I believe we’ve been in a cold civil war for some time now. Conservatives have been primed by propaganda for an entire generation to think of liberals as godless non-human enemies, and now the feeling has naturally migrated to the left. And modern conservatives/Republicans, having finally entrenched themselves in power as a distinct minority, are now ruling like that as well.
We’re rapidly progressing toward more and more actual violence, as usually happens when minority rule becomes institutionalized (and when that rule is fascistic in nature), but when this civil war turns “hot,” it won’t involve clearly delineated sides or armies like last time. It’ll be as you describe, a mess of terrorist attacks, mob violence and isolated guerrilla action against perceived enemies. (Especially since Americans are already armed to the teeth.)
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised that these are hired hands by Tucker himself. Hopefully these people were arrested and then we will find out who they are. Now if these are antifa shame on them!
People have gotten hurt and have gotten dead, and that’s in no small part because a lot of people voted for a Racist Inciter. Would we feel differently if those bombs had gone off?
Right? Why would any self-respecting antifa gift Tucker Carlson this victim fantasy? I’m antifa going to harass somebody at home, it’s going to be an elected official.
This is a stupid and dangerous move by these protesters. Carlson will use it to his advantage and talk ‘angry mob’, though it has less sting when the Dems just kicked their asses at the polls.
But guys like Tucker do need to understand that white nationalism isn’t just some disposable political theme used to frame a red v blue debate, it’s an existential threat for millions of Americans. When you spread such fear and hate on the airwaves every day, the intent of such rhetoric is to incite people and make them react viscerally and emotionally. When you stir the pot like that, some people are going to react and those that stir up fear can sometimes have it boomerang in their faces. Tucker is doing it to stir up white voters to embrace Trumpism and reject Democratic appeals for unity, inclusion and common sense problem solving policies. But people on the other side can react too, and there’s no telling what happens in those situations.
This may sound controversial, but it really isn’t if you think about it: Tucker Carlson has some blame for the incursions and threats to his family. The guy has been an asshole on tv for decades but no one thought anything of him or thought to threaten him until he took up the white nationalist mantle. He hammers that message home every night on national cable tv and now he is receiving predictable blowback. He is stochastically terrorizing his own family to serve Trumpian needs. When you stir fear and hate, there’s no telling what people will do. That’s why people always emphasize the importance of thoughtful rhetoric and reasoned debate. It’s about preserving civil society.
The mass shooting in California was carried out by a white, decorated former Marine who was suffering from PTSD, evidently. How on earth does Fox spin that into a favorable narrative for the right?
Completely agree, though, that this kind of shit (antifa surrouding Carlson’s house) is stupid, wrong, and counterproductive.
Note that I referred to a future event: “Likely to happen.”
Note (read the Post article) that there is substantial evidence available (might require subpoenas to Twitter and Facebook, but I doubt they would be inclined to fight them), that the police are well aware of what happened and are concerned about it, and that Carlson views the acts as a threat, plans to find out who was behind it, and plans to “fight back.”
No it shouldn’t be done and is often counterproductive but so many examples have been provided by the far right including the anti-abortionists that I am only surprised that more and worse hasn’t been done sooner.
Every riot starts with one incident. Every riot is the culmination of every incident of grievance that festers and suppurates unattended and ignored by the “enemy.” One incident begets the next and the next and the next and pretty soon, somewhere down the line, rage boils over and people go crazy.
Countenance one incident of bad behavior and give permission to its progeny.
