BEST OF 2023: the right-wing hate machine created a monster and handed him a weapon of mass death
they taught him well and then they set him loose
with government and courts shut down this week and hardly any news to write about, I’ll be reposting some of my favorite pieces from the past year, and then closing out 2023 with ‘this year in stupid.’
the post below was written on May 9, 2023, in the wake of what was at the time the most-recent mass shooting by some Nazi fuckface with a grudge and a manifesto.
as they always do, the wingnut screech monkeys feigned shock and innocence, offered cheap thoughts and useless prayers, and wondered aloud how something this awful could have possibly happened — as if they weren’t the ones who invented the phrase “2nd Amendment solution” and told their deranged worshipers to arm themselves and go forth and solve their problems.
who, us? yes, you, you shitheads.
— jeff t.
the right-wing hate machine created a monster and handed him a weapon of mass death
they taught him well.
they put weapons in the hands of their own children and posed for Christmas cards.
they ran campaign ads in which they “hunted” their opponents.
they opened gun-themed restaurants.
they fell all over themselves to see who could pose with the biggest gun.
they did ridiculous gun-related political stunts.
they told him to be afraid.
they told him that his enemies were everywhere.
they told him to be vigilant and ever-watchful.
they told him that Democrats were the problem.
they told him that the media was the problem.
they told him that women were the problem.
they told him that minorities were the problem.
they told him that immigrants were the problem.
they told him that gays were the problem.
they told him that trans people were the problem.
they told him that Jews were the problem.
they told him that drag performers were the problem.
they told him that teachers were the problem.
they created algorithms and media outlets that fed him a steady diet of hate.
they created a culture where guns meant might, right, and manliness.
they repealed laws that impeded easy access to weapons of mass death.
they voted down money for mental health programs.
and they never stopped reminding him that guns were the answer to his problems.
and now that the awful deed is done, and we’re learning more about the shooter and his beliefs, the right-wing ecosystem of hatred that created him wants to pretend they had nothing to do with it.
they want to pretend that their hands are clean.
they want to pretend that this is just one of those random things that happen, that nobody could have predicted it, that no one could have stopped it, and that nothing can be done to prevent it from happening again. I mean, whatcha gonna do?
they want to move on.
fuck you.
the blood is all over your hands.
and you’re not fooling anyone but yourselves.
we see you.
It's so easy to push the hate button in people... and the GOP is doing it for profit and power. They're preying on the weak minded to carry out their agenda to further their goals. Gun violence might well be the undoing of America. It's frightening. (PS Fuck the gun lobby.)
When my Dad and his generation fought WWII, they came home thinking that they had eliminated the Nazi menace. Now it's all coming back. There aren't many left from the "Greatest Generation ". We've lost institutional memory of why they fought. Now we face the same menace, only this time it's from within. Honor them by standing up to this madness.