That's real. Seeing all this hagiography is really too much. Like 2003 recurring, vast swaths of mainstream media acting like they're hosts in Westworld. "Doesn't look like anything to me."rsmurphy wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 1:09 pm I don't mean to sound like a dick, but it is truly a privilege to have not known about the existence of Charlie Kirk. No cap.
With all due respect, please stop USplaining America to us.Gramsci wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 3:37 amSorry but voter turnout says the opposite. Last presidential election it was less than 60% and lower than the previous. That is incredibly low. Mid terms 46%… I think you confuse people yelling at each other online and the odd rally/protest as mass movements. They are not. Because of the first past the post voting system a small minority of weirdos can easily high jack the whole political structure.jimmy spako wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 2:56 amEveryone in the US here is kind of telling you that's not how the US works these days, but you're not listening.Gramsci wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 1:57 am One thing this has exposed is how much people are living in Crazy Bubbles.
90% of the population in the US probably had no to little idea who Kirk was, remember most people do not engage with politics in any way in their daily lives.
Then Kirk’s widow goes on a stream and says her ‘cries will echo around the world like a battle cry’… Lady, it’s sad your husband was killed, but he was just a dude that worked for a political advocacy organisation… no one will remember him in a month.
I predict the usual media flare up then this barely being mentioned once the next shiny thing happens.
I reiterate, the majority of people in the US, UK etc think about politics very little. We live in the era of the low information voter. It’s the system that throws up these seemingly unlimited insurmountable majorities, not voter sentiment.
Oh and fuck the media and socials.
PS I’m not denying polarisation, it’s just not as “active” as I think you suggest. Asking someone’s opinion in poll is not the same as their headspace 24/7.
If you stay off socials, you’ll be surprised how much you are spared. Counterpoint, I have no idea when bands tour, or when free Slurpee day is. My 15 y/o says they HAD heard of him before this….but they also think I will buy them $150 Tame Impala tickets. Fat chance.rsmurphy wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 1:09 pm I don't mean to sound like a dick, but it is truly a privilege to have not known about the existence of Charlie Kirk. No cap.
Randall's not even on Facebook you dingus. You don't need social media to stay informed. But his point is that it's a privilege to not have to maintain awareness of what's going on in the far right for anyone not a part of any groups they target.zorg wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 2:29 pmIf you stay off socials, you’ll be surprised how much you are spared. Counterpoint, I have no idea when bands tour, or when free Slurpee day is. My 15 y/o says they HAD heard of him before this….but they also think I will buy them $150 Tame Impala tickets. Fat chance.rsmurphy wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 1:09 pm I don't mean to sound like a dick, but it is truly a privilege to have not known about the existence of Charlie Kirk. No cap.
You’re right, so no offence taken. There plenty of stupid shit going on in my adopted country. I’ll stick to explaining that to the Brits.
There is a line between touching grass and being willfully ignorant. Maybe "willfully" is too strong of a word but I can't stick my head in the sand as much as I'd like because being conversant saves and enriches my life. I wouldn't be aware of the histories of my enslaved ancestors, the Palestinian death toll, Sudanese civil war, atrocities of the Trump administration; or, Bay Area underground reissues, jack tracks, and keeping abreast of what the homies have been up to in their lives.zorg wrote: Sat Sep 13, 2025 2:29 pm If you stay off socials, you’ll be surprised how much you are spared.
Coming up 1 year on November 7. For my sanity FB had to go. I keep my IG feed as enjoyable as possible, but, again, one has to be knowledgeable of what's happening in the country and surrounding world and that requires engagement with a platform built to enrage.joe_lmr wrote:Randall's not even on Facebook
The other mind boggling thing is the media reporting on the OBSCURITY of the messages on the bullet casings, as if FUCKING GOOGLE DOESN'T EXIST. Saying "did he not want us to figure it out?" JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.Robinson's background offers no real answers, either. He grew up in a conservative Utah community and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a young age, according to a church spokesperson
It's FM zorg who said he was unaware of Kirk. I am all too familiar with Turning Point and its acolytes. I believe Zorg's point is that if you aren't online you can afford to be ignorant of harmful groups like TP and the racism, homophobia, and misogyny they foment.jeff fox wrote: Sun Sep 14, 2025 9:02 am Randy, I definitely envy your lack of awareness on this fuckhead.
I see where your confusion lies, Jeff. I was calling out the privilege of others who can afford to be ignorant of Kirk.Randy wrote:don't mean to sound like a dick, but it is truly a privilege to have not known about the existence of Charlie Kirk.
That is real. It makes me think about how people would react well over a century ago to the news of slave revolts or freedmen fighting for their own existence. Reading what Kirk's wife said: "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry," and ""To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die," I know what movement she's talking about and I know the people she is addressing. It's exhausting as well as super frightening watching this lionization of a hateful figurehead.brephophagist wrote:Seeing all this hagiography is really too much.