Hey, MAGA, listen up!

[Initech]

If you're so hurt about the senseless murder of Charlie Kirk that you're looking to hurt others in response whether it's doxxing, harassment or otherwise, knock that bullshit off right now and get a grip.

Here's the thing - hurting others is not, nor will it ever be the answer. How about instead of finding ways to hurt others, we work together to change society for the better, so that a tragedy like this never happens again.

See, we got here because people voluntarily choose to consume the most absolute toxic, hurtful, violent, abusive, divisive network news, social media, and podcast rhetoric that they possibly can, and it's called "entertainment". Stop it already. Charlie Kirk was a member and supporter of, and well immersed in America's toxic gun culture that led to Wednesday's tragedy. And so was his alleged killer Tyler Robinson. They viewed gun culture as entertainment. And so does a large portion of this country.

And America's gun culture got to be so toxic because of the media being consumed. So many conservative pundits like Alex Jones and Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson use tragedies to sell fear and hatred to a culture that consumes it. And they feed off of this fear and hatred every single night. It's what led to Sandy Hook, Aurora, Uvalde and hundreds of other senseless tragedies.

These pundits then use that fear to sell weapons and sell the terrible politicians, in Congress, in the Senate, the presidency, our state and local offices, who make a bad situation that much worse. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Fighting violence with violence solves absolutely nothing and makes it worse. It's dividing by zero. We can keep going down the path we're on and things will get worse, or we can start working to correct it and leave a better America for future generations.

[usonian]

1. People are so easily duped by their masters that they don't see it until they hit rock bottom. (Like addicts)

Hate, pumped through the airwaves and internet 24 by 7 by 365, blinds them to the grand swindle.

Oh, here’s who to blame, NOT ME.

While I suck 90% of your blood out of you.

Rock botrom is coming.

FAFO

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219770873

[Initech]

2. Fox News has us fighting each other over culture war BS so we don't notice the billionaires stealing our money.

It's the ultimate circular firing squad. Ready, aim, pull!

[usonian]

3. My other favorite graphic

[pat_k]

5. Not so "easy" -- more than 30 years and billions invested in...

... reactionary think tanks that fed phony "research" and messaging (i.e., lies) that were fed straight into FOX News and reactionary radio. It took decades to move the Overton window further and further and further into crazy town -- so far that "center" today is further right than Richard Nixon.

And sadly, as the reactionary media bullied and battered our Democratic electeds, inside the beltway battered Democrat syndrome took hold. The word of the day -- the excuse for inaction, when action was a moral imperative, win or lose -- was "backlash." We'll be hammered. That was the answer to calls to action to protect our most basic constitutional rights -- like the right to cast our vote and have that vote counted by standing up and objecting to the Florida electors on 1/6/01, or impeaching Bush and Cheney for war crimes, or filibustering Alito. The backlash will kills us, where "backlash" meant one thing: being called names by the reactionary media empire.

Like a battered woman, too many of our electeds came to believe they could save themselves from the blows and reactionary name calling by somehow "keeping their heads down."

Things have gotten so bad that I think the message is actually getting through. And that message to our electeds is this: They'll try to beat you to a pulp whatever you do so you might as well take a stand and speak out for what you ACTUALLY believe is right, win or lose. Gather allies. There are millions of us out here. We've got your back, whatever they come at you with.

[Nimble_Idea]

4. o bless your heart

[pat_k]

6. Reminds me of this great bit

Bless your heart bit starts two minutes in:

[rubbersole]

7. Funny!