I have to imagine most Republican senators are just as happy one of the few small-government Republicans is out of commission for a while, as you all are.
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The neighbor may have been trying to sleep after a night shift, and have asked Paul to please not use his noisy gardening tools on a weekend but, freedom, and hence, escalation.
I don’t usually do night shifts, but when I am trying to take a nap in the weekend, I really hate hearing leaf blowers.
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Let me see, you have an openly racist bigot, with open far right and KKK connections and sympathys in the white house, who used to sleep next to a copy of Hitler speeches…
So I’d say any republican not openly denouncing him and calling for impeachment counts.
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Where’s the security camera footage?
I can believe Rand Paul mowing his own lawn like “just folks”, but I’m sure that his place has a top-notch security system.
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Not as many as you could have, since Senator Paul is lobbying to have fingers lost in industrial accidents defined as “pre-existing conditions”.
But aside from attempting to make 1984 references indicating brainwashing or other authoritarianism, do you actually have any substance to your rebuttal to my own (half-)sarcastic statement? While I don’t approve of random violence, the situation you gave was the opposite of random violence. The pragmatic ethical position towards on the end ethical goals of “greatest health for the greatest number of people” and “highest standard of living for the greatest number” are directly threatened by the actions of the Republicans, and Sen. Paul in particular. While I am not advising direct action, the fact that others saw fit to engage in it is not something that I can condemn.
I will offer Sen. Paul and the Republican baseball team my thoughts and prayers, though, since they seems to think that is effective in lieu of treatment.
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If the attack truly wasn’t politically motivated, then I suspect it was because Rand had an affair with the attacker’s wife, maybe daughter, or Rand scammed him on an investment. I think the attacker’s motivation stems from either sex, money, or power/politics.
Then again, as said by a previous poster, the attacker may have just got so fed up with Rand continously mowing his lawn so goddamn early in the morning; even after several requests that he start mowing around 9am - 10am.
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My thoughts exactly. I call bullshit. There’s no way in Hell Rand Paul mows his own yard. I don’t even mow my yard. I used to work in a hospital and know a bunch of doctors. Literally none of them mow their own yards. I can’t imagine a U.S. senator having enough time to mow his yard. Especially one that is likely large and sprawling in the rolling hills of Kentucky.
This story is completely believable to me, except that part. What was he really doing?
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Perhaps he was trying to show that he is a man of the people, just a regular guy.
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He’s a Libertarian so I assume he was blowing his grass and leave clippings into his neighbors yard. :-/
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If he isn’t doing his own yard work then he’s overpaying whoever is doing it.
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Possibly, but I just looked the neighborhood up on Zillow. The small lots are a little over an acre, and some of the lots are several acres, so it’s unlikely the leaf blower would be just a few yards from the neighbor’s house.
It might be loud, but would it be beat-the-shit-out-of-your-U.S.-senator-neighbor-and-go-to-jail loud?
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Yes, if it pushes you over the edge (literally?), the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
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Seeing a lot of Mr Fizzles today
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+1 for the Chidi reference.
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Exactly. To the supporters it will only vindicate that they are being ‘attacked’ so will double down on their fortress mentality.
Frankly, the last thing we need is this shitbag or the orange muppet in chief to become martyrs to rally behind. Then again Regan was canonized as a Republican saint pretty much immediately on leaving office.
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It’s more of a warning to the actor that while they might want to think about their actions in terms of what they’re intended to achieve, the truth is that:
- Intentions are often fuzzy and rationalised
- Those actions might help with those goals; they might not
- The broader consequences and context of those actions might not have been considered
I see people arguing that, per consequentialist and utilitarian philosophies, this violence (and, indeed actual murder) might be not just condoned, but encouraged. But that all assumes that we have some weird state of ideal moral omniscience from which we can judge Rand’s actions, and that the affect upon society of this accepted violence would be insignificant.
And that’s just ridiculous. The act of unnecessary violence has a direct, negative, knock-on impact upon society; more people are scared, we become more divided and insular, and more people are encouraged and emboldened to do the same sort of thing either in retaliation or solidarity.
It’s almost karmic how the spirit of your actions beget the same in return. You make someone’s day nicer with an act of kindness, there’s a net-positive chance they will be nicer to others, etc. You be mean, and the world gets meaner.
You encourage violence, even if you think you’re righteous, and the world sinks that little bit further into the quagmire.
In the end, you have to take your strategy and tactics and ask if they really belong together. If not, there’s a very strong chance you’re screwing up. Your long-range goals may be lofty, but what you actually do is what’s tangible.
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Reminder: Glorifying violence or victim blaming are both against the community guidelines here. Posts doing so will be eaten.
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Punching a Nazi spouting eliminationist plans while assaulting people seeking sanctuary in a church is self preservation.
Sucker punching an ass wearing ear plugs and breaking five ribs - which could easily have punctured a lung - is a felony.
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True, but I am also likely to chalk this up to Karma biting Sen Paul on the behind.
Am I happy that he got the snot beat out of him? HELL YES!
Is it right or moral that I am happy about it? Not really.
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I bet Rand Paul was a noisy and annoying neighbor. They lived next to each other for quite a while. So obviously it wasn’t Paul’s politics which pushed him over the edge. I suspect some unreturned leaf blower was the triggering event here.
