Kyle Rittenhouse Trial

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(11-06-2021, 01:49 PM)hollodero Wrote: Yeah I for one do not dispute that. In general I think the "mostly peaceful" line is factually correct, but often gets used in a bad faith manner, eg. to neglect the devastation that, as far as I can tell (hard to trust your media really), actually did occur on a not so small scale. Yeah, some media did a horrible job of glorifying all that and shouting down everyone who dares to question the narrative of the righteous and noble protesters that collectively couldn't hurt a fly (and those who do are akin to the '"bad apples" that don't matter).

Indeed, and a fair assessment on your part.

Quote:- I just don't think this is the whole explanation for the counterreaction. These are people that also endorse the insurrection attempt, are howling mad at Mike Pence for not overthrowing the election, believe in conspiracies and the evil left and DNC servers in the Ukraine, an FBI in Soros' pocket and so on and so on. They are followers of the Trump ideology, that in its core consists of hatred for the enemy, which is the left and the media. The way I see it, Rittenhouse is one more symbol for striking back against said enemy.

Oh no, of course it isn't.  There's a whole witches' brew of reasons why, and they vary from person to person.  But what the above does do for many is cement in their minds that the media and Democrats are full square behind left wing violence while condemning them even when they were peaceful.  For example, look at the media response to the right wing protest at the Michigan state capitol.  This is a tame example;

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/14/855918852/heavily-armed-protesters-gather-again-at-michigans-capitol-denouncing-home-order

Whitmer's quote was especially telling;

"I respect people's right to dissent, but that does not extend to endangering other people's lives and we take it very seriously," said Whitmer.

These protestors were carrying their firearms legally and peacefully, they committed no acts of violence and zero arrests were made or attempted.  Contrast this with the "mostly peaceful" trope below;



Many people believe, and have been given good cause to do so, that the media is heavily biased in favor of the left.  This perceived unfairness also lends itself to a feeling of being besieged.  No one is listening to you and if you do speak out you're lumped in with actual white supremacists.  I've been at management level for almost seven years now and I can tell you to I strive to be as fair as I possibly can in all things.  Nothing destroys the cohesiveness of a unit faster and more irrevocably than a perception of unfairness, much less actual unfair practices.  We are seeing exactly that on a national scale here.  

Quote:All of that, imho, is a result of this radicalized dualistic systems. And while the right is not to solely blame for that, I feel your attempt of an explanation is a tad too willing to lay the blame on the protesters and the other side. It's similar to blaming the MSM for the creation of FOX news in its current form. Meaning, yeah that sure played a part, but it's also an incomplete explanation.
More complete, to me, seems the observation that both sides engage in bad faith arguments ("mostly peaceful" being one minor example). The left/liberal side operates with gross exaggerations, eg. that is racist this is racist everything's racist (or unempathic or stupid or whatever adjective) and in the end even the slightest disagreement with our stance means you're a deplorable person. The right often engages in incredibly incoherent arguments that are so blatantly hypocritical and nonsensical (or say fritzy) that it often makes my blood boil. And I get the feeling that this is all deliberate, that the arguments for both sides already get crafted on purpose to cause maximum rejection, maximum aggression even, from the other side. As if someone in the shadows (I guess you call them "donors") would benefit from that.

You absolutely have people on both sides who are stoking fires for their own benefit.  Given the past few years I cannot say which side is the worst offender or the least coherent, both have offered up some real doozies.  I also realize I live in a very far left state and work in the second most liberal area of the deep blue state, so my personal perspective is certainly skewed.  That being said, as I stated earlier to Dill, I have friends all over the country who are experiencing the exact same thing, so it's not just confined to the left coast.

Quote:And yeah in the end one side aims to break the cycle by just turning the other side down for good. Not accepting election results and trying to determine the winner by other means (eg. by having loyalists that turn down democracy to do your bidding or can be pressured to do so) being one shining example. This is the darkness I'm referring to, the darkness one party succumbed to pretty much entirely; and celebrating Rittenhouse as a hero imho has a big part of that aspect in it, not just frustration with the one-sided coverage of the protests in more liberal leaning media outlets.

I certainly hope not, and I again reiterate my hope that Trump doesn't run again in 2024, because I think most other GOP possibilities will win handily.  I think Youngkin's win is the GOP blueprint going forward and Trump will, hopefully, be limited.  Winning VA showed just how deeply unpopular Trump's antics now are with the suburbanites, because he got buried in VA.