A protester’s hand in France was blown off by a grenade during some of the fiercest protests the country has ever seen.
May Day is usually a worldwide celebration of labour rights, but this year’s rallies saw people walk out in outrage at their conditi…
A top Cabinet Minister said “no one would want” an immigration detention centre in their area in a row over the Government plans to move asylum seekers from hotels.[1]
Sky News presenter Kay Burley grilled Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on whether he…
News[1]
Campaigners bravely put forward anti-racist views at a hostile public meeting
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Tuesday 02 May 2023
Issue 2853[2]
Anti-racists campaigning in Bexhill for refugees
Some 350 people packed into a public meeting held …
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty
Two decades after Texas Gov. George W. Bush[1] was elected president on a “compassionate conservative” platform, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott[2] is going out of his way to stress uncompassionate conservatism.
The latest (and arguably lowest) example occurred on Sunday, when Abbott described a slaughtered family of five as “illegal immigrants[3].” (It should be noted, at least one of the victims may have been a permanent U.S. resident[4].)
RFK Jr. Was Always a Crackpot, He Just Switched Political Tribes[5]
By stressing the citizenship status of the victims, Abbott—who was announcing a $50,000 reward for information about the alleged gunman—seemed to be suggesting that their lives didn’t matter as much as the lives of real Americans. As Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, tweeted, it felt like an attempt to “dehumanize the victims[6].”
In case you missed the story[7], the details are important: On Friday, a family of five—including an eight-year-old boy[8]!—was massacred execution-style. The shootings reportedly occurred after the victims asked their neighbor to quit firing his AR-15 in his front yard, because it was keeping their baby awake.
According to police, the neighbor had been drinking, and said, “I’ll do what I want to in my front yard[9].”
Evil people do evil things. But you might expect elected officials to respond with more humanity.
Keep in mind that this isn’t some fringe right-wing yahoo on the internet we’re talking about; it’s the governor of Texas.
Abbott is 65 years old. According to his official website[10], he was also the “longest-serving Attorney General in Texas History” and his wife is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants[11].
This is someone who clearly ought to know better.
What is more, it’s not like Abbott made a mistake or simply misspoke. His extraneous description of the victims was written in a prepared statement (and he mentioned it again in the tweet[12] where the statement was embedded).
It’s worth asking why the governor of Texas would go out of his way to stress the victims’ immigration status. I think there are a couple possible answers—none of which are acceptable.
Story continues
The first possibility is that it was strategic and partisan. Issues have built-in skews. So if we’re talking about mass shootings, Republicans are losing. But if we’re talking about illegal immigration, Republicans are winning. Ergo, it makes sense to frame the shooting in a way that says, “Guns don’t kill people, illegal immigrants kill people!”
America’s Tragedy Is Its Culture of Fear—Armed With Millions of Guns[13]
Truth be told, Abbott could have advanced this narrative more effectively by stressing the fact that the alleged shooter was an illegal immigrant[14]. Indeed, stressing the alleged shooter’s undocumented status (which, to be fair, Abbott notes in his statement), while downplaying the victims’ status, might have been even more useful—if his goal were to change the subject.
That’s why there is a second, even more cynical, explanation: Abbott (who has flirted with running for president, but seems unlikely to do so in 2024[15]) realizes that the way to get ahead in the Republican Party is to be the biggest asshole possible.
In other words, Abbott’s audience is not you or me—or even the people of Texas. No, Abbott’s target audience is the national Republican base.
And what does today’s Republican base crave, nay, demand? As Adam Serwer says, “The cruelty is the point[16].”
This sort of performative nastiness is consistent with a governor who bussed migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve[17], and wants to pardon a man who was convicted of murdering[18] a Black Lives Matter protester.
Now, maybe only a morally bankrupt person would put political ambition ahead of decency at a time like this. But the truth is that Abbott is merely responding to the same incentives that have led so many modern Republicans to act like jerks. This is a systemic problem.
Joe Biden’s First 2024 Campaign Ad Is a Smart Play for Middle America[19]
Ideally, political leaders would be authentically compassionate. Absent that, we might hope for a culture that demands they at least act humane. Today, we have entered a much more perverse environment, where Republican leaders must be mean—or at least pretend to be.
I mean, a family of five was murdered—including a child!—and the Republican governor of Texas wants to, apropos of nothing, stress their immigration status?
Perhaps I should be angry, but at this point, I am simply depressed. Could it be that the Republican Party is now completely and irreversibly committed to heartless culture war conservatism?
Don’t answer that question.
In case there was ever a doubt, Abbott’s behavior is proof that, pace George W. Bush, the GOP’s family values do stop at the Rio Grande.
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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Police in Mexico said Monday they have arrested a top lieutenant of the violent Metros faction of the Gulf drug cartel[1] implicated in 23 attacks on police and nine against military personnel.The suspect was identified as Hugo Salin…
PARIS (AP) — People squeezed by inflation and demanding economic justice took to the streets across Asia and Europe to mark May Day on Monday, in a global outpouring of worker discontent not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into l…
Several nations voiced concern at the United Nations Monday over police violence, including against protesters, in France, as the country headed into another day of mass demonstrations.
Attacks on migrants[1], racial profiling and religious intolerance were also raised during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) – which all 193 UN countries must undergo every four years.
France[2] must “take measures to, in a transparent manner, address allegations regarding excessive use of force by police and gendarmerie against protestors during demonstrations,” Sweden’s representative told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Other countries raised similar concerns, including Denmark, Liechtenstein and Norway, but also Russia, Venezuela and Iran – three countries that themselves regularly face accusations of police violence[3] and other serious and widespread human rights violations.
“We are concerned about the harsh and sometimes violent measures aimed at dispersing peaceful citizens,” Russia’s representative Kristina Sukacheva, told the council.
It echoed growing outcry in France of the police for disproportionate use of force in dealing with the crowds, amid the months of protests over the move to raise France’s pension age from 62 to 64.
During Monday’s review, several countries including the United States and China called on France to do more to battle racial and religious discrimination.
(AFP)
Ousted Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot pleads with Texas Gov Greg Abbott to stop sending migrants to Windy City because influx of 8,000 is ‘dangerous and inhumane’ (despite Lone Star State having 1M crossings this year)Lori Lightfoot penned the letter to …
A MILLION marched in France today as union-led May Day rallies warned President Emmanuel Macron to back down over plans to raise the retirement age.
Crowds banged pots and pans as they wound through Paris, with French trade unions calling “Everyone ont…
Texas husband who survived massacre reveals dying woman told him to throw himself out window to escape bullets ‘because my children were already without their mom’ – as FBI says it has NO leads on illegal migrant shooterFive people, including a nine-ye…
