Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Politics of Calls for Assassination

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 29, 2024

Close up portrait view of the head of a North Chinese leopard in a zoo enclosure

MY wife and I have both been targeted by lunatics who think it's OK to punch, stab, and even kill people whom they don't agree with. Dealing with them has been unpleasant, but because we're patient we can do some calmly and tactfully (unlike Microsoft Lunduke, who seems to be provoking them at times [1, 2], then moaning they want his assassination).

When an assassination of Donald Trump was attempted (weeks ago) we didn't cheer because if you're going to say assassination is acceptable for one political party, then how would you justify your objection to the other party wanting to assassinate those whom you support?

Apropos:

Barack Obama effigy with 'pray for assassin' in Alabama community

Put another way, wanting to assassinate people is wrong and calling for assassinations is also wrong. Almost exactly 80 years ago one high-profile assassination attempt was made against Adolf Hitler (whom IBM armed and supported initially). It wasn't the sole attempt, but this one resulted in a Hollywood movie, "Valkyrie".

Comparing everyone to Hitler or calling everyone "nazi" is a low blow, a cheap stunt, "namecalling". In our case, people like the above lunatics compared me and my family to "nazis", they call some women "nazis", and they even call a gay man married to a dark-skinned immigrant (his only spouse ever) "nazi".

When people start reducing every person whom they don't agree with to "nazi" we're not dealing with "de-nazification" but with dehumanisation. This never ends well.

The bottom line is, stop advocating assassinations. Also stop cheapening the term "nazi" but grossly overusing it. █

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