like a chimney sweep at the nacho factory?
Because they are acting/thinking irrationally. I'm not entirely sure what the solution to that is except to gently, slowly, and dispassionately ask small binary questions to lead them in explaining their thought processes until they've explained far enough that they admit the position they hold is fundamentally rooted in irrational emotion rather than logic.
At that point, they ultimately have a choice to make. They can admit they are being irrational, embrace it, and continue to act irrationally intentionally, or they can change their position.
I think this approach to conversation is infinitely more productive than both sides just yelling past each other and neither side actually speaking the same language.
speculation: they don't enjoy their lives, but they do enjoy feelings of purpose and belonging. joining a cult offers more of the latter two, less of the first.