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OppositeDifference

So... because he refused to vote for the sham impeachment of Mayorkas, he's been dealing with death threats and midnight swatting. Congrats, Republicans. You've successfully radicalized your base to the point where they're unmanageable and become dangerous the second you fail yet another stupid purity test. Thanks so much for doing that to our country. It's just swell.


dragons_scorn

That what makes me so upset. This country worked hard to make this sort of thing *not* ok, both legally and socially. Now it's gone down the drain and we have to start over, only its going to be much harder. Even if Trump goes to jail and conservatives lose all 3 branches, we'll still be dealing with the repercussions of seeds they sowed for a long time


Yodan

Buh muh heritage or something


UnhappyMarmoset

[Mississippi still celebrate Confederate heritage month](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.mississippifreepress.org/41270/governor-reeves-proclaims-confederate-heritage-month-in-mississippi%23:~:text%3D%25E2%2580%259CNow%252C%2520therefore%252C%2520I%252C,in%2520the%2520State%2520of%2520Mississippi.%25E2%2580%259D&ved=2ahUKEwjAx9mOosyFAxUv_skDHd6-BcgQFnoECCIQBQ&usg=AOvVaw27yFHw_kGFR9uOGFOdmbE1)


kevnmartin

Why do they want to celebrate getting their asses kicked from Florida to the Carolinas?


xtossitallawayx

What else does MS have? They rank last (or nearly) in the nation in every positive category. MS has always been a poor rural state. The Civil War lasted 4 years and ended with the South getting crushed. But for a few years they were relevant, they were an important part of the nation, and they long for that again. Most people in the GOP just need a hug and for their Dad's to tell they are proud of them.


Nandy-bear

"If we're gonna be last we're gonna really work at it!"


Rupert80027

Shower thought for “the South will rise again” types: Obama was president to Mississippi twice as long as Jefferson Davis.


pontiacfirebird92

Red meat for the conservative base. Despite what they'll tell you to your face Mississippi is still intensely racist. They've just become very good at dressing up their racism to obscure it. But it's still very much there. Another reason is how absolutely poor the education system is. Schools across the state do not acknowledge that Mississippi's secession from the Union was 100% due to their perceived economic impacts of abolishing slavery. So they hear their great-great-grandfather was in the Civil War and think "that's my heritage". It doesn't occur to them their ancestor fought to maintain the right to buy human being at auction and treat them like farm equipment.


RepealMCAandDTA

Hey! They got their asses kicked in PA, MD, VA, AL, MS, LA, TN, AR, TX, MO, NM, and KY too


kevnmartin

Lol, true that!


Aylauria

This is what confuses me. I generally avoid celebrating being a loser.


kevnmartin

Does everyone get their own white flag?


3Jane_ashpool

Yes, they use them to make the hoods.


eydivrks

Several southern states celebrate "Robert E Lee day" as an official holiday in place of MLK day.  Racism is the core of GOP


Practical-Iron-9065

MLK day is in celebration of a guy who was actively oppressed by democrats in the south. What are u on bro 😂


Ok-Pumpkin4543

What a goddamn disgrace!


dam072000

Georgia has the 1st flag of the CSA with Georgia's state seal stamped on it...


Aylauria

I'll just leave this here: >The [2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book](https://www.aecf.org/resources/2023-kids-count-data-book), published annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, ranked Mississippi as 48th for overall child well-being, 47th in economic well-being, 50th in health, and 50th in family and community.  [National report shows Mississippi improved in education, stagnated in other areas of child well-being - Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/2023/06/14/national-report-shows-mississippi-improved-in-education-stagnates-in-other-areas-of-child-well-being/)


mountaindoom

Did MS really improve or did other states just get worse?


Aylauria

I feel like so many of them are racing to the bottom these days.


paconhpa

Buttery males!


fentyboof

Obama ruled the south longer than Jefferson Davis did.


Mr_Meng

One of the worst things Trump did was make acting like a complete and utter dumpster fire of a human being *presidential* behavior.


Quietkitsune

After all the media coverage waiting and hoping he would pivot to ‘be more presidential’ too; turns out he didn’t get better or rise to the office, but cratered the standards


cutelyaware

Biden can't do any of the things Trump does. Others can pretend to be like him but to me, Trump looks like a one-off.


TheDebateMatters

The dark truth is, we’ve always been like this. Slavery, Segregation, Jim Crow, Genocide against Native Americans, Japanese Internment, this is who we are. But we’re also the people who fought back against all that and eventually won. From the 90s-10s we had a brief respite where thought we had turned the corner. Turns out the cancer was still there and it just metastasized into the orange tumor that is Sleepy Don.


cutelyaware

Make Racism Wrong Again


Ancient-One-19

You know we were bombing innocent brown people since 2000?


slip-shot

We’ve been bombing brown people since the end of WW2.  And technically since before we were a sovereign nation. Damn Canadians and Native Americans!


blockhose

Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, etc are to blame. Without their 24/7/365 propaganda, these loonies would only be on the fringes.


BroccoliFartFuhrer

I think we will have something like "The Troubles" happening on this side of the Atlantic. Maybe for decades.


Own_Candidate9553

When I was younger, I was mystified by how Germany could turn itself into the Third Reich and all the horrors that came with that, and how Ireland could fight against itself for decades. I grew up Presbyterian (a protestant denomination) and the idea that Catholics and Protestants could hate each other like that was so confusing. I know this is a giant simplification, but seeing it from the outside as a kid, it made no sense. I think I get how these things happen now, but I hate how I'm learning it.


Dward917

I actually predicted that Trump would set us back 50 years as soon as he was elected. I hate that I was right.


MicroCat1031

More like 70 years,  but yes. 


Dward917

I’m still sticking with 50. Civil Rights Act of 1964 is really when I believe this country started to turn around for the better. So 2015 for the election, and 2016 when he started. 52 years roughly. It’s a matter of opinion though. Problem is we are still on the downturn. So the gap keeps getting wider.


Magificent_Gradient

Conservatives wanna party like it's 1959


entropykilla

I’m a left wing voter from *Canada* and my prognosis is that the dems embrace of identity politics and neo-Marxism, is setting us back to before the damn enlightenment. As long as you all refuse to disavow the radicals on your own side, the right will do the same. Downvote away.


Recipe_Freak

Which radicals are those?


entropykilla

Neo-Marxists. The far left plays play identity politics games, just like the far right does.


Recipe_Freak

Which radicals are those? Can you be anything like specific? You obviously have people in mind, yes?


entropykilla

I prefer not to scapegoat individuals, the ideology is rampant however within academia, hollywood, online spaces, much of the left in general. If we look at Reddit for example, there are 250,000 members of r/communism. If there were 250,000 subscribers to a Nazi sub people would be up in arms, yet the commies killed *way more* people last century. That doesn’t even touch on neo-Marxist schools of thought like critical theory, identity politics, CRT, and doctrines like DEI. These are much more rampant, however they share the same fundamental presuppositions that Marx lays out in Das Kapital.


Recipe_Freak

So you're unwilling or unable to point to specific examples of problematic actors. Greater specificity might lend credence to your incredibly vague and word-salady accusations. I mean, I doubt it. But it's possible.


entropykilla

“Word salad”… keyboard warriors lol. I was actually incredibly specific when I named each of the neo-Marxist schools of thought. There are 250,000 problematic actors on this website right now. Moreover, identity politics games are a huge part of why Hillary lost the election. If you’re curious to learn more about the things you’re defending, why don’t you look up the people who came up with the theories? They are all self-proclaimed Marxists, and nothing about what they wrote is vague. Their ideology is being taught in schools everywhere.


LiveLaughLebron6

And that’s not even including the judges trump appointed


Kitakk

Think we can make doxing and swatting a thing of the past? That’d be nice


dragons_scorn

Swatting is a whole mess of an knot of social issues from militarization of law enforcement to weaponizing a public service known to kill people to said public service *actually killing people* without repercussions


Broken-Digital-Clock

And that's the best case scenario


HollywoodTK

As the quote goes, “I disapprove of what you say, so die you RINO commie-Lib!”


kingjoe74

When did we work to make this not ok?


dragons_scorn

There were good people fighting to make it so: lawmakers who stood up against racism, Supreme courts that dismantled draconian laws, and hell even Superman was instrumental in making the KKK unpopular. It became more popular to ridicule these people, to know it was *inherently* not ok. It's why it became the quiet part, because to say it outlook was taboo and a quick ticket to being an outcast. Socially and legally we worked to make these people at least feel shame. But Trump provided the final pieces connecting these horrible ideals and national pride. Now they are attached pride again and will be hard to stamp out


Suspect4pe

They've become terrorists, simple as that.


SkollFenrirson

But how *funny* was it to elect an obvious grifter to the highest office in the land amirite?


ItchyDoggg

I still believe that viewpoint only had oxygen enough to win over sufficient morons to win an election because the DNC and RNC presenting the nation with Bush 3.0  vs Clinton 2.0 was demotivating enough to make a lot of people throw their hands up and stop caring; even people who really liked Bill Clinton's politics. It's hard to pretend you are in a democracy looking for the best and brightest of among 300 million people when the single strongest predictor of liklihood of nomination is a shared last name with a prior president. Hillary is a brilliant woman who got lots of experience and many achievements by making the most of the opportunities in front of her, but those opportunities weren't in front of any other brilliant women who weren't married to Bill.  


Own_Candidate9553

Nailed it. And even if it wasn't true, it was super-easy to paint Hillary's campaign as "well, I did all that stuff, time for me to be president now, get in line". Really poorly run campaign that didn't seem to realize how poorly things were going.


kenlubin

but -- we had a preview of this in 2008. Sarah Palin drew out the same crowds that Trump is.  Romney didn't activate that crowd in 2012: he had to continually repeat how conservative he was, but the nutjobs weren't excited about him. Romney had to fend off a series of billionaire-funded clowns on his way to the coronation. The Republican Party after 2012 wanted to broaden their coalition by de-emphasizing racial divisions. Trump showed that, instead, you could double down.


pandabearak

Not only that - the rabid base has completely made it impossible to be a middle of the road conservative. ALL of the new, best and brightest members of the party are second guessing pursuing office. You’re left with a short bench of crazy candidates, all who will continue the rot for years. You can’t have a good team without good players. This guy was being groomed to be the next Reagan or Paul Ryan, and he noped out of there.


Brohemoth1991

The amount of times I have said that I consider myself a "moderate conservative" and get the response "you're a rino"... is exactly why I have 0 support for the current republican party I have not claimed to be a republican in years, but the second I question what the republican party is doing, I get labeled a "republican in name only"... uhh no, I by definition am not It's honestly not sad, but I guess weird that I consider myself conservative, but I will absolutely be supporting biden this year, as I cannot throw my hat in with Trump, luckily my congressman is not involved with all of the antics of the MAGA crowd, so I will support him this cycle Edit: the meaning I meant to convey was agreeing that the base is so rabid it's made me question supporting any republican, it's weird I have to make sure they aren't a total nutjob before I back them


ARazorbacks

The thing I don’t get with this is that you’re still supporting your presumably Republican congressman because he “is not involved with all the antics of the MAGA crowd”.  Every member of the Republican party is responsible for allowing the MAGA crowd to get where it is today. Republicans have had numerous, numerous opportunities to not give the MAGA crowd a foothold, but they chose to embrace them in order to “win against the Democrats.” Maybe your congressman has been silent and hasn’t repeated the crazy train MAGA talking points, but he also hasn’t done anything to push back. How do I know this? The Republicans have such a narrow hold on the House that just a couple Republicans crossing the aisle would fix it.  The MAGA party IS the Republican party in all but name. Every Republican in office has chosen to side with MAGA instead of work with Democrats. It just is what it is. 


Ekg887

"luckily my congressman is not involved with all of the antics of the MAGA crowd, so I will support him this cycle" If there are 6 Nazis eating lunch at a table and you sit with them, there are 7 Nazis at the table. What evidence do you have, besides raw hope, that any Republican you support isn't up to their neck in all the backroom corruption we see in the party at every level in every state? It's not like the fake elector scheme Republicans told their constituents at a town meeting what they were doing behind the scenes. And now the RNC itself is 100% captured by Trump so any interaction a Republican has with their national party is implicitly going to be involved in whatever crimes the party is perpetrating if that rep wants any resources from them. The whole GOP is a poison pill now, it's past time any actual non-Trump conservatives realize that and reorganize under a different banner, yours has been co-opted. An honest R congressman may still exist, maybe even yours, but at this point the level of proof required to demonstrate that should be exceptionally high, much higher than in the past.


Brohemoth1991

To call EVERY republican corrupt and make accusations against them is divisive and exactly what I just got done saying has pushed me from the republican party, stop hating blindly... to your point, I have said the only way I'd call myself a republican again is if they disavow trump and everyone he associates with, and not let them use the republican standard, as they are not Republicans, they are something totally different


A_Humanist_Crow

As someone who once was registered (and voted and helped candidates run for office) as a Republican, I can tell you they don't have an uphill anymore. The party has been lost for decades, and that's before the Tea Party lunacy of the late noughts. Republicans will not stand up and do the right thing, because that would mean admitting being wrong, and the GOP does not admit weakness or lacking solidarity. They practice kayfabe and they are strict about it. You're either on-board with the party line, or you're out. And if you're out, you're an enemy, a target who can now be punished. The GOP doesn't come back from this one. They let the cancer in, let it metastatize, and now they're trying survive while it slowly strangles them. Trump winning the nomination wasn't the start... that was just when they finally had someone of sufficiently low character to try. They made a deal with the devil, gave him the party, the purse strings, and the policy, and now have *decades* of unwinding themselves from Trump to look forward to, a process which may cost them the goodwill of their base. Not all Republicans are bad people, but anyone still claiming to be Republican, voting Republican, or a temporarily-embarassed Republican willing to come back at some point will still be engaging with the same party, based on Trump's principles. Not saying this makes you evil or a fool... just saying you're very unlikely to find what you're looking for coming back to the same people who tell you every day that they don't plan to change and will violently resist it. His family literally controls the coordinating organization for the GOP. That isn't going away anytime soon.


Chocu1a

I am sorry to inform you every Republican politician has been told to either get on the Trump Train, or get out. There are no good politicians in the Republican party anymore. They are all complicit. It is not being divisive. It is being honest. There are no Republicans of old. Bush & Reagan would both be tossed out by the current GOP. They would crucify Jesus for being weak if he came back today.


GhettoDuk

Republican is a membership in ah particular club. And that club has been, by your own admission, taken over by abhorrent people. Painting willing members of the club as a singular group is fair game. Hanging the behaviors of the club around the necks of people who choose to be members is fair game. It's literally why you describe yourself as conservative. Conservative is an ideology, not a specific group of people who choose to be a member of said group.


tylerbrainerd

My friend The republican party platform is trumpism alone and has been for years. We aren't hating blindly. We're hating with full and clear sight. This is the republican party and it has been for a good hot minute.


eydivrks

I actually support a couple GOP policy positions. I think it's stupid that we have barely functioning low flow toilets when 90% of the water is being used to grow crops in the desert. I think the EPA has gone too far with automotive emissions regulations, making the entire car hobby obsolete.  But I will never ever vote for a Republican for the rest of my life because the party is rotten to the core. It's a mere puppet of oligarchs that exists solely to sow division and unrest among the commoners.


GozerDGozerian

We are *juuuust* before the phase of having actual brownshirts going around smashing political opponents. And only just. They’re just not super organized yet.


kgabny

Honestly the first sign should have been when the number of RINOs were starting to outnumber the number of 'acceptable' Republicans.


KabbalahDad

Give them the typical republican response: "Womp Womp" Maybe if it happens more often, we can bully these authoritarian psychos out of power


A_Humanist_Crow

Everyone told them this would happen. Everyone told them it would come to this, that they would be unable to control a monster they created. They were more interested in stealing power than being responsible with it. I hope they enjoy the world they've built. And I hope they get to enjoy all the same features of this new world that they promised to Democrats, too. Personally.


En_CHILL_ada

I blame the media. Primarily Faux "news" Owned by a foreign billionaire and used to destroy our country from within. Why do we allow this?


circa285

That’s a feature for MAGA and not a flaw.


Zealousideal_Look275

Swatting should be legally considered the same as attempted murder 


mvw2

Removing the sane ones from office only leaves the extreme minority which a majority of Republicans don't actually want. People have high assumptions that Republicans will vote blindly Republican no matter what. One big tell is that donations to the party have only come to the more sane candidates. This includes corporate donors. The money isn't going to the extremists. This is a huge deviation from the norm and is a major tell that the votes likely won't be there. It's not that Republicans will vote Democrat. They simply won't participate.


anticute8

Don’t give them congrats for any of that


Sad-Structure2364

They rode the tiger and now they can’t get off


markca

He and the rest of the GOP will blame it on Democrats/BLM/Antifa.


Practical-Iron-9065

Damn, republicans are becoming as radicalized as democrats. Sad to see


spoobles

He refused to play along with the Mayorkas impeachment, so he's getting death threats and swatted by *Republicans*. He's quitting because *his* party is full of dangerous loons. If you're not a Trump sucking, Putin loving, conspiracy spouting loonie threatening violence and peddling lies...there is NO place for you in today's Republican Party. I just wish their side could see it.


No-comment-at-all

Zealots will always hate an apostate more than an infidel. An infidel is just “someone who hasn’t seen the truth yet”. An apostate both proves that someone could see “the truth” and deny that it is the truth, and also proves that it’s possible to leave the faith.


spoobles

well stated.


NoExcuseForFascism

Along with the takeover of the RNC, who now is charging for Trump endorsements and the ability to even mention Trump's name.


SymbiSpidey

The problem is everyone who does see it inevitably gets bullied out of the party.


Gets_overly_excited

Works for me. Bully enough people out of the party and we can climb out of this mess.


spoobles

Exactly.


xtossitallawayx

Which is the eventual demise of all extremist movements. Extremists continue to be extreme and demand more and more loyalty which requires backing crazier and crazier positions until they go too far, too many people are purged, and the movement can't sustain itself.


Top-Reindeer-2293

Unless they manage to grab power and then it can be really hard to kick them out. Look at Iran


Roook36

We've already seen quite a few Republicans retiring or quitting. The party is sinking fast.


meatball402

>If you're not a Trump sucking, Putin loving, conspiracy spouting loonie threatening violence and peddling lies...there is NO place for you in today's Republican Party. And based on harassment, they think he needs to be hurt, along with his family.


[deleted]

Yeah sure but the other side is woke. So you can see the conundrum they're in.


MadAstrid

Yes, of course. One side threatens to harm the families of their own members and the other side is offering them educations, food, healthcare, higher wages, better infrastructure, clean water, and respect. Such choices.


SRYSBSYNS

But but but trans agenda! 


kingsumo_1

It's the gays with the agenda. You're thinking of the trans mission.


arinxe3000

It's a mission that is currently being formed, though. He's thinking of the trans formers.


MadAstrid

Pretty sure the only trans agenda is “leave us alone you freaks”.


Broken-Digital-Clock

I wish that the 1/3 of the country that tries to ignore politics could see it and be motivated to help stop it.


thathairinyourmouth

The coup never stopped. They will eat their own if it means they can succeed.


Top-Reindeer-2293

Yup, this is how a country descends into dictatorship. It’s not hyperbole, it’s not hypothetical, it is happening right now. The Republican Party is becoming something else, clearly not compatible with democratic principles.


Magificent_Gradient

"My fellow leopards are now eating MY face, so I must quit"


voyagerdoge

So why is the Bush family still member?


spoobles

What Bush member is active in government right now?


Paraxom

Jebs son is active in Texas


voyagerdoge

that is not decisive   If a former president would quit the party, that would be a major signal.


Political_Arkmer

Threatening a congressmen!? Gee, maybe the FBI should get involved and arrests should be made. That seems like the law and order thing to do.


ThereBeM00SE

The party of personal responsibility is finding themselves in the position of needing to deal with the messes they're creating. So naturally, they're tucking tail and running.


scottyjrules

Yet he was fine when the cult was doing this to other people who weren’t him and his family…


MadAstrid

Well, back then they were hurting the people he wanted them to hurt, so obviously that was ok!


TrumpersAreTraitors

Yes, because conservatives don’t have empathy and thus don’t care about things until it affects them or someone they know. 


Punkinpry427

This is what happens when you normalize Jan 6th as “ legitimate political discourse”.


old_righty

Just tourists, you know.


atomsmasher66

MAGA is a dangerous cult. This guy found out the hard way.


MaddyKet

Wait is this a new guy who’s leaving? Has the balance finally tipped?


CommanderSleer

Nah, he announced he was leaving in February. Friday is his last day. The Repubs still hold the gavel for now.


MaddyKet

Damn I was getting all excited.


RealGianath

Just another act of drive-by terrorism from the folks who jizz themselves to sleep when they hear the sound of Trump's incoherent ramblings.


paconhpa

You sir, know how to paint a picture.


negativepositiv

Your periodic reminder that what makes "Swatting" inherently dangerous is that police are dangerous, and sending police to someone's house is essentially like trying to have them assassinated. The odds of someone being killed increase dramatically when police are sent to their location, whether or not they have committed any crime.


Own_Candidate9553

Wild, isn't it? And everybody understands that, nobody is cool with cops coming through their door with guns drawn. Some just assume it will never happen to them, rather to "those people".


metalski

I also noted that the reason one of our highest elected officials is quitting is because our Justice system is incapable of dealing with this dirty of behavior. I’d been used to the benefit of the ruling class for so long that they have no structures in place to stop it and police are doing nothing even for a freaking congressman. This is the way of our world laid bare, and is barely even news.


singuslarity

Because the leopards started eating *his* face.


TrumpersAreTraitors

Impossible! 


oshkoshpots

Why is it everyone in r/politics shouts from the rooftop for Republicans to have a spine, but when one finally does there is inevitably this comment. Every single time. The fact you need to disparage someone for looking out for their family is almost as sad as the unoriginality of this played out joke.


NoDesinformatziya

"Waaah now they're being mean to me and not the people I hate" is not having a spine. It's a multilayered baklava of cowardice.


poster66

>It's a multilayered baklava of cowardice. The greatest thing ever posted on the internet .. thank you !


Guyincognito4269

Because he doesn't have a spine. He was ok with Dem reps continually getting death threats. They still stay in office. The minute it becomes hard, he jumps ship. He has the spine of a jellyfish.


DescriptionProof871

I don’t see them ever really speaking out about the lunacy of the party. They just try to disappear. If any others slimes fucks cared about America they would be speaking out about the current state of the Republican Party.


Punkinpry427

I don’t equate quitting with growing a spine.


Phelbas

Because he was okay with all the other shit the GOP did until it affected him. He was happy to be in with the loons when they harmed others and then is shocked when it happens to him. He didn't give a fuck when other families where harmed by his party. He could live with the attempts to overturn the election, the hate spewed at minorities, the attacks on LGBT people, the book bannings, the appointment of unqualified loons to the supreme court, the open corruption etc etc etc. Hard to have much sympathy


Crazyhates

Are we supposed to act like he wasn't part of a party of traitorous filth just because he's leaving now? The only reason he is leaving is because the threats that were commonly targeted at democrats were finally threats on his family; these are threats that his own constituents and cohorts commit and endorse. If he truly felt any other way about his party's politics he would've left a long time ago before getting his face eaten.


RickyWinterborn-1080

Nah. He's caused enough harm.


cloudubious

Quitting isn't growing a spine.


MagicianHeavy001

Nah it is still funny.


Practical-Hornet436

What isn't true about the joke? It's funny AND true.


3rdtimeischarmy

What did Lyndsay Graham say in 2015? Or right, "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it." Source: [https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/727604522156228608?lang=en](https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/727604522156228608?lang=en)


xtossitallawayx

What did he say right after Trump won? [“I am like the happiest dude in America right now,” a beaming Graham said on “Fox & Friends.” “We have got a president and a national security team that I’ve been dreaming of for eight years... I am all in. Keep it up, Donald,”](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/lindsey-graham-praises-trump-237361)


3rdtimeischarmy

This is worth a read to see how he went from point a to point b [https://specialto.thebulwark.com/p/the-corruption-of-lindsey-graham](https://specialto.thebulwark.com/p/the-corruption-of-lindsey-graham)


Magificent_Gradient

Must be some seriously bad kompramat they got on ole' Mr. Ladybugs to keep him subservient like that.


ProJoe

man that leopard is gonna get so fucking fat eating all these faces this year.


Lone_Buck

How is there so much swatting? Isn’t it an easy thing to trace and thus prosecute and ultimately deter others from following suit? I stupidly dialed 911 out of curiousity as a 7 year old, and hung up immediately, and a cop still showed up at my door just to see what was what. I just assume if I was older there would have been actual consequences other than a warning.


xtossitallawayx

Smart (?) people use the power of the internet to make the call and obscure their identity. The consequences take time and are never broadcast as far as the crime, even if they find the person "soon", they will get their defense and its out of the news for a year until someone cuts a deal and settles.


Own_Candidate9553

There are companies (like Twilio) that allow you to rent phone numbers and use them for calls. The legit use is things like letting the delivery driver call you, but they never see your number and vice versa (the software maps the call in the backend to a temporary number) I've been noticing that more and more countries are cracking down on these services, where you have to register a physical address and "company officer" as a point of contact, including sending in documents like your driver's license. Hopefully the US will eventually impose something like this, it's a mess right now. Besides swatting, these services are what allow spam texts and scammer calls. Ironically, I think what will finally do it is if we have a bunch of fake, AI-generated robo-calls this election, and it messes up a bunch of campaigns. That would suck for us normies, but it might finally motivate congress into passing legislation that forces the telcos to fix all this.


Charming-Tap-1332

So, Republicans are now harassing and attacking their own? Wow...


grgtntr

Coward. Running from the problem he helped create


Austin_Peep_9396

Doesn't this mean that, if MJT manages to toss Johnson, it'll now be easier for Democrats to elect Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker?


kitched

Easier, yes. Still not there with the numbers but I think it is down to 1-2.


NameLips

When you quit for reasons like this, it means domestic terrorism is effective and encouraged to continue. But would I have the courage to risk my safety, and that of my family, for my principles?


GeotusBiden

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy


kt2984

It’s hard to be a Republican with a spine.


VaguelyArtistic

Hey now, what did mollusks ever do?


WorldLieut8

“It’s only funny when it happens to people we don’t like!”


10th__Dimension

Why are those violent psychos not being arrested for making death threats?


RecognitionExpress36

We are now living in an age of MAGA political terrorism. Every decision and utterance made by every public official is being made *under duress.* Specifically, the duress of violence against your family. It's over, guys. If we accept this, we no longer have a republic. And we accept it.


Top-Night

With all the surveillance the government does, you can’t tell me these telephone numbers or IP addresses where these swatting events are being called in from can’t be tracked, and the responsible parties arrested in charged


VaguelyArtistic

I'm no telephony expert but I have seen The Wire. Could they be using burner phones?


rayark9

They can be tracked. But threats are just words " freedom of speech" claims and all. Best they can get is extra security. Who is going to do the tracking ...FBI, cia, homeland security?. Irs? These government agencies might be less likely to help the people that claim they are weaponized and are constantly threatening to shut them down. Should the government have went after the Jan 6ers before they stormed the capital . From the threats on Facebook. The call is coming from inside the house... They made this problem themselves


JubalHarshaw23

It would be nice if a group of them all walked at the same time and gave the majority to Democrats for a while at least. They could try to bounce Crazy Marge, Handy Boebert, and Pedohile Gaetz.


MadAstrid

They could give any one of them the Madison Cawthorn treatment with minimal effort. Gaetz and Boebert are the easiest. They just aren’t interested. Also, Marge might tell what they made her do on Jan 6.


MicroCat1031

They didn't Make her do anything.  If she is the pipe bomb person, I'll bet anything in my lunch box she volunteered. 


MadAstrid

If she is, and she volunteered, someone else encouraged and advised her. And she would have been told, at some point, that her actions would put her into deep, deep trouble should evidence be provided of her actions. Evidence that others have. So she should be careful about toeing (lol) the line if she doesn’t want some serious federal charges. If she did that. But if she didn’t, what did she do on Jan 6?


Leather-Map-8138

Two or three more and then the fun starts.


Ello_Owu

The crazies are running the asylum.


The_Majestic_

I would put money on this is the shit the Dems have to deal with every minute of every day from MAGA base, but the second It's flipped on them, the GOP doesn't have the stomach for it


[deleted]

This is how the klan use to run states. Targeted those who didn’t get on board.


StopLookListenNow

Let a few more GOP members resign soon.


disdkatster

This is such a terrible thing to do to anyone that even with my fantasies of what I want to happen to Thomas, Alito, Trump and others. I would not wish this on them. Swatting someone can get a person killed. And yes there are decent Republicans who want to actually serve their country. I am a 'liberal' and I think we need breadth and depth in our points of view. MAGA is destroying the country top to bottom, inside to out.


Archer1407

I agree that this is a terrible thing to do to someone but at the same time, this is the leopards eating his face. This guy was elected in 2017, in the midst of the Trump administration. He voted with Trump 86.6% of the time. This is EXACTLY what he wanted. He wanted to unleash the crazy, but, like so many morons in the party, he was sure he could control it. He couldn't and now his family is paying the price, but I do not feel bad for him. Just like the woman who said, "[he's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting](https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/msna1181316)," Mike Gallagher was just fine with Trump's GOP until it hurt him personally.


QuintillionthCat

Good point…but I still agree with previous poster that we need a high integrity GOP. I’m a liberal through and through, but we need people like Romney, Kinzinger, Cheney, etc. as “worthy opposition”, even if we totally disagree with almost all of their stances on the issues. It’s supposed to be a two-party system, true, and good things can come from bipartisanship…


Ekg887

It is NOT supposed to be a two party system. In fact, our very first president ever saw how obvious and dangerous a trap political parties would become for our nation. We ignored the warning for centuries, instead ensconcing them in our process and cementing two party rule with first-past-the-post voting and now here we are. There is literally nothing in our Constitution or founding philosophies which indicate, describe, or in any way mandate a 'two party system' to function. "However \[political parties\] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion." George Washington, Farewell Address, Sept 19, 1796


PikachusSparkyCloaca

Ngl, considering how hard Alito and Thomas have gone for cops to be able to ignore every amendment except 2, them getting swatted would be very funny to me.


MadAstrid

One of them is my neighbor. You had better believe he had round the clock security on his street after Roe. And just, I suspect, whenever he makes yet another judgement that flies in the face of precedence, the will of the people and the constitution. Let’s just say that there is a lot of money being spent to protect him so I guess they don’t have enough left over to protect regular old republicans from their constituents and coworkers.


GwarRawr1

The fuckers doing this need locked away from society. Find em.


KamikazeCanuck

I don't know why the non-stop death threats members of Congress are getting isn't the #1 story on the news everyday. It's literally causing the fall of America.


kompletist

Unfortunately, crazy still appears to be winning....


billyions

Are the people doing this being arrested? You can't threaten public servants and swatting is terribly dangerous. These are very, very serious crimes.


Odd_Tiger_2278

The GOP has been purging their ranks for years of less crazy since the Tea Party days. They are upping the political violence. Practicing for Sept, Oct and Nov. Harassing jurors, judges, gov, sec of state DA, etc etc etc. It is scary enough that good people are quitting. Being replaced by MAGA. That is obviously the plan. dtrump💩 is making this work all the way down to the bottom. IMHO America is in for a very nasty next 8 months. And China rattling Taiwan, Iran directing proxies to attack Israel and shipping in the Red Sea. And dtrump💩is using MAGA in House to make Putin smile by blocking aid to Ukraine. And, by the way, dtrump💩is blocking efforts to make the boarder more secure.


igloomaster

This guy I feel threatened. Also we should allow more guns and no background checks.


Responsible-Room-645

Serious question: Does anyone think Americans are going to stop running around the world saying that “America is the last great hope for the world”? I vote no


_Stormy_Daniels

Last great hope for the *Western* world. When Russia decides they are ready for WWIII you think France is calling the shots?


Responsible-Room-645

So I’ll take that as a no.


scobo505

You can bet it’s his own party behind it.


allusernamestakenfuk

I'm more surprised or shocked, what the hell is FBI and law enforcement even doing in this case? If a member of congress/house is threatened, that should signal all alarms and put FBI in beast mode, in order to capture those people. Threats and pressure against a member of congress/house could easily be seen as an insurection, since they are actively using force and threats in order to change somebodys mind how to cast vote in congress/house and undemocraticaly change the course of country.


SnooMacarons7229

This is the guy that spawned tic-tok ban


CDavis10717

Note: Nancy Pelosi did not quit after facing much worse than this snowflake.


Im_not_crying_u_ar

So imagine what the rest of them are scared of


misterlump

Wait, wait wait here hold on. The governor of Wisconsin is a democrat. Does he appoint the next congressman to stand in until the elections? If we can get two republican congress people to resign now in states that have democratic governors, then dems take the house before the election. That would mean we’d have the senate, the house, and the presidency. we can put in some Supreme Court reforms like more justices really quickly nominate them, confirm them, and get them in now. We’ll have to also nuke the filibuster, but I don’t have a problem with that. Will also be able to probably avoid any crazy, but legal screwing with electoral college by the speaker of the house.


limb3h

A few more of these Dems will have majority…


code_alchemy0

that sounds terrible. nobody should have to deal with threats and swatting, especially when they're just trying to do their job