Who has the Chiclet?
Not exactly what we want cops to be doing, I think.
Louisiana police officer Charlie Rispoli was fired Monday following a social media post in which he suggested Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) should be shot. This firing comes on the heels of various police departments bolstering their social media policies, in no small part due to the work of the Plain View Project.
Rispoli allegedly shared a fake news post claiming that Ocasio-Cortez said U.S. military personnel are “getting paid too much.” In sharing it, Rispoli also commented: “this vile idiot needs a round…and I don’t mean the kind she used to serve.”
Nope, I really don’t think we want cops doing that.
It is perfectly reasonable to disagree with someone who’s opinions you find disagreeable. It is not reasonable (and I don’t think it’s legal) to suggest that said “disagreeable” person should be shot.
If I shot everyone I disagreed with, or whose opinions I found disagreeable, much of my immediate vicinity would be vacant. It is part of being a reasonable human to be able to disagree with someone, discuss your disagreements reasonably, and part without threats of violence.
Nah, civility and free speech are just bludgeons for the other side (whichever side that is) to keep us in line. Obviously.
Lethal rage generated by blatant lies. The recruitment of violent crackpots as a permanent threat against normal political function. I’ve just finished Simon Schama’s book on the French revolution/terror; the deliberate engineering of mob violence to interrupt effective political action doomed the French.
Would you object to sharing the title of that book? I might be interested.
Probably this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens:_A_Chronicle_of_the_French_Revolution