The Insurrectionists Would Like You to Know That They’re the Real Victims
theatlantic.comtheatlantic.comSaved by Jonathan Simcoe
The Insurrectionists Would Like You to Know That They’re the Real Victims
This potent mix of grievance and religious fervor has turbocharged the support among a wide swath of Trump loyalists, many of whom describe themselves as participants in a kind of holy war, according to interviews. And many, who are swimming in falsehoods about the presidential election and now the riot itself, said the aftermath of Wednesday’s eve
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Jonathan Simcoe added
Previously, most victims were totally powerless to defend themselves. Today, nobody has more cultural influence than someone who has been recognized as a victim. It’s as if the poles of the earth’s magnetic fields changed places, the way they do every few hundred thousand years. The scapegoat mechanism has been so thoroughly subverted that there is
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These are dark times for the United States of America. Political violence has been normalized. There are more guns than people in this country. And the most consequential and divisive election of our lifetime is less than four months away.
Whoever the shooter was, whatever their motive may have been, once again, American democracy is the loser.
Whoever the shooter was, whatever their motive may have been, once again, American democracy is the loser.
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Orla added
Medhi Hassan on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump
“Weird” doesn’t sound like much. But of all the attacks Democrats have levied against Republicans since Trump came down that escalator, this one appears to hit the hardest. Republican politicians seem taken aback by the idea that they’re outside the mainstream, by the charge that their interests and priorities are alienating to the average American... See more
Jamelle Bouie • Opinion | The Real Reason Trump and Vance Hate Being Called ‘Weird’
Alex Dobrenko added
The problem for Democrats is that any observation of this second truth—a truth that seems likely to darken and expand in the aftermath of yesterday’s attack—will now be condemned as rancorous and immoral—or worse, as an incitement to further political violence. Every necessary criticism of Trump’s authoritarianism, fondness for dictators, fraudulen... See more
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Daniel Wentsch and added
In a common but particularly subversive move, racism becomes about white distress, white suffering, and white victimization.
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Victims now have the power to make new scapegoats of their own choosing.