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User's avatar
MM's avatar
1dEdited

Once again, it's "Do as I say, not as I do" time.

Can anyone guess what the responses would be from Trump, his cronies, and the MAGA faithful if a progressive/liberal commentator/newscaster/influencer/etc would have been assassinated?

You can be sure it would be probably along the lines of "I'm glad (he/she) is dead", "they had it coming", etc. And there would be very little pushback, accountability or consequences.

Meanwhile:

1) MSNBC just fired a commentator for saying Kirk's words may have fuelled the violence that claimed his life.

2) The Washington Post just fired an editor for "speaking out against political violence, racial double standards, and America's apathy toward guns."

Just another example of media organizations/corporations/universities bending the knee to the dictator.

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Jim's avatar

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade recently suggested lethal injections for the mentally ill and homeless and will still report to his job tomorrow.

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Fakim Rightoff's avatar

My guess is that most of the passengers on the Mayflower in 1620 were mentally ill.

Not a good start for any new country.

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misterkel's avatar

I think most of us are mentally ill at some level.

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Francis/Clare's avatar

No.

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

Weren't they the Puritans? Or did they come later? Anyway, they were not only Christian zealots, they were Christian Zionist fanatics.

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John M. McGuire's avatar

They were actually masonic British nobility. That may have something to do with why the US is still governed under authority granted by British Maritime Law.

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John M. McGuire's avatar

Of course, many of those families were essentially inbreds, so mental retardation wouldn't exactly be a shock. 😎

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Francis/Clare's avatar

No.

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Marci Sudlow's avatar

Nonsense. My Mayflower ancestor was a carpenter, what one today would call a blue collar worker. Most of the ship's passengers were Pilgrims, whose church had a number of religious differences with the Church of England and the Catholic Church. Some passengers were "Separatists," who had fled England to establish a Utopian community where they could practice their religion freely. Some of these passengers were so-called "Puritans," whose influence spread through the Plymouth colony as more ships arrived later.

Royalty getting aboard these rickety boats? I think not.

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The Revolution Continues's avatar

It's the audience that counts in the capitalist/fascist US. Kirk fans are to be coddled and praised for their racist islamophobia and transphobia. Kilmeade's audience likewise. The feelings of the mentally ill and homeless aren't worth shit and can and should be ignored.

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Eddie's avatar

It's always only the snowflake white supremists that counted in this country, the rest of us might as well not ever be here.

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tre peperoncini's avatar

And why do you think that is? They are not the majority and never have been.

The harsh irony is that throughout U.S. history the ruling class has never lacked enforcers drawn from the very groups it marginalizes.

Irish and Italian immigrants, who were despised by the fairer-skinned Europeans, filled the ranks of the police forces of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, cracking the heads of striking workers and keeping Black neighborhoods under constant siege. Divide the poor, the minorities, keep them struggling amongst themselves, it worked then and it still works.

Today a good number of Border Patrol and ICE agents are Latino, some perhaps with their own family history of illegal immigration. They now detain and deport people from the very regions their parents or grandparents fled.

The CIA has long recruited from immigrant and refugee communities. Remember how desperate they were for Arabic speakers. No doubt Farsi, Russian, and Chinese speakers are welcomed today. And let’s not forget how Black Americans were bribed or coerced by the FBI to infiltrate and undermine the Black Panthers.

America is not a melting pot; it is a gauntlet of trials and tribulations. This “land of the free,” champion of enterprise and speech and even “free love,” asks only that you betray your conscience and trade your soul.

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John M. McGuire's avatar

My sentiments, exactly.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

>>"Just another example of media organizations/corporations/universities bending the knee to the dictator."

This is the strategy of every authoritarian/fascist/dictator/strongman - to get control of institutions that may pose a challenge to their will. It's part of the 'strongman playbook'. Hence, strongmen always attack such institutions to subdue them to his will. (I say 'his' because most strongmen in history have been 'men').

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MM's avatar
1dEdited

Exactly.

And let's not forget that other favorite tactic in the strongman playbook: Replace/neuter the judiciary so that those pesky "activist" judges don't get in the way.

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SLK's avatar

In clear term,this is world war III in Motion.

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Harry Ziboo's avatar

A civil war of the Right against the left.

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SW's avatar

It also serves as a focal point for endless drama and debate while bigger stories are drowned out by the ongoing coverage Charlie Kirk’s murder has generated . When this has been milked for all it can give, they’ll move on.

The UN issued a scathing report on Gaza and left no doubt it was a genocide but when I watched the CBC news tonight the last story — labeled “human interest” — was about a dog being rescued from a fire. Rarely any news is reported. I guess the censorship can get worse and CBS news will get worse under the loathsome Bari Weiss but a lot of the job has already been done for her.

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John Day MD's avatar

To me it looks like the guy in the brown shirt reached to his left shoulder area and pushed a button that made a remotely targeted gun shoot Charlie Kirk in the neck immediately. It seems like it could have been a remotely targeted and monitored robotic device. https://rense.com/general98/video-loop.php

This autonomious sentry sniper system for the Korean DMZ would work: SGE-A1 The SGR-A1 is a type of autonomous sentry gun that was jointly developed by Samsung Techwin (now Hanwha Aerospace) and Korea University to assist South Korean troops in the Korean Demilitarized Zone. It is widely considered as the first unit of its kind to have an integrated system that includes surveillance, tracking, firing, and voice recognition.[1][2] While units of the SGR-A1 have been reportedly deployed, their number is unknown due to the project being "highly classified".

​ The Samsung SGR-A1 project started with an initial investment by the South Korean government in 2003 and was developed by four institutions led primarily by Hanwha Techwin and Korea University. With prototypes produced in 2006, the system was designed to replace human-oriented guarding along the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and to provide the "perfect guard operation"...

..Many of the Samsung SGR-A1's features resemble the standard sentry gun and similar automated stationary weapons like the Super aEgis II and the Israeli Sentry Tech systems. The system, costing approximately $200,000 (227 million won), includes an uncooled infrared thermographic camera for detection, a weapons interface that allows for mounted weapons, and a combination of an IR illuminator and a laser rangefinder to track and follow targets. It also includes a digital video recorder which captures footage for up to 60 days and three other cameras used separately for surveillance, tracking and zoom.

The Samsung SGR-A1 presumes any person entering the DMZ is an enemy and, upon detection, will attempt to identify the target through voice recognition. If a proper access code is not provided within a short amount of time, the system can choose between sounding an alarm, firing rubber bullets or engaging the target with other weapons. The system can also be overridden by an operator, who can also communicate via built-in microphone and audio system...

..A human-in-the-loop (HITL) system, if applied to the Samsung SGR-A1, would mean the weapon must wait for commands from a human operator before acting upon its targets. This contrasts with a human over the loop (HOTL) system, which would allow the Samsung SGR-A1 to autonomously engage targets while allowing for human intervention to stop it.​ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGR-A1

Israel deployes such a robo-sniper system in Gaza in 2007. IDF deploys Sentry Tech on Gaza border​, May 2007 The Israel Defense Force (ID​F) has started to deploy Rafael Armament Development Authority Sentry Tech remotely operated pre-positioned sensor-to-shooter weapon stations along Israel' border with the Gaza Strip. The system enables camera operators located in rear-located command, control communications, computers and intelligence (C41) centers to engage border infiltrators using a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS). The system is envisaged to reduce personnel deployment, shorten response time and augment surveillance/intelligence gathering capabilities along the border in synchronization with other security and intelligence sensors. Rafael is currently completing the development of another Sentry Tech variant, which will include long-range anti-tank guided missiles that will enable C41 centers to launch strikes on distant targets.​ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291483334_IDF_deploys_Sentry_Tech_on_Gaza_border#:~:text=Abstract

Wikipedia : Dozens of people have been shot with the Sentry Tech system. The first reported killing of an individual appears to have taken place during Operation Cast Lead in December 2008.[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentry_gun#Super_aEgis_II

Newsweek has images including a shooter's-eye-view, that make it possible to consider where a portable robo-sniper could be concealed. https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-shooting-map-site-2128087

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Eddie's avatar

The main stream media is an unfunny joke, it always has been, and it always will be.

Removing the Fairness Doctrine in 2011 was a grave mistake.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_doctrine

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Eddie's avatar

There is another law or doctrine that was in place to help prevent monopolies in media, it may be Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

(I could be wrong, the name is not coming to me right now, apologies)

It is a huge problem when very few media companies own most of main stream media.

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Davina's avatar

Same here in Australia, John Howard gave Murdoch the right to have several media outlets when it was banned before that - and look what he did - bought up up media here then in the US as well and ruined it there too- becsuse he thinks he's a king maker, when in fact he's just filling up his bank accounts- that he cannit take with him, same as Drumpf. Then along he came, the man with how many companies went bankrupt? And now he's allowed to use his presidency to acquire more money that he can lose, bet his wife won't let him near hers. And while he builds up money, and enemies, he's causing chaos, not just in America, but all over because he's still a toddler screaming for attention. How many more must die before the tide turns, as it always does and when it does there will be no place for him to hide, not even Israel will be safe then.

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Marci Sudlow's avatar

You're not wrong. Unfortunately anti-trust laws haven't been enforced in quite some time.

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

Mistake? Very intentional, and removed long before 2011. Where in the world are you getting that date from? Try 1987.

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Susan T's avatar

"Many pre-existing agendas are being shoved forward by those in power, as always happens when emotions run hot over a traumatic event." It seems that emotions are running hot a lot more often than they used to. And not just hot, but out of control. The death of Charlie Kirk is being used by the right wingers to blame anyone in the path of their words for whatever they choose to blame them for, mostly for supporting ideas the right either does not agree with or does not understand. It makes me dizzy.

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Jo Waller's avatar

Trump is not a dictator. He's the cumulation and accelerator of years of think tank planning and part of the continuity of agenda of the deep state. They create and use a left woke climate alarmist terrorist side and pit it against a right patriarchal fascist racist petrolhead side. There are genuine issues on both sides but people in them get swept up into the overall propaganda or are completely misrepresented.

Who are the deep state? the US based interests in fossil fuels, animal ag, pharma, tech, AI, entertainment, finance, porn, gambling, media, drug and sex trafficking and arms.

It's at times like this that we need to forget our loyalties and affiliations. Forget our political differences and perceived insults or short comings. We need to forget everything in the past. We need to forget Trump, left and right, MAGA, progressive, communist or liberal.

We need to focus on the present on the forces that are pulling the strings of social and mainstream media, pulling on our heart strings, getting us to take sides. We need to support global multipolarity and equity. We need independent information, energy and food sources to protect us against the US deep state's desire, and their finely honed propaganda skills, for global hegemony. Otherwise they will continue to use the American, Israeli, Ukrainian and Western vassals populations as battering rams to get their way.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

>>"Trump is not a dictator."

It is obvious beyond a shadow of ANY doubt that Trump IS a dictator (and more specifically, a strongman dictator).

I suggest reading the following book to understand such personalities better - "Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present" by Rith Ben-Ghiat (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53597796-strongmen).

Also, two things can be true at the same time. He is a continuation of previous administrations and previous U.S. Foreign Policy, AND he is an authoritarian, fascist DICTATOR.

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martin's avatar

one can read about the concoctions of christopher rufo (and dems kinda readily going along with it) if you'd want to explain to people how culture wars are started.

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The Chad Rabbit's avatar

Bullshit.

The left raised a chorus of SUPPORT FOR POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS after this.

The right would not have done that.

Don't both sides this. That's bullshit.

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hierochloe's avatar

jfc I want whatever you're on

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Alistair P-M's avatar

No it's NOT "do as I say, not as I do" if the "as I do" that you're comparing it to didn't happen.

Which is just like the case of the WaPo editor, who was fired for making up a quote that Kirk didn't say - saying that he said "black women don't have the ability to succeed without affirmative action", when he was talking about some specific black women who all admitted that they got their positions thanks to affirmative action.

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martin's avatar

do you really believe she was fired for rephrasing charlie kirk?

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hierochloe's avatar

at least she made a correction, but I guess they need to surrender a pound of flesh for the new woke mob

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hierochloe's avatar

you're not wrong with that wee example (thanks Breaking Points for mentioning this in the massive glaze session whitewashing an avalanche of toxic rhetoric that only a fucking fool couldn't see was going to have blowback as simply "normie conservative political positions"), but you are a liar or an idiot if you can't acknowledge the daily tsunami of bullshit that passes for another day at work at Daily Wire, Fox, OAN, and Newsmax

and then there's Epstein hypocrisy overshadowing all this kind of thing, plus jfc imagine the howls if Biden deployed Guard units anywhere in the US to "reduce crime", or put loose a federal agency to scoop up people without any warrant - hypocrisy of eye-watering levels in every direction

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Alistair P-M's avatar

I've no idea what Breaking Points is. You dimwits who rush to remind us all that conservative media says dumb racist things are missing the point, that you can't just make up quotes about people you don't like and then justify your made up quote with "but they said other nasty things too". So quote the nasty thing he actually said, if it was so bad. Otherwise, get used to people thinking you're full of shit

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hierochloe's avatar

someone is justifying taking quotes out of context? no, someone is pointing out that your cherry picked drop from the deluge to use to try to debunk egregious hypocrisy is silly because "as I do" happens all the time with no consequences by the same full of shit people bellyaching for consequences (media, influencers, politicians)

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Alistair P-M's avatar

"As I do" happens all the time? So when's the last time thousands of people who identify as 'right wing' laughed at and justified the murder of a left-wing commentator, specifically because of what that person said?

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hierochloe's avatar

bruh...distilling "as I do" into "laughed at and justified the murder of a left-wing commentator, specifically because of what that person said"

thousands of people who identify as 'right-wing' laughed at and justified deaths of innocent people at the hands of US military and law enforcement, while misquoting everyone under the sun they don't agree with, on the regular

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Feral Finster's avatar

Funny how the right bewailed cancel culture (and the left championed it) until the right got the whip hand.

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jade's avatar

i dont see any cancel culture..i see concerned americans tired of criminals tired of being told mentally ill kids are to be encouraged and hate speech from the left calling for more violence and murder...but you are right about one thing.......

THE WHIP has been taken out of the hands of the things you support and their followers.....and it seems to me....you should FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS ITS GONNA BE A BUMPY NIGHT.....

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Feral Finster's avatar

When WE do it, it's self-defense, a reaction to outrageous provocation, at worst an entirely justified preemptive strike in the face of imminent threat.

When they do it it's evil.

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martin's avatar

on your side of the fence it was called 'triggering the libs', iirc.

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The Revolution Continues's avatar

"His death is already being used to manufacture consent for sweeping acts of tyranny, and it was clear from day one that it would be."

I think that explains why Kirk was killed--as an excuse for "sweeping acts of tyranny" and to distract the public's attention from the Epstein files and from the US support of Israel and its genocide in Gaza.

My husband ventured to watch network news just to see how the mainstream media would report on the UN's report stating that it IS a genocide and was disgusted that this huge story was NEVER MENTIONED ONCE. The majority of the half hour news broadcast was about... You guessed it. I don't think Entertainment Tonight would spend 99% of their program on a dead racist podcaster, but...?

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Feral Finster's avatar

Horst Wessel and the Reichstag Fire, rolled into one.

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Truth Seeking Missile's avatar

Zionist news organizations in America reporting facts against other Zionist Jews? Never happens, why bother looking.

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Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

Kirk act just may recreate the Democratic Party with a platform cornerstone; allowing necessary brand rebuilding.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Forget the Democratic party....it's dead.

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jade's avatar

lol....do you realize your party is made up of violent mentally ill people who think they are a different sex than they were born?

of criminals that would beat and rob your kids and parents and wife just to film it?

of illegals the vast majority coming from the prisons in their country?

of lazy sub 75IQ DEI types that cant do the jobs they were handed at the expense of far more qualified people?

and anyone trying to win an election must satisfy those born losers or not run?

TRUMP has 3.5 years to get this country moving ..... and real americans support him....

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Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

Uniparty hard at work.

Keep us all off kilter and away they go.

Stripping constitutional rights right out from under us.

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Scuba Cat's avatar

The Grayzone has written a couple of *very* interesting articles about how Kirk's support for Israel was beginning to waver, how he'd refused Zionist money because he wanted to be free to criticize Israel, and how billionaire Zionist Bill Ackman staged an intervention with a bunch of his pro-genocide cronies in the Hamptons: https://thegrayzone.com/2025/09/15/bill-ackman-israel-intervention-charlie-kirk/amp/?s=01

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

CJ>>"Assaults On Free Speech Go Into Hyperdrive After Charlie Kirk Killing"

I though America was 'the land of the free' and 'the home of the brave', but I guess in reality it is 'the land of the UNFREE' and 'the home of COWARDS'.

When will Americans WAKE UP to the REALITY of what America really is? And if they do, will they do anything about it?

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The Revolution Continues's avatar

Good question. I keep prodding them to take action, but so far... The majority of Americans stay at home and keep a low profile, praying not to be noticed by the fascists in charge.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

Me too! I've gone on countless protests, some sit-ins, a couple of road and port blockages/work-stoppage, signed petitions, stuck protest posters multiple places for multiple events, and more...

I do see some positive movement/reaction, but it is still too slow! The authoritarians, fascists, and the elite are moving at a much faster pace... 😬

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Truth Seeking Missile's avatar

Once you're past the age of 14 I don't see how you could ever think America is the land of the free. By the way, "free" guarantees nothing and is highly overrated as a contributor to quality of life.

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Davina's avatar

Probably not cause the propaganda has been repeatedly for decades now about how strong America is. It really is not, when their military get s medals for crossing the Atlantic just to UK you know something is terribly off and that's why you need to realise that those rose of ribbons and medals are actually worth sod all. There were no outstanding acts of bravery, no fearless anything, except in their movies, it's all fantasy and the rest of the world believed it. Time to wake up, folks because reality is hitting the fan.

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

This is exactly what I warned would happen from the instant this Problem-Reaction-Solution psyop was announced. Below is a comment I posted in my attempts to raise awareness about this trap as I encouraged people to practice civil discourse and not fall for the civil war bait:

We need to take all this news with an enormous grain of salt as the intellimafia works hand-in-hand with the media to concoct a narrative that will cover its tracks, and any presentation of this as a lone crazy gunman is the typical formula used to divert attention from the true perpetrators orchestrating public events to manufacture consent for tyranny.

What the killing of Charlie Kirk tells me is the intellimafia is desperate to kick off a violent culture war. They tried to instigate a race war during the 1960s and failed; I am confident they will fail in this effort, too, but it will not be without bloodshed, most if not all executed by the intellimafia and its hired agitators.

We can curtail that bloodshed, however, by identifying the Problem-Reaction-Solution pattern here as well as in all the other intellimafia’s handiwork over the past century:

1) Problem: Assassinate a controversial figure who engenders heated emotions on both sides ranging from admiration to revulsion.

2) Reaction: Violence, strife, exacerbated division, and civil war. This is the ingredient they want the public to supply, but they will seed it with their own agitators and blanket us with propaganda until people succumb (which I pray they won’t).

3) Solution: They will propose heightened totalitarian restrictions, data collection, Palantir-panopticon surveillance, and curtailments of our liberties.

If we repeatedly expose their trap instead of falling into it, they will not be able to justify #3. It is vital that we point our fingers at the puppetmasters rather than their puppets.

Please read the short introductory essay in my 9/11 piece on the intellimafia and help me spread awareness that our greatest defense against their attempts to sow violent discord is to instead enter into respectful dialogue with our perceived opponents, listening to one another’s concerns, and trying to understand their perspective as they try to understand ours:

https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/memes-by-themes-20-the-intellimafia

In other words, we need to rehumanize one another so we experience each other face to face instead of as caricatured villains through screens.

To quote from my essay:

“The intellimafia wants you to think this is about left versus right, gender politics, immigration, race, Trump, and every other hot-button topic they’ve installed in people’s minds so they can mass-manipulate the populace at will.

“They want us to hate, feel outrage, blame the other, strike back, and dive head-last into uncivil war.…

“They want to toss out the ragebait and hide behind the curtain while we dogfight.

“We defeat their attempts to divide, dissipate, and decimate us by refusing to let them play our emotions, cognitive biases, and trauma like a well-worn record.

“We cancel their programming by remembering one another’s humanity, engaging in respectful dialogue, cutting the puppeteers’ strings, and alchemizing pain into love.”

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

Do you know WHY their (power elite, TPTB, etc.) method works? It's worked THROUGHOUT history. It's pretty much guaranteed to work. Why? Because humans are (and have always been) easily manipulable.

Even exposing the narrative, facts, evidence, logic, critical thinking, scientific reasoning, (and more) doesn't work (as shown by numerous instances in history). Because people have a flaw - people often want to believe what they want to believe (despite everything to the contrary).

We (most of us) know what we must do. We know the tricks TPTB employ. But humans are social creatures - social groups - hence we have 'in-group vs out-group' dynamics.

This 'belief instinct' and 'group dynamics' OVERRIDES facts, reasoning, logic, etc. Emotions OVERRIDE facts, reasoning, logic, etc. Hence, even knowing, knowledge, and education seem to FAIL when confronting HUMAN EMOTIONS.

Is there hope for our species? Depends on who you ask and in what context.

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

I understand your points and agree for the most part, but more people are awake than ever before in history, and we are able to communicate instantly with billions of people around the world. I know the cruelites are also using technology for their own aims, but now that so many people see through the stagecraft, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fool them. We are approaching a critical mass of awareness, and as an Apocaloptimistic practitioner of Confront the Brutal Facts + the Stockdale Paradox, I am confident we will win the battle for our minds—the only other choice is defeatism, which is an automatic fail:

https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/against-defeatism-the-apocaloptimist

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

>>"but more people are awake than ever before in history"

I disagree completely! With the increase in world population to 8 billion, there may be more 'raw number of people that are awake', but in terms of 'percentage of people awake' this assertion is HIGHLY questionable (at best) and wrong (at worst). It depends on what data one has picked for their analysis to come to such a conclusion.

>>"I know the cruelites are also using technology for their own aims, but now that so many people see through the stagecraft, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fool them."

It seems to matter little when 95%+ of the human population does not possess adequate critical thinking skills. People simply don't know HOW to think (i.e. critical thinking, etc.) so extra information/knowledge/etc. seems to become a non-issue.

Your attitude is one of HOPIUM, and I applaude you for it. It is definitely better than my attitude. I am a realist (though I'd rather not be).

I am rooting for you to win (in which case all of humanity - including me, wins). At the same time, my realism keeps me centered, observant, pragmatic, and yes - a little depressed.

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

All people need to learn is to distrust authority, trust their intuition, and say NO to tyranny, so it is actually a lot simpler than most realize:

https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/the-politics-of-disobedience-just

Étienne de La Boétie gave us the secret 500 years ago, and millions going on billions are coming to grasp this message:

“You can deliver yourselves if you try, not by taking action, but merely by willing to be free. Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break into pieces.”

—“The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude”

HOPIUM does not include Confront the Brutal Facts, which is why I use the term Apocaloptimist rather than optimist.

Read my Apocaloptimist Manifesto for details (you may find we are in greater agreement than you realize :-)

https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/against-defeatism-the-apocaloptimist

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

>>"All people need to learn is to distrust authority, trust their intuition"

Actually, NO! Emphatically NO! Very Strongly NO! Maybe even the opposite!

Why?

- Because one needs to learn to think critically first so that they know who to trust and who not to, separate fact from fiction, and more. Authority accomplishes many important things (and not everything about authority is bad). Eg. EPA regulations, science (the world is not flat), medicine (vaccines don't cause autism), climate science, and a million other things.

Let's refine it a bit. Distrust POWER! Distrust people that ABUSE power. Distrust people that ABUSE AUTHORITY. Distrust the motives of the 0.001%, the 0.01%, etc.

And 'trusting intuition' is probably the worst thing that someone could do. I recommend reading the excellent book by Daniel Kahneman called "Thinking, Fast and Slow".

Instead of 'instincts", people should focus on logic, rationality, statistics, probability, media literacy, critical thinking (fallacies, biases, cognitive errors, heuristics, etc.).

>>"Read my Apocaloptimist Manifesto for details"

I will, as it gives me ADDITIONAL perspectives - which are always welcome (and I like challenging MY OWN beliefs, biases, etc. so as evolve as a critical thinker). Thank you!

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

P.S. I forgot to mention I’ve had “Thinking, Fast and Slow” in my Audible queue for ages, so thank you for reminding me!

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

Haha, points taken, Chang, and I applaud you for being willing to challenge your thinking. Intellectual humility is crucial to learning, and my favorite model for that is Julia Galef’s scout mindset (intellectually curious, open to changing one’s mind with emerging evidence), which she distinguishes from the soldier mindset (hunkers down and defends beliefs, which have often been implanted through propaganda and social engineering). Her TEDx talk summarizes it nicely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MYEtQ5Zdn8

I agree with you regarding the importance of critical thinking (hence my 12-step recovery program from menticide: https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-the-menticided-a-12-step) and especially with distrusting POWER and people who ABUSE AUTHORITY.

What you may not realize is that anyone who is presented as an “authority” by the mainstream media, governments, or institutions has almost certainly been co-opted by POWER as those corrupt governments, institutions, and foundations are owned and controlled by the wealthiest, most powerful entities (the cruelites, of which the philanthropaths are a subset) on the planet. They have used their near-infinite influence to shape perception, propagate narratives, social-engineer behavior, and menticide the public.

As Guy Debord writes in “Comments on the Society of the Spectacle” (quoted in Douglas Valentine’s “The CIA as Organized Crime”):

“Every expert follows his master, for all former possibilities for independence have been gradually reduced to nil by present society’s mode of organization. The most useful expert, of course, is the one who can lie. With their different motives, those who need experts are falsifiers and fools. Whenever individuals lose the capacity to see things for themselves, the expert is there to offer an absolute reassurance.”

The gut is known as the second brain because it subconsciously takes in thousands of details at lightning-speed and can make life-saving decisions in an instant. Propaganda and social engineering are dedicated to undermining our survival instincts because that makes us easier to control as a herd—it’s how they indoctrinate people into sacrificing their lives for the State when self-preservation would dictate otherwise as Hermann Göring famously observed:

“Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a parliament or a communist dictatorship.… Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”

Iain McGilchrist’s (https://iainmcgilchrist.substack.com/) paradigm-shattering neuropsychological research (e.g., split-brain studies) shows the right hemisphere (the source of intuition) has a more wholistic view of the world, whereas the left hemisphere has an extremely narrow perspective that it deludes itself into thinking is “reality” and can rationalize the most absurd precepts within its constrained worldview. I highly recommend everything written by Iain, but “Ways of Attending” is the quickest way to get up to speed on his work, followed by “The Master and His Emissary,” and then, if you’re up to it, the tome representing the culmination of three decades’ worth of research, “The Matter with Things.”

If everyone understood his findings, we would have a much better chance of shedding our delusions and understanding why so many fall prey to them to begin with.

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M.Browning's avatar

I’m finding the attacks on free speech by the majestic MAGA cult incredibly laughable to say the least, to call it simply hypocrisy doesn’t do it nearly enough justice. It’s without a doubt beyond the height of hypocrisy. After the FCC chair called Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks about Kirk,”truly sickening” and essentially demanded he be fired tells us all we need to know about these vile people. We should never let them lecture us on free speech and cancel culture.

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Robert Smith's avatar

Since when does anyone care about hypocrisy? Democrats claimed to be the party of tolerance while openly abetting a genocide. They claimed the existence of more than one political party was a threat to democracy, while jailing as many of the other side as possible and trying to take the other candidate off the ballot. Republicans have been pointing out Democrat hypocrisy for years, and vice versa. Only partisans even pretend to care about hypocrisy in America.

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M.Browning's avatar

Oh great instead of addressing the point of hand here’s someone else using a typical partisan deflection of “what aboutism”. Nice job. Just for shyts n giggles name just one Republican candidate that was jailed by Democrats to remove them from the ballot? I’ll wait.

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Robert Smith's avatar

It's funny you should say that because, quite clearly, that's the exact opposite of what I was doing. But reading doesn't seem to be your strong suit, given how you conflated two separate points in your last sentence. You know full well who I meant. Any ordinarily well informed person with ordinary reading comprehension, even a blue team bootlicker, understands what I meant.

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julie cousineau's avatar

c

North America has absolutely nothing to do with #FreeSpeech

They rant on in their own ideology spaces about free speech were its only relevant when it suits their own ideology. This is such garbage.

No truth anymore, its all about narrative, about lying politicians, lying podcasters, lying influencers. If you are listening to left or right msm you are so sadly totally propagandized!!

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

There is no 'left msm'. There is hardly any 'left independent media'. What you have is liberal and right (conservative) msm.

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Davina's avatar

Exactly. Everyone should stop buying any MSM rags or TV, no sales, no ads, no money, more MSM billionaires.

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Jim's avatar

The speed with which this tyranny is unfolding is breathtaking. This feels like a blitzkrieg on the American people, triggered by the latest American Reichstag Fire.

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Nana Baakan Agyiriwah's avatar

How ironic, I thought Charlie Kirk was a free speech advocate.

It's not whether he was a Trumper, why he was killed or who killed him, it's more about how they are going to use this to take away more freedoms. There is actually a website that is asking folks to send in the names of the people who said "bad" things about Charlie.

It's just amazing the jockeying that is taking place. To watch the Repubs do the exact same thing they attacked the Dems for doing, calling them snowflakes for wanting to censor people because they had "hurt" feelings. We are racing headlong into tyranny and it seems that folks are blind as bats and just cannot see it.

All in all, this is just a distraction... though it is major for some. They want us looking over 👉🏾 while they do their dirt over👈🏾.

Trump just bombed another boat near Venezuela, claiming it was full of narco-terrorists.

The Republicans unanimously voted down the release of the Epstein files.

Netanyahu is calling the UN Hamas supporters for calling what he and his henchmen have done and are doing in Gaza a "genocide".

Israel just bombed the heck out of Lebanon.

Arab nations are paper tigers in their hot air about Netanyahu's attack on Qatar.

So let's just get a kill shot off in Charlie Kirk's neck who was questioning Israel's war on Gaza while learning how to pray with rosary beads... So Yeah....................

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

>>"How ironic, I thought Charlie Kirk was a free speech advocate."

Charlie Kirk was never about 'free speech'. That was an illusion, a guise - similar to the way they say that 'America is about freedom and democracy'.

No one on the right is for 'free speech' - they are for 'my speech' (the same for liberals).

Charlie Kirk was about 'hate speech' - it is as simple and straightforward as that - he incited hate about immigrants, non-whites, women, and more. (https://zeteo.com/p/charlie-kirk-in-his-own-words). And this 'hate' eventually got him killed.

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Duane McPherson's avatar

Do a google search for Horst Wessel, a German Nazi who was murdered by communists in 1930. The parallels to what is happening now are striking (and disturbing).

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Owen allen's avatar

It is not a problem of "free speech" but it is an issue of whether a person; based on dislike of an opinion--or really THOUGHT--can murder another human being. If you don't like what they say, tough shit. I want open diaologue and a vigorous debate. That's freedom!! Stop killing. Stop killing.

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Caitlin Johnstone's avatar

It is very clearly a problem of free speech, for the reasons outlined here. The fretting about murder is what's being used to justify the removal of free speech.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

>>"Stop killing. Stop killing."

Please remind the Israelis of this...it must have slipped their minds. Oh, and it may be a good idea to remind the Americans too.

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Davina's avatar

Yes, they should also reread the Ten Commandments written by a Jew 2,000 years plus ago as the break every one of them right now and for the past eighty years, that we know of.

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Owen allen's avatar

And...what about you? Are you sinless? Don't cast the first stone if you are full of sin and evil thoughts...

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Owen allen's avatar

If it were my power, I would clap my hands and have both sides stop, however that is not going to happen. I don't know why people can't live along someone and, if they don't agree with their politics/religion, ignore them. The Jews are no threat to the Palestinians.....Are the Jews trying to convert everyone to Judaism? (No.) As for reminding Americans, the 'people' are not behind many of the war mongering and CIA/State dept. work that is out of control, but what about any modern country? Do you think that the Chinese like what their govt does? What about the Russian people? What about your country?!!! You see, the power is outside of the control of the vast majority. All they want you to do is work; pay taxes; watch sports; follow a rock star; follow a movie star....and let the powerful run amuck.....And with AI it is going to get a lot worse.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

>>"The Jews are no threat to the Palestinians"

I'm not sure what world you are living in, but it's definitely not the world in which the rest of humanity exists. So according to you, there is no Genocide or ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by Israeli Zionist Jews?

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Owen allen's avatar

That is correct Changy; IF Israel wanted to commit "genocide" they could do this and wipe out the whole population of Gaza in about 1 hour. They have 100% control of the skies and their jet fighters are 5th generation. Open your eyes. You/the world is being minupulated by anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic hatred against Israel. They are not commiting genocide. The facts cannot be ignored. However; in war there are civilian casualties.....Did you know that in WW2 an estimated 50 million civilians died. 50 MILLION!

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

Glad to know you don't understand what the word 'Genocide' means - there are still some others out there that are GENOCIDE DENIERS (like yourself). Don't worry, its simply a matter of time before Trump comes for the likes of you (i.e. anti-American Israel lovers).

The ironic thing is that Trump is doing to America what no one else could - not China, not Russia - Trump is destroying America from inside. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would have posited that Trump is an agent working for a foreign Govt. that wants to destroy America.

Strap on, and watch for more American rights, freedoms, and liberties to be eradicated by America's fascist dictator...

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Truth Seeking Missile's avatar

Your mind conflates unrelated issues.

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

What a terrifying time to be an American.

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Scuba Cat's avatar

Doesn't seem much better anywhere else. . .

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David Dresden's avatar

This may be one of the reasons Kirk was whacked. To use it as a way to attack free speech. I believe the U.S. government was involved in Kirk’s murder for this exact reason, among others.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

Nope. Have you heard of COWHOP (Capitalize On What Happened On Purpose)? Every crisis is an opportunity for the authoritarians (and the 1%) to capitalize on. History proves this! All they need to do is sit back and wait for a crisis to occur (which invariably does). And then they can put their already-planned-strategies to work...doing what they always wanted to do.

The mantra of the power elites, TPTB, authoritarians, etc. seems to be "Never let a good opportunity go to waste".

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Duane McPherson's avatar

Exactly so, and well said.

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Jim's avatar

The typical bumbling, fumbling response (or coverup) by the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies, Mossad notwithstanding, are telltale clues that this was a highly coordinated operation.

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Davina's avatar

Kirk was afraid Israel was going to kill him, Israel would not have done so without the go ahead from Drumpf, who saw an opportunity to use like enforcement and tighten the screws.

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Truth Seeking Missile's avatar

What you claim here about what Kirk believed is based on hearsay from unidentified sources, including what I've read on Grayzone. It's important to analyze these narratives carefully because part of capitalizing on crises is to intentionally spread misinformation that adds to the confusion about cause.

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Davina's avatar

Well, he's not here to say it himself, so the friends he told are saying it for him. Ho more or less said it himself when he said live that he could be i trouble for saying "He did believe Israel was committing a genocide on Palestine".

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Scuba Cat's avatar

If this was a conspiacy, it was likely because Kirk's support for Israel was wavering: https://thegrayzone.com/2025/09/15/bill-ackman-israel-intervention-charlie-kirk/amp/?s=01

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Lowell Googins's avatar

If the US is still standing after Trump the next administration regardless of political party will not give up one inch of power to suppress free speech.

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Ginnie's avatar
1dEdited

Every day one step closer to the Gilead. They didn't have late night shows either.The Right doesn't know how to have joy unless it constitutes using minorities as target practice I guess. We’re watching the creative soul of a nation be smothered under the boot of reactionary control.

Soon they will be dictating what movies can be produced, what scripts approved and what is valid entertainment. I never thought I would live in the kind of dystopias I only read about or saw in sci-fi movies like "They Live" where everything looks normal, but it is all wrong It is surreal to live in one....and the tragedy is that most people don't realize they are. They are just going about their lives thinking this is normal.

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Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

Been controlled for decades.

Why was 9/11 downing of buildings via jets put into a movie years before?

Who actually owns Hollywood/entire movie industry?

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SLK's avatar

💯🎯

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Geoff everall's avatar

1000% Catlin. The orange freak and his reptilian ass licking sycophants are vile turds. Your message is motivating. Rise up America, take your country back from these fascists

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John Turcot's avatar

We are all enslaved by the human condition. To be free is a vision only in someone’s imagination.

You, me , and every human is a slave, but the worst of it is that the majority of the tribes don’t know it.

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Feral Finster's avatar

"You gotta serve somebody!" - Bob Dylan

I hate getting my philosophy from pop music lyrics, but when the shoe fits...

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John Turcot's avatar

A coal miner ….

“”You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt,

St.Peter don’t you call me cause I can’t go,

I owe my soul to the company store….””

Every time I walk into a bank, I see the slavery displayed in every face. It makes me think of the Seven Dwarfs in ‘Sniw White’ who are marching to work singing “Hi ho, Hi Ho….” But in my lyrics it goes like this “ I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go….

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