It is disgusting that Democrats in Congress would wear AR-15 pins following an attempt on Donald Trump's life with an AR-15.
Oops, no, I got that wrong. These are the AR-15 pins worn by GOP members of Congress after schoolchildren were gunned down in yet another school shooting using an AR-15.
> just don't see why anyone would want that particular weapon, if it's not to shoot humans. And that's not legal?
Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people and was acquitted. Shooting people is absolutely legal if you're white and the people you are shooting are black/brown/gay/trans/left-leaning/uppity.
@nemorosa @augieray I am absolutely _not_ defending assault rifles or advocating for private assault rifle ownership.
I'm just pointing out
a) that, while the overwhelming majority of oxygen expended in the "culture conflict" about firearm ownership is about automatic rifles, if we really want to save lives, handguns should go _too_
b) that the (very reasonable) "they're only for killing people" argument applies equally to handguns, so let's fucking ban them, too.
@d2718 @augieray I'm all for banning stuff that has only one purpose; to harm others.
I am truly worried that the US will tear itself apart. From this side of the Atlantic it sounds like the country is just about ready to rip itself apart. The rhetoric is violent, the speeches spiteful, the headlines fearful. The repercussions will be enormous, imagine what Putin would do if he didn't have to worry about the US?
From here, it looks terrifying...
@nemorosa @augieray I am not so much worried about (unlikely) "civil war" violence so much as (much more likely) state-sanctioned oppressive violence if a combination of the rabid right-wing "culture war" propaganda machine and hand-wringing "both-sides"ing "centrists"* deliver the presidency to Trump and Project 2025.
*My opinion is that these are largely racists or greedy affluent people who are attempting to hide their revolting complicity under some sort of veneer of "reasonableness".
> There are crazies on both sides (more on one than the other)
Yeah, but the crazies on the left mostly want to guillotine the few billionaires who are suffocating the country (and destroying the environment) for the sake of...amassing an even higher "Capitalism Score", I guess.
The crazies on the right want to shoot queers, browns, muslims, teachers, anyone who suggests they might alter their behavior for the public good, and friends of/advocates for said groups.
If the left stays (sufficiently) in power, our "justice system" should still function effectively enough to blunt any large-scale organized "insurgency". If they don't, the state will end up doing the right's dirty work, and the crazies won't need to "civil war". I'm sure there will still be plenty of sanctioned extrajudicial violence though. It'll be fucking terrible.
@d2718 @augieray I'm not going to argue, but I know Sweden usually copies what the US does, only a few years later. Like a wanna-be 51:nd state or something 😛
If a country could stalk another country, we'd be your stalkers 🙂
Edit: But a really dumb one, as we keep stealing all your worst ideas, for some reason.
Augie Ray
Annica 🇸🇪
{ id: d2718, ok: 🇵🇸🌈🏳️⚧️🇺🇦 }