zlacker

>>david9+(OP)
I bang on a lot about not saying things like "this person is a threat to democracy" and other such apocalyptic statements. This right here is a perfect example of why: when you steep people in a culture that tells them someone is (or their ideas are) an existential threat, eventually someone is going to be the right level of scared + unstable that causes them to kill people to try to defend their way of life.

If you find this horrifying (and I hope you do, because there can be no moral justification for celebrating murder), then I encourage you to really think about whether we would not be better off without such extremist language poisoning people's minds. We have to try to stop escalating, or the cycle is going to destroy our society.

>>bigstr+XD
The people who came up with the concept of "stochastic terrorism" seem to be pretty silent when it hits the other side.

>>sva_+pG
Because the other comment was flagged by people acting in anger, I want to make sure you knew that several folks are speaking up from both sides of the aisle. Here are two quotes from people whom you consider your political enemies:

> JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT: "There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones."

> BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT: "We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy."

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/reactions-fatal-shooting-us...

>>tomrod+TN
I don't quite understand why you have to put words in my mouth. I didn't claim anyone to be my political enemy. In fact I have close friends on both isles of the political spectrum, and I don't identify myself with either of them. I just wish people would defend things out of principle, rather than just what currently supports the things that I (perhaps wrongly) presume to be their political identity.

>>sva_+V11
Identitarianism is bad. We agree.

Why was the first thing you reached for a claim that Democrats are bad because you hadn't yet heard any sympathies from Democratic politicians (alleged creators of the term stochastic terrorism)? That seems extraordinarily unreasonable.

As a former Republican, it makes me sad to see people supporting a party that claims to have values be extraordinarily unfair to their fellow countrymen. Toss aside all the other nonsense in the political arena for the moment. Democrats have been advocating for gun control for years. Years! Why would an attack about someone being killed by the very thing they warned about even enter the brain of a reasonable person, if not for the poison of propaganda?