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by sammalloy 1140 days ago
When you research the history of the KKK, you will see that they were purveyors of the original blocks and bans; whenever a non-Christian or non-white spoke out about equal treatment under the law or decided to move into their town and live like any other person, they would begin a state-sanctioned campaign of intimidation and harassment against their opponents, sometimes resulting in their intentional injury or deaths and destruction of their private property. I say state-sanctioned because the KKK were part of the establishment, from the police department all the way to the governor’s office. You say we should allow the message of extremists to be heard, but their message is loud and clear: we will destroy the lives and property of anyone who disagrees with us. And this is why I maintain that free speech absolutism is a total charade, a con job to provide cover for political violence and limitations on the free speech of their opponents. The people cannot figure this out if they running for their lives from terrorists who are trying to kill them. And yes, the KKK were the original homegrown terrorist movement, and they were protected and given safe harbor by the government, just as Musk is protecting the same type of people today on Twitter.
1 comments

I disagree. There is an episode of King of The Hill that mocks the KKK. You know what the KKK did? NOTHING. They didn't say a word. They didn't say a word because their numbers are very weak. It is a joke at this point. The episode actually used the KKK as actual jokes in Bobby's skit. Think about that for a minute. It went from feared to a joke in a cartoon show and nobody said a word because they are a joke.
I spent some time trying to parse your comment, but I’m afraid I just couldn’t do it. Right wing violence is the largest form of extremism in the US today. It is also largely based on the original values of the KKK, but operates on the level of lone wolves at the individual levels of violence (such as mass shootings) instead of the group. Today, the group level focuses on disseminating violent rhetoric from the top down, often from political actors using the cover of free speech through media outlets. It’s also still a major problem with law enforcement, as the ghost skins phenomenon of infiltration shows in FBI reporting on the subject. It’s not a joke, it’s one of the most pressing issues in 2023 America, and is emanating directly from the leaders of the GOP.
There are so many "facts that aren't so" here, I'm not even going to attempt..
Name one. The only controversial thing I said is in the choice of specific terms and descriptions, which I acknowledge below with the following sources. For example, there is a debate over the terms lone wolf, leaderless resistance, and stochastic terrorism. Otherwise, the dispute over terms aside, it is correct.

Right wing violence is the largest form of extremism in the US today.

https://www.adl.org/resources/report/dark-and-constant-rage-... https://web.archive.org/web/20210131220343/https://www.nytim...

It is also largely based on the original values of the KKK

https://www.gale.com/intl/essays/cynthia-miller-idriss-white... https://www.americanprogress.org/article/white-supremacy-ret... https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/03/31/rise-in-political-v...

But operates on the level of lone wolves at the individual levels of violence (such as mass shootings) instead of the group.

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/... https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/white-supremacists-are... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/the-new-st...

Today, the group level focuses on disseminating violent rhetoric from the top down, often from political actors using the cover of free speech through media outlets.

https://theconversation.com/impeachment-trial-research-spann... https://apnews.com/article/1410b516f5b66c18d62342a0d7a9b60f https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/07/january-6-trump... https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/trumps-a...

It’s also still a major problem with law enforcement, as the ghost skins phenomenon of infiltration shows in FBI reporting on the subject.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_skin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Supremacist_Infiltration...

It is emanating directly from the leaders of the GOP.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/how-trumps-2024-presid... https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/donald-trump-cpac... https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/07/january-6-trump... https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/10/trump-death-wish-com... https://timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2021/01/19/in-the-end-it... https://time.com/5930592/everyone-thinks-im-a-terrorist-capi... https://www.al.com/news/2023/05/tuberville-on-white-national...