Quote:Two explosive devices were found in mail sent to former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Secret Service said Wednesday.
The devices were similar to one found on Monday at the home of the billionaire philanthropist George Soros, and federal authorities were investigating whether they were linked, two law enforcement officials said.

(10-24-2018, 11:59 AM)GMDino Wrote: When I heard about the Clinton one this morning I got to wondering:

If Trump was assassinated (shot) would we make it all about the politics of it or would it be a lone, crazy guy with a gun?

I suppose playing politics will be seen as "okay" because of the victim.

(10-24-2018, 12:01 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: No, never "okay".  This is just as vile as the crackpot that shot up the Congressional baseball practice, or the nut job Sailor that sent ricin letters to officials a couple weeks ago.

(10-24-2018, 12:25 PM)Au165 Wrote: Politics have become too hateful in general now. Political affiliation is often held against people on both side based on wide spread over generalizations. Everything is "Us vs them" and "They are ruining your life" it is a very scary situation and has made the country a worse place for it. The "black and white" of a two party system I think fuels this even more, I believe if we had more legitimate parties it would make the difference between each group a bit softer and more tolerable.

TL;DR- Politics make people worse people.

(10-24-2018, 02:27 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: It's not politics; it's tribalism. I forget where I heard this discussion or who proposed this hypothesis, but we are social creatures. We look for tribes of people that are like us in various ways. Religious organizations, clubs of various sorts, things like that have long provided us with this tribal effect. As time has gone on, we have seen a reduction in membership. People are not interacting in these more traditional tribes that have been existing for some time. The life people live is increasingly digital, and they are replacing these tribes with more virtual ones. Tribes that are less concrete. One of the easiest to involve ourselves in is based on political ideology. It's one of the only tribes many people actively participate in and so it has become insanely strong and has fomented the current climate.

(10-24-2018, 02:32 PM)Au165 Wrote: Maybe, but it seems the "political" tribalism fosters a lot more openly negative rhetoric. You don't see many people ( I saw most because there are always Nazi's haha) going around and openly saying sweeping negative generalizations about religions, ethnic races, or other "tribes", however hearing people do the same about political affiliation is accepted almost everywhere. You can sit in a restaurant, or in your place of work, and hear people use terms like "Liberal" and "Conservative" in a way that almost sounds like a way a racial slur would have been used in the 50's or 60's. 

I think we are seriously headed towards more politically motivated crimes against people. I'm not even saying simply politicians themselves, but more so supporters. Rallies will become war zones because they are being positioned as enemies to ways of life. 

(10-24-2018, 02:52 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Well, there are some other factors involved. The virtual nature of the tribal situation, the echo chambers people tend to put themselves into, and the way political rhetoric has changed over the last 30-40 years all exacerbate the situation. It's a perfect storm of ****-wittage.

(10-24-2018, 11:37 AM)Yojimbo Wrote: That vile left at it again, smdh.

(10-24-2018, 03:21 PM)Au165 Wrote: I agree. The ability of social media to insulate people in echo chambers often with serious negative slants has made people angry at people they have never met for perceived slights. I really think it's going to continue to evolve in to real life violence. 

(10-24-2018, 04:48 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Perhaps too early to label a motive.

As to the OP: I hope they find the individual(s) responsible and try them as terrorists.

They part in the article that discusses excess postage is a great heads up; as are packages irregular in shape (keep your heads out of the gutter).

(10-24-2018, 12:25 PM)Au165 Wrote: Politics have become too hateful in general now. Political affiliation is often held against people on both side based on wide spread over generalizations. Everything is "Us vs them" and "They are ruining your life" it is a very scary situation and has made the country a worse place for it. The "black and white" of a two party system I think fuels this even more, I believe if we had more legitimate parties it would make the difference between each group a bit softer and more tolerable.

TL;DR- Politics make people worse people.

(10-24-2018, 02:27 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: It's not politics; it's tribalism. I forget where I heard this discussion or who proposed this hypothesis, . . .

(10-24-2018, 06:03 PM)Dill Wrote: George Lakoff, Amy Chua, Dietram Scheufele?  They have been popularizing the "tribal" analogy for sometime now.

With Lakoff, though, there is a psychological theory underpinning the division. Those with more authoritarian tendencies are attracted to right wing politics. The "nurturers" go liberal.