Max Kennerly
You'd think the burden of persuasion would fall on the person who deployed violence first, indeed the only person to deploy violence—but oh no, say the conservatives, it's actually up to the non-violent victim to prove the hypothetical negative that they wouldn't have been violent.
May 15, 2023 at 3:52amWeb
Show threadMiles Offit... 🇨🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦May 15, 2023
@maxkennerly Not sure what is more insane - the positions "conservatives" have taken in the last two decades, or our willingness to stand by while corporate America (news/media, big tech, *and* the advertising dollars from every other industry that funds them) helps them fry as many brains as they need to in order to get away with it.
Show threadBrian R. Sala 🍻May 15, 2023

@maxkennerly

The "stand your ground" defense.

Show threadRobert Jan SchuttenMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly Conservatives are embracing insanity.
Show threadSasyecatMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly "We can't know for certain, and that lack of certainty creates conditions for violence."
Like flooding the country with guns?
Show threadgeekwonkMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly very very cool of the Times to present murderous sociopathy as just another opinion that you must consider if you wish to be a Serious Person
Show threadSteve WilliamsMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly @glennf
Goebbels would have been proud of that. Utterly shameful.
Show threadJerameeMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly
The NYT editors should know better, as should French. The standard is a reasonable belief of imminent harm. French isn't advocating a conservative view. This scapegoating of the weak party is typical of fascism. For a man of wealth and privilege to advocate this cruelty is perverse. This is why cancel culture is needed.
Show threadbenaggieMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly French may be conservative but he doesn’t speak FOR conservatives. The Republicans hate him too. He is hated by both sides of the political spectrum because doesn’t speak for either of them.He gives thoughts and opinions on a case by case basis that make him a target of people like you and the side you hate that things are black and white.They are not. Life, politics and everything in between are nuanced and you’re just as bad as the other side if you don’t believe that
Show threadbenaggieMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly and on that note, Conservative doesn’t mean Republican, especially over the past 8-9 years. A lot of conservatives I know, including my parents have not claimed the Republican Party in years because they don’t represent their ideals and values anymore. Right wing populism represents the Republican Party more than conservatism does. That populism is much closer to fascism than regular conservatism.
Show threadbenaggieMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly So when you use Republican and conservative interchangeably you do a great disservice not only to those conservative minded people who have differing opinions but still hold democratic values but to those on the other side who don’t know the difference and think conservative=Republican or conservative=Trump voter.You’re teaching people to not think any further than their first reaction and as I have stated that is just as dangerous as fascism.Other side of the same coin
Show threadMax KennerlyMay 15, 2023
@benaggie Bullshit. David French is exactly the sort of conservative person you claim to be talking about and he's condoning murder.
Show threadbenaggieMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly you’re basing that off a differing opinion of one incident? I don’t even necessarily agree with him here. But the point is he analyzed a situation based on the facts available to him, and gave an “opinion” (key word there) and you say he’s a fascist. Do you not see that’s just as bad as every right wing populist trump cult member calling every democrat a “leftist”? It is reactionary and impulsive to reduce a man’s entire identity to an opinion you disagree with.
Show threadbenaggieMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly and if here were “that” kind of conservative than all of the insane Trump followers wouldn’t be sending him death threats and doxing his wife and family. They would be claiming him like Matt Gaetz, MTG, etc. But they don’t. Because he isn’t like them. You really ought to research the man you’re insulting more because you’re just as bad as them when you don’t.
Show threadbenaggieMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly the entire culture on both sides of ad hominem attack because on differing opinions is why we’re at where we are today. It’s not ok when Trump does it, so realize when you do it too you are not any better than the culture he wrought.
Show threadk cavaliereMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly I've said it elsewhere: the NY subways and subway cars are not secure and not safe. It's a setup for tragedies. Put simply, you're on your own once you enter the subways. Neely, sadly, should not have needed to beg for help down there. Why wasn't help available above ground?
Show threadPinkeriteMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly - I assume David A French has never taken the subway since "lack of certainty" happens all the time there.
Show threadTransitBikerMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly thought crime
Show threadZeb LarsonMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly followed to its logical extreme, every encounter has the potential to end in violence. It’s a fascinating window into the conservative mind, albeit a disturbing one.
Show threadTrashkittenDeluxeMay 15, 2023
@maxkennerly Once again, black people, homeless people, and visibly neurodivergent people, are considered threats for merely existing.