“The responsibility for Kirk’s killing, as in basically all acts of political violence, does not flow “directly” from political rhetoric, no matter how vile, but rather from the finger of the sniper; motives and mental state to hopefully be determined later. And all of Trump’s cited examples of violence were left-wingers targeting either conservatives or businessmen or law enforcement; nothing about the assassination this June of Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman (D–Brooklyn Park), no word about the 2022 skull-fracturing home-invasion hammer-attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul (which Trump has serially joked about); and certainly full radio silence on the multiple assaults on law enforcement committed by Trump’s own supporters on January 6, 2021.
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“The Left is the party of murder,” Elon Musk wrote. Fox host Jesse Watters on Wednesday asserted that, “They are at war with us. Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us. And what are we going to do about it?” Self-described “Libertarian, GMU Econ, Writer and Think Tanker” Simon Laird declared, “I’m done with de-escalation. I’m done with compromise,” adding: “Killing a few dozen Federal judges and New York Times journalists would have an effect. I’m not calling for violence at this time, but I’m done with the idea that violence is not an option on the negotiation table.”
The above is people on the right hypocritically and falsely claiming that “the left” was responsible for this murder while implying that further murders against people who had nothing to do with Kirk’s death would be justified.
Charlie Kirk was a gifted Trump activist. He often said things that were false and misleading. He propagandistically supported Trump and Trump’s falsehoods while maligning the left and trans people. Whatever he said and supported, his murder is an outrage. Political violence is unacceptable. The perpetrators need to be prosecuted, and those who encouraged or celebrated this heinous assassination should be criticized for their indirect support of murder. Political violence is more than normal violence. It is an attack on democracy and tears at the fabric of society.
Prominent people on the right are using this horrible murder to falsely blame Democrats and the entire left. They falsely claim all of the right is under attack, subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, encouraging more violence. While, of course, ignoring the times people on the left are attacked and murdered.
Syrians are slaughtering the Druze people in Syria.
Ordinary citizens are joining organized radicals in killing the Druze for not being Muslim, some asking who the real prophet is, and if they answer wrong, killing them.
A hospital was surrounded and slaughtered. Electricity and internet have been cut to give Muslims the space to slaughter the Druze.
Regime forces are participating in this violence.
Minorities are not safe in the Middle East.
I assume there will be campus protests against these atrocities…
U.S. murder rate is way higher than other developed countries. Our non-gun murder rate is normal, but our gun-murder rate is huge.
Much gun violence is not rational. It’s not clearly motivated by money or lack of fear of the justice system. It’s just two guys getting into an argument who fail to solve it peacefully and someone pulls a gun.
Parts of certain cities are overwhelmed with crime, so children are often left to fend for themselves. This develops a culture and an intuitive sense that if I don’t respond to provocation with violence, I will be taken advantage of. This leads people to instinctively respond to perceived provocation with deadly force.
Although gang violence is a big problem, most shootings are not gang related.
“the murder rate in 2024 not just falling from the 2020 spike but returning to pre-COVID levels. That brings us to the present, and to a question: Could 2025 see the lowest murder rate ever recorded?”
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“Fewer people are being killed than they were during a major homicide increase” is not compelling messaging, to be sure. But that’s not what’s happening here. We’re not talking about a record decline after a precipitous surge; we’re talking about a record low, period. While it’s still possible that won’t pan out, the fact that it’s even on the table after a bloody few years is such good news that journalists might even consider leading with it.”
“Last night, outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed by a gunman who yelled “Free, free Palestine” after being taken into custody. The deceased—Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26—were set to get engaged to one another; Lischinsky was planning to propose next week in Jerusalem.”
“the shooting came at a time when health care seemed to be experiencing a bit of a surge in importance among Americans after the election. The share of registered voters who named it as the most important issue facing the country in YouGov/The Economist tracking polls had gradually declined from around 10 to around 7 percent throughout 2024, and even fewer, 4 percent, said it was the top issue specifically in determining their vote in the election. But after the election, that number has gone back up to between 8 and 11 percent.
A YouGov poll last week also found that more Americans, 49 percent, had an unfavorable view of the American health care system than the 42 percent who had a favorable one. Other polling suggests that Americans are as unhappy as they ever have been in recent years with the current state of health care. And while many Americans pointed fingers at the opposing party for the problems they see, more than 6 in 10 overall agreed that pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, as well as corporate executives like Thompson, were to blame for problems in the American health care system.
The U.S. remains unique among its peer nations in relying on a for-profit health insurance system and, as Mangione’s own writings alluded to, many Americans have expressed rage at a system that can deny coverage for people’s medical treatments while making shareholders and CEOs very rich. Despite decades of presidents trying to ensure universal access to health insurance, about 8 percent of Americans remained uninsured as of last year, and a higher percentage, about a quarter of American adults, said they or a family member had struggled to afford health care over the past year, whether they were insured or not.
By and large, Americans are unhappy with the costs of care and often find their insurance difficult to use. The share who rated the quality of health care in this country as “excellent” or “good” was just 44 percent in Gallup’s annual health and health care survey, conducted Nov. 6-20, its lowest point since 2001, when Gallup began asking the question. Even fewer, 28 percent, said the same about health care coverage — i.e., what insurance programs do — the lowest it has been since 2008″
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“A growing share of Americans in Gallup’s surveys seem to want the government to take action to improve health care access: 62 percent said it was the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have health care, the highest it’s been since 2007. Republicans are the least likely to agree with this sentiment — 32 percent said so, compared to 90 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of independents — but those numbers have increased by around 20 percentage points among all three groups over the past decade or so.
Perhaps surprisingly, YouGov polling found that around two in three Americans are at least somewhat satisfied with their health insurance plans — but that topline figure doesn’t capture a lot of nuance. For example, 89 percent of those with Medicaid were satisfied with their health coverage, compared to 75 percent who are covered by an employer-sponsored plan. Unsurprisingly, those who had had an insurance claim denied were also more likely to be dissatisfied with their coverage.
And despite many being mostly satisfied with the plans they have, a high number of Americans still experience problems using them. KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization, found in a survey last year that 58 percent said that they had at least some trouble using their insurance in the previous year — including issues like denied claims or difficulty accessing in-network providers — and nearly half of whom said their biggest problem was not resolved to their satisfaction. Overall, 18 percent of Americans with health insurance had experienced a denied claim, and those were more common among people with private or employer-sponsored insurance. Around a quarter of those who’d had a claim denied suffered serious consequences, like a decline in health or not receiving recommended medical care.”
Did all the death and destruction wrought by Israel trying to get Hamas achieve anything? If Gaza is still ruled by a terrorist organization, won’t it just rebuild, then attack Israel, and this happens all over again?