In defense of our “grossly irresponsible talk.”
  • BertramDitore@lemmy.worldEnglish
    42·
    9 months ago

    That was an awesome piece. And like Wittes said, Lawfare really has been on top of this issue for longer than most. This part in particular drove it home for me:

    it is possible to be at the same time a threat to democracy and a victim of a horrible crime. The fact that Trump has been shot emphatically does not mean that his behavior does *not *threaten American democracy—just as the fact that Huey Long, the populist governor of Louisiana in the 1930s, was assassinated did not acquit him of being a corrupt authoritarian. That Trump is also a corrupt authoritarian surely cannot justify his attempted assassination or any political violence, but just as surely, the fact that a person attempted his assassination does not nullify the threat he poses. The two facts must be allowed to coexist.

    • Grimy@lemmy.world
      11·
      9 months ago

      As much as I agree political violence doesn’t have a place in modern society, authoritarian governments literally make it the only option.

      We aren’t there yet but there’s little doubt in my mind that if Trump wins, he will make what is essentially a rigged game right now into nothing but a formality.

  • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    9 months ago

    Solid points all around. I do doubt Trump would be concerned if Biden was shot beyond platitudes to cover his own ass.

  • TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world
    5·
    9 months ago

    …in a polarized environment in which some people are unstable, evil, or for whatever other reason prone to take the law into their own hands…

    I insist that violence has no legitimate place in our political system and condemn both this act specifically and any physical attacks on politicians or anyone else for their political expression.

    I sincerely hope the system has all of the tools and mechanisms necessary to prevent the rise of fascism in the US, because if it doesn’t, and it turns out that stopping fascism will require stepping outside the bounds of the law, then fascism will rise, as it seems most people are unwilling to break the law to prevent it.