My mostly-unfiltered thoughts on the Jacob Blake police shooting, the riots in Kenosha, WI, the shootings involving Kyle Rittenhouse, and the subsequent trial. Happy to discuss in the comments.
I really enjoyed this one. It left me with a knot in my stomach for the complete railroading of a kid who easily could have been me, or someone I know if put in that situation. I respect Dan Carlin a lot for his over all body of work, but it’s no secret he leans left. I think you were right to point out that he came out with a podcast vehemently against the capital riots, but not a word about the worst riots in 50 years, perpetrated by people who happen to align more with his ideology. The 2 scenarios are not even remotely comparable, especially if you look at the damage done.
This is by far the most worthwhile podcast subscription I have. I think I can speak for everyone when I say, I feel I have already gotten my money’s worth.
So I have some major disagreements with what you said. Not in this being clear self defense (it was), but in your framing of almost everything.
1) We are an increasingly polarized, “sick society” but it is not due to the machinations of some “regime” favoring one side. All I have to do counter your narrative about how all the institutions have it out for conservatives is to list the numerous powerful interests, corporate figures, religious institutions, and media outlets that regularly back Republican and conservative political efforts and campaigns.
This disinformation isn’t a product of conspiracy. For Media outlets, it’s a problem of an increasingly perverse sales incentives in an ever more crowded market combined with increasingly insular media consumption from an ever more polarized populace. They need clicks to survive and they need to be first to cover a story. That’s why Blake was sold as just another example of a innocent black man being randomly gunned down before a single bit of info was discovered. There was a convenient and long standing narrative that was easy to sell to their political audiences. That’s also why Rittenhouse was sold in headlines as right wing militia nut.
Politicized left wingers have a narrative about cops and black people. They see a headline about Rittenhouse killing protestors, and in some cases, just assume it’s basically a Nazi killing black civil rights protestors.
This isn’t a left wing phenomenon. You need only look to the insane narrative around tump and elections as a counter example. Not to mention covid, our handling of which continues to suffer from right wing disinformation campaigns (inarguably, this has killed far more than than the 20-30 in the 2020 riots). It’s clear that this polarizing disinformation is occurring across the political spectrum. And not all problems are stemming from on wing.
A few other things.
2) Do you have more info on Antifa I can read up on? Interested to know where you got that info from.
3) the immigration bit at the beginning seemed like an non sequitor and your zero sum view of relations between ethnic groups seemed pretty damn strange. Especially since ethnicity is hardly the only identity we organize around in this country.
4) Finally, your accusation about carlin can be thrown right back at you. Where was your emergency podcast about Jan 6? Carlin can make a credible argument that Jan 6 riots had a far higher stakes (a bunch of rubes wanted to turn over the certification of a presidential election) than one courthouse in Portland. Which is why he made his podcast. Not really understanding why you were upset with him for not covering Portland.
This was a tough listen. And I mean that because I knew fuck all about the story and generally take a ‘head in the sand’ approach to US politics/news seen as I live in a client state of the empire. The whole situation makes me feel sad, angry and hopeless. You delivered this incredibly well and I’m glad you did, finally someone with some balls that’s not your typical political commentator ghoul. How did we get here and where do we go?
I thought I was informed. But I learned some things I didn't know. For example....I thought he had transferred the gun across state lines. But apparently that was a lie form the corporate press that I didn't catch.
It was helpful to remember the time. The lies put out by the press and politicians that literally torched the city of Kanosha. And many other cities at the time.
I am glad you put this out. I found it helpful for me in having a grounded understanding for my feelings on this.
But...I am at a loss for how to proceed. When the powers that be, the trusted institutions, the elected officials, the corporate press and media, the tech-media...all want to tell lies and sacrifice children to the gods of the political ideology. What is the way forward?
Also, this episode reminded me why I devoured every Martyrmade episode and couldn't get my debit card out fast enough when you went full-time.
History isn't about events, it's about *people* and they're always in the foreground in your work. It's the context you provide from all sides that makes your content so unique and interesting. Very well done at establishing the scene.
Fantastic analysis. The institutions are crumbling when we are no longer concerned about facts, but more concerned about whether or not the jury is going to be threatened for their decision. We are approaching third world status.
Also, thank you for saying something about Dan Carlin. He is out of mind on the J6 take. A bunch of boomers on a tour of the capital vs. a state sanctioned goon squad burning down cities for months. Yes, they were state sanctioned if the entity that has a monopoly on security refuses to secure anything.
The corporate media and elements of the left were begging for something like the Rittenhouse incident to happen. They invite the conflict. God forbid the people actually figure out who has/is destroyed/ing America. Criminal foreign policy, the establishment of a security state, the erosion of the bill of rights, and the destruction of the US dollar are all direct or indirect results of this regime’s (not D’s or R’s, but the current elites that have pushed policy for the last 30 years) agenda. The problem for them with the Rittenhouse incident is that he handled himself so well in that situation it will be extremely difficult to sacrifice him at their alter.
I always felt that this trial is a demoralization strategy. No prosecutor should go that hard and so obviously lying. I've been disgusted by the entire framing.
I can’t put into words eloquent enough to describe my appreciation for this take. It’s like hearing my own soul speak. I have the same sympathy for actual poor black people. I am a child of immigrants both white and Hispanic that had nothing to do with racism and hardship blacks in this country faced. I have Black, White, and Latino direct family members. My family for two generations has sacrificed blood, sweat, and souls to this country and flag. Seeing people manipulate these communities makes us sick, seeing the lies these people both spin and believe is alarming to my family as a whole. I don’t recognize the country I gave my legs too, the country my brother died for, the country my father came too and then spent a year in a coma as a result of defending. This manipulative political crap is a detriment to everyone and people are to blind or angry to see it. I fear peoples politics will make them ignore the truth you bared here, the scariest part is they will not realize they are being tricked into cheering on the destruction of their own lives and homes. This is like lung cancer, it will not be malignant, it will be terminal, and they can’t stop smoking, because they naively think it relieves their guilt.
Sorry for my rant, I appreciate you, and your contribution to our country as a voice of reason. People like you are the kemo therapy this country needs.
I grew up in the poorest part of Seattle. Fortunately, I had married parents with very good jobs. Your point about not caring about bettering life in the hood, but rather pushing a narrative that says the goal is escaping is spot on. The message kids hear from schools, local orgs, etc., is aspire to leave the community. I did almost immediately.
The only push against this now is due to gentrification. This has everyone waking up to the fact the nice bar that just went into the neighborhood isn't for them, it's for the folks who are going to buy their house from their landlord.
I appreciate how you don’t discount the historical and current realities faced by black Americans, while plainly laying out the facts of last summer that tragically led to this situation. Don’t get me wrong, the real perps played stupid games and won stupid prizes, but it’s tragic that Rittenhouse ever had to be faced with this situation. The ruling class + media in this country is officially pure evil.
I really enjoyed this one. It left me with a knot in my stomach for the complete railroading of a kid who easily could have been me, or someone I know if put in that situation. I respect Dan Carlin a lot for his over all body of work, but it’s no secret he leans left. I think you were right to point out that he came out with a podcast vehemently against the capital riots, but not a word about the worst riots in 50 years, perpetrated by people who happen to align more with his ideology. The 2 scenarios are not even remotely comparable, especially if you look at the damage done.
This is by far the most worthwhile podcast subscription I have. I think I can speak for everyone when I say, I feel I have already gotten my money’s worth.
Make this public, Darryl. We need to share this with our friends and family who need to see this side of the story
Fucking masterpiece my friend. I wasn’t going to bother listening due to topical overload, but damn, you turned this into something magical.
The left losing their shit over the death of a white pedophile, is peak 21st century.
So I have some major disagreements with what you said. Not in this being clear self defense (it was), but in your framing of almost everything.
1) We are an increasingly polarized, “sick society” but it is not due to the machinations of some “regime” favoring one side. All I have to do counter your narrative about how all the institutions have it out for conservatives is to list the numerous powerful interests, corporate figures, religious institutions, and media outlets that regularly back Republican and conservative political efforts and campaigns.
This disinformation isn’t a product of conspiracy. For Media outlets, it’s a problem of an increasingly perverse sales incentives in an ever more crowded market combined with increasingly insular media consumption from an ever more polarized populace. They need clicks to survive and they need to be first to cover a story. That’s why Blake was sold as just another example of a innocent black man being randomly gunned down before a single bit of info was discovered. There was a convenient and long standing narrative that was easy to sell to their political audiences. That’s also why Rittenhouse was sold in headlines as right wing militia nut.
Politicized left wingers have a narrative about cops and black people. They see a headline about Rittenhouse killing protestors, and in some cases, just assume it’s basically a Nazi killing black civil rights protestors.
This isn’t a left wing phenomenon. You need only look to the insane narrative around tump and elections as a counter example. Not to mention covid, our handling of which continues to suffer from right wing disinformation campaigns (inarguably, this has killed far more than than the 20-30 in the 2020 riots). It’s clear that this polarizing disinformation is occurring across the political spectrum. And not all problems are stemming from on wing.
A few other things.
2) Do you have more info on Antifa I can read up on? Interested to know where you got that info from.
3) the immigration bit at the beginning seemed like an non sequitor and your zero sum view of relations between ethnic groups seemed pretty damn strange. Especially since ethnicity is hardly the only identity we organize around in this country.
4) Finally, your accusation about carlin can be thrown right back at you. Where was your emergency podcast about Jan 6? Carlin can make a credible argument that Jan 6 riots had a far higher stakes (a bunch of rubes wanted to turn over the certification of a presidential election) than one courthouse in Portland. Which is why he made his podcast. Not really understanding why you were upset with him for not covering Portland.
This was a tough listen. And I mean that because I knew fuck all about the story and generally take a ‘head in the sand’ approach to US politics/news seen as I live in a client state of the empire. The whole situation makes me feel sad, angry and hopeless. You delivered this incredibly well and I’m glad you did, finally someone with some balls that’s not your typical political commentator ghoul. How did we get here and where do we go?
If the media lies so much about this, a relatively straightforward case, imagine what else they’re lying about.
Wow.
I thought I was informed. But I learned some things I didn't know. For example....I thought he had transferred the gun across state lines. But apparently that was a lie form the corporate press that I didn't catch.
It was helpful to remember the time. The lies put out by the press and politicians that literally torched the city of Kanosha. And many other cities at the time.
I am glad you put this out. I found it helpful for me in having a grounded understanding for my feelings on this.
But...I am at a loss for how to proceed. When the powers that be, the trusted institutions, the elected officials, the corporate press and media, the tech-media...all want to tell lies and sacrifice children to the gods of the political ideology. What is the way forward?
Also, this episode reminded me why I devoured every Martyrmade episode and couldn't get my debit card out fast enough when you went full-time.
History isn't about events, it's about *people* and they're always in the foreground in your work. It's the context you provide from all sides that makes your content so unique and interesting. Very well done at establishing the scene.
Fantastic analysis. The institutions are crumbling when we are no longer concerned about facts, but more concerned about whether or not the jury is going to be threatened for their decision. We are approaching third world status.
Also, thank you for saying something about Dan Carlin. He is out of mind on the J6 take. A bunch of boomers on a tour of the capital vs. a state sanctioned goon squad burning down cities for months. Yes, they were state sanctioned if the entity that has a monopoly on security refuses to secure anything.
The corporate media and elements of the left were begging for something like the Rittenhouse incident to happen. They invite the conflict. God forbid the people actually figure out who has/is destroyed/ing America. Criminal foreign policy, the establishment of a security state, the erosion of the bill of rights, and the destruction of the US dollar are all direct or indirect results of this regime’s (not D’s or R’s, but the current elites that have pushed policy for the last 30 years) agenda. The problem for them with the Rittenhouse incident is that he handled himself so well in that situation it will be extremely difficult to sacrifice him at their alter.
I always felt that this trial is a demoralization strategy. No prosecutor should go that hard and so obviously lying. I've been disgusted by the entire framing.
The media is the enemy of the people.
I can’t put into words eloquent enough to describe my appreciation for this take. It’s like hearing my own soul speak. I have the same sympathy for actual poor black people. I am a child of immigrants both white and Hispanic that had nothing to do with racism and hardship blacks in this country faced. I have Black, White, and Latino direct family members. My family for two generations has sacrificed blood, sweat, and souls to this country and flag. Seeing people manipulate these communities makes us sick, seeing the lies these people both spin and believe is alarming to my family as a whole. I don’t recognize the country I gave my legs too, the country my brother died for, the country my father came too and then spent a year in a coma as a result of defending. This manipulative political crap is a detriment to everyone and people are to blind or angry to see it. I fear peoples politics will make them ignore the truth you bared here, the scariest part is they will not realize they are being tricked into cheering on the destruction of their own lives and homes. This is like lung cancer, it will not be malignant, it will be terminal, and they can’t stop smoking, because they naively think it relieves their guilt.
Sorry for my rant, I appreciate you, and your contribution to our country as a voice of reason. People like you are the kemo therapy this country needs.
I've been able to watch 80% of this trial. Going to cry if this kid gets convicted of anything more than the misdemeanor.
Dude, you need to make this public. This is why I said yes when you asked to cover it. Put the truth out there my friend, the people needs to know.
I grew up in the poorest part of Seattle. Fortunately, I had married parents with very good jobs. Your point about not caring about bettering life in the hood, but rather pushing a narrative that says the goal is escaping is spot on. The message kids hear from schools, local orgs, etc., is aspire to leave the community. I did almost immediately.
The only push against this now is due to gentrification. This has everyone waking up to the fact the nice bar that just went into the neighborhood isn't for them, it's for the folks who are going to buy their house from their landlord.
I appreciate how you don’t discount the historical and current realities faced by black Americans, while plainly laying out the facts of last summer that tragically led to this situation. Don’t get me wrong, the real perps played stupid games and won stupid prizes, but it’s tragic that Rittenhouse ever had to be faced with this situation. The ruling class + media in this country is officially pure evil.