Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/31/donald-trumps-maga-army-calls-for-violence-over-the-internet-war.html
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Stop calling a cabal of bigoted idiots “an army”; please.
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Seconded. An army implies disciplined and organised ranks. The 101st Keyboard Warriors and Meal Team Six are mostly tantrum-throwing man-children.
That’s not to say that the Know-Nothing 27% and the MAGAts don’t pose a threat, but let’s focus on the real battle: the ballot box in November.
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Regardless of the semantics, I think we can all agree that the rate of stochastic terrorism may rise as a result of this verdict and the insane rhetoric being slung around.
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No one has said that there will not be a rise; many here have long predicted it.
That said, phrasing very much matters; If the press had called 45’s and his enablers’ lies out as actual lies from the beginning, it probably would have not been so easy for that orange muthafucka to entrench himself in the political landscape…
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Generally, these people are cowards who like to talk tough online but always schedule urgent appointments elsewhere when the rubber meets the road.
But you only need a few stupid people with guns to cause a lot of bloodshed and terror.
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Agreed.
Hope for the best, while preparing for the worst.
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We cannot let fear of violence from assholes keep us from doing what’s right. That’s the Republican way, not the American way. If the GOP wants to act scared of all these people and capitulate to Trump because of it, fine. But I’m not going to. Lock that motherfucker up, and charge anyone credibly threatening violence with a crime.
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And it’s not exactly like this is some watershed moment that will suddenly flip their violence switch. At every single chance they have shown that they are eager for violence while also demonstrating that they have no clue what they’re doing, are utterly disorganized and ultimately don’t really want to make any permanent sacrifices.
Imagine, for instance, if they had an organized plan on Jan 6 and held the halls of congress for days on end. That’s not only plausible, they were 90% of the way there. The truth is that they were all there for idiot Coachella and were far more intent on getting back to the hotel bar than they were executing an effective takeover.
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Now, at long last, can we call these assholes by the proper name? Right wing terrorists is what they are, and pushing for violence to achieve their political goals is exactly the definition of terrorism. They are not “lone wolves,” they are not “mentally ill,” they are not fucking exceptions, they are terrorists! If they were Muslim or Black, there would be no hesitation whatsoever. They are fucking terrorists. Call them by their name!
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So far I have three vitriolic text messages from the Trump Campaign, calling the verdict unjust and asking for money. It’s just another fundraising incident for him.
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Of course a grifter like him tries to raise money off everything, but nothing in his expression leaving the courtroom suggests that’s all it was for him. This is a real defeat of the sort he needs to keep having.
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IANAL but “Someone in NY with nothing to lose needs to take care of Merchan” sounds like incitement to murder.
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Again:
MORE. 
OF. THIS!
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Indeed. Referring to the struggle against Al-Qaeda as the “Global War on Terrorism” elevated Osama Bin Laden and his band of murdering terrorists to the same status as a nation-state and encouraged/allowed the US to believe that large scale military intervention was the proper tool to fight them. The result was a huge loss of life, and great damage to the United States standing in the world. Dealing with them through diplomacy/law enforcement/intelligence methods would have been vastly superior. But when you have a hammer, everybody is wearing a nail shaped hat. That, combined with a cabal in conservative circles that wanted to “remake” the Middle East led to the disastrous invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
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What?
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Who care. He will call for violence regardless of the outcome. As much people worry about the violence incitement related to this verdict, the possibility of him getting back in white house and its consequence have more existential threat for large swath of population.
You need to worry about stopping his call for violence because … it will cause more violence. He will always do it. It’s the only thing he knows. He needs to have the book throw at him every single time and be locked up for that matter. Not enforcing the law actually weaken it and give him more credibility for his persecution rhetoric. If terrorism is the issue, I think there are laws on the book to deal with those. What a better time to enforce it. Oops, missing the memo in footnote: only apply to brown people.
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Calling the MAGAts an “army” is a mistake:
1.) It is explicitly adopting their world-view and gives them credit for organizational skills that they do not posses. A mob of cry-babies can be dangerous, but it is NOT an army.
2.) If you call them an “army” it logically leads to the idea that the proper response would be to use the US Army to respond to them, which would be a HUGE mistake.
I used the GWOT as an example of just how far bad phrasing can lead you.
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