Yes. I’m actually not in the USA full time and haven’t been doing ground work in the community since about 2010. I was involved from the late 80’s to 2010 or so. I won’t share my life online in details but as you can probably read, English is not my first language. Anyhow, I was not aware of what was exposed in the documentary. People here make assumptions about what I think or whatever because I said I’m still a liberal. I, unlike most I read here who are GOP, can admit without any shame or distortion that the party I align with mostly is not perfect -such has many people who actually work at the Free Press. Maybe the difference between us and the blinded cult GOP people resides in our capacity to self criticize.
Oh come on. The left abandoned liberalism a long time ago. These “activist” grifters are literally using a young man’s death as a gay pride marketing prop and excuse to stoke fear and hatred against rural Americans. If you are truly possessed of such a rare “capacity for self criticism” for the party you still align with, seems like you might have noticed these things.
Thanks for the reply. I would not have guessed that English isn’t your first language.
I asked the question because I learned the truth about the Shepard case several years ago, so it’s especially surprising that you, as a gay rights activist, were unaware. Please believe that I don’t say that to mock you, it’s genuinely interesting to me. I’m fascinated by how deeply false narratives become entrenched in the public consciousness, which is in part because, as we see in Ben’s report, some people choose to believe the myth, accept the lie. It’s also due to the fact that many others are in media silos, getting only news that confirms their biases. Not we Free Press subscribers, of course.
There are many other disproven stories that people believe and politicians exploit to this day. “Hands up, don’t shoot” is a good example.
Regarding self-reflection, openmindedness, and critical thinking, or lack thereof, I can assure you there are as many democrats as there are republicans who cling with cult-like fervor to their beliefs and support their leaders no matter what new information is presented to them. Tribalism leads to groupthink. That’s among the reasons I belong to no party or tribe.
I actually always been reading newspapers of different political allegiances but in Canada we are way less divided than in the USA. the “right” is not as extreme and the “left” is actually closer to a real left than the democrats will ever be (i’m not talking about blm or gender crap, I’m talking universal healthcare, accessible education for all, separation of religion and state -which the majority of Conservatives are in favor of here as well). We seem to see the wellbeing of our society at large as a plus for everyone here. I think that the last 60yrs of the history of Québec is a perfect example of the success of these values and this is why I will always choose a political party that understands that. But to stay in the topic of Shepard, another good example is the central park bird watcher story with that poor woman walking her dog. no one I know heard about the truth. very few people I know read anything else than local news or flash news on FB. Local medias have lower budget than ever. they do less research than they use to. This is also part of the problem. Finally, you are right that there are moderates and open minded people in both parties. my perspective is screwed by too much precious time lost on Twitter -which is actually not representative of the mass. There are also plenty of never Trumpers that are deeply active in politics like George Conway for example and many in Trump ex cabinet that openly say they will vote democrats because trump is just awful and literally dangerous for the world. I do not believe that the elected democrats are all « woke » voluntarily blinding themselves nor die hard fans of identity politics. But I do not understand why so many people who read TFP and listen to Honestly keep on saying that Trump and the GOP are stainless. These people are anything but honest.
I’m curious, do I read your comment correctly that prior to this, you were still under the impression that it was a homophobic hate crime?
Yes. I’m actually not in the USA full time and haven’t been doing ground work in the community since about 2010. I was involved from the late 80’s to 2010 or so. I won’t share my life online in details but as you can probably read, English is not my first language. Anyhow, I was not aware of what was exposed in the documentary. People here make assumptions about what I think or whatever because I said I’m still a liberal. I, unlike most I read here who are GOP, can admit without any shame or distortion that the party I align with mostly is not perfect -such has many people who actually work at the Free Press. Maybe the difference between us and the blinded cult GOP people resides in our capacity to self criticize.
Relevant:
The Importance of Getting the Full Picture – Persuasion (Apr 2024)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-importance-of-getting-the-full
Minnesota AG explains why Floyd’s death not charged as hate crime – The Hill (Apr 2021)
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/550211-minnesota-ag-explains-why-floyd-death-not-charged-as-hate-crime/
Everyone Got The Pulse Massacre Story Completely Wrong – HuffPost (Apr 2018)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/noor-salman-pulse-massacre-wrong_n_5ac29ebae4b04646b6454dc2
Oh come on. The left abandoned liberalism a long time ago. These “activist” grifters are literally using a young man’s death as a gay pride marketing prop and excuse to stoke fear and hatred against rural Americans. If you are truly possessed of such a rare “capacity for self criticism” for the party you still align with, seems like you might have noticed these things.
Thanks for the reply. I would not have guessed that English isn’t your first language.
I asked the question because I learned the truth about the Shepard case several years ago, so it’s especially surprising that you, as a gay rights activist, were unaware. Please believe that I don’t say that to mock you, it’s genuinely interesting to me. I’m fascinated by how deeply false narratives become entrenched in the public consciousness, which is in part because, as we see in Ben’s report, some people choose to believe the myth, accept the lie. It’s also due to the fact that many others are in media silos, getting only news that confirms their biases. Not we Free Press subscribers, of course.
There are many other disproven stories that people believe and politicians exploit to this day. “Hands up, don’t shoot” is a good example.
Regarding self-reflection, openmindedness, and critical thinking, or lack thereof, I can assure you there are as many democrats as there are republicans who cling with cult-like fervor to their beliefs and support their leaders no matter what new information is presented to them. Tribalism leads to groupthink. That’s among the reasons I belong to no party or tribe.
I actually always been reading newspapers of different political allegiances but in Canada we are way less divided than in the USA. the “right” is not as extreme and the “left” is actually closer to a real left than the democrats will ever be (i’m not talking about blm or gender crap, I’m talking universal healthcare, accessible education for all, separation of religion and state -which the majority of Conservatives are in favor of here as well). We seem to see the wellbeing of our society at large as a plus for everyone here. I think that the last 60yrs of the history of Québec is a perfect example of the success of these values and this is why I will always choose a political party that understands that. But to stay in the topic of Shepard, another good example is the central park bird watcher story with that poor woman walking her dog. no one I know heard about the truth. very few people I know read anything else than local news or flash news on FB. Local medias have lower budget than ever. they do less research than they use to. This is also part of the problem. Finally, you are right that there are moderates and open minded people in both parties. my perspective is screwed by too much precious time lost on Twitter -which is actually not representative of the mass. There are also plenty of never Trumpers that are deeply active in politics like George Conway for example and many in Trump ex cabinet that openly say they will vote democrats because trump is just awful and literally dangerous for the world. I do not believe that the elected democrats are all « woke » voluntarily blinding themselves nor die hard fans of identity politics. But I do not understand why so many people who read TFP and listen to Honestly keep on saying that Trump and the GOP are stainless. These people are anything but honest.