this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2025
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[–] _core@sh.itjust.works 2 points 19 hours ago
[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago

Killing Kirk sure did put that Epstein shit way over to the side. Hmm...

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 65 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Honestly great article that summarizes my thoughts on this exactly. I live in the south and I am seeing a lot of people I really respect lose their fucking minds about this and start frothing at the mouth mourning this guy that they didn't know existed two weeks ago because all they know was that he was a "Christian activist" shot for his beliefs, either not realizing or not caring that the dude was racist as fuck and spent his whole life being a right wing internet troll but in real life.

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Several of my colleagues did the same thing and I told them I have zero sympathy because Josef Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler had children too.

Also didn't Goebbels poison his own children before he and his wife commit suicide?

[–] Auntievenim@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

The added "correction" at the bottom is gold. Im glad someone, somewhere, didnt pull punches. The media response to this has been sickening.

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[–] fort_burp@feddit.nl 45 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children.

lol

[–] laranis@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago

Full sentence for anyone who is confused by the comment:

It’s a choice to write an obituary that begins “Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children.”

[–] ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Who also killed all of them rather than let them live in postwar Germany...

[–] fort_burp@feddit.nl 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Wait Joseph Goebbels killed all his children??

[–] sqgl@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think so fast my fingers can't keep up with my thoughts.

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

And like any loving father, when faced with defeat, he murdered them all

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[–] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 33 points 2 days ago

The best thing about events like this is it helps me identify more or less trustworthy news sources by how they react to it. The Luigi case culled many

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 35 points 2 days ago

more articles like this should include the bit about how "[Biden should get the death penalty]"

the dude openly stated that a political figure he disagreed with should be killed. the right must acknowledge this statement while they whitewash his legacy of hate.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

The Newspaper the Country Needs.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 40 points 2 days ago (8 children)

Every civilized country on earth has figured out that there needs to be acceptable limits to free speech and that freedom of speech does not equal freedom from the consequences of saying something.

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 20 points 2 days ago (17 children)

freedom from the consequences of saying something.

Freedom of speech in the US protects you from consequences from the government, not anyone or anything else. You can still get fired, or at, for your free speech.

[–] sqgl@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

s/at/shot ?

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[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 59 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"It is rude of me to say all of this, because we live in a culture where manners are often valued more than truth." This is a really good quote actually

[–] kylie_kraft@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Except that it's not entirely accurate. The right in particular only believes in manners on the left. They are perfectly comfortable saying truly vile shit, then feigning moral outrage if they get a tenth of the same energy back. The Alt-Right Playbook sums it up neatly: "You Go High, We Go Low."

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

Except that this generally applies to life and not just politics. Another thing is that a lot of times it is the left that imposes this on their own and not even the right.

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 71 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I do not believe anyone should be murdered because of their views, but that is because I don’t believe people should be murdered generally, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. I am against the death penalty, pro–gun control, and believe war is a failure of humanity, not a necessary byproduct of it. Kirk was fine with murder as long the right people were dying.

Well said, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a bit of schadenfreude at his passing.

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

specifically, pleasure from his death, or pleasure that he is no longer alive?

the angry right wingers on the internet seem unable to understand the difference between the two

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

More that I won't have to hear any of his nonsense any more. Even the people eulogising him don't seem to be actually quoting him because they can't find anything he ever said that wasn't stupid.

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[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

The nation seems to be the only big paper with any rationality.

[–] Ileftreddit@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

This is the only sane reaction to the situation by any media outlet I have seen so far

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 154 points 2 days ago

There is no requirement to take part in this whitewashing campaign, and refusing to join in doesn’t make anyone a bad person. It’s a choice to write an obituary that begins “Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children.”

[–] Substance_P@lemmy.world 122 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

I also enjoyed this perspective, a bit long form as its a substack post, but well written. Authored by Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge.

A couple of months ago, Laura Loomer was shrieking into her phone that Charlie Kirk had stabbed Donald Trump in the back. MAGA’s attack dog had him marked as a traitor, an apostate, another soft-boy conservative who wasn’t vicious enough for the blood cult. Then Kirk gets shot, and suddenly Laura is draped in black, clutching pearls, wailing like a widow at a mob funeral. That’s how fast the MAGA spin cycle runs: enemies are canonized, heretics become martyrs, and yesterday’s punching bag is today’s sacred cow. Loyalty isn’t about consistency. It’s about whatever Trump’s mood demands.

PETE HEGSETH, HALL MONITOR OF THE REPUBLIC

Now comes Pete Hegseth, a man who wears the title Secretary of Defense but operates more like the comment-section sheriff. Instead of worrying about actual defense — China, Russia, Iran, cyberwarfare — Pete’s priority is disciplining soldiers for making snide jokes about Charlie Kirk.

Yes, the Pentagon is now a glorified Facebook moderation team. Hegseth isn’t projecting strength; he’s enforcing pity. Soldiers aren’t preparing for war — they’re purging their timelines, terrified Laura Loomer will screech their names into his ear. This isn’t civilian control of the military. It’s civilian coercion, where MAGA influencers call the shots and the brass salutes like nervous interns.

THE BLACKLIST WITH A SEARCH BAR

Enter the grotesque centerpiece: CharliesMurderers(dot)com. A site so dystopian it makes J. Edgar Hoover look subtle. A searchable database of Americans whose “crime” is failing to sufficiently mourn Kirk.

They claim it’s not doxxing, it’s “education.” Bullshit. This is McCarthyism with HTML. It’s a digital scarlet letter, a witch hunt in the cloud. Post the wrong meme, roll your eyes at the wrong martyr, and congratulations: you’re on the list. Employers can search you, neighbors can shame you, trolls can harass you. Your livelihood isn’t safe because Laura Loomer needs another dopamine hit.

CANCEL CULTURE WITH A MAGA LOGO

Remember when these people howled about “cancel culture”? When they cried that a comedian losing a Netflix special was tyranny? Now they’ve built the most efficient cancellation machine in modern America. Only this time it’s not corporations doing it — it’s the government, the Pentagon, and a mob of red-hat lunatics demanding loyalty tests. You don’t just lose a sponsor. You lose your job, your security clearance, maybe your entire career. And it’s not because you committed violence. It’s because you laughed at violence. Thoughtcrime, MAGA edition.

GRIEF AS A WEAPON

This isn’t mourning. It’s weaponized grief. Kirk spent his career spitting on empathy, mocking victims of shootings, and treating compassion like weakness. Now the same movement that rejected empathy is demanding you show it on their terms — mandatory, performative, unquestioning. Don’t mourn? You’re purged. Don’t post a sad-face emoji? You’re dangerous. Cruelty has always been the point, and now grief is just another tool of cruelty. Charlie Kirk didn’t believe in empathy, and his allies are proving they don’t either. What they believe in is obedience.

THE BLUNT EDGE OF FASCISM

Let’s stop pretending this is theater. It’s not play-acting, it’s raw authoritarianism. Trump is the wannabe strongman. Loomer is the megaphone of madness. Hegseth is the hall monitor with a badge he didn’t earn. Together they’ve taken the death of a professional troll and spun it into a loyalty purge. They’ve turned the Pentagon into an instrument of political grievance and a martyr into a weapon. And they want the rest of us to treat this clown show like sacred history.

The only thing sacred here is the grift. The only thing holy is the purge. And the only thing growing is the list of Americans marked as enemies because they refused to cry on command. This isn’t about honor. This isn’t about respect. This is about power — stupid, brutal, authoritarian power clawing for control under the guise of grief.

[–] Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com 42 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Yep, fuck these nazis, I don't really need any more reasons to hate them, but they keep coming up with them

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