2024 Election - Thread #1

[robkelk]

Y'know, if two different people try to assassinate you in as many months, maybe you're the one who's doing something wrong.

Suspect in second attempt charged with gun-related crimes

[Dartz]

They only need to get lucky once. Trump needs to be lucky every time.

[GethN7]

Y'know, if two different people try to assassinate you in as many months, maybe you're the one who's doing something wrong.

Suspect in second attempt charged with gun-related crimes

I vehemently disagree with that argument on the grounds I'd be just as horrified if it was Kamala's life being threatened. When you live in a democratic society and you go for murder as your FIRST option to deal with a politician you don't like, the would be assassin is wrong, not who they want to kill.

I get it, people despise Trump and are afraid of him getting another four years as President. Fine, not very thrilled with him (or Kamala) myself, would love better options, but we are stuck between two chairs here. Anyone who thinks the solution is to destroy one of the chairs when they can simply pick one of them is a criminal worthy of contempt.

That said, the idiots trying this madness, they are just giving Trump more publicity and hardening his base. Malcom X once said if we didn't have the ballot, we'd need to resort to the bullet. We still have the ballot, so I condemn the use of the bullet no matter the target.

[classicdrogn]

I'll agree that the number of people willing to do harm to a public figure isn't a useful measure of their moral charadcter or polict positions. I'll also add that if it comes to shooting to settle the current divide in American politics, just one wouldn't come close to solving the problem, and a lot of relatively innocent people would get caught in the middle, so it's better not to open that cask. But refraining from cheering is as far as I'm willing to go when it's Trump or any of his sycophants.

[nemonowan]

I'm just waiting for a Republican to state that politician shootings are just a fact of life.

[Bob Schroeck]

Of course they won't. It's a Republican being shot at, after all -- someone important, unlike children.

[Bob Schroeck]

[robkelk]

Y'know, if two different people try to assassinate you in as many months, maybe you're the one who's doing something wrong.

Suspect in second attempt charged with gun-related crimes

I vehemently disagree with that argument on the grounds I'd be just as horrified if it was Kamala's life being threatened. When you live in a democratic society and you go for murder as your FIRST option to deal with a politician you don't like, the would be assassin is wrong, not who they want to kill.

I get it, people despise Trump and are afraid of him getting another four years as President. Fine, not very thrilled with him (or Kamala) myself, would love better options, but we are stuck between two chairs here. Anyone who thinks the solution is to destroy one of the chairs when they can simply pick one of them is a criminal worthy of contempt.

That said, the idiots trying this madness, they are just giving Trump more publicity and hardening his base. Malcom X once said if we didn't have the ballot, we'd need to resort to the bullet. We still have the ballot, so I condemn the use of the bullet no matter the target.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
-- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House (1 August 1775)

"Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us to tamely surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us.... Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great; and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable."
-- Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, Continental Congress Declaration on the Necessity of Taking up Arms

"We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in."
-- Thomas Paine, The Crisis No. IV (12 September 1777)


I can quote more of your Founding Fathers if you want.

Your country is founded on this behaviour. The only difference between the American Revolution and the current taking up of arms is that the former was done by organized groups -- they're both examples of armed opposition to the political process.

[robkelk]

I'm just waiting for a Republican to state that politician shootings are just a fact of life.

I wouldn't dream of finding recordings of people making those statements in other contexts and running them through this trope... because copyright law is a thing.

[robkelk]

Oh, hey - other elections in 2024.

We had two by-elections in Canada yesterday. The "lessons learned" could apply to the current US election...

Bloc Québécois win longtime Liberal seat and deliver stunning blow to Trudeau in Montreal byelection

While the other parties squabble with one another and take on an increasingly nasty tone in the House of Commons, the Bloc "presented ourselves to voters as the adults in the room," said Bloc MP Christine Normandin from Sauvé's victory party.

...

Before Monday's byelection, there were few seats safer than LaSalle-Émard-Verdun for the federal Liberals in Quebec.

So, yeah... current behaviour by politicians of all stripes is turning every seat into a "battleground" seat.

[GethN7]

Y'know, if two different people try to assassinate you in as many months, maybe you're the one who's doing something wrong.

Suspect in second attempt charged with gun-related crimes

I vehemently disagree with that argument on the grounds I'd be just as horrified if it was Kamala's life being threatened. When you live in a democratic society and you go for murder as your FIRST option to deal with a politician you don't like, the would be assassin is wrong, not who they want to kill.

I get it, people despise Trump and are afraid of him getting another four years as President. Fine, not very thrilled with him (or Kamala) myself, would love better options, but we are stuck between two chairs here. Anyone who thinks the solution is to destroy one of the chairs when they can simply pick one of them is a criminal worthy of contempt.

That said, the idiots trying this madness, they are just giving Trump more publicity and hardening his base. Malcom X once said if we didn't have the ballot, we'd need to resort to the bullet. We still have the ballot, so I condemn the use of the bullet no matter the target.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
-- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House (1 August 1775)

"Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us to tamely surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us.... Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great; and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable."
-- Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, Continental Congress Declaration on the Necessity of Taking up Arms

"We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in."
-- Thomas Paine, The Crisis No. IV (12 September 1777)


I can quote more of your Founding Fathers if you want.

Your country is founded on this behaviour. The only difference between the American Revolution and the current taking up of arms is that the former was done by organized groups -- they're both examples of armed opposition to the political process.

And it's worth noting the very people who won our Revolution went out of their way to make sure they and their posterity wouldn't have to shed blood again to ensure it.

Basically, the way I see it, said Fathers wanted to win a country that could decide things by reason, not bloodshed, and so long as that remains the case, I desire nothing more than the continued fulfillment of that wish. And I want Kamala and Trump to survive so the public can peaceably vote for their new leader, whomever it may be.

[classicdrogn]

Yes, you're absolutely correct, Rob - and if Trump does win, I expect we'll need those second amendment guns and a lot of freshly watered fields to get him out.

[robkelk]

Trump's key to victory in the U.S. election? Men who hate politics

He's appeared on podcasts that aren't generally political, but have audiences that are young, male, and massive in size.

An episode with comedian Theo Von drew more than 13 million views on YouTube alone, not counting other platforms. For comparison's sake, that's triple the typical TV viewership of Fox News's highest-rated prime-time shows.