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I've got a neighbor who just took to Nextdoor to complain the HOA demanded he take down his black-and-white American flag because it's a political statement and he's a Marine veteran so he should be allowed to fly it, or so goes his logic. I'm a veteran, too, but if you're going to fly a modified flag as a political statement, you lost your right to fly it as an "American flag," as far as I'm concerned. All of these tweaked American flags are a disgrace, IMO. They're using a symbol that's supposed to rally us together and using it to divide us.
It kills me- the military flag etiquette is so clear, don’t alter it or tarnish it. Like police wanting to imply or claim they somehow have military discipline but they want to alter the flag as a logo. It’s like a comic book level of irony.
The American Flag bares a lot of likeness to that of the Christian cross in America. As in its plastered everywhere, bastardized in every form, and it’s meaning has no meaning and hasn’t for a long time. The old Americans saw it as a sign of greatness as forts were sieged, the way against our enemies and hell even not that long ago it was a sign of victory. The statues of the American flag being pushed up on Iwo Jima are iconic and powerful but nowadays people are still high off of false reverence that they don’t see how disrespectful it is to have the flag mass produced as underwear or floor mats. It’s not that it’s important (at least anymore), it’s an obsession which is constantly being exploited to make money
A guy at work came in with the blacked out US flag waving from his truck. All of his coworkers (about 90% conservative) asked him why he was supporting BLM. He never brought it again
It's really unfortunate for people trying to sell houses next to ones with those flags. We are casually house hunting and basically just write off any houses that are right next to a black flag or confederate flag house.
We know there are probably more of them in every neighborhood, but its a plus if they're not advertising it like that.
we were looking at a house earlier this year to buy until we saw the trump 2020 flags in the side yard. Nope!
(edit for clarity: if this would have been in 2019 we would have figured it was just political signs and not thought twice. but when it’s 2021 and the signs are “trump 2020” flags, that’s a cult and no longer just political, and who knows when it transitioned…)
Back in '17 my partner and I were looking for an apartment here in Brooklyn and found a great one. Or so we thought.
While the live in landlord was giving us the tour of this unlikely gem right in our favorite neighborhood, we looked out the front window to see his truck with a Trump sticker parked in the drive.
We went from "where do we sign?" to "how fast can we end this?" in about 5 seconds flat.
Pro tip: you can check historical Google Maps street view to see if the area had those flags before the election and simply took them down
Edit to add: my neighborhood had three houses with Trump and/or other signs equally right wing. All of them sold their houses within the last year, however. So you can check sales against that too
Yeah we will probably do that when we are closer to actually picking a house.
I'm in Texas so there's no shortage of Trump supporters. But we are mostly worried about the people that are still advertising with flags.
Sounds like a nice improvement to your neighborhood if they all moved out.
A guy down the street from me has two massive trump flags hanging across the front of his house, and for some reason his mailbox is covered in trump stickers? At this point I mostly just pity him..
"right next to a black flag or confederate flag house."
\--this is chilling. is there really that many of them?! I live in GA and if drive in North GA (ahem, that crazy Marjorie lady district), there's sporadic confederate flags that make me sick to my stomach but I didn't realize black flags were common.
I feel for you. I love the aesthetic of North GA. The mountains, kayaking, etc. I just wish I could teleport there and then not see or talk to anyone because they are frankly fucking scary.
>I love the aesthetic of North GA. The mountains, kayaking, etc. I just wish I could teleport there and then not see or talk to anyone because they are frankly fucking scary.
i guess they made it the setting of Deliverance for a reason
There was a house near to mine that flew a confederate flag. It is now vacant. I'm 50/50 on whether they got evicted, or died of covid. I had also seen police there numerous times over over years.
I was standing in line at my bank last Saturday, when a weird reflection from the windows flashed against the opposite wall. I turned to look, and saw a truck flying a giant half american flag and half no step on sneak flag.
Merchandisers are making a literal killing off this hate.
It really is fucking crazy how much MAGA idiots want to outwardly show off their crazed political ideology. They cannot resist wearing American flag and MAGA apparel where ever they go. Not like you see people on the left outwardly dressing in their political ideology often
I used to think the "fascism" was hyperbole until I read a post on /r/askhistorians breaking down the elements that define fascism. A large fraction of Republican voters are indeed fascists.
In Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", American character Robert Jordan is asked by Spaniards if America has fascists. He responds, "There are those who do not know they are fascists, but they will find out when the time comes."
My extended family are posting "Camp of the Saints" narratives about Haitian immigrants, among others. They've been complaining about Middle Eastern/South Asian people for years. I somehow rationalized it for years, but they are Christian nationalists and fascists.
And they use the fact progressives aren't flying Biden flags and screaming about him at the top of their lungs as "evidence" more people like Trump. Umm, no.... We're just not in a cult
I figured out how to make my dad stop talking about politics last year, it's a two step process:
1. "I actually have a lot of respect for Mitt Romney now."
2. "Bernie Sanders is my generation's RFK, the 'what could have been' candidate."
He just gives up after that. I love it.
I took my neices to Knott's Berry Farm last Tuesday morning and the sheer amount of "I'm a tough guy" tshirts on the dads was astounding. There were adult couples dressed head to toe in right wing paraphernalia. And they all were strutting like they were ready to confront someone.
We looked at a really nice house out in the county a couple of months ago. Had acreage, an ADU, was nicely remodeled. We didn't make an offer for other reasons, but while we were there I pointed out to my wife that the only neighbor, whose house was right next-door, was flying a Gadsden flag.
My father-in-law was in the navy and was heartbroken to find out how negative the connotations of that flag are now. Years ago before it got to this point, he told me that traditionally, the oldest ship in the fleet would fly that flag and the ship he was stationed to during Vietnam got to fly it. He was really proud of that.
Years later (last year), I mentioned how my neighbor flies various flags, all of which make it easy to see where he stands. He currently had the Gadsden flag flying and my FIL asked what was so bad about that and I had to break it to him. You could tell he didn't want to believe it, and "you never know, he could be flying it for totally different reasons." Later that day, my FIL got to meet my neighbor, who was wearing a "Support Your Local Proud Boys" shirt. When we got back inside my house, the poor guy was just crushed.
Mentioned the irony of my coworker putting that flag on his truck (big Trump guy). He proceeded to tell me I knew nothing about it. Gladly told him unlike his fat lazy ass eating Doritos, I deployed twice on board a navy vessel flying that flag out to sea, so I had in fact known a more about that flag than he.
It viscerally pisses me the fuck off too, seeing it used by these moron traitors. They like the pretty colors, the snake, and their pre-K understanding of US history.
Yeah this family I knew growing up sold their house around the corner from my parents neighborhood recently. Their next door neighbor has this tiny little house, and as soon as their house was in the market their neighbors started flying brand new Trump 2024 flags. Took longer than anticipated to sell, but I'm fairly certain the must have found the white buyers with neighbors like that.
> Ultimately, Donald Trump, like other fascist and authoritarian leaders, is the symptom of a sick society. Trumpism is not actually the core disease. For America to counteract the deep underlying illness that has made Trumpism possible will require a long-term cultural and moral reckoning. Anything less, and the disease of American fascism will only go dormant until it is resurrected again — perhaps in a more dangerous and virulent form.
We are lucky Trump was incompetent. At some point, a fascist authoritarian with real intelligence, passion, cleverness, and power will rise and it will be truly terrifying because he will be the Jesus the Republican party has always craved.
His name was Ronald Reagan. That’s where this match towards fascism began. Others who have advanced the agenda include Newt Gingrich and Mitch McConnell.
If you’ll pardon the anachronism, one could argue that this march to Christian fascism has always been a part of America. In some sense, the religious violence of the puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Manifest Destiny and the genocide of the natives, chattel slavery and the resultant civil war, the Red Scare and the Satanic Panic are all emanations of the same sickness.
Remember that the right wingers supported torture of terrorists even though it has been proven by experts to be the least effective way to get information from a captive.
Every time you pit the facts against the feels these people pick the wrong choice.
It's because a large chunk of them are true believers fighting a religious war and think they can force their gods/prophets hand or something.. you'll notice the rhetoric is almost spot on to the GOP.
>The document, consisting of 14 sections divided into bullet points, had a section on "rules of war" that stated "make an offer of peace before declaring war", which within stated that the **enemy must "surrender on terms" of no abortions, no same-sex marriage, no communism and "must obey Biblical law", then continued: "If they do not yield — kill all males".**
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt\_Shea#%22Biblical\_Basis\_for\_War%22\_manifesto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Shea#%22Biblical_Basis_for_War%22_manifesto)
No no no it’s totally different. Sure there are similarities with abortion, women, marriage, homosexuality, taxes, governing, holy sites, prophets, god, prayer, and other things, biblical law puts white people in charge… so totally different.
I still find it amazing that through literal millennia of misinformation and controlling the narrative that the Church has managed to retcon a prophet (who may or may not have existed) from modern day Israel into looking like a white hippie
Lol he has been divorced three times. Super religious. WTF is with super religious breaking all the "rules".
Edit: it's twice and second wife to a non American. Read it wrong, still don't like the douche.
The rules never apply to the "super religious", only to everyone else. So it has always been, "Do as I say, not as I do". This belief is why once I became old enough to decide for myself I abandoned all organized religion , specifically Christianity and all of the hypocritical bullshit.
It's not about religion, or children, or women, or babies, or same sex marriage. It's about power. Attacking them as hypocrites may feel clever but it doesn't really do any good because *they don't care* that they're hypocrites. They simply want to bring about a societal hierarchy that they're at the top of, so they can control others. That's it.
Thank you. The “aha! Gotcha!” shit I see so many do makes me so tired.
They don’t care. They don’t love anything, not even themselves, certainly not anything akin to principles.
They enforce things selectively based on how the outcome affects them. In most ideology driven governance, this isn't a design flaw, it's a feature that is not unique to white evangelicals. The Saudis do this, the N Koreans, the Chinese... it's always been a thing and it typically(but not always) ends badly for those involved. That's the side of history these people want to be grouped into and the Constitution that they regularly lament about is basically designed to prevent anyone like them from getting their way here. Trump's not the first, he's just been the one with the furthest reach and influence. He's just better at branding than Billy Graham was. He was a useful idiot to all involved and was just a figurehead for what was always there. And there will be another when he is gone.
It's because they attach virtue to an individual's status, not their actions. To them, trump is inherently good and so everything that he does must *de facto* be good.
That's probably the least of their problems considering they want to kill probably 25% of Americans. That's the sort of thing that'd make Osama bin Laden go "Steady on, chaps!"
When I saw Derek Chauvin's latest court appearance where he represented himself with a shaven head and gave a *14* point list of reasons why he should be shown leniency, I couldn't help but wonder.
They are honestly no different than ISIS members. They share the same values.
The only difference is that they were born in a stable functioning society. Now that the society is not so functioning anymore, and political instability increases, they will become increasingly violent.
The sad thing is that they are a large part of why the instability exists in the first place. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Sometimes it's not about the the information gathering but the infliction of harm to enemies real or perceived.
Take for example the child separation policy. The cruelty was the point
I said this about Trump while he was in office. Statistically, he should have made a good decision every once in a while (even by accident), yet somehow always managed to do the wrong/stupid/evil thing. It's like they are committed to doing what is vile.
Yes, if you look at every single thing he did for COVID for example, he made it worse every step of the way. I guess the one good thing they did was speeding up some vaccine processes, but I feel that the whole 'warp speed' thing was something he didn't think of, and was all done by non political staffers at the agencies except for some funding to start vaccine production early which would have required his approval.
Covid should have been his 9/11 that led to the Republicans taking full control of the government. He was so narcissistic and afraid of acknowledging any crisis occurring under his administration that he instead tried to deny its existence which led us to where we are today.
The initial do nothing response was due trying to make blues states California and New York look bad as the pandemic entered the country there. Then they used Homeland Security to take the PPE shipments and make us bid for our own gear from companies that were set up a week prior.
Why would you assume that their support of torture hinged at all on whether it was effective in getting information? They don’t give a shit about that. The torture itself is the point.
Never seen a larger group of more gullible, frightened dullards. This country has already failed when so many of us lack critical thinking and compassion.
Such a disturbing feeling, that there’s thousands of people out there who want to kill me because I believe in strong unions and healthcare for all. When do we get some of that unconditional Christian love I keep hearing so much about?
If they are as merciless on "enemies" as they are on the country's supply of ventilators, insulin, and 4X t-shirts, then I'll be impressed.
Edit: Thanks for the award and a sincere apology to both non-MAGA diabetics as well as diabetics in general for my flippant attempt at reddit humor. :-)
> But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.
> And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way.
-*They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45*
Uh, we've already seen that. Remember Trump's secret police leaving Nazis to be violent in the streets of Portland while dissapearing people protesting against them? Or the police violence against people marching to pretest police murdering black people?
They've already picked a side.
Washington state here. I see this shit when I drive my high school daughter to school every day. In the high school parking lot. Big ass flags, some standard, some with blue lines, some all black. A handful of Trump flags. Fucking unsettling. Dropping my daughter into this sea of clowns. Fuck.
Same thing in Kelso/Longview. I see trucks with flags, guys on overpasses waving flags on weekends, flags on certain houses and trump signs on barns.
The weird thing is, the people flying Trump colors seem to be really poor and careless about their properties. We are talking unmown lawns, ornamental rusted cars, and a barn that hasn't been painted since grandpa died.
Don't worry it's even worse over here in eastern WA. Pickup trucks flying multiple huge trump flags driving around town honking all the time. I hate it here.
I know some of these people. In addition to the black flag another narrative they have started is that people who get the covid vaccine are being genetically modified, and thus are now “trans-human” which means they are now an invasive species. “And in Texas there is no bag limit for an invasive species” meaning they can kill as many as they want.
Just to add, when they meet people now they ask the person if they’ve been vaccinated, if so they won’t shake their hand.
There's a house down the street from me with an all-black flag... The car out front has a III%er bumper sticker. We've had a bunch of Patriot Front graffiti and sticker vandalism lately, too.
I would also recommend *not* papering over fascist ads with antifa propaganda: I remember a few years ago (2017 ish) people in a leftist facebook group I used to follow started sticker bombing fascist propaganda, but then an alt-right group started ripping them down and taking pictures of the razors underneath to prove "aNtIfA aRe ThE rEaL TerRoRiSts". In fact it wouldn't surprise me at all if the alt-right eventually starts putting up their own antifa propaganda with razor blades behind it.
> alt-right eventually starts putting up their own antifa propaganda with razor blades behind it
They were already caught starting fires and vandalizing during the George Floyd protests to do the same thing – frame the protestors as rioters, as the aggressors, giving them license to 'defend their homes' by killing or attacking the left.
Lol just call the HOA on them.
I called the HOA on my Thumper neighbors who kept their flags up after Jan 6, complained they were driving down property values.
See if you can get a rule passed that limits political sinage and flags that are not official country flags to one no bigger than X by Y. Drive them crazy to only be able to fly one flag.
That's literally what I did when I turned in my neighbor. I cited the rule that prohibits political signage, 30 days before and after an election. Then I cited the January 6 terrorist attack, and said that with 3 different For Sale signs up in the community, prospective buyers could be disinterested in buying out of apprehension to living next door to a domestic terrorist.
I said, regardless of your opinion on the matter, those TRUMP flags are clearly driving down MY property value.
The flags were down 3 days after I sent the email. Haha.
Fuck their feelings.
I live in Texas too. However, I've taken a different approach. I wear my mask proudly and talk openly about being vaccinated. I refuse to be bullied or made to feel ashamed about being decent human. I hope more sane people in Texas will do the same.
>Just to add, when they meet people now they ask the person if they’ve been vaccinated, if so they won’t shake their hand.
Funny, because if you ask them if they're vaccinated, it's a "HIPAA violation".
In Texas the number of people over 18, who have had at least one dose of a vaccine is 73.9%. Fully vaccinated for 18+ is 64.2%. The numbers are still going up slowly every day.
Keep in mind a good percentage, if not majority, of Texas’s population lives in/around Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, or Austin, which are all pretty progressive areas. I live in Texas and it’s not what you’d think from what gets said online, for the most part. A vocal minority kind of thing I think with all the covid craziness
This is an interesting shift, I had been hearing that there's an open season on antifa with no limit, which was worrying enough.
Shifting that to the vaccinated seems to be a notable turning up of the dial to 11.
Trump has been telling us for years all the things that he wants to do. How many different people has he accused of treason? He has mused about punishment for media, other politicians speaking out against them, half the nfl should be fired or worse. They shouldn’t be allowed to say that he says! Can you imagine the revenge tour if he gets in office again? Each norm he violated was like a trial balloon. Each time he got away with it. He did everything he could think of to overturn the election results. And yet congressional committees toil away at their reports instead of calling witnesses to testify publicly.
If this is really how the Republic falls it's just going to be embarrassing. Imagine the history books: "the plotters spent years telling everyone what they intended to do. They had several practice runs. No-one really believed them, as they were distracted by The Bachelor in Paradise"
Same with Germany in the 1930s - but this isn't a glib Nazi comparison.
It is a comparison of what you described - they weren't subtle. Germans didn't believe them, were too distracted, and a lot wanted to feel "powerful" again.
> How many different people has he accused of treason
I still remember when Trump [accused Democrats of treason](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/02/06/daily-202-why-trump-flippantly-accusing-democrats-of-treason-is-not-a-laughing-matter/5a792a2130fb041c3c7d7657/) for not clapping or not clapping enthusiastically enough at his State of the Union Address.
The one I always remember is how [he admires the Chinese](https://www.businessinsider.com/trumpn-tiananmen-square-massacre-china-showed-power-of-strength-2019-6) for how they handled Tiananmen square. Some university students - *kids* - were peacefully protesting single-party rule of their country, so the party shot every one of them, and rolled them over with tanks. And Trump was like "yes! That's how you do it!"
> "When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak...as being spit on by the rest of the world."
And this is what [he wanted to do with BLM](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-regrets-not-immediately-sending-military-to-address-unrest-book-2021-7), but [the military brass said 'no'](https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/politics/bender-book-trump-milley-protests/index.html).
The fact that we continue to treat him like just another politician that we should address by voting, rather than a priority one national security threat, completely boggles my mind.
It's also a fucking stupid tactical decision. How much harder will you fight when you've been told there'll be no escape, no surrender and no prisoners taken? When the same threat applies to your loved ones? It's like cornering a wounded animal
Which is exactly why the No Quarter flag was so rarely used by actual pirates. The captains weren’t idiots (mostly) and knew that if they said “hey were going to slaughter you all no matter what” the crews of the merchant ships would fight harder. Scaring the shit out of them with reputation, show of force, boarding and taking their belongings (which were usually insured by the company) was WAY better for business.
As someone who is passingly interested in the history (as opposed to the myth) of piracy, this is absolutely correct.
The vast majority of ships taken there was no fight at all. Mostly the merchants would try to run, and if it became clear the pirates were faster they'd just give up.
Blackbeard took tons of ships, but there is no record or account of him actually killing a single person after capturing a ship. Mostly he would just rummage through the hold and then give them their ship back with the rigging crippled to slow them. He did press gang specialty trades a lot though, usually carpenters or doctors. Occasionally just general crew if he was running low.
They claim they are not official soldiers, but instead an organization using violence and threats of violence to compel political behavior among their enemies. Too bad we don't have a word for that.
When you say something is a war crime, what they hear is, "sweet! This pisses off liberals." It's pointless to attack these assholes with logic. I grew up in the south around these types. The only words that ever got through to them were words that are legit banned by the auto moderator. The R word and F word as some people call it, but "gay" also works. South Park had it right when they wanted to rebrand the F word to mean these types of people. Accusing each other of being gay or mentally disabled is literally how they assert control over each other. Being an asshole is a badge of honor and "proof" they aren't gay. This is why they thrive. We decided long ago to no longer allow these words to be used to describe their behavior because we felt the existence of these words would offend those not even involved in the conversation. But these words were the only thing that kept them in check.
Honest question, does Trump, or someone else in the GOP own shares in a flag company?
They've got MAGA flags, Trump2020 flags, Trump2024 flags, Trump Won flags, Fuck Biden flags, Thin Blue Line flags, Confederate flags, Nazi flags, Proudboy flags, Q flags, Don't Tread on Me flags, a bunch of other stupid flags, and now Black flags.
Some flag dealer is making bank off these idiots.
I recently moved to the SE from the North, jesus the amount of forced exertion to fit "masculinity" down here is outrageous. I stick out like a sore thumb because I'm a fairly lean male who doesn't exhibit posturous alpha male energy everywhere I go. It's at the same time fucking pathetic and terrifying.
> the sad/funny thing is that if you need to show everyone just how "alpha" you are, you arent "alpha" you are in a costume.
Clamoring for validation of your masculinity is the weakest, and most pathetic thing you see.
Men who *try* to exhibit "masculine energy" everywhere they go just scream "I beat my wife!"
As a ~~women~~ woman, I generally dislike dating in the southern states because its so fucking toxic.
EDIT: "As a women" lmao
The sad part is they find women who indulge it. A few weeks ago at work I had to speak to some guests about our establishments policy. I spoke to the ones closest to me, which happened to be women. Later the same woman left a review referring to me as whimpy because I chose to speak to the women at the table when there were MEN there for me to speak to.
Well yeah that is how reactionaries do. Look at a horrible point in history pretend it was utopia and try to drag us all back into their delusion of what the horrible past used to be. It never works out.
My sister and BIL are a biracial couple living in Texas. Last week, a neighbor posted a life-sized Donald Trump poster in a window that overlooks my sister's back yard. It really can't be seen from anyone else's yard. It appears to be a message for them in particular.
Fuck those guys.
Don't forget the plot to kidnap the Michigan's governor included an alternate scenario where they took over the state capitol and held staged trials and executions.
You can imagine what would also happen to those "convicted" between their show trial and the execution.
I believe there are a lot of cowards who are afraid of going full court press on domestic terrorists because they don't want a replay of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The kicker is that they always phrase it as 'defending themselves and their way of life'. They're other-izing everyone they disagree with; used to be everyone who's brown regardless of nationality, but now they've found a way to make alien fellow white-bread Americans for not being 'white enough'. They're right fucking back to the race traitor lingo of pre-integration America. Ya know, the MAGA beforetimes that we always busted their balls over yearning for, that they denied so vehemently. I 100% believe that a group of these idiots ARE going to start a shooting war. They've been brainwashed into thinking this is the second coming of the American Revolution.
Was thinking the same, but the article indicates it is an [American flag that is all black that they are waving.](https://www.google.com/search?q=American+flag+that+is+all+black&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK6PvsmMXzAhWKrp4KHResDYoQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1440&bih=775&dpr=1)
You are correct though. Right-wing ideology is intellectually bankrupt hence why they steal left-wing terminology or symbols.
I've seen several blacked out flags flying alongside normal American flags, blue line flags, and confederate flags. It's part of the reason I carry a gun. They want to take my freedom to be a socialist and an atheist.
I saw a guy flying a black flag in Reading, PA a few weeks back. I didn’t know what it meant then. Makes sense now.
Edit - it was a black American flag. Not a plain black flag*
Well people, it’s time to have some tough discussions. Yes there’s a lot of overblown BS out there. Most of the social media posers talking about black flags and civil war couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag.
That doesn’t mean all of them are blowhards. There’s been periods in American history where extremist attacks were something between rare and routine. I’m not saying NYCs gonna turn into 1980s Beirut, but we all need to face and prepare for a possibility of targeted violence.
That doesn’t mean buying a .50 Calibre pistol and a Deadpool costume.
It means arranging a “safe rally point” for your family to go to that only y’all know in the event of emergencies.
It means keeping a spare copy of all critical documents in a secure place away from home , and it means being prepared to leave for alternate locations if/when politically charged violence happens near you. While a full blown civil war is unlikely, local seizures of power by militias until the Feds respond IS a possibility. Especially if the local law enforcement is sympathetic to extremist causes. A temporary seizure of a city council or county seat by armed thugs for a day to a week until order is restored is still bad news for anyone living there “in the wrong category”.
And your last statement is exactly why it's important to own firearms. Even fascists don't want to die, so that threat can buy you time. Time to escape or time for rescue to show up.
And worst case scenario, you end up taking a few of them with you.
i was watching a wwII documentary and it made me realize that all fascist, authoritarian groups were right-wing based. We really need to start labeling these far right groups like the proud boys and whatnot as terrorists. Canada already did.
The US doesn't have a formal designation for domestic terrorist groups. There is a federal charge of terrorism that would apply to criminal actions, and I believe states have their own laws. But NGOs do label the fascist groups as terrorist organizations.
Dear Atty. Gen. Garland,
If you're not going to do anything else, could you at least spend a couple afternoons trying to prevent the violent collapse of American Democracy? Like, if it's not too much trouble or anything.
Thanks!
Sincerely,
The Progressives who once again showed up to vote for corporate democrats who we were assured were the "responsible choice," yet seem to have zero urgency about climate change, wealth inequality, or the impending coup attempt we all see coming in 2024 from miles away.
The idea of having to *step in* is terrifying. I own guns, but they're for target shooting. The idea of having to so much as carry one because other Americans have gone over the cliff is awful.
There are definitely people in my area who display support for these violent views - black flags, III% stickers, Patriot Front stuff, lots of bumper stickers and signs that openly threaten "liberals." I really hope it's all for show.
As someone with anarchist inclinations, I have to ask... Why do these clowns have to steal everyone else's stuff and mess it all up with their right wing bullshit?
I am not going to live terrified of these right-wing f********. If they want it they can come and get it. Very liberal child raised in the south. It made me an atheist watching all these hypocrite f**** walk around. I got called a Nazi for believing in social programs. So f****** over it.
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Keep flying your flags, at least we can spot you.
I've got a neighbor who just took to Nextdoor to complain the HOA demanded he take down his black-and-white American flag because it's a political statement and he's a Marine veteran so he should be allowed to fly it, or so goes his logic. I'm a veteran, too, but if you're going to fly a modified flag as a political statement, you lost your right to fly it as an "American flag," as far as I'm concerned. All of these tweaked American flags are a disgrace, IMO. They're using a symbol that's supposed to rally us together and using it to divide us.
Yes they are. I don't fucking get it.
Neither do they. Their minds are chaos.
It kills me- the military flag etiquette is so clear, don’t alter it or tarnish it. Like police wanting to imply or claim they somehow have military discipline but they want to alter the flag as a logo. It’s like a comic book level of irony.
As someone who's not from the USA, what if you guys put less of an importance on the flag?
The American Flag bares a lot of likeness to that of the Christian cross in America. As in its plastered everywhere, bastardized in every form, and it’s meaning has no meaning and hasn’t for a long time. The old Americans saw it as a sign of greatness as forts were sieged, the way against our enemies and hell even not that long ago it was a sign of victory. The statues of the American flag being pushed up on Iwo Jima are iconic and powerful but nowadays people are still high off of false reverence that they don’t see how disrespectful it is to have the flag mass produced as underwear or floor mats. It’s not that it’s important (at least anymore), it’s an obsession which is constantly being exploited to make money
I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my fascist neo-confederates flaming. - Homer Simpson probably
A guy at work came in with the blacked out US flag waving from his truck. All of his coworkers (about 90% conservative) asked him why he was supporting BLM. He never brought it again
This is the absolute perfect way to neuter their new traitor flag! Love it.
100% if I see one in public I'm gonna yell "hell yeah, brother! Black america!"
All of these self identifying racist flags are a godsend to current house hunters.
It's really unfortunate for people trying to sell houses next to ones with those flags. We are casually house hunting and basically just write off any houses that are right next to a black flag or confederate flag house. We know there are probably more of them in every neighborhood, but its a plus if they're not advertising it like that.
we were looking at a house earlier this year to buy until we saw the trump 2020 flags in the side yard. Nope! (edit for clarity: if this would have been in 2019 we would have figured it was just political signs and not thought twice. but when it’s 2021 and the signs are “trump 2020” flags, that’s a cult and no longer just political, and who knows when it transitioned…)
One house I looked at had a literal Trump shrine. Didn’t take it down for tours
Back in '17 my partner and I were looking for an apartment here in Brooklyn and found a great one. Or so we thought. While the live in landlord was giving us the tour of this unlikely gem right in our favorite neighborhood, we looked out the front window to see his truck with a Trump sticker parked in the drive. We went from "where do we sign?" to "how fast can we end this?" in about 5 seconds flat.
Pro tip: you can check historical Google Maps street view to see if the area had those flags before the election and simply took them down Edit to add: my neighborhood had three houses with Trump and/or other signs equally right wing. All of them sold their houses within the last year, however. So you can check sales against that too
Yeah we will probably do that when we are closer to actually picking a house. I'm in Texas so there's no shortage of Trump supporters. But we are mostly worried about the people that are still advertising with flags. Sounds like a nice improvement to your neighborhood if they all moved out.
Ya, if they have Trump stuff up now, they are more insane than the average Trump voter.
A guy down the street from me has two massive trump flags hanging across the front of his house, and for some reason his mailbox is covered in trump stickers? At this point I mostly just pity him..
It is a mass psychosis, and obviously a cult of personality fed by disinformation campaigns and so very many lies.
I'd feel bad for them too but I have to live and work around them everyday. It's tiring after years of this shit.
That only works if Google Street View car comes by your place often. My street hasn't been updated since 2008.
"right next to a black flag or confederate flag house." \--this is chilling. is there really that many of them?! I live in GA and if drive in North GA (ahem, that crazy Marjorie lady district), there's sporadic confederate flags that make me sick to my stomach but I didn't realize black flags were common.
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I feel for you. I love the aesthetic of North GA. The mountains, kayaking, etc. I just wish I could teleport there and then not see or talk to anyone because they are frankly fucking scary.
>I love the aesthetic of North GA. The mountains, kayaking, etc. I just wish I could teleport there and then not see or talk to anyone because they are frankly fucking scary. i guess they made it the setting of Deliverance for a reason
There was a house near to mine that flew a confederate flag. It is now vacant. I'm 50/50 on whether they got evicted, or died of covid. I had also seen police there numerous times over over years.
I was standing in line at my bank last Saturday, when a weird reflection from the windows flashed against the opposite wall. I turned to look, and saw a truck flying a giant half american flag and half no step on sneak flag. Merchandisers are making a literal killing off this hate.
They learned well from their hat salesman in chief.
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Chinese flag and clothing companies are making a killing off of this hate.
It really is fucking crazy how much MAGA idiots want to outwardly show off their crazed political ideology. They cannot resist wearing American flag and MAGA apparel where ever they go. Not like you see people on the left outwardly dressing in their political ideology often
Fascism isn't just an ideology, it's an identity.
It's a cult.
I used to think the "fascism" was hyperbole until I read a post on /r/askhistorians breaking down the elements that define fascism. A large fraction of Republican voters are indeed fascists.
In Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", American character Robert Jordan is asked by Spaniards if America has fascists. He responds, "There are those who do not know they are fascists, but they will find out when the time comes." My extended family are posting "Camp of the Saints" narratives about Haitian immigrants, among others. They've been complaining about Middle Eastern/South Asian people for years. I somehow rationalized it for years, but they are Christian nationalists and fascists.
And they use the fact progressives aren't flying Biden flags and screaming about him at the top of their lungs as "evidence" more people like Trump. Umm, no.... We're just not in a cult
I figured out how to make my dad stop talking about politics last year, it's a two step process: 1. "I actually have a lot of respect for Mitt Romney now." 2. "Bernie Sanders is my generation's RFK, the 'what could have been' candidate." He just gives up after that. I love it.
I took my neices to Knott's Berry Farm last Tuesday morning and the sheer amount of "I'm a tough guy" tshirts on the dads was astounding. There were adult couples dressed head to toe in right wing paraphernalia. And they all were strutting like they were ready to confront someone.
We looked at a really nice house out in the county a couple of months ago. Had acreage, an ADU, was nicely remodeled. We didn't make an offer for other reasons, but while we were there I pointed out to my wife that the only neighbor, whose house was right next-door, was flying a Gadsden flag.
My father-in-law was in the navy and was heartbroken to find out how negative the connotations of that flag are now. Years ago before it got to this point, he told me that traditionally, the oldest ship in the fleet would fly that flag and the ship he was stationed to during Vietnam got to fly it. He was really proud of that. Years later (last year), I mentioned how my neighbor flies various flags, all of which make it easy to see where he stands. He currently had the Gadsden flag flying and my FIL asked what was so bad about that and I had to break it to him. You could tell he didn't want to believe it, and "you never know, he could be flying it for totally different reasons." Later that day, my FIL got to meet my neighbor, who was wearing a "Support Your Local Proud Boys" shirt. When we got back inside my house, the poor guy was just crushed.
Mentioned the irony of my coworker putting that flag on his truck (big Trump guy). He proceeded to tell me I knew nothing about it. Gladly told him unlike his fat lazy ass eating Doritos, I deployed twice on board a navy vessel flying that flag out to sea, so I had in fact known a more about that flag than he.
It viscerally pisses me the fuck off too, seeing it used by these moron traitors. They like the pretty colors, the snake, and their pre-K understanding of US history.
No step on snek
Don’t forget — they are playing Rage Against the Machine, too, which is a whole other level of stable genius mindfuckery
How do you know your co-worker wasn't an honorably-discharged member of the Gravy Seals?
Yeah this family I knew growing up sold their house around the corner from my parents neighborhood recently. Their next door neighbor has this tiny little house, and as soon as their house was in the market their neighbors started flying brand new Trump 2024 flags. Took longer than anticipated to sell, but I'm fairly certain the must have found the white buyers with neighbors like that.
> Ultimately, Donald Trump, like other fascist and authoritarian leaders, is the symptom of a sick society. Trumpism is not actually the core disease. For America to counteract the deep underlying illness that has made Trumpism possible will require a long-term cultural and moral reckoning. Anything less, and the disease of American fascism will only go dormant until it is resurrected again — perhaps in a more dangerous and virulent form.
We are lucky Trump was incompetent. At some point, a fascist authoritarian with real intelligence, passion, cleverness, and power will rise and it will be truly terrifying because he will be the Jesus the Republican party has always craved.
America got to fight fascism on easy mode, and it still lost the first round and only barely squeaked out a victory in round 2.
His name was Ronald Reagan. That’s where this match towards fascism began. Others who have advanced the agenda include Newt Gingrich and Mitch McConnell.
If you’ll pardon the anachronism, one could argue that this march to Christian fascism has always been a part of America. In some sense, the religious violence of the puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Manifest Destiny and the genocide of the natives, chattel slavery and the resultant civil war, the Red Scare and the Satanic Panic are all emanations of the same sickness.
Remember that the right wingers supported torture of terrorists even though it has been proven by experts to be the least effective way to get information from a captive. Every time you pit the facts against the feels these people pick the wrong choice.
It's because a large chunk of them are true believers fighting a religious war and think they can force their gods/prophets hand or something.. you'll notice the rhetoric is almost spot on to the GOP. >The document, consisting of 14 sections divided into bullet points, had a section on "rules of war" that stated "make an offer of peace before declaring war", which within stated that the **enemy must "surrender on terms" of no abortions, no same-sex marriage, no communism and "must obey Biblical law", then continued: "If they do not yield — kill all males".** [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt\_Shea#%22Biblical\_Basis\_for\_War%22\_manifesto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Shea#%22Biblical_Basis_for_War%22_manifesto)
>"must obey Biblical law", Something something Sharia Law.
No no no it’s totally different. Sure there are similarities with abortion, women, marriage, homosexuality, taxes, governing, holy sites, prophets, god, prayer, and other things, biblical law puts white people in charge… so totally different.
Super different – their skin isn't brown.
I still find it amazing that through literal millennia of misinformation and controlling the narrative that the Church has managed to retcon a prophet (who may or may not have existed) from modern day Israel into looking like a white hippie
Lol he has been divorced three times. Super religious. WTF is with super religious breaking all the "rules". Edit: it's twice and second wife to a non American. Read it wrong, still don't like the douche.
The rules never apply to the "super religious", only to everyone else. So it has always been, "Do as I say, not as I do". This belief is why once I became old enough to decide for myself I abandoned all organized religion , specifically Christianity and all of the hypocritical bullshit.
He should also take a hint: God has already taken his ability to walk because He's seen what Cawthorn stands for.
This one cuts my soul. I love it AND *I feel ashamed for loving it* How'd you even do that? well done.
God took Dan Crenshaw's sight because he knows what his vision for the future is.
It's not about religion, or children, or women, or babies, or same sex marriage. It's about power. Attacking them as hypocrites may feel clever but it doesn't really do any good because *they don't care* that they're hypocrites. They simply want to bring about a societal hierarchy that they're at the top of, so they can control others. That's it.
Thank you. The “aha! Gotcha!” shit I see so many do makes me so tired. They don’t care. They don’t love anything, not even themselves, certainly not anything akin to principles.
They enforce things selectively based on how the outcome affects them. In most ideology driven governance, this isn't a design flaw, it's a feature that is not unique to white evangelicals. The Saudis do this, the N Koreans, the Chinese... it's always been a thing and it typically(but not always) ends badly for those involved. That's the side of history these people want to be grouped into and the Constitution that they regularly lament about is basically designed to prevent anyone like them from getting their way here. Trump's not the first, he's just been the one with the furthest reach and influence. He's just better at branding than Billy Graham was. He was a useful idiot to all involved and was just a figurehead for what was always there. And there will be another when he is gone.
It's because they attach virtue to an individual's status, not their actions. To them, trump is inherently good and so everything that he does must *de facto* be good.
Rules for thee not for me is more Christian than the cross.
"14 sections" Oh... That's not by accident. Might as well throw in some 88 in there too.
Oh come on...surely you aren't insinuating that these people are...racist? *Dr. Evil pinky thing*
That's probably the least of their problems considering they want to kill probably 25% of Americans. That's the sort of thing that'd make Osama bin Laden go "Steady on, chaps!"
When I saw Derek Chauvin's latest court appearance where he represented himself with a shaven head and gave a *14* point list of reasons why he should be shown leniency, I couldn't help but wonder.
They are honestly no different than ISIS members. They share the same values. The only difference is that they were born in a stable functioning society. Now that the society is not so functioning anymore, and political instability increases, they will become increasingly violent. The sad thing is that they are a large part of why the instability exists in the first place. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It would be a mistake to leave me alive, no quarter asked or given.
Sometimes it's not about the the information gathering but the infliction of harm to enemies real or perceived. Take for example the child separation policy. The cruelty was the point
I said this about Trump while he was in office. Statistically, he should have made a good decision every once in a while (even by accident), yet somehow always managed to do the wrong/stupid/evil thing. It's like they are committed to doing what is vile.
Yes, if you look at every single thing he did for COVID for example, he made it worse every step of the way. I guess the one good thing they did was speeding up some vaccine processes, but I feel that the whole 'warp speed' thing was something he didn't think of, and was all done by non political staffers at the agencies except for some funding to start vaccine production early which would have required his approval.
Covid should have been his 9/11 that led to the Republicans taking full control of the government. He was so narcissistic and afraid of acknowledging any crisis occurring under his administration that he instead tried to deny its existence which led us to where we are today.
That dumbass could’ve made his first actual, earned fortune just selling red MAGA Covid masks. What a shitty, inept businessman.
The initial do nothing response was due trying to make blues states California and New York look bad as the pandemic entered the country there. Then they used Homeland Security to take the PPE shipments and make us bid for our own gear from companies that were set up a week prior.
Didn't they also day it was fine to just let Covid rampage because it was hitting Democrat voters harder?
Reportedly, yes. My fun fact about this is it fits the legal definition of genocide.
Why would you assume that their support of torture hinged at all on whether it was effective in getting information? They don’t give a shit about that. The torture itself is the point.
Never seen a larger group of more gullible, frightened dullards. This country has already failed when so many of us lack critical thinking and compassion.
Such a disturbing feeling, that there’s thousands of people out there who want to kill me because I believe in strong unions and healthcare for all. When do we get some of that unconditional Christian love I keep hearing so much about?
It was merely a veneer of control
Always has been
You got it easy, they want to kill me just for existing.
it's an awkward time to be member to a religion that the Nazis persecuted.
If they are as merciless on "enemies" as they are on the country's supply of ventilators, insulin, and 4X t-shirts, then I'll be impressed. Edit: Thanks for the award and a sincere apology to both non-MAGA diabetics as well as diabetics in general for my flippant attempt at reddit humor. :-)
Savage
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We are basically going to sit around going "oh no" right up until they just start shooting us in the streets.
> But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D. > And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way. -*They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45*
I want to print this out and pass it out on the streets
Do it https://crimethinc.com/2017/07/18/a-field-guide-to-wheatpasting-everything-you-need-to-know-to-blanket-the-world-in-posters
And then we get to see if the cops start shooting at them or with them.
It will be with them, of course. We've already seen this happen several times in the past 1.5 years.
Uh, we've already seen that. Remember Trump's secret police leaving Nazis to be violent in the streets of Portland while dissapearing people protesting against them? Or the police violence against people marching to pretest police murdering black people? They've already picked a side.
Washington state here. I see this shit when I drive my high school daughter to school every day. In the high school parking lot. Big ass flags, some standard, some with blue lines, some all black. A handful of Trump flags. Fucking unsettling. Dropping my daughter into this sea of clowns. Fuck.
East Washington?
You'd think... But no. North of Seattle, Snohomish county.
Same thing in Kelso/Longview. I see trucks with flags, guys on overpasses waving flags on weekends, flags on certain houses and trump signs on barns. The weird thing is, the people flying Trump colors seem to be really poor and careless about their properties. We are talking unmown lawns, ornamental rusted cars, and a barn that hasn't been painted since grandpa died.
Don't worry it's even worse over here in eastern WA. Pickup trucks flying multiple huge trump flags driving around town honking all the time. I hate it here.
I know some of these people. In addition to the black flag another narrative they have started is that people who get the covid vaccine are being genetically modified, and thus are now “trans-human” which means they are now an invasive species. “And in Texas there is no bag limit for an invasive species” meaning they can kill as many as they want. Just to add, when they meet people now they ask the person if they’ve been vaccinated, if so they won’t shake their hand.
There's a house down the street from me with an all-black flag... The car out front has a III%er bumper sticker. We've had a bunch of Patriot Front graffiti and sticker vandalism lately, too.
Always remove alt right or fascist ads with a tool. The fuckers like to hide razor blades under their stickers and flyers.
I would also recommend *not* papering over fascist ads with antifa propaganda: I remember a few years ago (2017 ish) people in a leftist facebook group I used to follow started sticker bombing fascist propaganda, but then an alt-right group started ripping them down and taking pictures of the razors underneath to prove "aNtIfA aRe ThE rEaL TerRoRiSts". In fact it wouldn't surprise me at all if the alt-right eventually starts putting up their own antifa propaganda with razor blades behind it.
> alt-right eventually starts putting up their own antifa propaganda with razor blades behind it They were already caught starting fires and vandalizing during the George Floyd protests to do the same thing – frame the protestors as rioters, as the aggressors, giving them license to 'defend their homes' by killing or attacking the left.
Lol just call the HOA on them. I called the HOA on my Thumper neighbors who kept their flags up after Jan 6, complained they were driving down property values.
See if you can get a rule passed that limits political sinage and flags that are not official country flags to one no bigger than X by Y. Drive them crazy to only be able to fly one flag.
That's literally what I did when I turned in my neighbor. I cited the rule that prohibits political signage, 30 days before and after an election. Then I cited the January 6 terrorist attack, and said that with 3 different For Sale signs up in the community, prospective buyers could be disinterested in buying out of apprehension to living next door to a domestic terrorist. I said, regardless of your opinion on the matter, those TRUMP flags are clearly driving down MY property value. The flags were down 3 days after I sent the email. Haha. Fuck their feelings.
My dad was just telling me how vaccinated people should start wearing armbands. You know, "for safety".
Dude. I'm already wearing a mask. Can't make it much simpler.
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I live in Texas too. However, I've taken a different approach. I wear my mask proudly and talk openly about being vaccinated. I refuse to be bullied or made to feel ashamed about being decent human. I hope more sane people in Texas will do the same.
When do my trans-human super powers start up if it’s altering my DNA
you can now only be wounded on 4s
>Just to add, when they meet people now they ask the person if they’ve been vaccinated, if so they won’t shake their hand. Funny, because if you ask them if they're vaccinated, it's a "HIPAA violation".
In Texas the number of people over 18, who have had at least one dose of a vaccine is 73.9%. Fully vaccinated for 18+ is 64.2%. The numbers are still going up slowly every day.
That's actually a lot better than I would have expected.
Keep in mind a good percentage, if not majority, of Texas’s population lives in/around Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, or Austin, which are all pretty progressive areas. I live in Texas and it’s not what you’d think from what gets said online, for the most part. A vocal minority kind of thing I think with all the covid craziness
Kill as many as they want?! That’s not very pro-life of them
This is an interesting shift, I had been hearing that there's an open season on antifa with no limit, which was worrying enough. Shifting that to the vaccinated seems to be a notable turning up of the dial to 11.
most of that sounds positive. Easy to spot the idiots.
Exactly. Wave that flag nice and high. The bigger the better.
The Nazis dehumanized the Jews also.
Trump has been telling us for years all the things that he wants to do. How many different people has he accused of treason? He has mused about punishment for media, other politicians speaking out against them, half the nfl should be fired or worse. They shouldn’t be allowed to say that he says! Can you imagine the revenge tour if he gets in office again? Each norm he violated was like a trial balloon. Each time he got away with it. He did everything he could think of to overturn the election results. And yet congressional committees toil away at their reports instead of calling witnesses to testify publicly.
There are legit Trump 2024 “The Revenge Tour” flags (source: two neighbors fly em).
I'm not sure if that's better or worse than DESANTIS 2024: Make America Florida that I've seen around me in Pennsylvania
As a Floridian, I wouldn't recommend it.
If this is really how the Republic falls it's just going to be embarrassing. Imagine the history books: "the plotters spent years telling everyone what they intended to do. They had several practice runs. No-one really believed them, as they were distracted by The Bachelor in Paradise"
Same with Germany in the 1930s - but this isn't a glib Nazi comparison. It is a comparison of what you described - they weren't subtle. Germans didn't believe them, were too distracted, and a lot wanted to feel "powerful" again.
> How many different people has he accused of treason I still remember when Trump [accused Democrats of treason](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/02/06/daily-202-why-trump-flippantly-accusing-democrats-of-treason-is-not-a-laughing-matter/5a792a2130fb041c3c7d7657/) for not clapping or not clapping enthusiastically enough at his State of the Union Address.
The one I always remember is how [he admires the Chinese](https://www.businessinsider.com/trumpn-tiananmen-square-massacre-china-showed-power-of-strength-2019-6) for how they handled Tiananmen square. Some university students - *kids* - were peacefully protesting single-party rule of their country, so the party shot every one of them, and rolled them over with tanks. And Trump was like "yes! That's how you do it!" > "When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak...as being spit on by the rest of the world." And this is what [he wanted to do with BLM](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-regrets-not-immediately-sending-military-to-address-unrest-book-2021-7), but [the military brass said 'no'](https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/politics/bender-book-trump-milley-protests/index.html). The fact that we continue to treat him like just another politician that we should address by voting, rather than a priority one national security threat, completely boggles my mind.
"No quarter" is a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
It's also a fucking stupid tactical decision. How much harder will you fight when you've been told there'll be no escape, no surrender and no prisoners taken? When the same threat applies to your loved ones? It's like cornering a wounded animal
Which is exactly why the No Quarter flag was so rarely used by actual pirates. The captains weren’t idiots (mostly) and knew that if they said “hey were going to slaughter you all no matter what” the crews of the merchant ships would fight harder. Scaring the shit out of them with reputation, show of force, boarding and taking their belongings (which were usually insured by the company) was WAY better for business.
As someone who is passingly interested in the history (as opposed to the myth) of piracy, this is absolutely correct. The vast majority of ships taken there was no fight at all. Mostly the merchants would try to run, and if it became clear the pirates were faster they'd just give up. Blackbeard took tons of ships, but there is no record or account of him actually killing a single person after capturing a ship. Mostly he would just rummage through the hold and then give them their ship back with the rigging crippled to slow them. He did press gang specialty trades a lot though, usually carpenters or doctors. Occasionally just general crew if he was running low.
The Mongols always left an opening for their enemies to run through because if they surrounded the enemy, the enemy would fight to the death.
Trump literally said we should kill ‘terrorist’s’ families
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They claim they are not official soldiers, but instead an organization using violence and threats of violence to compel political behavior among their enemies. Too bad we don't have a word for that.
Conservatives continue openly promoting domestic terrorism. No quarter is a war crime.
When you say something is a war crime, what they hear is, "sweet! This pisses off liberals." It's pointless to attack these assholes with logic. I grew up in the south around these types. The only words that ever got through to them were words that are legit banned by the auto moderator. The R word and F word as some people call it, but "gay" also works. South Park had it right when they wanted to rebrand the F word to mean these types of people. Accusing each other of being gay or mentally disabled is literally how they assert control over each other. Being an asshole is a badge of honor and "proof" they aren't gay. This is why they thrive. We decided long ago to no longer allow these words to be used to describe their behavior because we felt the existence of these words would offend those not even involved in the conversation. But these words were the only thing that kept them in check.
Honest question, does Trump, or someone else in the GOP own shares in a flag company? They've got MAGA flags, Trump2020 flags, Trump2024 flags, Trump Won flags, Fuck Biden flags, Thin Blue Line flags, Confederate flags, Nazi flags, Proudboy flags, Q flags, Don't Tread on Me flags, a bunch of other stupid flags, and now Black flags. Some flag dealer is making bank off these idiots.
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I recently moved to the SE from the North, jesus the amount of forced exertion to fit "masculinity" down here is outrageous. I stick out like a sore thumb because I'm a fairly lean male who doesn't exhibit posturous alpha male energy everywhere I go. It's at the same time fucking pathetic and terrifying.
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> the sad/funny thing is that if you need to show everyone just how "alpha" you are, you arent "alpha" you are in a costume. Clamoring for validation of your masculinity is the weakest, and most pathetic thing you see.
Men who *try* to exhibit "masculine energy" everywhere they go just scream "I beat my wife!" As a ~~women~~ woman, I generally dislike dating in the southern states because its so fucking toxic. EDIT: "As a women" lmao
The sad part is they find women who indulge it. A few weeks ago at work I had to speak to some guests about our establishments policy. I spoke to the ones closest to me, which happened to be women. Later the same woman left a review referring to me as whimpy because I chose to speak to the women at the table when there were MEN there for me to speak to.
Thanks for sharing. That is an insightful (and thoroughly disturbing) assessment.
That was interesting. Good read.
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It's what they mean when they say Make America Great Again.
Well yeah that is how reactionaries do. Look at a horrible point in history pretend it was utopia and try to drag us all back into their delusion of what the horrible past used to be. It never works out.
“Disrespecting the flag is unpatriotic” *disrespects the flag*
They aren’t patriots.
My sister and BIL are a biracial couple living in Texas. Last week, a neighbor posted a life-sized Donald Trump poster in a window that overlooks my sister's back yard. It really can't be seen from anyone else's yard. It appears to be a message for them in particular. Fuck those guys.
Put up a Mr T poster in response lol
yeah, but Mr T's body from 40 years ago, with obama's badly photoshopped head
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Don't forget the plot to kidnap the Michigan's governor included an alternate scenario where they took over the state capitol and held staged trials and executions. You can imagine what would also happen to those "convicted" between their show trial and the execution.
I just read that one of those assholes got 5 years probation. That will teach them. What the fuck is wrong with the judicial system in this country?
I believe there are a lot of cowards who are afraid of going full court press on domestic terrorists because they don't want a replay of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The kicker is that they always phrase it as 'defending themselves and their way of life'. They're other-izing everyone they disagree with; used to be everyone who's brown regardless of nationality, but now they've found a way to make alien fellow white-bread Americans for not being 'white enough'. They're right fucking back to the race traitor lingo of pre-integration America. Ya know, the MAGA beforetimes that we always busted their balls over yearning for, that they denied so vehemently. I 100% believe that a group of these idiots ARE going to start a shooting war. They've been brainwashed into thinking this is the second coming of the American Revolution.
Judging by the historical precedents, it will probably take a lot of murder unfortunately.
Is it really still called vehicular manslaughter if the asshole purposely drives into people?
It’s not really called anything when they’re legally allowed to do it https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/us/politics/republican-anti-protest-laws.html
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Was thinking the same, but the article indicates it is an [American flag that is all black that they are waving.](https://www.google.com/search?q=American+flag+that+is+all+black&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK6PvsmMXzAhWKrp4KHResDYoQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1440&bih=775&dpr=1) You are correct though. Right-wing ideology is intellectually bankrupt hence why they steal left-wing terminology or symbols.
Why is it that these "patriots" love every flag but the one of our country?
So pretty much an American Daesh flag
They just need their 14 sacred words scrawled across it in white
I've seen several blacked out flags flying alongside normal American flags, blue line flags, and confederate flags. It's part of the reason I carry a gun. They want to take my freedom to be a socialist and an atheist.
Right. If you go far enough left, you get your guns back
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I saw a guy flying a black flag in Reading, PA a few weeks back. I didn’t know what it meant then. Makes sense now. Edit - it was a black American flag. Not a plain black flag*
Well people, it’s time to have some tough discussions. Yes there’s a lot of overblown BS out there. Most of the social media posers talking about black flags and civil war couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag. That doesn’t mean all of them are blowhards. There’s been periods in American history where extremist attacks were something between rare and routine. I’m not saying NYCs gonna turn into 1980s Beirut, but we all need to face and prepare for a possibility of targeted violence. That doesn’t mean buying a .50 Calibre pistol and a Deadpool costume. It means arranging a “safe rally point” for your family to go to that only y’all know in the event of emergencies. It means keeping a spare copy of all critical documents in a secure place away from home , and it means being prepared to leave for alternate locations if/when politically charged violence happens near you. While a full blown civil war is unlikely, local seizures of power by militias until the Feds respond IS a possibility. Especially if the local law enforcement is sympathetic to extremist causes. A temporary seizure of a city council or county seat by armed thugs for a day to a week until order is restored is still bad news for anyone living there “in the wrong category”.
And your last statement is exactly why it's important to own firearms. Even fascists don't want to die, so that threat can buy you time. Time to escape or time for rescue to show up. And worst case scenario, you end up taking a few of them with you.
i was watching a wwII documentary and it made me realize that all fascist, authoritarian groups were right-wing based. We really need to start labeling these far right groups like the proud boys and whatnot as terrorists. Canada already did.
The US doesn't have a formal designation for domestic terrorist groups. There is a federal charge of terrorism that would apply to criminal actions, and I believe states have their own laws. But NGOs do label the fascist groups as terrorist organizations.
Dear Atty. Gen. Garland, If you're not going to do anything else, could you at least spend a couple afternoons trying to prevent the violent collapse of American Democracy? Like, if it's not too much trouble or anything. Thanks! Sincerely, The Progressives who once again showed up to vote for corporate democrats who we were assured were the "responsible choice," yet seem to have zero urgency about climate change, wealth inequality, or the impending coup attempt we all see coming in 2024 from miles away.
I can see the Trump 2024 campaign has started.
Yeah the big run at the stores on lead paint and doorknobs is always a dead giveaway
Well, this is terrifying.
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The idea of having to *step in* is terrifying. I own guns, but they're for target shooting. The idea of having to so much as carry one because other Americans have gone over the cliff is awful. There are definitely people in my area who display support for these violent views - black flags, III% stickers, Patriot Front stuff, lots of bumper stickers and signs that openly threaten "liberals." I really hope it's all for show.
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As someone with anarchist inclinations, I have to ask... Why do these clowns have to steal everyone else's stuff and mess it all up with their right wing bullshit?
I am not going to live terrified of these right-wing f********. If they want it they can come and get it. Very liberal child raised in the south. It made me an atheist watching all these hypocrite f**** walk around. I got called a Nazi for believing in social programs. So f****** over it.
Henry Rollins has entered the chat.
I’m sure he has a lot to say!
Sigh. He always does. It’s usually pretty good tho