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by countbackula 3081 days ago
While I don't doubt the legitimacy of the death threats, I can't help but to think Pai is taking advantage of the situation in order to fashion himself as a martyr figure, especially in the eyes of Trump's hyper-reactive base.
3 comments

I'm no fan of his, but he has been getting a lot of hate lately. After the signs[1] at his home, I imagine he's a little rattled.

[1] http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/fcc-chairman-ajit-pais-fam...

When you're a public official who intentionally and gleefully ignores the people you're paid to represent, I guess you shouldn't be surprised when those people get extremely angry with you. You chose to ignore them to enrich yourself at the detriment of an entire nation... And now you want us to feel sorry that someone posted a sign in front of your house? HAH!
You agree that people are trying to kill him, yet by not attending (and not getting killed) he's a "martyr?"

Your argument doesn't make sense.

According to dictionary.com, a martyr doesn't strictly have to die. A martyr "endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause". His argument makes perfect sense and I agree with it.
No. You're "cherry picking."

Why did you not quote the entire definition you cited? Here it is. It clearly mentions death as the relative level of suffering.

Full definition:

>"a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause" [0]

What you quoted:

>"or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause"

[0] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/martyr

While this may very well be true, I encourage everyone to consider deeply whether you think this to be likely because of the specifics of the situation, or because you disagree with Ajit Pai's policies.

Also in the future, be consistently skeptical when you hear news stories about people you are sympathetic to also saying they've been experiencing tons of death threats or harassment online.