Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I really should read my own blog.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

White supremacy is terrorism.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

No Justins, No Peace

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

In my day, never was longer.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

This blog will pay for itself.

You are here: Home / Politics / domestic terrorists / Trump Inspired Terrorism

Trump Inspired Terrorism

by | 183 Comments

This post is in: ,

Get used to more of this:

A former Houston Police Department Captain was arrested and charged for running a man off the road and pointing a gun at his head in an attempt to prove claims of a massive voter fraud scheme in Harris County, according to a news release from the Harris County’s DA’s office.

Mark Anthony Aguirre, 63, was arrested by Houston police Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

“He crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime, and we are lucky no one was killed,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “His alleged investigation was backward from the start – first alleging a crime had occurred and then trying to prove it happened.”

According to court documents, Aguirre told police that he was part of a group of private citizens called the “Liberty Center,” who were conducting a civilian investigation into the alleged ballot scheme.

According to Aguirre, he had been conducting surveillance for four days on a man who was allegedly the mastermind of a giant voter fraud scheme. Aguirre told authorities the man was hiding 750,000 fraudulent ballots in a truck he was driving.

Instead, the victim turned out to be an innocent air conditioner repairman, court documents said.

Aguirre ran his SUV into the back of the truck to get the technician to stop and get out, according to court documents.

When the technician got out of the truck, Aguirre pointed a handgun at the technician, forced him to the ground and put his knee on the man’s back until police came, the court document said.

Aguirre allegedly directed police to a parking lot nearby where another suspect, who has not been identified, took the truck.

There are a lot of unhinged, unstable folks out there, and Trump is motivating to act upon their lunacy.

Reader Interactions

183Comments

  1. 1.

    WV Blondie

    Call it what it is – stochastic terrorism.

    (From Wikipedia) stochastic terrorism [stuh-kas-tik ter-uh-riz-uh m] -noun- the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.

  3. 3.

    Jay C

    Not that makes much difference in principle (said principle being “F*ck Tr*mp and all his works”, but the incident in Houston happened back on October 19.
    Though being pre-election doesn’t make the paranoiac violence any better to have to read about.

  5. 5.

    Roger Moore

    @WV Blondie:

    Call it what it is – stochastic terrorism.

    This specific case is not stochastic at all.  He wasn’t some loner who decided to do this on his own hook.  He had been hired to be part of a private investigation of the election:

    Aguirre allegedly never told police that he had been paid a total of $266,400 by the Houston-based Liberty Center for God and Country, with $211,400 of that amount being deposited into his account the day after the incident.

    I definitely want to know more about the “Liberty Center for God and Country”, especially about which billionaire is funding it.

  7. 7.

    Citizen Alan

    Send the bastard to Gitmo. Waterboard him until he identifies who is financing his terrorist cell. Surely no Republican would object to that.

  8. 8.

    J R in WV

    OT but cool…

    Next door neighbor and best friend, works for the big county health dept in the state capitol area, is an inspector so out in public a lot, got her first vaccination yesterday.

    No third eye yet, if you believe her.

    So relieved to hear that, she has been in danger for months now. Has been a neighbor since we moved out here 40 years ago. Helped us move stuff from town, actually. Also a great cook, bird expert  and gardener!

  9. 9.

    Shalimar

    @Pete Mack: They paid him $266k for this 4-day investigation,  though much of it was the day after the incident in what clearly seems like a payoff to keep silent about the real backstory.  In that sense, it seems like a grift.  But on the other hand, he waited for police so he obviously was a true believer that there were ballots in that trailer.

    Seems insane to me, but also a little frightening that 10s of millions are insane by that criteria.

  10. 10.

    Felanius Kootea

    Whoa. The lack of a shared reality between Trump cultists and the rest of us is going to lead to more frightening incidents. This person is delusional but convinced that he’s on the side of righteousness – did he call the police to the scene of his ongoing crime thinking he’d finally solved the “voter fraud” case?

  11. 11.

    Yarrow

    From the article:

    Aguirre worked for HPD for 24 years and was indefinitely suspended after a botched raid outside a westside K-Mart in 2002.

    “Indefinitely suspended?” What’s that mean? Is he still collecting a paycheck?

  12. 12.

    SideshowBill because I can't use my real name for business reasons

    Notice the incident happened back in October and they’re just arresting him now.  It’s great to be a cop </snark>

  13. 13.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Roger Moore: Thank you. Stochastic means random. The only thing random about T-inspired terrorism is which one of his crazy nutters he inspires to do the deed.

    We know who is doing the instigating (Orange Clown) and we know who are the likely targets.

    Call it what it is, Republican inspired White Supremacist Terrorism.

  14. 14.

    Bill Arnold

    If you want some of today’s GOP insanity, another wonkette piece:
    That’s Right, MAGA Idiots, Time To Eat Mitch McConnell’s Face! (Evan Hurst, December 16, 2020)
    I rabbitholed down the Sidney Powell tweet and found myself in a world stranger than the Wonderland that Alice found.
    A lot of left-wing conspiracy theories (some grounded in very reasonable suspicions and facts) have been resurfacing as right wing conspiracy theories the last few weeks. Some of the Parler action is competent progressive trolls. Some of the twitter action too. Mixed feelings about this; quite dangerous, but will do a lot of damage to the GOP if steered well.
    Oh, and <em>”The Kracken”</em> clearly is/has been a large scale disinformation/influence op to promote and amplify sedition in the USA, by enemies of the United States of America, both domestic and foreign.
    Prove otherwise! :-)

  16. 16.

    laura

    I mean, who hasn’t been run off the road after a rear end accident by a retired LEO who was paid almost 300 large to stick a gun in your face and then hold you hostage while his coconspirator steals your wrecked work vehicle and your life flashes before your eyes. Ain’t that America, home of the free…….

    My God, how we need an American Nuremburg Trial to sort through this experiment in fascism and criminality.

  18. 18.

    Barbara

    @Bill Arnold: Has anyone planted the rumor that Sidney Powell and Giuliani are both agents of Hugo Chavez and company and that their role was to defend Trump in such an incompetent manner that they couldn’t possibly win?  I mean, what are the CHANCES that someone could LOSE 60 lawsuits unless they were TRYING to lose?  I mean, who in their right mind would try to pass off a military jeep mechanic as an expert in military intelligence and cybersecurity?

    Let them deal with the angry hordes outside their doors for a change.

  19. 19.

    Poe Larity

    It strikes me that Hollywood has never had an air conditioning hero or bad guy. Nor any actors I can think of. Lots of famous people were plumbers – Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Ozzy…

    The Wingularity sure has some strange paths when it’s “The HVAC Guy”

  21. 21.

    Bill Arnold

    @schrodingers_cat:

    The only thing random about T-inspired terrorism is which one of his crazy nutters he inspires to do the deed.

    That’s precisely the way stochastic terrorism should be used; the people doing the rabble-rousing are the terrorists, and they’re counting on a high probability that one or more rando (in this case a delusional rich rando) takes action, but because their is (almost always) no legally provable causal link, the perpetrator (the rabble rouser) skates.
    Stochastic optimization, e.g. simulated annealing, is a similar usage.
    The actual incidents/events, such as this one, are the intended results of stochastic terrorism.

  22. 22.

    Anoniminous

    The Liberty Center for God and Country

    These people are a real piece of work.  From the link:

    “Liberty Center for God and Country: “Patriots will stand and fight before we let these Communist Democrats steal the election and destroy America’s Constitutional Republic.”

    Most of their shit is the usual Right Wing crapola they’ve been pushing since Roosevelt.

  24. 24.

    trnc

    @Bill Arnold: “Patriotic Houston Ex-Cop Crashed Into Van, Held AC Repair Guy At Gunpoint In Successful Attempt To Prove Mental Instability Of Trump Supporters” also works as a headline.

  27. 27.

    Xenos

    This whole scenario is like a fact pattern of an issue-spotting exam for a torts class in law school.  You could just hand the students the article and say “discuss”.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    @Gin & Tonic:

    We will be fighting that mis-use of “stochastic” forever, it seems. In futility.

    I find it a nice respite from the debate over “defund the police.”

  31. 31.

    trnc

    “There were no ballots in the truck,” according to a Harris County district attorney’s office press release. “It was filled with air conditioning parts and tools.”

    Looks like the Soros patented “Inflatable Tools Of The Trade (Perfect for hiding Ballots and Communists! Order yours TODAY!”) is working as expected.

  33. 33.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Yarrow:

    Bunches of cops got disciplined over that, with at least one resignation and a prosecution or two.

    Charges against the folks in the mass arrest were all dismissed.

  38. 38.

    Yutsano

    @Bill Arnold:

    Oh, and ”The Kracken” clearly is/has been a large scale disinformation/influence op to promote and amplify sedition in the USA, by enemies of the United States of America, both domestic and foreign.

    Can y’all be leaving Seattle’s hockey team alone now? Please and thank you.

  39. 39.

    jeffreyw

    Kindle has a Le Carre book for $3.  I read the reviews rated most helpful and they were 1 star.

    1.0 out of 5 stars More an anti-Trump diatribe than a spy novel
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019

    I threw the book out at page 58. I see and hear enough Trump Derangement Syndrome and BREXIT derangement syndrome day in and day out. I have no love for Trump but I read spy novels to get away from all the current political drama. I don’t expect Trump Derangement Syndrome in a John Le Carre novel.

    I considered that to be a good review, and very helpful!  I am not going into comments on the review.  No need!

  40. 40.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    It’s been mention elsewhere this clown got paid over a 100K to do this. We’re going to have to come up for a new word for Terrorist – Grifter.

  42. 42.

    different-church-lady

    Yup, it’s “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”, except instead of space aliens it’s one sociopath with lots of money and a talent for bringing out every single gram of latent racism in people.

  43. 43.

    Bill Arnold

    @Jeffro:

    POLITICO story breaking: the trumpov maladministration decided back in July to go for herd immunity despite the deaths that would result. Murdering liars.

    Paul Alexander left when M. Caputo (who Paul Alexander reported to) went on medical leave.

  46. 46.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Gin & Tonic: Been that way for the Racist Right for a while since they began sueing Klan leaders for the youthful indiscretions they egg their members into.  King Rat haranges his minions until one of them goes lone gunman.

    Of course in this case King Rat shown he’s got money, to let the litigation begin.

  47. 47.

    Kent

    Thinking this through to the end game.  It seems to me that the increasing radicalism and crazy of the Republican party only ends two ways.

    1.  The doubling down of the outrageous level of racism and crazy leads them down the path of the California GOP and they become a rump party
    2. They actually take over the fucking country which is what we had for the past 4 years under Trump.

    I don’t know how things play out.  I don’t think we can survive a Trump 2.0   Demographics do not favor the current path of the GOP.  But one way or the other it is going to be a bumpy fucking road.  But strategically thinking, I’m not sure which is worse, a crazy GOP that can’t regain power.  Or a less crazy more expansive GOP that does regain power.

  48. 48.

    Mo Salad

    @Yutsano: We both know that they should have went with the Metropolitans.  A free century-old Stanley Cup title, right there for the taking. But nooooooo…

  49. 49.

    Rand Careaga

    @Bill Arnold:

    That’s precisely the way stochastic terrorism should be used; the people doing the rabble-rousing are the terrorists

    And Alex Jones knows exactly what he meant with “one way or another” a few days ago, and so did most of the people who heard him.

  51. 51.

    Kent

    @rikyrah: I doubt he was still collecting a paycheck.  It probably meant they agreed not to pull his law enforcement credentials and put an actual firing on his employment record if he agreed to go away and never come back.  That sort of thing is pretty common.

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle

    @jeffreyw:   Agent Running in the Field.

    I liked it a lot.  LeCarre had a lot to say about Trump (described as “Putin’s shithouse cleaner”) and about British politicians and Brexit.

    Foo on those one-star reviewers.  They are stupid.

    Here’s a review from BookTrib.

  53. 53.

    Bill Arnold

    @Rand Careaga:

    And Alex Jones knows exactly what he meant with “one way or another” a few days ago, and so did most of the people who heard him.

    You saw that too. Instant chill on reading it.
    (To put it in Alex Jones’ terms, Alex Jones’ influence over gullible easily manipulated Americans needs to be neutralized, one way or the other; he’s an enemy of the United States of America.)

  66. 66.

    Kent

    @Just Chuck: Funny how even in right to work states like Texas you still get police unions

    Us teachers couldn’t have unions.  But the police can and do.  Well, technically we still had teachers’ unions.  But they couldn’t actually negotiate or anything.  So they were really just more professional associations.

  68. 68.

    Kent

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Around here (Portland metro) at least the city buses would most certainly have snow chains.  We still get plenty of crazy stupid drivers but at least the transit tends to work OK.

  69. 69.

    patrick II

    A different take:

    Seth Abramson

    QAnon is an ARG (Alternate Reality Game). It was set up that way and is managed that way. QAnoners are playing an ARG and refuse to stop for the very reason transreality gaming can be hazardous: you can forget what’s game and what’s reality. QAnoners are lost in a dangerous game.

  70. 70.

    Poe Larity

    @Kent: I wonder how the Birchers would have turned out if there had been internets then. There were always more than a few LaRouchites or hangers-on at their protests. 1986:

     

     

     FOR LAROUCHITES, IT`S ALL A HOAX

    The TreasAnons are raging on Mitch right now, threatening to go their own way.

  72. 72.

    WV Blondie

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yes, I’ve noticed. But I’m applying the term to Hair Furor and his toadies, goading this idiot (and the further idiots he conned into paying him for the “assignment”) into acting. Not at the idiot et al. As Bill Arnold explains at #21 (thanks, Bill!).

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    @jeffreyw:   From the 47 responses to the idjit one-star review.  Several, of course, said “thanks, I will buy it right now.”

    No one wants to hate Trump. He simply gives wise people no choice. Make America Think Again.

    Looking at these reviews, I’m really surprised how many right-winters are Le Carre fans. Have you not taken anything away from his other novels? Seeing his response to Trump and Brexit cannot possibly come as a surprise unless his previous novels went completely over your head.

    A lot of trump supporters seem very sensitive to the truth. Perhaps you should avoid it in the future.

  75. 75.

    patroclus

    @Baud: I’m not sure if I understand your point.  Are you saying that defunding the police will not result in the rise of stochastic terrorism or not??!!  And by “defunding,” I mean (blah, blah) and by “stochastic,” I mean (yadda yadda).  Please explain in detail.

  77. 77.

    Kristine

    So the guy who was paid over a quarter of a million to root out voter fraud thinks you can fit 750K ballots in the back of what, a van? A pick-up?

    I don’t believe it would ever fly, but I wish election service could be classified with jury duty and one could be called up to serve as an election judge. If these folks had to take the classes and work an election or two, at least some of them would realize how ridiculous so many voter fraud accusations are.

  83. 83.

    Kristine

    @Elizabelle: I’ve learned over the years that a number of very conservative folks–including iirc a co-founder of CPAC–are fans of my SF, and I also wonder if they know what they’re reading. You never know what a reader is going to take away from your work. They choose you, not the other way around.

    (Also, Le Carré fan who is behind on her reading and should check out that book)

  84. 84.

    Gravenstone

    @Kent: Republicans like certain unions. Case in point, Snotty Walker explicitly omitted police and fire unions from his destructive efforts. Saw a pro-Walker protest where at least one of the women was sporting a “Union wives for Walker” tee shirt. I just muttered to myself that she didn’t realize they would be on the chopping block the second it became politically expedient.

  86. 86.

    West of the Rockies

    Isn’t it truly great to see a president (elect) who knows how to wear a suit and select a decent tie?  Isn’t it fantastic to have a VP with a personality, brain, and sense of humor and humanity?

  87. 87.

    SteveinSC

    From Kyle Griffin NBC:
    Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of critical care at Houston Memorial Medical Center, tells NPR that half of his nurses won’t take the COVID vaccine for ‘political’ reasons:

    “Most of the reasons that most of my people don’t want to get the vaccine are politically-motivated.”
    My Twitter Reply:
    I love this! A MAGAt version of the CIA’s “Auto-Terminated with Prejudice.” Don’t take the fucking vaccine you morons. Thinning the herd Texas style! Additional benefit: Follow your MAGAt heart and it will cause the U.S. average I.Q to go up. Be my fucking guest!

  88. 88.

    Elizabelle

    @Kristine:   Maybe they’re OK with truth and justice and the American way … on a planet that exists only in imagination?

    You have a good website.  Will have to check out some of your books.

  89. 89.

    MattF

    Well, consider that Allen West apparently moved from Florida to Texas to became chair of the Texas GOP. Years ago, I used to make a point of getting the Texas Republican ‘platform’ to see what the crazies were up to. But I know better now.

  90. 90.

    Anotherlurker

    @jeffreyw: I just purchased the book for Kindle.  That 1 Star review was all I needed.

    I read a few of the comments and they were spot on in criticizing the reviewer.

  91. 91.

    Aaron

    Fact check: a ream (500 sheets) of paper weighs 5 lbs. So 750,000 sheets would weigh at least 7,500 lbs.

  93. 93.

    Elie

     

    Can’t that poor air conditioning repair man sue the asshole and the “Liberty” organization for assault or something?  They weren’t part of a formal policing or related process.  They were private citizens doing vigilante bullshit that brought harm to the van he was driving and probably scared (and therefore injured) the repairman.  I’d take all his little money and the organization.  He should sue the guy who hired Aguirre and anyone else affiliated.  Let ’em pay lawyers.  Honestly.

    This is an example of the amount of raging insane people we have running around these days.  Its crazy but treatment for most is elusive and we have a terrible system for pre-emptively identifying folks like Aguirre who most probably is paranoid or somesuch.

  94. 94.

    Mike in NC

    Front page of USA Today — “Really is over”: Fight to overturn vote collapses

    Trump will rally the Proud Boys and some people will die.

  98. 98.

    catclub

    Aguirre allegedly directed police to a parking lot nearby where another suspect, who has not been identified, took the truck.

     

    I thought WTF about this part. ACCOMPLICE, takes the keys and moves it out of sight to plant evidence, and didn’t. isn’t this now a conspiracy – plus hired criminals.

  101. 101.

    Just Chuck

    @catclub: Not to mention, by definition this was a criminal conspiracy.  I hope they pile that onto the charges and the two never see daylight again.

  102. 102.

    catclub

    @Aaron: I suspect that is 20lb bond paper – so 2000 sheets is 20lbs.

     

    They is lighter paper, but the basic point holds – that is a lot of paper.

  103. 103.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @patrick II: I agree the whole thing is a LARP to far (and now I know why my SCA friends despised LARPing as a form of mental illness, ya the SCA is a bit escapists but that full contact martial arts part of is a reality that can’t be ignored) but I disagree with this guy’s solution. The way to stop these stupid Wingnut LARPS like Qanon is force them to break character and part of that is real legal consequences for their game, but that’s the government. For the rest of us to get them to stop is break their fourth wall for them – “oh gods, you and your silly Qannon role playing, what are you level 25 now?”

  104. 104.

    Elie

    @Just Chuck:

    I hope some enterprising and energetic lawyer is making contact with the airconditioning repair guy as we speak .  I’d take all their little money made on this ridiculousness and eat it up in an award and payments to lawyers.  This lawyer could also investigate whether there were any other regular folks who suffered at the hands of the vigilante criminals.  Get them some money too.  Jail is satisfying but I really like taking their money and making them have to move out of their homes, lose their cars etc.

  105. 105.

    Citizen Alan

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Cool your jets, Sparky. No one’s going to do that. But it sure would be nice to be able to ask GOP assholes who are fine with torture and indefinite detention for every Muslim who looks at them funny exactly why they DON’T support the same policies for White RW Domestic Terrorists.

  106. 106.

    Kristine

    @Elizabelle:

    Maybe they’re OK with truth and justice and the American way … on a planet that exists only in imagination?

    It could be so many things. Some think that if weapons/fighting are involved, well, you have to think like they do because everyone knows liberals don’t do violence. And if the adventure moves along quickly enough, a lot of other stuff scoots under the radar.

    You have a good website. Will have to check out some of your books.

    Thanks–I keep wondering if it’s time to update. Maybe after I finish the wip. Some of my romance-writer friends have amazing websites. You can do so much these days with premade themes and plugins.

  107. 107.

    mrmoshpotato

    conducting a civilian investigation into the alleged ballot scheme

    You fucking fascist shitstains.

  108. 108.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @rikyrah:  The release of e-mails is proof that it was discussed. It’s like Woodward; it was clear and obvious what was going on, but now there’s evidence of actual malice (tainted with blind stupidity).

    They deliberately created a situation to kill Americans, because they wanted to stop having to deal with Covid-19.

  109. 109.

    Llelldorin

    According to court documents, Aguirre told police that he was part of a group of private citizens called the “Liberty Center,” who were conducting a civilian investigation into the alleged ballot scheme.

    So he has a known affiliation with a criminal street gang.

    “Criminal street gang” means three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities.

  112. 112.

    Llelldorin

    @catclub: I’m pretty sure this makes Liberty Center meet the Texas definition of a “criminal street gang.” That strikes me as the correct way to go after these guys—we have laws to go after organizations that exist to break the law already.

  117. 117.

    Bill Arnold

    @schrodingers_cat:
    I am talking about people using probability (and chaos) and an audience of easily-manipulated minds as a (for practical purposes) deterministic weapon.
    Absolutely, preachers, whatever religion, rabble-rousing during their preaching to encourage terrorist attacks are engaged in [stochastic terrorism]. Incidents caused by such, however, are something else, for which I don’t know of a good technical name. (Haven’t looked at the literature in a while.) They are not, however, acausal, at least not entirely, just usually easily deniable. (There’s often some [art] involved.)

  119. 119.

    Kristine

    @Frankensteinbeck: I go back and forth about my blog. I tell myself I should post weekly, and I’m lucky if I manage a post every month. Scalzi, I ain’t.

    I’m with WordPress, and I use one of their free themes. Some of my friends use Divi from Elegant Themes, and their sites are stunning imo.

  120. 120.

    Jeffro

    @Llelldorin: “conducting a civilian investigation”…at gunpoint.

    I wonder what would happen if I “conducted a civilian investigation” of the NRA, or a mega church, or Grover Norquist’s office…at gunpoint?

  123. 123.

    Punchy

    From this article about states suing Google, here are the states in the lawsuit:

    The nine states that joined Texas are Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah and Idaho.

    /strokes chin…squints….

    There’s…..something….about those states that they all have in common…..hmmm.

  126. 126.

    Llelldorin

    @Jeffro: Doing it under the auspices of a named organization makes this pretty much akin to the way the Crips used to conduct civilian investigations into the Bloods’ drug operations when I was growing up in Los Angeles. This is definitionally organized crime, and should be treated as such. No “but he’s a nice white guy” exemptions this time.

  133. 133.

    Roger Moore

    @Jeffro:

    “conducting a civilian investigation”…at gunpoint.

    And not just doing it at gunpoint. He also stopped the guy by ramming his vehicle.  It’s just reprehensible behavior.

  135. 135.

    Roger Moore

    @Llelldorin:

    The big thing to me is that he got a big payoff after the events that got him arrested.  That makes it clear the paymaster approves of his activities and solidifies it as a criminal conspiracy.

  138. 138.

    cckids

    @Roger Moore:And not just doing it at gunpoint. He also stopped the guy by ramming his vehicle.  It’s just reprehensible criminal behavior.

    Fixed that for you.

  139. 139.

    cain

    @Kent:

    The news folks love a good snow storm. I remember one about a decade or so ago where it was particularly bad and it looked like they were reporting on it 24/7 – it was bad enough that I think they weren’t even sleeping or something – they sure looked like they were hit by a bus.

  143. 143.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kristine: John Scalzi got a lot of very conservative readers through his MilSF novel Old Man’s War, which convinced a lot of them that he was a right-winger (and, frankly, I can see why–though the ambiguity already present in the novel’s politics increased in subsequent volumes). Scalzi is actually one of these people who insists to this day that he’s a non-partisan independent, but his opinions about everything are pretty much mainstream Democratic Party and have only gotten more so with time.

    So they were in for a shock when they read the political stuff on his blog, and some got very, very angry, and Scalzi seems to like mocking and picking fights with them, though he’s still remarkably tolerant of right-wing posters in his comments.

  145. 145.

    WaterGirl

    @Kristine: I don’t think you are on our Balloon Juice Authors list.  The list is in the footer – If you would like to be on the list, please send me the kinds of information you see listed for folks who are on the list.

  146. 146.

    Redshift

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    I agree the whole thing is a LARP to far (and now I know why my SCA friends despised LARPing as a form of mental illness, ya the SCA is a bit escapists but that full contact martial arts part of is a reality that can’t be ignored) 

    Fuck your SCA friends. I will never understand why members of groups that get sneered at as weirdos decide it’s cool to sneer at other subgroups as the real weirdos.

    Despite the fact that it seems to have become common to slap the label “larpers” on them as shorthand for “idiots,” these assholes are no more LARPers than neo-Nazis are historical recreationists.

  147. 147.

    Llelldorin

    @cain: I’ve been using the name for something like 30 years now; you’re the first to actually comment on its origin. The character’s dippy enthusiasm really spoke to me as a college student; these days it’s just habit and anonymization.

  149. 149.

    debbie

    @Roger Moore:

    Whatever kind of terrorism it is, we need to stick to language everyone (including the asshole’s supporters) will understand. This is no time to seem to be talking down to anyone.

    That said, this guy should rot in jail and should be charged not only with violation of gun laws and intimidation, but also with violation of federal voting laws.

  150. 150.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Trump is motivating to act upon their lunacy.

    This makes it all the more imperative that the NY Atty Gen or Manhattan DA build an airtight case against Trump so that he’ll end up disgraced and dying in a prison cell.  Hopefully, their staffs are crossing every t and dotting every i to prevent this psychopath from getting acquitted on some bullshit technicality.

  162. 162.

    Elizabelle

    So who’s got snow today?  Sounds like Philadelphia has whiteout conditions in places?

    Just cold rain here.  Good indoor weather.

  164. 164.

    Kristine

    @Matt McIrvin: I think ambiguity is the key. Unless you come out and state gov’t structure or political philosophy, most readers can make any assumption they like. A ruling class like an oligarchy could be opposed by all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons.

  165. 165.

    Butter Emails

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    I agree the whole thing is a LARP to far (and now I know why my SCA friends despised LARPing as a form of mental illness, ya the SCA is a bit escapists but that full contact martial arts part of is a reality that can’t be ignored

    Sure. Because it’s the people smacking each other with real weapons who are the sane ones.

  170. 170.

    Jay

    Mass radicalization ?”This tent that used to be sort of 'far-right extremists' has gotten a lot broader. To me, a former counterterrorism official, that's a radicalization process"—Mary McCord, former federal prosecutor who oversaw terrorism cases https://t.co/1DhYeWvybW— Beth Nakamura (@bethnakamura) December 15, 2020

  173. 173.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Emma from FL:

    Unfortunately, Trump maniacs will be around for a long time, but if Trump becomes a convicted felon, he’ll no longer have access to a social media platform.

    The idea of a future with no more Trump tweets or online posts is something I’d welcome with open arms.

  177. 177.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Elizabelle:

    Thank You So Much!!!

    Following the Ninth is a documentary film about the global impact of Beethoven’s final symphony.

    https://www.followingtheninth.com/

    I haven’t seen this film, but it’s on my must see list.

    Hopefully, Beethoven’s 9th symphony will be the last piece of music I hear before I take my leave of this world.

  179. 179.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Kent:

    Funny how even in right to work states like Texas you still get police unions

    That is a feature, not a bug.  It makes it damn near impossible for city mayors implement effective criminal justice reform, clean up the streets, and turn cities into even more lovely places to live.  As a result, Republicans can say, ‘See how horrible cities are?  That’s what you get when Democrats are in charge.’  Cha-ching.  They scare rural people and suburbanites and get more votes.

  180. 180.

    Bobby Thomson

    Someone paid this guy 200 large plus to do this.  There are some very wealthy people funding this shit and they’re getting careless.

  182. 182.

    Bill Arnold

    @Kristine:
    Bought Gideon/Jericho (kindle) ’cause the (blurbed) subject matters are of interest. Just a bit into Gideon now, interesting.
    (Some of the medieval stories of Tempestari and African stories of Storm Calling are by careful observers.  The warm neck mind crawl/empath tell is uncommon in contemporary fantasy stories, at least what I’ve read.)

Comments are closed.