Thanks for explaining with eloquent prose what is going on in our country. This is one of the failings of democracy. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying: "if you think democracy has a chance of success, have a talk with your neighbor and you'll realize it cannot". Of course, another apt saying is : " democracy is not perfect but it is better than any other form of government ". Maybe mankind will be better off when the singularity occurs and AI takes over. Let's hope it is an AI with a moral compass that follows the golden rule and Asimov's Robotic Rules.
I agree. It's much better to vote for a senile Alzheimer's patient who shits his pants, or a drunken cocksucker. Especially if you don't know that J6 and Qanon shaman were psyops.
Because he was part of the psyop... the guy who ran this show was the same FBI agent who ran the Governor Whitmer kidnapping hoax just a few months before. On J6 agents goaded some useful idiots into storming the Capitol and putting on a show. This has been analyzed in detail, you just never looked into it...
I gotta tell you: If Q-Anon Shaman is part of some deep-state psyop, he has devoted his *entire* life to it. In fact, he spent years pretending to be a psychologically-distrurbed, conspiracy-theorizing wannabe-shaman before J6--and is *still* deep undercover today, still pretending to be that same person. And why did the Deep State have Jacob Chansley devote his life to this ruse? So that pictures and videos of the J6 revolt will make Trump-followers look batshit? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Chansley
I already told you: they used some useful idiots to "storm" the Capitol and do a photo op. " So that pictures and videos of the J6 revolt will make Trump-followers look batshit? " Exactly. And you fell for it. Again.
Oh wait, so how did they get Trump to aggressively promote the “Stop the Steal” protest and tell them to march to the Capitol and FIGHT— “Fight like hell or you won’t have a country anymore?” — so everyone believed they were doing what Trump wanted? Was he in the psyop or a “useful idiot?
You've been fooled by the J6 psyop, that much is certain. You were probably also fooled by the Whitmer kidnapping psyop, right? It was run by the exact same FBI agent. It's always the same playbook.
That's why I said his role remains opaque. He told people he himself would be there, but of course he wasn't. He also pushed the Qanon hoax. They may have used him, or turned the tables on him. Either way you can't trust him. He has betrayed his supporters several times recently..
Trump pardoned him. Is he part of the psyop too? Is Trump part of the super-secret conspiracy to make his followers look like mentally-unstable, riotous, cultist, conspiracy-crazed nutjobs?
Trump's role remains opaque, but his pardon was to be expected. Your "no conspiracies" mindset may apply to Shakespeare (although Shakespeare himself obviously ran a conspiracy that other poets partially exposed), but it won't get you very far in politics...
Opaque? Trump was front and center with the world's biggest bull-horn, repeatedly posting for everyone to join the "Stop the Steal" protest and then gave an hour speech pushing them to march to the Capitol and fight. At their trials, the J6 rioters all said they were doing what Trump wanted them to do. So... you're saying FBI agent Timothy Bates got Trump to do that? Or Trump was working with Bates to make his followers look demented? Or ... what are you saying exactly? And why have Trump and Kash Patel not arrested Bates (and others in the psyop)?
It's also related to simple anti-establishment sentiment. Trump was (let's stipulate, in 2016) the outsider, as was Mr H in 1933. People had in both cases been extremely injured in tangible ways, by correct-speaking, upright-posing establishment figures. The aristocrats - never as crass as Mr H - led their nation to the abyss of WW1. The smooth and likeable Clinton and Obama oversaw economic and social disintegration of the American heartland. So, in both cases, a populist vote ensued. And in 2024, how could anyone have voted for what the Democrats had become? Does anyone know who was actually running things in Biden's term? The snide establishment press never asked. Perhaps the 2024 vote was a protest against them as much as Biden.
While noting that my previous comment was not acknowledged, presumably because no refutation was possible, I will just ask the question: why are leftists and anti-Trumpists so violent? The J6ers were unarmed (and one of them was shot through the neck, summarily executed for the crime of trespass), and yet an attendee at a college discussion today shot a man (in the neck, coincidentally) for his exercise of free speech. There is no moral equivalence here. Note: I dislike Trump. I'm an observer. The writer of this Substack, I fear, has lost any such dispassion.
I've posted about how congenial Charlie Kirk was--a man who tried to have peaceful discussions with people and maintain civility. But you're showing your blindness and emotional thinking here by suggesting the left/anti-Trumpists monopolize violence--or claim the J6 rioters had no weapons. They had zipties, bats, pepper spray, etc. They built a gallows and chanted "Hang Mike Pence." Anyway, just in the last few months:
Democrat Melissa Hortman (DFL) – former Speaker of the Minnesota House. Lived in Brooklyn Park. She was shot in her home and was killed. Mark Hortman (her husband) – also killed in the attack.
Minnesota House Democrat Senator John Hoffman (DFL) – shot multiple times in his home in Champlin; survived. Yvette Hoffman (his wife) – also shot, survived.
Also targeted, but unharmed: Rep. Kristin Bahner and Senator Ann Rest had their homes visited by the suspect,
Before that: Paul Pelosi was attacked by a home invader; Josh Shapiro's house was set on fire while he and his family were home. Two members of Rep. Gerry Connolly's (D-Va) were attacked with a metal baseball bat by attacker looking for him. Famously in 2018, mail bombs were sent to Ds and other Trump critics, etc., etc., etc.
In the US, having a ziptie or even a baseball bat (how many J6ers did? one? three?) is considered unarmed. Guns = armed. Unarmed = not a "coup" or insurrection. They were trespassers, protestors, perhaps rioters, and the same has happened on Capitol Hill many times in the last few decades. What they were not, were a "coup" or attempt to topple the government. I think you're the one showing blindness and emotional thinking but not acknowledging the killing of Ashley Babbitt as an atrocity. I suspect, it's because "your" media and "your" side didn't frame it as such. If you can't see that whatever offences were committed by the trespasses that day were amplified and highlighted 1000% to make a political point, set an example, punish the right, etc. beyond any sense of justice, then you're totally blind. Anyway, I enjoy your takes on Shakespeare, which is why I'm here, really. Your political views are less interesting. Honestly, they are boilerplate for a certain demographic to which you belong, based on my observations of your age cohort, background etc. It's all so boring.
Most of your claims above are nonsensical--especially about what you think I may believe, including regarding Ashley Babbitt (who I don't think should have been shot and do consider her death a tragedy). I am just reciting well known facts:
DG Writes: In the US, having a ziptie or even a baseball bat (how many J6ers did? one? three?) is considered unarmed.
Dennis responds: 122 were charged with having a "dangerous or deadly weapon." That the J6 rioters were "unarmed" is an extremely goofy right-wing myth, regurgitated by people who swallow Trump's claims or only watch videos of the riot showing the more peaceful trespassers who entered the Capitol long after the original, violent breach in which dozens of police officers were injured. RFK Jr. made the claim that the J6 rioters "carried no weapons" --and then retracted the claim. Will you now do the same? https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/05/politics/fact-check-rfk-jr-january-6-weapons
DG writers: They were trespassers, protestors, perhaps rioters, and the same has happened on Capitol Hill many times in the last few decades.
Dennis responds: Most everyone reading this will see your claim regarding the J6 attack that "the same has happened on Capitol Hill many times in the last few decades" as alarmingly deluded. You are clearly only watching videos of people at the back of the riot. Of course, there has never been such a large-scale attack on the Capitol, involving thousands, since 1814 and the invasion by British troops. This video may provide clarity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXnHIJkZZAs
No firearms = unarmed = no insurrection. The J6 event was targeted for prosecution with maximum political prejudice and falsely characterised as a genuine threat when it was, again, a protest or perhaps riot, no more. The Capitol was bombed in the 80s and almost bombed in the 70s by leftist groups, without such politically motivated hysteria ensuing. Ashley Babbitt will not be forgotten - forced to read the facts about her, you mumble your acknowledgement, as not to do so would make you look even worse than you do. But it sticks in your craw to have to do so, doesn't it? She, an unarmed woman, was shot in the throat at point-blank, and yet you write articles about her side is bad and would never mention her if not dragged into it. You should have written several articles about how her murder was wrong, before one about how her side was misguided. You should also exercise appropriate skepticism about official claims before endorsing them.
You stressed left-wing violence (which I have unambiguously and repeatedly denounced)--and you have yet to respond to the following: Democrat Melissa Hortman (DFL) – former Speaker of the Minnesota House. Lived in Brooklyn Park. She was shot in her home and was killed. Mark Hortman (her husband) – also killed in the attack. Minnesota House Democrat Senator John Hoffman (DFL) – shot multiple times in his home in Champlin; survived. Yvette Hoffman (his wife) – also shot, survived. Also targeted, but unharmed: Rep. Kristin Bahner and Senator Ann Rest had their homes visited by the suspect.
Also, Paul Pelosi was attacked, and DJT Jr. and many of the GOP made jokes about it. Josh Shapiro's house was set on fire while he and his family were home. Two members of Rep. Gerry Connolly's (D-Va) were attacked with a metal baseball bat by attacker looking for him. Famously in 2018, mail bombs were sent to Ds and other Trump critics, etc., etc., etc. You have yet to denounce any of this--but ignore it.
I think most people who voted for Trump did so, not because they were Trump cultists, but because he was perceived to be the lesser of evils compared with the mindless ditz who was running against him. Many of these people, including me, are not happy that our peace candidate has turned into a neocon warmonger. Despite being an economic ignoramus, Trump has accomplished some good things domestically.
Trump is not completely evil and deranged (only partially) and deserves a more balanced critique. I would agree we have a human race problem. Western civilization, for which "Shakespeare" is a major part of the foundation, is decaying because of societal culture degeneration.
Well, my opening two lines do state: "First, let’s be clear: many millions of Trump voters are rational and decent. They are law-abiding, hard-working, charitable, and frequently have legitimate concerns about leftist overreach." But I do think his more extreme followers do exhibit cult-like behavior--and the intensity of this devotion wants explanation.
Thanks for explaining with eloquent prose what is going on in our country. This is one of the failings of democracy. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying: "if you think democracy has a chance of success, have a talk with your neighbor and you'll realize it cannot". Of course, another apt saying is : " democracy is not perfect but it is better than any other form of government ". Maybe mankind will be better off when the singularity occurs and AI takes over. Let's hope it is an AI with a moral compass that follows the golden rule and Asimov's Robotic Rules.
I agree. It's much better to vote for a senile Alzheimer's patient who shits his pants, or a drunken cocksucker. Especially if you don't know that J6 and Qanon shaman were psyops.
Why was everyone (including Qanon shaman) pardoned if they were psyops?
Because he was part of the psyop... the guy who ran this show was the same FBI agent who ran the Governor Whitmer kidnapping hoax just a few months before. On J6 agents goaded some useful idiots into storming the Capitol and putting on a show. This has been analyzed in detail, you just never looked into it...
I gotta tell you: If Q-Anon Shaman is part of some deep-state psyop, he has devoted his *entire* life to it. In fact, he spent years pretending to be a psychologically-distrurbed, conspiracy-theorizing wannabe-shaman before J6--and is *still* deep undercover today, still pretending to be that same person. And why did the Deep State have Jacob Chansley devote his life to this ruse? So that pictures and videos of the J6 revolt will make Trump-followers look batshit? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Chansley
I already told you: they used some useful idiots to "storm" the Capitol and do a photo op. " So that pictures and videos of the J6 revolt will make Trump-followers look batshit? " Exactly. And you fell for it. Again.
Oh wait, so how did they get Trump to aggressively promote the “Stop the Steal” protest and tell them to march to the Capitol and FIGHT— “Fight like hell or you won’t have a country anymore?” — so everyone believed they were doing what Trump wanted? Was he in the psyop or a “useful idiot?
You've been fooled by the J6 psyop, that much is certain. You were probably also fooled by the Whitmer kidnapping psyop, right? It was run by the exact same FBI agent. It's always the same playbook.
That's why I said his role remains opaque. He told people he himself would be there, but of course he wasn't. He also pushed the Qanon hoax. They may have used him, or turned the tables on him. Either way you can't trust him. He has betrayed his supporters several times recently..
Trump pardoned him. Is he part of the psyop too? Is Trump part of the super-secret conspiracy to make his followers look like mentally-unstable, riotous, cultist, conspiracy-crazed nutjobs?
Trump's role remains opaque, but his pardon was to be expected. Your "no conspiracies" mindset may apply to Shakespeare (although Shakespeare himself obviously ran a conspiracy that other poets partially exposed), but it won't get you very far in politics...
Opaque? Trump was front and center with the world's biggest bull-horn, repeatedly posting for everyone to join the "Stop the Steal" protest and then gave an hour speech pushing them to march to the Capitol and fight. At their trials, the J6 rioters all said they were doing what Trump wanted them to do. So... you're saying FBI agent Timothy Bates got Trump to do that? Or Trump was working with Bates to make his followers look demented? Or ... what are you saying exactly? And why have Trump and Kash Patel not arrested Bates (and others in the psyop)?
It's also related to simple anti-establishment sentiment. Trump was (let's stipulate, in 2016) the outsider, as was Mr H in 1933. People had in both cases been extremely injured in tangible ways, by correct-speaking, upright-posing establishment figures. The aristocrats - never as crass as Mr H - led their nation to the abyss of WW1. The smooth and likeable Clinton and Obama oversaw economic and social disintegration of the American heartland. So, in both cases, a populist vote ensued. And in 2024, how could anyone have voted for what the Democrats had become? Does anyone know who was actually running things in Biden's term? The snide establishment press never asked. Perhaps the 2024 vote was a protest against them as much as Biden.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/05/politics/fact-check-rfk-jr-january-6-weapons
While noting that my previous comment was not acknowledged, presumably because no refutation was possible, I will just ask the question: why are leftists and anti-Trumpists so violent? The J6ers were unarmed (and one of them was shot through the neck, summarily executed for the crime of trespass), and yet an attendee at a college discussion today shot a man (in the neck, coincidentally) for his exercise of free speech. There is no moral equivalence here. Note: I dislike Trump. I'm an observer. The writer of this Substack, I fear, has lost any such dispassion.
I've posted about how congenial Charlie Kirk was--a man who tried to have peaceful discussions with people and maintain civility. But you're showing your blindness and emotional thinking here by suggesting the left/anti-Trumpists monopolize violence--or claim the J6 rioters had no weapons. They had zipties, bats, pepper spray, etc. They built a gallows and chanted "Hang Mike Pence." Anyway, just in the last few months:
Democrat Melissa Hortman (DFL) – former Speaker of the Minnesota House. Lived in Brooklyn Park. She was shot in her home and was killed. Mark Hortman (her husband) – also killed in the attack.
Minnesota House Democrat Senator John Hoffman (DFL) – shot multiple times in his home in Champlin; survived. Yvette Hoffman (his wife) – also shot, survived.
Also targeted, but unharmed: Rep. Kristin Bahner and Senator Ann Rest had their homes visited by the suspect,
Before that: Paul Pelosi was attacked by a home invader; Josh Shapiro's house was set on fire while he and his family were home. Two members of Rep. Gerry Connolly's (D-Va) were attacked with a metal baseball bat by attacker looking for him. Famously in 2018, mail bombs were sent to Ds and other Trump critics, etc., etc., etc.
In the US, having a ziptie or even a baseball bat (how many J6ers did? one? three?) is considered unarmed. Guns = armed. Unarmed = not a "coup" or insurrection. They were trespassers, protestors, perhaps rioters, and the same has happened on Capitol Hill many times in the last few decades. What they were not, were a "coup" or attempt to topple the government. I think you're the one showing blindness and emotional thinking but not acknowledging the killing of Ashley Babbitt as an atrocity. I suspect, it's because "your" media and "your" side didn't frame it as such. If you can't see that whatever offences were committed by the trespasses that day were amplified and highlighted 1000% to make a political point, set an example, punish the right, etc. beyond any sense of justice, then you're totally blind. Anyway, I enjoy your takes on Shakespeare, which is why I'm here, really. Your political views are less interesting. Honestly, they are boilerplate for a certain demographic to which you belong, based on my observations of your age cohort, background etc. It's all so boring.
Most of your claims above are nonsensical--especially about what you think I may believe, including regarding Ashley Babbitt (who I don't think should have been shot and do consider her death a tragedy). I am just reciting well known facts:
DG Writes: In the US, having a ziptie or even a baseball bat (how many J6ers did? one? three?) is considered unarmed.
Dennis responds: 122 were charged with having a "dangerous or deadly weapon." That the J6 rioters were "unarmed" is an extremely goofy right-wing myth, regurgitated by people who swallow Trump's claims or only watch videos of the riot showing the more peaceful trespassers who entered the Capitol long after the original, violent breach in which dozens of police officers were injured. RFK Jr. made the claim that the J6 rioters "carried no weapons" --and then retracted the claim. Will you now do the same? https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/05/politics/fact-check-rfk-jr-january-6-weapons
DG writers: They were trespassers, protestors, perhaps rioters, and the same has happened on Capitol Hill many times in the last few decades.
Dennis responds: Most everyone reading this will see your claim regarding the J6 attack that "the same has happened on Capitol Hill many times in the last few decades" as alarmingly deluded. You are clearly only watching videos of people at the back of the riot. Of course, there has never been such a large-scale attack on the Capitol, involving thousands, since 1814 and the invasion by British troops. This video may provide clarity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXnHIJkZZAs
No firearms = unarmed = no insurrection. The J6 event was targeted for prosecution with maximum political prejudice and falsely characterised as a genuine threat when it was, again, a protest or perhaps riot, no more. The Capitol was bombed in the 80s and almost bombed in the 70s by leftist groups, without such politically motivated hysteria ensuing. Ashley Babbitt will not be forgotten - forced to read the facts about her, you mumble your acknowledgement, as not to do so would make you look even worse than you do. But it sticks in your craw to have to do so, doesn't it? She, an unarmed woman, was shot in the throat at point-blank, and yet you write articles about her side is bad and would never mention her if not dragged into it. You should have written several articles about how her murder was wrong, before one about how her side was misguided. You should also exercise appropriate skepticism about official claims before endorsing them.
You stressed left-wing violence (which I have unambiguously and repeatedly denounced)--and you have yet to respond to the following: Democrat Melissa Hortman (DFL) – former Speaker of the Minnesota House. Lived in Brooklyn Park. She was shot in her home and was killed. Mark Hortman (her husband) – also killed in the attack. Minnesota House Democrat Senator John Hoffman (DFL) – shot multiple times in his home in Champlin; survived. Yvette Hoffman (his wife) – also shot, survived. Also targeted, but unharmed: Rep. Kristin Bahner and Senator Ann Rest had their homes visited by the suspect.
Also, Paul Pelosi was attacked, and DJT Jr. and many of the GOP made jokes about it. Josh Shapiro's house was set on fire while he and his family were home. Two members of Rep. Gerry Connolly's (D-Va) were attacked with a metal baseball bat by attacker looking for him. Famously in 2018, mail bombs were sent to Ds and other Trump critics, etc., etc., etc. You have yet to denounce any of this--but ignore it.
I think most people who voted for Trump did so, not because they were Trump cultists, but because he was perceived to be the lesser of evils compared with the mindless ditz who was running against him. Many of these people, including me, are not happy that our peace candidate has turned into a neocon warmonger. Despite being an economic ignoramus, Trump has accomplished some good things domestically.
Trump is not completely evil and deranged (only partially) and deserves a more balanced critique. I would agree we have a human race problem. Western civilization, for which "Shakespeare" is a major part of the foundation, is decaying because of societal culture degeneration.
Well, my opening two lines do state: "First, let’s be clear: many millions of Trump voters are rational and decent. They are law-abiding, hard-working, charitable, and frequently have legitimate concerns about leftist overreach." But I do think his more extreme followers do exhibit cult-like behavior--and the intensity of this devotion wants explanation.