Editorials & Other Articles

reggieandlee

(845 posts) Wed Dec 11, 2024, 09:53 AM Dec 11

BTRTN: "Deny, Delay, Depose"... Trump, Guns, Retribution, and the Coming Age of the American Vigilante

Born To Run The Numbers asks: Is Luigi Mangione a vigilante hero, or a despicable villain? Is he a one-off, or the prototype for a new era of vigilantism? A deranged aberration, or the logical conclusion of Trump’s relentless campaign to undermine the rule of law?

https://borntorunthenumbers.com/2024/12/11/btrtn-deny-delay-depose-trump-guns-retribution-and-the-coming-age-of-the-american-vigilante/

Excerpts: "To read the posts and memes, you’d think it was an old-fashioned tale of the underdog slaying Goliath. The cool dude who lowers his mask just long enough to flash a rakish grin at the woman behind the counter, and who eludes a manhunt for days. He’s the masked avenger of corporate greed. For six days, a shocking percentage of America was rooting for the murderer...
"...the victim was not only the CEO of the largest health insurance company (bad enough), but that he was under investigation for lining his own pockets through insider trading. To the social media proletariat, he therefore simultaneously symbolized both the corrupt, soulless corporations that enhance profits by turning down coverage to indigent mothers, lonely widows, and starving toddlers, and also the obscenely rich executives in Bernie Sanders’ one percent… a scourge of Scrooges who screw the downtrodden...
&quot Mangione) sought revenge. He delivered retribution. Where have we heard that language before? Trump is the champion of lawlessness in a country founded on the rule of law. He is a convicted felon who does not pay taxes. He steals documents, leads an insurrection, but never is held accountable. Trump is patient zero in the epidemic erosion in our societal faith in the rule of law...
"Given the inability of our justice system to hold Trump accountable for criminal activity, and Trump’s relentless campaign to undermine popular faith in our justice system, it’s hardly a mystery why an angry young man might conclude that he cannot count on our institutions to mete out justice. And why a mentally unbalanced one might feel the need to act..."
"Corporate greed. A lawless President. An applauding peanut gallery. 400 million guns.We should fear a new era of vigilantism… an age when angry, frustrated, disenfranchised people feel empowered to believe that their only recourse is violent retribution.."

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BTRTN: "Deny, Delay, Depose"... Trump, Guns, Retribution, and the Coming Age of the American Vigilante (Original Post) reggieandlee Dec 11 OP

"if peaceful change is impossible, valent change is inevitable." jfk rampartd Dec 11 #1

When the President's supporters are professional wrestling enthusiasts who choose conspiracy theories... surfered Dec 11 #2

"There are no good guys in this story" is how this post ends. Lulu KC Dec 11 #3

rampartd

(863 posts)

1. "if peaceful change is impossible, valent change is inevitable." jfk

Reply to reggieandlee (Original post)

Wed Dec 11, 2024, 10:00 AM

Dec 11

surfered

(3,724 posts)

2. When the President's supporters are professional wrestling enthusiasts who choose conspiracy theories...

Reply to reggieandlee (Original post)

Wed Dec 11, 2024, 10:29 AM

Dec 11

over facts and science, they can be deceived by propaganda to believe they are in the right and those that disagree are human scum and a threat to their country, then it becomes easier, almost required, to resort to violence to protect their way of life..

Lulu KC

(5,010 posts)

3. "There are no good guys in this story" is how this post ends.

Reply to reggieandlee (Original post)

Wed Dec 11, 2024, 02:02 PM

Dec 11

Side rant about content, not about OP: The amount of apparent misinformation on this case through social media is astounding. There is nothing indicating that Mangione ever had a claim denied through UHC. He is also quoted as saying his back surgery went well. (If someone has a credible source to reverse that, I'd love to see it. It's been more than 15 minutes since I ran through the latest updates.)

There is more to this story and we don't know what it is yet. Can we be patient before we write works of fiction? I don't think our attention spans allow us to anymore.

There is a lot of accurate information about UHC being immoral predators (see Elizabeth Warren video a DUer posted this morning). This event has brought it forward for all to see. We don't need to keep reading fiction about it.

End of rant.

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