Can we stop trying to beatify this psychopath? It’s possible to be against violence and still condemn Kirk and his violent legacy.

  • Frenchys_prospecting@aussie.zone
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    26 days ago

    I’m against political violence but as Kirk would say about a raped woman that was wearing a short skirt “what did he expect?”

    Dude literally died for what he believed in. We should be happy for him.

    • Hegar@fedia.io
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      26 days ago

      The time for being “against political violence” as a general concept is long passed.

      One side has violence against anyone but themselves as their only policy. Fascism doesn’t surrender to reasoned argument, law or elections.

      • Frenchys_prospecting@aussie.zone
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        26 days ago

        It’s certainly on the very limit of when it should be used but for whatever it means, Kirk was just a hateful person. As far as I’m aware he didn’t actually murder anyone but in the current climate, what did he expect?

    • criss_cross@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      Every thread I see a new shit take from this dude. It’s like a nesting doll of poo.

      Man really left a garbage legacy.

    • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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      26 days ago

      Believed gun deaths were a good thing, didn’t believe in empathy. My joy that he’s gone is right in line with his beliefs!

    • PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml
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      26 days ago

      Being “against political violence” is defending the status quo. Kirk’s opinion on guns wasn’t problematic at all and fucking liberals acting like that was his problem disgust me.

  • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    I think it’s entirely possible to simultaneously be horrified by his murder, feel deep sympathy for his family, and be glad he’s no longer in the world.

  • Hegar@fedia.io
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    26 days ago

    It’s impossible to be against violence and say anything good about that two bit hateful grifter.

    • TipRing@lemmy.worldOP
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      26 days ago

      That is perfectly the point. I am against violence and Kirk was a piece of shit who we should feel free to condemn for the harm he was causing right up to his last moments.

      Klein’s fawning whitewashing of Kirk’s dishonest tactics is, if we are being exceptionally charitable, naïve.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    Kirk was a radical right-wing extremist. Groomed though he may have been (well, that hair was terrible), he just spewed hate speech.

    • Frezik
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      26 days ago

      It’s riffing off an article Ezra Klein wrote with the headline “Kirk was practicing politics the right way”. Klein wrote this because his brain is full of cheese.

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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    26 days ago

    Oh my god!!! He was a psychopath!!!

    I love that psychopath is included in this article.

    Of course, the main purpose of posts by Russian trolls is to incite arguments among different groups or ideologies: conservatives versus liberals, pro-life versus pro choice, pro-immigrant groups versus border wall enthusiasts, etc. Researchers say as outrageous as much of this content appears to be, Americans can’t help but to click.

    After analyzing over 2,500 of these Russian posts, researchers discovered they generated clickthrough rates as much as nine times higher than the norm in digital advertising campaigns. In a rather poor reflection of human nature, it seems that controversy, lies, and fear mongering do very much equal clicks.

    Interestingly, ads that used flat out racist language didn’t do well, but posts that were threatening or contained verbiage like “terrorist,” “sissy,” “idiot,” and “psychopath” did do very well. Ads that invoked fear and anger performed the best, according to the research team.

    https://studyfinds.org/study-russian-trolls-supremely-effective-at-exploiting-american-fear-anger-online/

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        26 days ago

        I don’t know what your intentions are, you could have just been brought into it unknowingly. I apologize if you’re not on that side. Your post still has the same outcome.

        • TipRing@lemmy.worldOP
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          26 days ago

          Look, your heart is in the right place, but your entire premise is built on a single word choice in my post about a man worthy of every ounce of scorn I can muster. Take a step back and realze that me being angry about mainstream media outlets like NYT and MSNBC falling over themselves to honor this vile man isn’t evidence of anything more than that. You have misread this situation.

    • HugeNerd@lemmy.ca
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      26 days ago

      Oh boy, another one with Russia Russia Russia brainworm. Take some responsibility for your own country’s despicable culture and downfall.

    • livejamie@lemmy.zip
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      26 days ago

      He’s so confusing. Sometimes he’ll say something and I’ll think he’s based, but most of the time it’s awful.

      It certainly isn’t consistent, that’s for sure.