Gadianton wrote:water dog wrote:Not exactly what I'm seeing.
you didn't look very hard then, bud. I only learned about the site yesterday, and I was pretty shocked by how over-the-top it was. Maybe I don't have a great frame of reference since I don't ever view Twitter or Facebook. A couple of hours after the shooting, one of the popular posts (meaning I arrived at it without having to look very hard because it had lots of votes) exclaimed "Bower did nothing wrong" and another said that they deserved it for molesting kids (referring to circumcision). The posts I saw today were along the lines that this was a false flag (boy, are these people creative) just like the pipe bomb stuff. One said Bower was a nobody on Gab and doesn't represent them. I thought that was funny because bower has a much larger following than this guy did.
One of the featured posts today by this nasty white-trash lady tried to piece a conspiracy together that Bower was a democrat, and his democrat voting record had been scrubbed or something like that.
One thing is true, a huge segment of anti-Trump (including Bower) posters there -- posters frustrated with how liberal Trump is and his deep affiliation with Jewish people. The Gab culture makes Alex Jones look like a scholar.
Res's explanation of alt-right theology was helpful, as I was very confused about what these people were talking about.
You're right, I didn't send much time on gab. I was responding to EA's one-sided description of the situation, as if revoking the free speech of these people is justified. I'm not at all persuaded by these arguments which seek to justify the banning of people from various social media platforms. It makes things worse. What I saw on gab was a mix of stuff. Some crazy right wing elements for sure. But also crazy left wing elements. Which side is worse? And how much of this is even real vs. trolling? Half these right wing folks could be leftists and vice versa. It kind of looks like a crap show where nasties from all sides congregate to generally scream at each other. The point I'm trying to make though is this. When you revoke their free speech on one platform, chase them off, then show up and harass/troll them on their new platform, well, where do you expect that to lead? You just created a subculture and reinforced all their victimhood grievances. The whole right vs. left wing debate is moot. Box anyone into a corner like that and they are likely to act out in violent ways.
Also, seriously, what is the deal with Jack Dorsey and Twitter? He bans Milo Yiannopoulos, and Alex Jones, but not Louis Farrakhan? He bans Infowars, but not the Nation of Islam and a zillion other left wing crazies? Why is Black Lives Matter on there, they shoot cops. Why is that nut job Shaun King on there? I have no love for folks like Jones whatsoever. He's some combination of lunatic and snake oil. But so what? Don't follow him. Don't retweet him. It's that simple. Or, challenge him.
Driving these people off, you just create a hornet's nest that grows and grows.
To a great extent that's what Trump is. He's the guy who's representing a segment of the population that feels like their voice has been censored in various ways. And now what's going on, the exact same crap. We're doing it again. No lessons learned. The behavior from the left and the media over the past two years is increasing the divisions even further. People are way more suspicious of the media than ever before.
Look at the people on this very forum, sneering about how leftists managed to get Chris Farrell banned from Fox. ROFL. If Farrell is believed to be peddling antisemitic conspiracy theories, here's an idea, how about CNN, MSNBC, and all the other lefty outlets, invite him onto their shows and call him out? Why not just freaking ask him? "Hey, Mr. Farrell, you don't seem like someone who would be a nut job or a racist. Are you peddling antisemitic conspiracy theories? Let's discuss and see if maybe there has been a misunderstanding." They don't do this because it's the last thing they want. He'd wipe the floor with these people and they'd look like the race baiting jackasses they are.
