What should liberals do when an assassin sounds like them?

[Dānu]

Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the attempted White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, is unusual among attempted assassins — in his normalcy.

His political grievances, laid out in a manifesto and social media posts, are not dissimilar from those of an ordinary Democrat. He believed that President Donald Trump was a lawless, corrupt leader who abused immigrants, perpetrated war crimes, and presented an existential threat to American democracy.

He is not alone. Ryan Routh, the man who attempted to kill Trump at Mar-a-Lago, displayed notably more bizarre behavior — but had writings that echoed similar themes to Allen’s. While primarily preoccupied with Trump, they join the ranks of Luigi Mangione and Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, in what has increasingly been called “normie extremism.” These are people who express grievances in the center-left mainstream — for-profit health insurance is wrong, the right shouldn’t spread “hatred” — yet who apparently act on those beliefs in violent ways typically associated with political extremists.

It is not fully clear whether “normie extremism” is a coherent category. There have only been a handful of incidents that might qualify, and they differ from each other in important ways: The two would-be Trump assassins had distinct views from those of either Mangione or Robinson, who were also quite different from each other. Moreover, most of these cases still haven’t gone to trial, meaning we have only a fraction of the insight into motives we might eventually get.

Even so, the incidents are raising a real question: Is the mainstream liberal critique of Trump pushing people toward actual violence?

https://www.vox.com/politics/487565/whcd...-democracy

[GenesisNemesis]

Not much, Luigi Mangione sounded like a centrist, are they doing anything?

[epronovost]

I think the question in the OP is taking the problem from "wrong angle". The question should not be how should Liberals react when an assassin sounds like them, but how should MAGA react when ostensibly "normal" people start trying to kill them. I know this framing reeks of victim blamming and is thus highly offensive, but political violence is not fundamentally the product of a particular form of ideology.

There are many forms of political extremism that are strictly non-violent; hell I would posit that radical pacifism is a form of political extremism. Liberalism is not non-violent. It's a political ideology born in violence and revolution after all. What makes political violence more salient in some cases is that for fascism for example, violence is both a means to end and an end in and on itself. For political liberalism, it's only a mean and a rather unsavory one used as a last resort. I would venture that the loss of confidence in liberal institutions and leadership in the US is largely responsible for the violence as it seems that pacific solutions are not effective. The US in general is also a society which has a higher level of tolerance for violence and more access to weapons which ads fuel to the fire.

[Deesse23]

"Normie extremism" is (imho) a bullshit phrase, poisoning the well if you may. What was "extremist" about his views? He took extreme action, because he was desperate.
He didnt sound like a "liberal" or "democrat", just like a normal person who realized that the governmental system has become so broken and corrupt that more suffering can only be avoided by...some small suffering, namely the decapitation of the elite of this corrupt and evil system. With population of dozens, if not hundreds of millions there will be a few who decide to take action.

Today he may appear as an "assassin" (and technically is), but tomorrow roads will be named after him, because in hindsight we all know how much better, by any standard, things would have went if he suceeded. Isnt Virginias motto "sic semper tyrannis"? . Here is another example:

Georg Elser was a carpenter. Member of some left leaning organization, with sympathies for communism.

During four days of interrogation in Berlin (19–22 November 1939), Elser articulated his motive to his interrogators:

 

 I considered how to improve the conditions of the workers and avoid a war. For this I was not encouraged by anyone ... Even from Radio Moscow I never heard that the German government and the regime must be overthrown. I reasoned the situation in Germany could only be modified by a removal of the current leadership, I mean Hitler, Goering and Goebbels ... I did not want to eliminate Nazism ... I was merely of the opinion that a moderation in the policy objectives will occur through the elimination of these three men ... The idea of eliminating the leadership came to me in the fall of 1938 ... I thought to myself that this is only possible if the leadership is together at a rally. From the daily press I gathered that the next meeting of leaders was happening on 8 and 9 November 1938 in Munich in the Bürgerbräukeller.

Five years later in Dachau concentration camp, SS officer Lechner claimed Elser revealed his motive to him:

 

 I had to do it because, for his whole life, Hitler has meant the downfall of Germany ... don't think that I'm some kind of dyed-in-the-wool Communist — I'm not. I have some sympathy for Ernst Thälmann, but getting rid of Hitler just became an obsession of mine ... But, as you can see — I got caught, and now I have to pay for it. I would have preferred it if they'd executed me right away.

[Szuchow]

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

As for article itself it looks like some kind of bullshit I must say. I mean just look at the phrasing of this sentence: He believed that President Donald Trump was a lawless, corrupt leader who abused immigrants, perpetrated war crimes, and presented an existential threat to American democracy.

trump being fascist scum and war criminal is not matter of belief, just like theory evolution isn't one. It's a simple fact.

[Paleophyte]

When you have a problem with everybody else...

[GenesisNemesis]

Isn't referring to it as normie extremism normalizing right wing rhetoric and ironically thus normalizing extremism (considering the term normie originated from 4chan right wing incel edgelords)?

[Rizen]

Point out that the right wing likes to cherry pick instances like this but shootings and assassination attempts happen all the time from the right wing. Where were they when the many assassination attempts on Obama happened? Oh right, spreading racist rhetoric against him. And will this lead to sane gun control laws? Of course not. These are the hate mongers who are enabling gun violence; they just don't like it when it happens to them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_i...rack_Obama

[Rhythmcs]

Even so, the incidents are raising a real question: Is the mainstream liberal critique of Trump pushing people toward actual violence?

Not nearly fast enough.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

As for article itself it looks like some kind of bullshit I must say. I mean just look at the phrasing of this sentence: He believed that President Donald Trump was a lawless, corrupt leader who abused immigrants, perpetrated war crimes, and presented an existential threat to American democracy.

trump being fascist scum and war criminal is not matter of belief, just like theory evolution isn't one. It's a simple fact.

quibble: you can believe things that are true AND things that aren't true.

I believe I'll have another beer. TRUE.
I believe I'll be okay to drive after six beers in an hour. NOT TRUE.

[Fireball]

Even so, the incidents are raising a real question: Is the mainstream liberal critique of Trump pushing people toward actual violence?

Not nearly fast enough.

I "liked" your post, but the truth is that the mainstream media is leaning hard from both sides toward actual violence. Just watch the news. "Oh, noes, more violence, tsk, tsk, tsk...Squirrel!", where "Squirrel" is a switch of the camera to yet another violent incident. My wife watches murder porn all day long on TV. Guess I better start watching my back. Eh, if she makes it a clean kill and I don't suffer, I'm down with that.

[Rhythmcs]

The mainstream media doesn't have two sides. It has just one side...and two target demographics. In the us, they're both right leaning. Hate Radio, and Nice Polite Republicans- for example.

One of the pleasant outcomes of the attempted insurrection (for the hate radio types) was that violence against the state was ruined (for the other guys) for a generation. To the extent that propaganda mills for billionaires have alot of similar programming...that's probably not reflective of appetite for violence so much as shaving a bit off the production cost. I recall way back in the beforetimes both faux and the crescent news network running with white replacement as though it were real news. Same timeslots, same ridiculous stats, same disaster reporting.

To directly answer the OPQ, I think they should cheer. It's never a good idea to let your opposition believe they have a monopoly on violence...even if, especially if...they do.

[Vorpal]

A lot of people have complaints about their spouse, but surprisingly few end up on Dateline.

[Rhythmcs]

Lack of initiative, lol.

[SYZ]

[Allen's] political grievances, laid out in a manifesto and social media posts, are
not dissimilar from those of an ordinary Democrat. He believed that President
Donald Trump was a lawless, corrupt leader who abused immigrants, perpetrated
war crimes, and presented an existential threat to American democracy.

Never a truer word said!  And exactly the words voiced over
millions of American dinner tables every night of the week.

[Minimalist]

However, unlike magatards, we should not applaud the actions of the murderers or set up Gofundme accounts for their legal defense.

Although...if one put a bullet through Fuckface's head I wouldn't lose any sleep over it....except it would put Vance in the White House.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They've made more than one bullet.

[Fireball]

However, unlike magatards, we should not applaud the actions of the murderers or set up Gofundme accounts for their legal defense.

Although...if one put a bullet through Fuckface's head I wouldn't lose any sleep over it....except it would put Vance in the White House.

I don't think Vance has the charisma for the job. Though the chump sure seems to wow a lot of people, which I find disgusting; he's called charismatic by many. 

[Minimalist]

However, unlike magatards, we should not applaud the actions of the murderers or set up Gofundme accounts for their legal defense.

Although...if one put a bullet through Fuckface's head I wouldn't lose any sleep over it....except it would put Vance in the White House.

I don't think Vance has the charisma for the job. Though the chump sure seems to wow a lot of people, which I find disgusting; he's called charismatic by many. 

He doesn't need "charisma."  If Fuckface dies - he's president.  No one has to vote for him at all.

[SYZ]

I don't think Vance has the charisma for the job. Though the chump sure seems to wow a lot of people, which I find disgusting; he's called charismatic by many. 

He doesn't need "charisma."  If Fuckface dies - he's president.  No one has to vote for him at all.

Charisma is defined as  a person's ability to attract and
influence other people—which Trump does in spades.
Think of Xi Jinping and Putin for example.  All three are
arsewipes, but nobody's toppled them.

In Australian federal politics, should the prime minister
die in office, the deputy prime minister (= US VP) usually
takes over, but the governing party at the time actually
votes immediately and elects the new "permanent" prime
minister.

Trump may be intellectually deficient, but he's as cunning
as a fox.  Jimmy Vance on the other hand lacks both those
distinctions—he's just plain or garden variety dumb.  With
zero charisma backing those up LOL.

[Minimalist]

Fuckface is a racist asshole who appeals to other racist assholes.  They are abandoning him because he is costing them a metric fuckton of money...not because they have stopped being racists.

[SYZ]

A 68-year-old man has been arrested after wearing a T-shirt with
a swastika on it while standing outside the Royal Commission on
Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Sydney.
         

Police approached the man about 11am after he was seen loitering
near the venue wearing the white shirt emblazoned with a blue
swastika with a Star of David inside.     It also had the slogan:
"Antisemitism. Proud to be accused. Speak up!"

He is currently being held in jail awaiting trial.  Meanwhile an Australian
paedophile and author of children’s books, Craig Silvey, has been released
on bail.     Strange days indeed.

[Minimalist]

He is currently being held in jail awaiting trial. 

On what charge?

[airportkid]

... On what charge ...?

In August 2022, New South Wales (NSW) passed the Crimes Amendment (Prohibition on Display of Nazi Symbols) Bill 2022, making it a criminal offence to publicly display Nazi symbols.

One hopes out of laws like this it will ultimately be made illegal to publicly display images, quotes and mentions of Trump. 

[Paleophyte]

A 68-year-old man has been arrested after wearing a T-shirt with
a swastika on it while standing outside the Royal Commission on
Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Sydney.
         

Police approached the man about 11am after he was seen loitering
near the venue wearing the white shirt emblazoned with a blue
swastika with a Star of David inside.     It also had the slogan:
"Antisemitism. Proud to be accused. Speak up!"

He is currently being held in jail awaiting trial.  Meanwhile an Australian
paedophile and author of children’s books, Craig Silvey, has been released
on bail.     Strange days indeed.

What's strange about it? Good riddance to bad rubbish. Protesting antisemitism with a swastika is imbecilic in the extreme.