Charlie Kirk, MAGA influencer and Turning Point USA co-founder, killed at 31

>>The fact that you were a bit “jarred” by his speech should cause some concern.<<

What I personally found jarring was the fact this speech was more about a call to action toward “fighting back,” rather than more discussion, witness, and forgiveness. As I said, I didn’t get any feeling of “white nationalism,” but I know almost nothing about Stephen Miller.

I took a brief look at the Guardian article you linked, though I didn’t have time to click through further to Miller’s actual emails. The Guardian “summary” is based quite a bit on their predisposition to read the worst into what Miller said, and on its own, was far from convincing. Maybe I’ll think differently if I ever read his own words rather than an obviously jaundiced interpretation of them.

....for Stephen Miller being a white nationalist is....drum roll...the SPLC.

I think we need a better source. It basically boils down to liberal outlets repeating a hit piece by a disgruntled former Breitbart staffer, Katie McHugh, enabled by, and filtered by (ahem), the SPLC.

I'm listening to Miller's talk now, and it reminds me quite a bit of Paul Wellstone's funeral--something that should have been somber, but was transformed into a political rally. Quite gauche. But I'm not convinced it rises to the level of white supremacy. As the old joke goes about KKK meetings, if Miller were really a white supremacist, he'd have learned that half his "friends" were FBI agents monitoring him.

The speech reminds me of Dwight Shrutes acceptance speech as salesman of the year at the North East Sales Associates conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilE4lr9Qb3A

So is Abigail Spanberger (Virginia Governor candidate) a white supremacist when she says,

"Let your rage fuel you."

“Every time we turn on the news, we let it fuel us. Every time something bad is happening, we say, ‘Oh that’s motivation.'”

"I'll tell you this, I have an opponent whose incredibly motivating."

Spanberger's opponent is Winsome Earl-Sears who is, black, a woman, and a republican. Further racist signs have been put out by operatives within Spanberger's campaign against Earl-Sears. We have far more evidence of white supremacism there, but it is ignored by progressives because- well you know...

So is Abigail Spanberger (Virginia Governor candidate) a white supremacist when she says,

"Let your rage fuel you."

“Every time we turn on the news, we let it fuel us. Every time something bad is happening, we say, ‘Oh that’s motivation.'”

"I'll tell you this, I have an opponent whose incredibly motivating."

JD, I don't live in Virginia and I'm not familiar with Spanberger. However, there's nothing in those comments that are overtly racist in my opinion. My guess is that they are hard-line partisan more than racist, but I don't know what's going on in Spanberger's mind. I'm not in agreement with the message in either case. And I definitely don't condone racist signs being put out by the campaign.

As far as progressives ignoring white supremacy, I don't support that either. I think no matter what side of the aisle one is on, we need to be consistent in applying a standard. I'm sure I don't do it perfectly, but I try to use the same standard when looking at what's going on with the right and the left. I see a lot of "one side is not like the other" comments from friends on both sides, and it's bewildering to me. I've seen a ton of nastiness from the left when something happens to a Republican, and I've seen just as much from the right when it's a Democrat. I'm disgusted when I see people celebrating Charlie Kirk's death, but I'm also disgusted when I see people mocking Paul Pelosi being beaten with a hammer.

JD, I don't live in Virginia and I'm not familiar with Spanberger. However, there's nothing in those comments that are overtly racist in my opinion. My guess is that they are hard-line partisan more than racist, but I don't know what's going on in Spanberger's mind. I'm not in agreement with the message in either case. And I definitely don't condone racist signs being put out by the campaign.

As far as progressives ignoring white supremacy, I don't support that either. I think no matter what side of the aisle one is on, we need to be consistent in applying a standard. I'm sure I don't do it perfectly, but I try to use the same standard when looking at what's going on with the right and the left. I see a lot of "one side is not like the other" comments from friends on both sides, and it's bewildering to me. I've seen a ton of nastiness from the left when something happens to a Republican, and I've seen just as much from the right when it's a Democrat. I'm disgusted when I see people celebrating Charlie Kirk's death, but I'm also disgusted when I see people mocking Paul Pelosi being beaten with a hammer.

For once I agree with you. So much of what is labeled racism is just a political manipulation. I simply wanted to use Spanberger to point that out. It is time we push back on people assuming someone is racist simply because they are white and Christian.

When I think of the things said by Miller, Spannberger, and other politicians, I think that all too often, politicians on both sides of the aisle are, by portraying the other side as "enemies", working hard to ensure that people registered for the other party will never consider voting for them. Seems a little counter-productive to me, and also probably a great way to lead, in part, to political violence.

For once I agree with you.

I'll take it! I'm sure there are other areas we agree that are yet undiscovered.