Again, it’s less about what he’ll do and more about what he can get away with and how much backlash there will be. Frankly, I don’t think most Americans know crime in DC is low. This is due to a media ecosystem that manufactures consent for fascism.

You can say this would happen anyway but I think the media’s sympathy for Kirk as a fellow media person also has a big impact on the way this incident has been covered and how they’ll respond to the coming crackdown. Look at how many left-leaning journalists and media people are being fired right now. That will have an impact on coverage going forward at minimum.

Regarding Kirk and his value to the fascists, I’m unsure because these people are all so repugnant to me. I want to say he’s just an empty suit that will easily be filled by the billionaires who funded him but truthfully I can’t say if he had some unique appeal because I wouldn’t see it even if it was there.

I mean fence sitter as in prospective supporters. Not people who are neutral between leftism and fascism (there are few such people).

I’m talking about people who will act as supporters sometimes and not at others. These people possess the vast majority of political power on the left.

I didn’t realize the only two options were nothing or pointless acts of impotent violence. Funny, for some reason I thought there were other possibilities but I guess I was mistaken.

You need to wake the fuck up and get serious about political strategy instead of just reacting emotionally to the news. You’re not going to assassinate your way out of this one.

Well, my personal perspective on the two was similar and I got a lot of flak for it.

But from a broader perspective I think the difference is that partisan politics have become deeply associated with a personal, tribal identity. The reaction to Kirk has been different because conservatives feel personally threatened by his death. This fear makes them react much more violently. I think journalists have also amplified this because even if they are not on the same side, they rightly perceive that they could be next if this turns into a tit for tat exchange.

In contrast, while most people didn’t support the murder of Thompson it was more of an academic crime. They don’t identify personally with a CEO in the same way.

Plus Trump wasn’t president and he wasn’t able to fan the flames as effectively back then.

Public opinion matters. You don’t win political struggle without allies, and that means speaking to and persuading people who are not true believers. You don’t have to like it but you are going to have to contend with it.

Or don’t and lose. The left has been great at that for the past 100 years.

It’s not new but this is making it worse, that’s all I’m saying. Leftists are already widely maligned and feeding that fire is more dangerous than people want to admit.

Fair but I’m speaking to the people who are here saying that we should do more of this kind of thing… perhaps including you? Whether the shooter was or wasn’t a leftist isn’t relevant to that talking point.

I don’t agree with the second statement. Some fools will believe anything but a lot of fence sitters who might defend us may not if we really do what we’re being accused of.

Because people here are trying to make this killing into some brave act of resistance when it clearly was nothing of the sort.

No, the sycophancy for Charlie Kirk we’re seeing right now is unlike anything I’ve seen before.

Also, the media has frequently and harshly criticized Donald Trump, though we’re seeing less of that in term 2 as he’s tightening his grip on power. If anything it would have been better to just ignore him and maybe he never would have gotten anywhere. But obviously that’s hindsight.

As I said elsewhere I have no doubt they would try but this is allowing them to go further and muting criticism of their crackdown. It clearly increases the chances of success for their power grab.

I swear so many leftists have literally no understanding of politics or how public opinion influences political outcomes. It is maddening.

I never said don’t fight back. But fight smart. Killing Charlie Kirk isn’t fighting back, it’s just an expression of self-destructive rage from someone who probably wasn’t even a leftist.

Not really. This has given the mainstream media cover to lionize and normalize his hate, and has muted criticism of further crackdowns the Trump admin is now planning. Yes, they were always going to try but this makes it more likely they succeed.

It’s also been a huge distraction from other important issues.

Depending on how the coming crackdown they’re planning plays out, I am not sure it’s true we’ll be better off with him dead. This is the main problem with political assassination as a political strategy.

Depends on what you mean by permissive. I think a more liberated society would be both less accepting of sexual violence but also less punitive towards it. As with other types of crime, a greater emphasis should be put on prevention, making the victim whole, and, whenever possible, rehabilitation of the offender.

In my view, our carceral based “justice” system has been an almost complete failure and needs to be redesigned from top to bottom. But this is an important issue that should be taken seriously, and if new systems don’t solve it effectively, then they might need further iteration.

But eating wild carrots is fun. I recommend eating wild carrot but not eating hemlock. That’s worked well for me so far.

Boy, conservatives sure love their free speech.

I’m not sure what you mean here. What made it more ironic?

But what are the concrete outcomes here? Brian Thompson was more widely hated. I think this one will come with a lot more negative consequences.

The point of propaganda of the deed is to inspire revolution. I don’t see that happening from either of these actions. If anything it could lead to civil war, which is not desirable.

Maybe left intentionally as an homage to Luigi?

Would be very curious where Allende’s ideas would have gone. I have a feeling not as well as many people think, but it would have been an interesting experiment nonetheless.

Oh I had just woken up and thought they were eating their own limbs.