If that Nazi collaborator moved next door to me....I wouldn't spend one more night in my house. And now, he found someone with whom to reproduce??
I hate what happened to Laken Riley. Who wouldn't? But my response is: Richard Speck. Native born white American. Who remembers the names of the EIGHT student nurses who died at his hands?
Exactly. As I was saying in a post a couple weeks ago, they want us to believe the common denominator here is that these people were murdered by immigrants. So they scream the victims' names, like I said, in the context of ANY conversation about immigrants. It's really sick stuff.
Other countries look at us like we are fucking insane. We fill houses with enough firepower to outfit a regiment and shoot through door if somebody knocks. Or pulls into our driveway. Or shoot themselves when the fear wins.
Serial killers and just random murderers strike with impunity despite this. Or is it because of this?
Or Clint Lorance, the disgraced soldier who murdered 2 innocent Afghan civilians and who Trump pardoned. I guess Sean Hannity was behind it, and that it was actually OK because those dead human beings were just Muslims and didn't matter. When white people are murdered by non-whites, it's a different situation from when it's the other way around.
Trump's transactional behavior has spread to the entire GOP. If Trump or any Republican gets a big donation and an appreciable amount of flattery, they'll grant your "boon."
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” - Frédéric Bastiat
Very good. I'm an old woman who's been volunteering at the local penitentiary for the last 15 years. I've found that the best way to tell a liberal from a MAGA is to say that and wait for the reaction:
Liberal - That's really cool. Tell me more about it.
MAGA - Aren't you afraid? Do you have protection when you're there? Do you go in armed?
Yep. I'm old(ish), too, and volunteer at a food panty/free cafe/small male-only homeless shelter complex.. Guess which one of these the MAGAs freak out about? Got it.
It's funny how fear works. People of color have many fears--for legitimate reasons--but those fears don't generally make us hateful or politically conservative. It's a totally different dynamic, probably because our fear isn't based on the central "terror" of losing racial supremacy.
And it has to be extra infuriating for them to see people like AOC and Jasmine Crockett standing up to the orange motherfucker that republicans are so terrified of. The things that they wish they could say to Trump and Company if they weren't such craven pussies. I mean if they truly do secretly hate Trump, then they have to acknowledge their own cowardice in the face of those who do stand up to him. So I imagine there is a fair amount of envy as well.
Pussies are fucking tough. Pussies have flexibility, warmth and depth. If half the world knew what pussies go through and still fucking do their job, well, it’d be a better place.
Damn right! These fucks are cowards, but too many forget that, or maybe they are just as cowardly as the magas. It makes those who obey in advance, or at the first demand for a bribe, even more pathetic than they already look.
I'm keeping track of who the worst of them are (in Congress), and I won't vote for them. As for Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, they're crossed of my list as well. We elect these people to work for us, and so many of them aren't doing their jobs but have adopted a bunker mentality.
I know! Totally afraid of everything. So afraid they are burning it all down, my rights, their own rights, the whole democracy, everything. It’s hard to sip my drink and not glare at them at family gatherings. It’s hard… they are despicable people, and also some are our family that are scared, mentally shaky creatures that should be pitied and need compassion. It’s very, very hard to show compassion to people that show none to others, and are collectively doing actual damage to society.
Good points all, but I'd dispute that the right-wing bully/fascist/authoritarian mindset arises from fear PLUS hatred. Consistent with your main premise, it's mostly just fear, which then manifests as hostility.
Look carefully at anger, and you'll almost always find fear or shame at the root ... fear of the unknown, as you say, or of not being in control, or shame over self-perceived weakness or past failures.
This might steer us towards a bit more compassion for the rank-and-file whose fears are played upon by the Orange Turd and his handlers. They're vulnerable to being manipulated. They're sheep. Less so the GOP "leaders", who should have the intestinal fortitude to marshall some courage.
And as for the fascist manipulators themselves, yes, they're pathetic, too ... but they're too dangerous to be shown mercy. I say it without fear or anger, but I say it nonetheless: Damn them to hell.
Excellent article! You speak the truth! I'm already paying Wonkette as a founding member (?or something) but I would give five dollars more a month if Rebecca would quit running her photograph every time I check in.
I agree!! There comes a point where I no longer care! The whining and bitterness is the only thing they’ve got and I’ve seen and heard it all!!! Nothing could make me help or care about this weeks stories! Vance makes them up from whole cloth and trump can’t tell the truth if it bit him in the ass!!
I appreciate the connection and real discussion of emotions/affect to politics. Part of why I cited you in my latest newsletter. [admitted: soft self-promotion; promise not to make a regular thing of it.] But seriously, important to connect the individual, emotional, very *human* feelings of fear, etc. to how it becomes enacted. Lecture over. Keep up the good work.
To illustrate your point: My hubby and I have been to three TeslaTakedowns at the biggest Tesla dealership in Illinois. The actual dealership is many yards away from the protesters, with a huge parking lot between it and us; we stand on one or both sides of the four-lane boulevard in front of the place. The first protest we attended had 80-90 attendees; the second, over 200. The third happened on April 5, the Hands Off! day, so our numbers at the Tesla dealership were vastly reduced; there were only about 12 of us that day. (Pretty sure tomorrow will see a much bigger crowd.) All of the protests have seen a lot of supportive honking and waving from passing motorists, along with some middle fingers (far fewer of those).
Only once has a MAGAnaut really taken time to give the protestors trouble. This guy stopped his truck IN THE ROAD, got out, and started haranguing people, accusing Joe and Hunter (??) Biden of wrecking the economy, being pedophiles, etc. 🤦🏼♀️ Can you guess which protest this guy graced with his presence? Was it the one with 80-90 people? Nope. The one with 200+ people? Nope. The one with only a dozen protesters? Ding ding ding!!! The difference? There were far fewer nasty Communist Socialist Fascist Lefty snowflakes for him to deal with on that day.
Was this a coincidence? I think not. I think it was an illustration of what I have long suspected: that -- while the January 6 types definitely do exist, and can be dangerous -- the vast majority of Trump worshipers are just as cowardly and full of crap as their heathen idol. When they are significantly outnumbered, most of them apparently tend to think twice. The more the rest of us bear that in mind, the better our mental and emotional health will be.
This aggression will not stand, man. The Resistance abides.
The epitome of this is the 2A enthusiast who can’t go to the grocery store unless they’re covered in their tacticool camo, sunglasses and body armor and strapped up, a Glock on their hip and an AR-15 slung over their shoulder. I always wonder why they’re so afraid. Thankfully, those sightings are rare where I live.
Well, if you don't think the Trump goons terrorize people who speak out, look at Dr. Anthony Fauci and how they ruined his reputation. And he and his wife have to live under heavy security and employ bodyguards. Fauci has saved countless lives over the decades he served the public but the morons who think he was responsible for creating covid believe it because of guess who - Donald Trump.
If that Nazi collaborator moved next door to me....I wouldn't spend one more night in my house. And now, he found someone with whom to reproduce??
I hate what happened to Laken Riley. Who wouldn't? But my response is: Richard Speck. Native born white American. Who remembers the names of the EIGHT student nurses who died at his hands?
Exactly. As I was saying in a post a couple weeks ago, they want us to believe the common denominator here is that these people were murdered by immigrants. So they scream the victims' names, like I said, in the context of ANY conversation about immigrants. It's really sick stuff.
Or Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, the Boston Strangler, etc. Not to mention the school mass shooters. All of them white males.
All those are true. I use Speck because his victims were nursing students, like Ms. Riley.
Ted Bundy native born white american: 30 people
Gary Ridgeway native born white american : 55 people
The list goes on and on...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_in_the_United_States
Other countries look at us like we are fucking insane. We fill houses with enough firepower to outfit a regiment and shoot through door if somebody knocks. Or pulls into our driveway. Or shoot themselves when the fear wins.
Serial killers and just random murderers strike with impunity despite this. Or is it because of this?
In the interest of equal time for the wide world of psychos here's another wiki. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_country
As I said, I mention Richard Speck because his victims were all nursing students, as was Laken Riley.
Or Clint Lorance, the disgraced soldier who murdered 2 innocent Afghan civilians and who Trump pardoned. I guess Sean Hannity was behind it, and that it was actually OK because those dead human beings were just Muslims and didn't matter. When white people are murdered by non-whites, it's a different situation from when it's the other way around.
And Robert Bales: https://taskandpurpose.com/opinion/robert-bales-pardon-op-ed/#!
Incredibly, there was a concerted effort by Republicans to persuade Trump to pardon this monster.
And Eddie Gallagher, that POS. I bet his men now wish they had fragged him when they had the chance.
There was a time when I would be shocked by their effort.
Trump's transactional behavior has spread to the entire GOP. If Trump or any Republican gets a big donation and an appreciable amount of flattery, they'll grant your "boon."
Or the victims of most mass shootings in this country?
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” - Frédéric Bastiat
Very good. I'm an old woman who's been volunteering at the local penitentiary for the last 15 years. I've found that the best way to tell a liberal from a MAGA is to say that and wait for the reaction:
Liberal - That's really cool. Tell me more about it.
MAGA - Aren't you afraid? Do you have protection when you're there? Do you go in armed?
Sums it up.
Yep. I'm old(ish), too, and volunteer at a food panty/free cafe/small male-only homeless shelter complex.. Guess which one of these the MAGAs freak out about? Got it.
Nodding head to you, shaking head at MAGA...
Appreciating Evan's thoughtfulness, as always.
It's funny how fear works. People of color have many fears--for legitimate reasons--but those fears don't generally make us hateful or politically conservative. It's a totally different dynamic, probably because our fear isn't based on the central "terror" of losing racial supremacy.
YES.
And definitely something to explore more, legitimate fear and what people do with it vs. what mostly white MAGA does with theirs.
And it has to be extra infuriating for them to see people like AOC and Jasmine Crockett standing up to the orange motherfucker that republicans are so terrified of. The things that they wish they could say to Trump and Company if they weren't such craven pussies. I mean if they truly do secretly hate Trump, then they have to acknowledge their own cowardice in the face of those who do stand up to him. So I imagine there is a fair amount of envy as well.
I wish they were pussies.
Pussies are fucking tough. Pussies have flexibility, warmth and depth. If half the world knew what pussies go through and still fucking do their job, well, it’d be a better place.
true that!
And Bernie, who is a national treasure.
Yes!!!
I really enjoyed this piece. Clever. Thank you. Will upgrade to pay.
Thank you!
𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑀𝐴𝐺𝐴 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒. 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒’𝑠 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟.
𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑡.
Damn right! These fucks are cowards, but too many forget that, or maybe they are just as cowardly as the magas. It makes those who obey in advance, or at the first demand for a bribe, even more pathetic than they already look.
I'm keeping track of who the worst of them are (in Congress), and I won't vote for them. As for Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, they're crossed of my list as well. We elect these people to work for us, and so many of them aren't doing their jobs but have adopted a bunker mentality.
I know! Totally afraid of everything. So afraid they are burning it all down, my rights, their own rights, the whole democracy, everything. It’s hard to sip my drink and not glare at them at family gatherings. It’s hard… they are despicable people, and also some are our family that are scared, mentally shaky creatures that should be pitied and need compassion. It’s very, very hard to show compassion to people that show none to others, and are collectively doing actual damage to society.
Cowards all? Well that explains their obsessions with guns. Cowards with guns are a huge problem for the rest of us.
Good points all, but I'd dispute that the right-wing bully/fascist/authoritarian mindset arises from fear PLUS hatred. Consistent with your main premise, it's mostly just fear, which then manifests as hostility.
Look carefully at anger, and you'll almost always find fear or shame at the root ... fear of the unknown, as you say, or of not being in control, or shame over self-perceived weakness or past failures.
This might steer us towards a bit more compassion for the rank-and-file whose fears are played upon by the Orange Turd and his handlers. They're vulnerable to being manipulated. They're sheep. Less so the GOP "leaders", who should have the intestinal fortitude to marshall some courage.
And as for the fascist manipulators themselves, yes, they're pathetic, too ... but they're too dangerous to be shown mercy. I say it without fear or anger, but I say it nonetheless: Damn them to hell.
Fear breeds hate.
Excellent article! You speak the truth! I'm already paying Wonkette as a founding member (?or something) but I would give five dollars more a month if Rebecca would quit running her photograph every time I check in.
Fear US. Fear Evan and me and Jennifer and Bernie and AOC.
Fear US, Joni Ernst, not those sniveling MAGAts
Fear US. We've had just about enough of you.
Fear US.
I agree!! There comes a point where I no longer care! The whining and bitterness is the only thing they’ve got and I’ve seen and heard it all!!! Nothing could make me help or care about this weeks stories! Vance makes them up from whole cloth and trump can’t tell the truth if it bit him in the ass!!
Damn right!
I appreciate the connection and real discussion of emotions/affect to politics. Part of why I cited you in my latest newsletter. [admitted: soft self-promotion; promise not to make a regular thing of it.] But seriously, important to connect the individual, emotional, very *human* feelings of fear, etc. to how it becomes enacted. Lecture over. Keep up the good work.
Then they came for the judges
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/breaking/2025/04/25/milwaukee-county-judge-hannah-dugan-arrested-by-feds-at-courthouse/83270885007/
Who's next?
I am absolutely petrified by this. It feels like the next step.
Spot on, Evan.
To illustrate your point: My hubby and I have been to three TeslaTakedowns at the biggest Tesla dealership in Illinois. The actual dealership is many yards away from the protesters, with a huge parking lot between it and us; we stand on one or both sides of the four-lane boulevard in front of the place. The first protest we attended had 80-90 attendees; the second, over 200. The third happened on April 5, the Hands Off! day, so our numbers at the Tesla dealership were vastly reduced; there were only about 12 of us that day. (Pretty sure tomorrow will see a much bigger crowd.) All of the protests have seen a lot of supportive honking and waving from passing motorists, along with some middle fingers (far fewer of those).
Only once has a MAGAnaut really taken time to give the protestors trouble. This guy stopped his truck IN THE ROAD, got out, and started haranguing people, accusing Joe and Hunter (??) Biden of wrecking the economy, being pedophiles, etc. 🤦🏼♀️ Can you guess which protest this guy graced with his presence? Was it the one with 80-90 people? Nope. The one with 200+ people? Nope. The one with only a dozen protesters? Ding ding ding!!! The difference? There were far fewer nasty Communist Socialist Fascist Lefty snowflakes for him to deal with on that day.
Was this a coincidence? I think not. I think it was an illustration of what I have long suspected: that -- while the January 6 types definitely do exist, and can be dangerous -- the vast majority of Trump worshipers are just as cowardly and full of crap as their heathen idol. When they are significantly outnumbered, most of them apparently tend to think twice. The more the rest of us bear that in mind, the better our mental and emotional health will be.
This aggression will not stand, man. The Resistance abides.
The epitome of this is the 2A enthusiast who can’t go to the grocery store unless they’re covered in their tacticool camo, sunglasses and body armor and strapped up, a Glock on their hip and an AR-15 slung over their shoulder. I always wonder why they’re so afraid. Thankfully, those sightings are rare where I live.
Well, if you don't think the Trump goons terrorize people who speak out, look at Dr. Anthony Fauci and how they ruined his reputation. And he and his wife have to live under heavy security and employ bodyguards. Fauci has saved countless lives over the decades he served the public but the morons who think he was responsible for creating covid believe it because of guess who - Donald Trump.