About a week and a half ago, one of my fellow bloggers, someone I've been following for years, published a post that took me aback. It was about the assassination murder of that personage who had the ear of our dictator tyrant so much so that he treated the whole thing as a state event, ordering flags to be flown at half staff.
Deep sigh.
I wanted to scream. How could this blogger not see who that guy actually was? Talking about how he was "honest, factual, open and helpful". How "[h]e was a warrior for Christ". And that "[t]here will be many people who...celebrate his life and salvation". Uh...
It's rude to go onto someone else's blog and scream at them. Right? So, rather than make a rude remark in the comments, I thought I'd go off on my tirade here.
Because, seriously? The white supremacy, misogyny, and celebration of violence is okay? Holy, even? The N*zi stuff didn't bother them? This is who they think is a "good man"? That's terribly frightening. And it kind of explains where we got where we are today. Too many people are okay with the authoritarianism and the violence against immigrants so long as it's wrapped up in the Bible.
I mean, slave holders were "good Christians" too, right? They went to church and read their Bibles and worshiped God and all. The fact that they owned other human beings (with all the implicit violence that entails) was fine?
I read somewhere online that this man said many things that sounded good to the scary Christians, and even though he said the awful stuff out loud, too, the scary Christians somehow didn't hear the awful stuff. Which is just flabbergasting to me.
So, let me bring the receipts. Why am I horrified at the acclaim this man had? Why am I railing against a man who was brutally murdered in public? Why am I upset over a blog post talking about this guy as if he was a good and holy man?
Because of things he actually said and advocated for.
Link: What the Public Memory Revealed
- “Black America is poorer, more murderous, more dangerous” than when Black people were living under Jim Crow.
- “The pride and trans movements have always been about grooming kids.”
- He espoused the racist Great Replacement Theory, which argues that white Americans are being systematically replaced by multiculturalism and by brown and Black immigrants.
- He said, “There’s a war on white people in this country."
- He contended that Black people commit more crime than white people and that the blame lies in a Black culture that accepts that Black men “impregnate women and they don’t stay around”
- 17 percent of his episodes contained an unsubstantiated or false claim (from a 2023 article)
- Mimikama collected 135 quotes: 67 verified, 68 are still unchecked. Together, they reveal how language is systematically used as a weapon against facts, minorities, and democracy. (From a German website. Google translated it for me.)
I'd rather not look any further. If you do a cursory search of stuff he said, you're sure to turn up some more awful things.
This is why I'm so upset. Because I've been aware of what he said, what he advocated for, for a while. And it all horrified me. Then, people who I thought were good and decent people are now talking about him as if he was such an honorable man. No. No he wasn't.
It's scary how quickly we devolved into fascism. It's scary how now a person who in normal times would have been reviled by the mainstream is suddenly seen as some sort of truth-telling good person. I don't recognize this country any more.
Things are weird right now. I do think you were right not to post a rebuttal.
ReplyDeletePosting an entirely new post like this will get more views than a response to a comment. At least I think, as most don't go back to check comments, and some only look at the current post. The person is question should not have been murdered, of course not, however he was not a good man! Unfortunately, he's now a martyr. Which is why as much as I loath Trump I wouldn't want him assassinated. Martyrs often are more powerful dead than alive.
ReplyDeleteThe whole martyr thing shocked me. Him? But it's a good lesson in why murder is bad, especially in a situation like this.
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ReplyDeleteWe have become a country full of poison. The murder of a 31 year-old man with two young children was wrong. So was the attack on the Mormon church in Michigan. . I’m just waiting for all the far right condemnation of the attack on the Mormons in Michigan. The flag will not fly at half staff for them. None of them are going to get a state funeral with the president and most of his Cabinet attending.
One of my neighbors wrote “I am Charlie Kirk” on the vp ack window of their SUV. At least I know who to avoid …
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
DeleteYou really see how people really feel when something like this happens. I know I saw a lot of stuff I didn't like on FB when it happened.
ReplyDeleteThis is Birgit….youll get more views this way and I agree with you. Yes, it’s a shame that he died in front of people and his children are left without their bigoted dad, but just because he died, don’t make him out to be a saint. He was anything but and, hiding behind religion, he was bigoted and ignorant with what he said. I’m sorry he died but I still dislike the man.
ReplyDeleteYou have reasons to be upset, especially since I think I know whose murder you mean. A lot of us in India aren't happy either with what's happening in your country, especially under Trump's leadership.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't seem to consider Black people as his equals. He was not anyone to be followed or emulated. To quote a buddy of mine: Shit's fucked up.
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