Republican candidate Greg Gianforte attacks reporter during interview (Updated: he's been charged with assault)

At this point. I’ve come to realize that I picked up a weapon and stood to post to defend the liberty and freedom of people who think the second amendment is more important than the first amendment.

It makes me want to vomit every single day.

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They’re only 1/4 of the country. Most Americans are worth defending.

OTOH:

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Thank you for serving and I hear you. On Twitter I have “I may not like what you say, but I’ll defend your right to say it” in my profile. Ever since 45 and the TGOP are showing their true colors, I rethink that sentence every damn day

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It has always been the belief of this storied publication that elected officials and the press have important roles to play in our democracy: namely, that the former sets the policies that guide our nation, and the latter subserviently provides a mouthpiece to trumpet the will and intentions of the ruling class without question and without complaint. We here at The Onion are fully aware that our own reporters, like all members of the power-mad, out-of-control media, frequently overstep these sacred boundaries by scrutinizing the decisions and actions that those in mighty seats of authority, such as Mr. Gianforte, do not wish to discuss. And in such instances, it is important—imperative, even—that those who hold the reins of power put us in our place and punish us, preferably with considerable physical force, so that we never again commit such improper transgressions.

Holy shit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen The Onion be more Done with a capital DONE.

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The people reading your posts aren’t imaginary. The “likes” they choose to give (or not) are one of only two ways on this forum (other than writing a direct response) to indicate the value they place on your ideas and comments.

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And again, I’m not interested in how my ideas and comments make the few dozen or so people who participate in these comment threads feel. The emotional reaction you have to reading my views is unimportant to me . I’m not coming here to be ‘liked’, or to be popular with a small group (or a large group, or any group). I do find it somewhat interesting how people have reacted to misreading my views, but that’s another story.

That’s not to say I don’t care about feelings, or that I’m some kind of psychopath. I’m a human just like you. I just have no interest in discussing or exploring them here in this forum, or in the context of this story. I’m not interested in right or wrong, good or bad, or judging either side. If what Gianforte did falls under the category of assault under Montana law, the courts will decide that. You may think he’s an asshole and Jacobs is a good guy, or the other way around. That’s fine. I don’t care one way or the other.

What I am interested in is understanding the underlying reasons for why people do what they do, and act the way they act. On both sides. Primarily through a sociological and psychological, and most of all scientific lens. That means putting human opinions, biases, and feelings aside, and making observations, and trying to fit those observations into a larger rational framework.

None of my comments have been sexist or generalizing in any way. And if you read closely, I have intentionally chosen my words to not do that. But I can’t control how others react if they misinterpret my words and don’t seek clarification. I am not trying to justify or defend either side as being right or wrong, as I specifically do not care, and that is not what I personally find interesting (your opinion on that may differ, and that’s fine). I’m interested in rational discussion of the underlying mechanisms that caused both sides to act and react as they did, trying to see both sides’ understandings of the event, in as unemotional a way as possible.

I have a question. Do you have a community of people around you who share this way of looking at the world?

Or are you alone?

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Self awareness is a trait not generally seen in Republicans.

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I’m an electrical engineer. I’m surrounded by people who view the world this way, personally and professionally. (And yes, I even have a girlfriend, too).

Water seeks its own level.

[quote=“andybaldman, post:141, topic:101567”]
None of my comments have been sexist or generalizing in any way.
[/quote]Well that’s just untrue. Rationalize all you want, but you implied all men at a certain way and you implied @chgoliz was being irrational when you were simply being obtuse.

[quote=“andybaldman, post:144, topic:101567”]
I’m an electrical engineer. I’m surrounded by people who view the world this way, personally and professionally.
[/quote]So am I, and you are surrounded by what are colloquially known as “assholes.” I’m sure other engineers on here would back me up like @LearnedCoward. You are merely pretending to be using reason with the statements you are using by claiming to be removing emotion from the response.

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Alright. Northern CA? Or no?

No offense, but I find your views really infuriating. But then again I also would love for you to tell me how to go about making a wall-source/battery switching circuit operating at about 19V, 6A. (Do I need to use one of those supervisory ICs? My design priorities are that I have limited board space and I need to use common components. And I need a circuit that I understand, so I can work on it.)

Since you don’t live in other people’s heads, I’m not sure if you’re going to perceive this as an attempt to just get you to shut up about the Gianforte thing, which is basically what it is. Although I do really help from an EE right now!

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Hey now, no insulting northern California #notallnortherncalifornians

(really sorry, couldn’t resist, please continue)

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Haha, yes! True. I love my Northern CA buddies, but, particularly when it comes to tech and culture, I’m against Silicon Valley. Don’t like what’s going on in that area. I just didn’t want to ask too specifically.

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It’s the second coming of @alistairmichaelkinne

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So I’m guessing that the enthusiastic rightwing and tea party support that Gianforte received (including a flood of last-minute campaign dollars after the news of the assault hit) is an indication that some are blaming the messengers for all of us negative coverage that Trump is having to endure. This may just be the first act.

Yep. As an engineer, I think logically. Like, people who break the rules should be punished. If someone physically assaults another person, they should be arrested and charged with assault. I also understand that statistically, this is highly unusual behavior from a state level political figure, and thus newsworthy. It is also part of a worrying uptick in similar incidents, as well as antijournalistic sentiment.

What @andybaldman is doing isn’t in line with any belief system or philosophy or educational training. It’s bootlicking, plain and simple. “Me like power, me like strongman”. It’s as transparent as all those fake libertarians I work with, who want the free market to decide only because the “free market” is historically biased toward them.

I also wonder if the journalist being named Ben Jacobs (wink wink nudge nudge) has anything to do with how @andybaldman feels about this.

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There’s no rationalizing here. I never implied all men act a certain way. If that’s how you read it, you are misinterpreting what I said, and I apologize for not being clearer. I was stating that they were exemplifying behavior that is found in males across species (which is why I personally find the story uninteresting). Not every male does it, but it is a thing that some males can (and do) do.

I also never implied @chogliz was being irrational. Please indicate what statements you are referring to, and I will clarify.

I’ve got to run at the moment, but hopefully this thread will stay open long enough for me to address the other comments later (and design a high-amperage power supply for @john_c). :wink: (I’m in NH btw, not CA.)

Amperage?! No self-respecting electrical engineer says amperage. It’s current. Even I know that.

When we talk about the concept, we say current. When referring to a rating, amperage is an acceptable usage.

I’m really unclear (and curious) as to how you’re drawing this conclusion, when I specifically stated I wasn’t interested in right or wrong, good or bad, judging, attacking, or defending either side, and that none of that was of interest to me. That includes liking or disliking either side. Whose boots am I licking here, exactly?

And what significance does Ben Jacobs’ name have? Being an appreciator of language, I find humor in the wacky wordplay aspect of a guy whose last name translates loosely to ‘John strong’ being all over the news for assaulting a guy, (and that no news outlets, late-night shows, or other commentators have made note). But I never said I liked or disliked either him, or Jacobs. No value judgments on my part have been made (or even implied) either way, as they don’t exist.

Wait, and I’m the one being accused of generalizing?

I don’t know what fields of engineering you guys work in, but in my experience, engineering has no monopoly on people with strong or difficult personalities. I worked in high-speed data communications for 20 years (you can google my name, if you’re really that interested), with with plenty of people in Silicon Valley, India, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. And there was no significantly higher percentage of difficult people than in any friends’ or girlfriends’ other professions. If anything, the people I worked with in a global market tended to be, as a whole, more accommodating than usual, due to the diversity of cultures in my particular field. But to each workplace his own.

I’m also interested to know what about my views, @john_c, you find infuriating. I find it ironic that an intentionally objective, unemotional, non-aggressive view can bring out such strong reactions. (And I do not mean that in a sarcastic or snarky way.)