No one in the history of America has normalized political violence more than Donald J Trump.

@1 He literally campaigned on it.

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible." -Donald Trump

"Christopher Rufo, a right-wing influencer who lives in Gig Harbor and popularized critical race theory"

Rufo didn't popularize Critical Race Theory. He popularized CRITICIZING Critical Race Theory. Get it right.

Since you mentioned it, Critical Race Theory claims that it is impossible for black people to be racist towards white people, because of the concocted Progressive cult mantra that "racism = prejudice + power", and that white people have all the power and black people have no power.

When Decarlos Brown Jr. stabbed Iryna Zarutska to death on that train in Charlotte NC, and walked away saying "I got that white girl, I got that white girl", he was OBVIOUSLY TOTALLY POWERLESS.

Bloquons Tout (“Block Everything”):
Does this include medical facilities that offer transgender care?

Decarlos Brown Jr. dismantled Iryna Zarutska's White Privilege, and Abolished her Whiteness, so that's a win for the proponents of Critical Race Theory.

"Kirk said that the Second Amendment was 'worth' some gun deaths"

Gotta respect a guy who practices what he preaches lol

Fuck Candlebox, once upon a time they had Tasty Gore kicked out of their studio space, so they could have it. Roger Daltrey's living corpse can rape Candlebox for all I care.

Pretty good summation of the Kirk assassination over all. Nancy Mace being caught in a logic trap like that was morbidly enjoyable and some gosh darn good journalism by the reporter who posed the question.

@7 - I hope that someone like Decarlos Brown Jr. dismantles your White Privilege and Abolishes your Whiteness

@4 Actually, the specific definition of racism in the CRT movement's bible of sorts, "Critical Race Theory: An Introduction" by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, is as follows: "Any program or practice of discrimination, segregation, persecution, or mistreatment based on membership in a race or ethnic group." Nowhere in the entire book does it make the claim that it's "impossible" for Black people (or anyone else) to be racist -- or that power is a prerequisite element of racism.

@9 Yesterday was the chance to wish upon a falling (fascist) star, so you're a little late. I'll cross my fingers for you to get another chance, champ.

@10 - Patricia Bidol-Padva is who originally concocted the "racism = prejudice + power" cult mantra nonsense NewSpeak "definition" of "racism", in 1970, claiming blacks can't be racist to whites because of some nebulous "power" differential. She's the literal start of all that bullshit.

Don't try to dispute that CRT, at its core, holds the belief that blacks can't be racist towards whites, because you are simply wrong.

Also, she's as astonishingly ugly as any sensible person would expect her to be:

https://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/bidolpad.cfm

@4 The entire premise of CRT is that racism is not merely individual prejudice but is actually systemic and institutional so you bringing up a black individual killing a white lady has absolutely nothing to do with CRT. Congratulations.

@12 Also, does your user name mean that you molest 2 kids at once or that you molest both girls and boys equally? Just curious.

https://www.patriciarobertsmiller.com/2025/08/07/the-binary-continuum-of-left-v-right-assumes-whats-at-stake/

@12 - I don't respond to naive idiots who believe that it's impossible for blacks to be racist towards whites (you literally posted such nonsense the other day), except to say that I don't respond to naive idiots who believe that it's impossible for blacks to be racist towards whites .

Oops I meant @ 14 lol
I don't respond to naive idiots who believe that it's impossible for blacks to be racist towards whites

Typical republicans, always chomping at the bit to start a pointless war.

OBAMAAAAAAA

But muh blacks, boo hoo hoo, I jus wan muh cuntry BAAAAAAAAAA

This is a well written post!

@12 A lot of things were said in 1970 on both the left and the right that haven't aged particularly well. Resurrecting that one long-ago quote as the left's prevalent working definition of racism in 2025 is, to put it mildly, a stretch.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/seattle-killing-of-qanon-follower-was-self-defense-prosecutor-finds/

The family claims that even when staring down the barrel of a gun, the self-defense shooter should have been able to deescalate. What says The Stranger, or do they just do "radio silence" when gun violence saves the innocent?

@21 - @21 - "Resurrecting that one long-ago quote as the left's prevalent working definition of racism in 2025 is, to put it mildly, a stretch."

No it isn't a stretch at all. In fact, the stereotypical goofy naive white Seattle Progressive, tbass1981, shat out that same nonsense just a few days ago. Many Seattle "progressives" believe in that cult bullshit (it's the second #3 comment because The Stranger's website fucked up):

https://www.thestranger.com/slog-am/2025/09/08/80232222/slog-am-harrell-cosplays-as-a-progressive-trump-says-hes-not-declaring-war-on-chicago-and-it-finally-rained/comments/3

"@1 The definition of racism literally means you can't be racist against white people. "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized."

Minority or marginalized. White people are neither in our country. No matter how many pearls you try to clutch." - tbass1981 on September 8, 2025 at 10:17 AM

Checkmate

@23. Where muh flaver dip an' 240oz bucket of Pibb Xtra!?
Oooooo hoooooo hooooooo

"In fact, the stereotypical goofy naive white Seattle Progressive, tbass1981"

If tbass1981 isn't actually white, they have my condolences. I don't want to mis-racialize anybody

Before we went woke we was WIDE AWAKE

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Awakes

Altaian Tongan

The old rebel in me kind of wishes that the MAGA nuts who so desperately want to wage war on us commie pinko lefties to give it a go. They can hardly govern and despite the events of yesterday still think they're invincible. I've never really been afraid of them because bigots--which they all are--by nature, are morons. The FO part of the FAFO equation would be something to see.

The rational part of me says the real answer is to start voting in people with a spine who will stand up to MAGA bullying (and that's all it is, bullying). Seeing Democrats win recent special elections in places Republicans have owned is a spoiler for how the mid-term elections will go for Trump (read: horribly--even if he cheats).

I feel horribly for Charlie Kirk's widow and his children--nobody deserves that. But that's about the extent of my empathy to Charlie Kirk, who was unequivocally a bad guy, and that's as far as I extend empathy to bad guys. The real tragedy is that so many young (white) men looked up to such an obvious bigot as a hero, as someone to be admired.

@23 You're overlooking (deliberately, I suspect) the word "typically" in that definition, which means "usually, but not necessarily always." Yes, members of any race can, in this formulation, be racist. The Stranger commenter you quote was incorrect to claim otherwise. But aside from the white-supremacist Black MAGA faction, Black racism just isn't very common. It's a disease that overwhelmingly afflicts the melanin-deficient.

@30: You can't control who thinks who is a hero. That's life. That's not the tragedy. The real tragedy is being so intolerant of adversarial views that culminates in a killing.

@32 Yep, it's a real tragedy that Kirk held such intolerant views.

He was a hateful jackass full of his own importance who was entirely willing to sacrifice other people's lives for his own ideology. What goes around comes around.

Sorry, but I can't sit down and talk with someone whose opening position is that members of my family are somewhere between mentally ill and an abomination. He ceded the presumption of discussing in good faith many years ago.

@30 - "They can hardly govern"

LOL is Bob Ferguson your "governor"? Do you live in Seattle under the government of the Seattle Shitty Clowncil? Have the Demoncraps goverened Washington State for decades?

It's not that I think Kirk deserved to die; I am honoring his ethos by viewing his death as worth the price of freedom and muting my empathy. I'm just doing what he told me to do, why does that upset you? It's the greatest honor!

@31 - "Black racism just isn't very common. It's a disease that overwhelmingly afflicts the melanin-deficient."

It would have been a lot easier and more accurate to write "I'm naive and am never around groups of black people".

"Black racism just isn't very common. It's a disease that overwhelmingly afflicts the melanin-deficient."

You obviously don't spend any time around Indian (from India) people either. North Indians absolutely hate South Indians, and South Indians absolutely hate North Indians, and it's entirely racial. Grow up and quit being so twee and naive.

He didn’t deserve to die but we don’t have to whitewash his beliefs as nothing more than “adversarial views” just because the guy is dead.

Can anyone explain why The Stranger consents to advertise for David Sedaris? Don't misunderstand me, I love him. However, he's interviewed with Bari Weiss a few times, and I find it interesting that there has been no outrage over this. He's been consorting with the enemy, and I'm surprised he hasn't been taken to task for that.

@38: He didn't deserve to die. No comma but, just period.

@35: Makes sense.

@41, what comes after the but is for you, sweetie. I am not making excuses for his death, I am telling you to shove it.

Or maybe not (@35) CDizzle makes me dizzy.

@43: This is not a time for impertinence.

45 is that why you’re channeling phoebe today instead of coolidge

Jacques bloqué!

@41 clearly it was God’s will

@48: Clearly he is with God now.

Troll @37...
Did you ever try those blogs I told you about the other day?
In case you missed it, they were Pharyngula and Daily Kos.
Please go troll them and report back your results. After that, I have more "targets" for you. I look forward to hearing about your experience with sites that actively moderate.

@33
Me thinks doth project too much

@41, thank you

@50 - why should I waste my time? It's more fun pouring sand into your vadge here anyway.

@50 - are you disputing what I wrote in #37? Do you think most North and South Indians just totally luv each other?
Wow talk about naive!

@50 - wait til you find out what most Indians, north or south, think about black people! You're in for a really rude surprise.

@52: You're welcome. TY!

"Lauren Boebert said “silent prayers get silent results” (classic Protestant behavior)"

Vivian dear, you sound like my late Irish Catholic Mother. She was delightfully catty about Protestants :-)

As for Kirk, I feel awful about the US experiencing yet another political assassination. Or at least that's what it looks like. But I have no problem reading his obituary. I do wish people would shut up about him. Just bury him and move on. There's no need for canonization. He was a horrible person. His last words were about the "spectre" of trans people committing mass shootings.

And do you know how he became a conservative celebrity? He was not admitted into West Point, and he made a career out of it. Typical Republican - unable to take personal responsibility, always being the victim.

57: "There's no need for canonization." - Agreed.
"He was horrible person." -There's no need for vitriol.

@4 -- You obviously know nothing about the subject. Critical Race Theory is an obscure conceptual framework that was debated in academia until people like Rufo decided to create a new boogey-man for the right. It is similar to the "deep state" idea but more pervasive. Rufo (like @4) described his strategy to oppose critical race theory as intentionally using the term to conflate various race-related ideas in order to create a negative association. Rufo said that "[w]e will eventually turn [critical race theory] toxic, as we put all of the 'various cultural insanities' under that brand category. The goal is to have the public read something 'crazy' in the newspaper and immediately think 'critical race theory'.

Now, of course, the right wing focuses on the idea of being "Woke" instead. This is a much more powerful attack as ordinary people on the left (not academics) have used the phrase since the 1930s to mean "awareness of racial prejudice and discrimination" . Thus they seek to conflate a reasonable shorthand for something most people support to something negative. It is also quite possible that many of those who criticize "wokeness" are just racist fucks and would rather use that phrase instead of openly expressing support for the KKK (or other white terrorist organizations).

Note: You can find footnotes for all of these ideas on Wikipedia.

Au contraire, Coolidge dear. He was a completely wretched person. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. A bag of diarrhea and raw milk that had been left in the Arizona sun and reconstituted with the contents of Nancy Mace's douche bag.

I'm sorry he was assassinated, mostly because now he's a martyr for malignant morons, but I'm not sorry he's gone.

I kind of would rather go back to the days of ahab and tenny incessantly stanning for IDF and bringing up Kshama out of nowhere than deal with this asshat Biped

"...bringing up Kshama out of nowhere..."

Yeah, the way we talk, you might think she's a Trump supporter with the audacity to ask for votes in Seattle.

(Wait, what?!?)

@61 - too bad, so sad

from the Chris Hedges Report:

The Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk

The assassination of Charlie Kirk presages a new, deadly stage
in the disintegration of a fractious and
highly polarized United States.

While toxic rhetoric and threats are lobbed across cultural divides
like hand grenades, sometimes spilling over into actual violence —
including the murder of Minnesota House of Representatives
Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband and the
two assassination attempts against Donald Trump — Kirk’s
killing is a harbinger of full-scale social disintegration.

His murder has given the movement he represented
— grounded in Christian nationalism — a martyr.
Martyrs are the lifeblood of violent movements.

Any flinching over the use of violence, any talk
of compassion or understanding, any effort to
mediate or discuss, is a betrayal of the martyr
and the cause the martyr died defending.

Martyrs sacralize violence.

They are used to turn the moral order upside down.

Depravity becomes morality.
Atrocities become heroism.
Crime becomes justice.
Hate becomes virtue.

Greed and nepotism become civic virtues.

Murder becomes good.
War is the final aesthetic.

This is what is coming.

--by Chris Hedges
September 11, 2025

oodles:
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-martyrdom-of-charlie-kirk

@41,

This notion of yours that we should't be discussing the impact a man had on society in the wake of his death is idiotic. Would it somehow be preferable if we didn't mention the fact that "He didn't deserve to be shot" at all, and instead just discussed the fact that he was a nightmare of a person who vociferously advocated repugnant positions that made society demonstratively and objectively worse? How much time has to pass before his legacy can be discussed?

KKKirkkk's
in Heaven now
swappin' Stories
w/Republican "Jesus"
Preppin' for some Crusades

where we make GOD

(and thedjt)

Rulers of the (known) Universe
and (Rich!) White Men
Kings to rule their
Fiefdoms from
NOW until
Kingdom
Cum and
women-
folk'll
be

Property
just like God
Originally Intended

and all Else?

Servants.
or Slaves.

Depending on.

@20: "This is a well written post!"

Agree 100%. This is one of the best Slog AM posts in a long time. The recap and flow make for amazing reading.

@65: I'm not precluding discussion by promoting civility.

@68,

Bullshit. Your post @41 explicitly tells barth to exclude the portion of his post wherein he comments on Kirk's legacy!

@69: All I said was "He didn't deserve to die" is a sentence that can stand by itself. To follow with a "but" clause makes it should like you're providing an excuse. Better to start a new sentence instead. Does such a grace bother you?

makes it sound like you're providing an excuse.

@67 Color me likewise impressed that the author had the sound editorial judgment to omit the frequently employed but unnecessary hyphen between "well" and "written" -- and the self-discipline to stop at one exclamation point rather than indulge in the current popular custom of three. This specimen truly represents the craft of writing at its absolute pinnacle. The rest of us are hardly worthy to appear on the same page with such a prodigious talent.

@70,

He didn't deserve to die. You're a colossal fucking idiot.

@60 +1 million, standing ovation for Mrs. Vel-DuRay

Troll @53...
You asked me for other sites you could troll that I think you would be bounced from immediately. Now it's not worth your time?
Did you fail at trolling? Or are you just a chickenshit? That Venn diagram might be a circle.

Stay here in your safe little pond, my little guppy.
People will just whisper "Oh, he's always been that way".

@73: Now that we got that settled, don't go off and pout. We'd like to hear what you thought of Charlie Kirk.

@76 Phoebes...
It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of him, no one deserves to die that way.

To the commentators celebrating the death of Mr. Kirk, hearty commendations for having the tactical wisdom of doing so in anonymity. Apparently, when your sentiments are matched with your actual identity in gainful employment, that status seems to suffer...in 2 hour increments.

Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps you are safely ensconced in your sinecure with this current nugget of wisdom. Do share where you are employed and how universally shared the sentiment is.

Readers would find your testimonials not only edifying but reassuring....

@22 All sensible people support the use of firearms for community defense in cases like this, or as in the case of Charlie Kirk. I am so glad that Trump has put completely incompetent people in charge of the FBI, and has been purging those who are qualified, but don't support him. We should start calling Kirk's assassin Mario, because he will become a folk hero like Luigi Mangione.

@78: Could you please identify exactly who here you believe to be “celebrating” his death, and quote the words you believe express such celebration? The sentiment ‘he didn’t deserve to die’ has appeared in multiple forms in these threads since his death. (And no, noting the irony of him dying from the same gun violence he’d described as acceptable doesn’t count, a point also made explicitly here. Jesus himself warned his disciples, “If you live by the sword, you will die by it.”)

@78 did you lose a bet and now have to shoehorn as many unnecessary thesaurus words as possible into every comment, or are you authentically insufferable?

as Expected
Cadet Bonespurs's
using Far reich-wing Nutcase
KKKirkkk's "untimely* demise" as an
Excuse to attack His political opponents

including his claim that he'd Virtually Eliminated
Crime in Washington, DC, thru his illegal use of our
Military and National Guard -- other than the Wee bit
of "crime" like when a Man is Forced to correct his woman

arguing, that That it Isn't "a Crime,"
the Holy Bible even Says it Ain't
and Besides, if a woman then
Protests, it's a Real Man's
DUTY to Correct her

sometimes
you Gotta
be Firm

sans
Patriarchy
we could eliminate
'Stockholm Syndrome'
and set Half our Population

free.

those
Days're
so Over.

*false flagger?
Stay tuned!

"You’re not obligated
to manufacture compassion
for someone who showed none in his lifetime.

It’s not celebrating, it’s refusing to
whitewash a legacy of
division & cruelty.

You don’t have to mourn an architect of violence.

We can grieve the world he helped create without grieving him."

--Lauren Rinaldi; @laurenrinaldi.bsky.social‬

September 11, 2025

https://bsky.app/profile/laurenrinaldi.bsky.social/post/3lykzqw7hr22w

83: I assume that's referring to Tyler Robinson.

@84
'assume'
all you wanna
KKKirkkk's STILL Dead

tho
you
righties're
gonna Invoke
and Resurrect him
at EVERY Opportunity.

when
Cadet Bonespurs
Encouraged his Gang of Thugs
on J/6 -- AND THEN fucking PARDONED

he swung the Door
Wide for Political
Violence*

and he's been
Preying ever since
for some Leftist Reaction:

Cadet Bonespurs
Now has a little
Something he
can Work
With.

*tS's reich wing Trolls
just Love to Ignore
what's a wee bit
Inconvenient

@57 and @60 Catalina Vel-DuRay +2 For the WIN!!!!!

@66, @82, @83, @85 and @86 kristofarian: PLEASE wake me, kris, when this beyond tragic dystopian nightmare is over! Everything is like a horrible black & white Twilight Zone episode with a really despressingly bad ending. When will this ever stop---when we reach Civil War II and WWIII?
I have been having increasing issues with Parkinson's lately. Neuropathy has been particularly challenging in my legs, arms, hands, fingers, thumbs, feet, toes, muscles, and joints. Tingly pain is unbearable in my right leg, from ankle to thigh with little to no relief. And it's not like I'm popping pills like M&Ms, either. I'm doing everything I can to stay healthy. Please contact me. I am about at wits' end, and have trouble reading the news anymore.
If I have to fight off the assholes and bitches responsible for this shamefully abysmal mess, I will. I just never imagined that it could happen in my own neighborhood. My parents must be rolling in their graves, shaking their heads Up There. :(

@87, part II: Sadly, I didn't go far enough, kris. Make that: "I just never imagined that it could ever happen in my own neighborhood, in our country, in my lifetime."
I weep for future generations. It's too easy to blame the boomers, but no one group of people thinks exactly the same. It's like the 1989 Billy Joel song, We Didn't Start the Fire. Felon Mu$k's Mein Trumpf's Nazi push for Authoritarianism is dangerously generalizing and killing our democracy. And who will people blame once the boomer generation of 1946-1964 is gone?

@88: And it's not like I just sat back and did nothing, either. I have joined protests, marched, voted wisely, canvassed, and doorbelled. I have contributed and conserved what and when I could. I didn't vote for this shit.
I'm no saint, but JEEZUS!! I can see right through Felon Mu$k, hi$ Mein Trumpf, Vladmir Putin, ad nauseum!
Too many people in this once thriving country fell for the MAGAs' orange taco as many as THREE TIMES (!!!!!), ranting on willful misinformation, self-aggrandizing media hype, hatred, lies, fear, and unscrupulous con games. Future generations will be paying a horrific price long after those of us who knew not buy into DJT's fascist bullshit to are gone. What will they do then?

@80 I totally celebrated his death. I especially loved that he was killed by a white Mormon boy with ties to the Groyoer Army.