Fnord

This is a mirror image of why I have a problem with religious zealots.

Why would he feel compelled to do it when you won't? We're all carrying some level of responsibility for treating each other like crap.

To me, evil is a spectrum. Everyone is on it, since everyone has committed some kind of evil deed. Whether it be punching another kid on the schoolyard, IRL or cyber bullying, adultery, assault, murder, etc. It exists independent of mental illness, but often the two are intertwined, especially when it comes to the commission of evil acts. If the spectrum is 1-100, most normal folks are under 20. We've done bad, sometimes horrible things, but often those acts were not born from pure malice. They were reactions to perceived wrongs, or doing something without thinking before realizing you shouldn't have. Your average street thug that's stolen, possibly committed some violent felonies but not murder, I'd put at around 50. People that are willing to commit murder for ideological purposes are 90+. I would argue that someone stealing money from a pension fund, ruining the financial stability of many others, would come close to equating with murder. Let's put them at around 80. Even these people are often not defined by the evil that they put into the world. They still have loved ones, or kids, and have brought at least some goodness to others. Nobody is the villain of their own story, right?

Never agreed with you more.

Don't be casting stones here, mate. You're not wrong about Tim (and me) sharing in some responsibility for the rhetoric. But let's not pretend you are not equally culpable. You say as much, (or probably more) degrading, mean-spirited things about libs/dems than either of us do about conservatives. We're owning our roles in this. You should do the same.

That's cool. I was in NYC for a week in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 working for a news org. Easily the most intense week of work I'll ever be part of. Lots of things stick out to me thinking about it, but one of them will always stay close to my heart: I think it was Saturday 9/15 and the weather was beautiful so a lot of people came to lower Manhattan to observe the scene. Throngs of people in the streets, respectfully staying behind barricades, many there hoping for news about a loved one that was missing. At some point, a few dozen firefighters came walking down the street from ground zero; these were the guys that had likely just spent 12+ hours trying to dig for survivors. They looked like hell; filthy, exhausted, shoulders hunched. The crowd went absolutely nuts. Cheers, whistles, tears, chants, well wishes. Every one of those guys had lost friends and brothers in the attack. And there we were, showing them how much their continued efforts meant to us. It was a great, all-too-brief period of American unity. I miss that feeling.

Thanks. Worth watching.

I can't see it either. Who was speaking? I'd like to see it

I'm a BOSS. I can't say for certain, not being involved in this sort of debauchery, but I think the last thing I'd wanna do as a BOSS is have a subordinate type up a lewd letter potentially implicating myself with felonious pedophilia. I bet you were real popular with your female staff.

Sure thing. Yesterday hit me hard. Maybe because I made the mistake of watching the up close video, IDK. Political violence makes me focking sick, and to see so many people on the left react with glee, followed by those on the right calling for more violence... I was shaking at one point and close to vomiting a couple times, which is the first time I've had a reaction like that to an event since 9/11. Individuals must make the decision for themselves to understand political differences are just that. Differences. Not blood feuds. Not good v. evil. We cannot dehumanize each other. We are all Americans. We disagree about a lot. But we're in this together, and we'll sink or swim together, too.

I didn't know a lot about Kirk other than the basic stuff until yesterday. Dude was impressive. I disagreed with much of what he said, but here was a guy that was engaging in calm debate, in public, to espouse his political views. He willingly debated people that disagreed with him. He said some fiery things, but did not encourage violence. He was beloved by teens and college students. What he accomplished was remarkable. He was a highly intelligent, motivated young man with a wife and two young children. He did it the right way. These things should be in the forefront of our thoughts when expressing anger over his murder.

He made a single nasty post about libs this afternoon in the Kirk thread.

Not sure about the social engineering bit, but in principle I agree with you while pointing out that homogenous, high trust communities come in many forms.

That legit made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

FuckinA. Also cuz now's not the time to hate on each other.

SMH Be better

Understandable that you're pissed. But this isn't going to help. I hope you're just venting here.

They have a person of interest in custody.

Utah gov. Cox made some powerful statements. Looked near tears. Worth a watch.

That's what I'm seeing.

Press conference on News Nation now

Sorry if any of them were mine. Thanks to @supermike80 I'm feeling calmer now. What a shitty day.

Enough. Now is not the time for this trash. A man with wife and kids was just murdered in cold blood, likely due to his politics. This is just focking gross.

Looks like someone was initially taken into custody, but it was later announced he was not the perp. I guess they're still on the loose. I hope they don't off themselves. Too easy.

I think he is. Someone posted a video