| Back in February, Democratic lawmakers found themselves reasonably concerned about going into work on Capitol Hill every day due to threats of violence. Not because, one month prior, a group of insurrectionists had attacked the Capitol at the encouragement of the then president, though obviously a potential repeat incident was worrisome too. No, in this case, Democrats were specifically distressed about the harm that might come to them from their batshit colleagues across the aisle. Specifically, newly elected freshman representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was causing a lot of anxiety given that, in addition to promoting QAnon conspiracy theories, claiming various school shootings were staged, and blaming California wildfires on Jewish laser beams, she had endorsed a call for the execution of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prior to being elected to Congress.
Taking their concerns to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Dems demanded that Greene be held accountable for the words and actions she had supported. But instead, no disciplinary action whatsoever was taken against her by Republican leadership, in a move clearly designed to appeal to the nuttiest members of the base, up to and including Donald Trump. Which clearly sent a signal to Republicans that violent death threats against Democrats are completely fine and in no way a fireable offense, and if you don’t believe us, well:
Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) shared an altered, animated video that depicts him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and swinging two swords at President Biden, prompting condemnation and calls for his Twitter and Instagram accounts to be suspended…. The congressman’s Sunday night post—which he shared on Twitter and Instagram—appeared to go further than his previous contentious remarks and social media posts, raising the specter of political violence in a manner similar to former president Donald Trump’s frequent allusions to armed revolution.
“Any anime fans out there?” Gosar said in the tweet in which he shared a link to the video. The 90-second clip appears to be an altered version of the opening credits of the Japanese animated series Attack on Titan. The show revolves around a hero who sets out to destroy the Titans, giant creatures that have devoured nearly all of human civilization. In recent years, internet users have turned the show’s opening credits into a popular meme. In the video Gosar posted, the congressman is depicted fighting the Titans alongside Republican reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.). In one scene, Ocasio-Cortez’s face is edited over one of the Titans’ faces. Gosar flies into the air and slashes the Titan in the back of the neck, killing it…. In another scene, Gosar swings two swords at a foe whose face has been replaced by that of Biden.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to the video on Monday night, noting that while she was en route to Glasgow for work, “a creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me. And he’ll face no consequences bc @GOPLeader cheers him on with excuses. Fun Monday! Well, back to work bc institutions don’t protect woc.” Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote, “Happy Monday in America, where @GOPLeader McCarthy’s colleague just posted a video of himself swinging two swords at President Biden. These blood thirsty losers are more comfortable with violence than voting. Keep exposing them.” Rep. Ted Lieu also condemned the video, saying, “This is sick behavior from Rep. Paul Gosar…. In any workplace in America, if a coworker made an anime video killing another coworker, that person would be fired.”
The response from Gosar’s office? That Democrats have no sense of humor about videos depicting them being violently murdered and need to chill. “We made an anime video,” Gosar’s digital director, Jessica Lycos, told The Washington Post in a statement. “Everyone needs to relax. The left doesn’t get meme culture. They have no joy. They are not the future. It’s a cartoon. Gosar can’t fly and he does not own any light sabers. Nor was violence glorified. This is about fighting for truth.” A truly incredible series of words that should be put in a museum. Just relax, Alexandria! Can’t you take a joke about a colleague slashing you in the neck, Alexandria? Don’t be so uptight, Alexandria! Be cool, like Republicans, Alexandria!
Outside of his anime productions, Gosar is known as a 2020 election truther who called the individuals who violently broke into the Capitol “peaceful patriots” and described Joe Biden as an “illegitimate usurper.” In June he denied that he’d planned to attend a fundraiser with a group tied to white nationalism, despite an invitation for the event that featured him. And in 2017 he suggested that the Charlottesville rally was backed by Jewish billionaire George Soros.
Twitter added a warning label to Gosar’s tweet on Monday but allowed it to remain accessible for “public interest,” with public interest presumably being knowledge of the Republican sociopaths in Congress.
In a follow-up tweet, Ocasio-Cortez wrote:
That’s an opinion that’s apparently shared by members of Gosar’s family. In 2018, Gosar’s own siblings endorsed his opponent and appeared in a video begging people not to vote for him. Unfortunately, enough did, and here we are today. |
‘Couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself’
So, a Republican then.
Our Country has gone to hell in a handbag. These Republicans are disgusting, despicable and scary. Kevin McCarthy better do something about his kindergarten Republicans before we don’t have a country left.
I seriously doubt if McCarthy can open a pickle jar on his own. Expecting him to do anything useful about the party that, let’s face it, he helped get to this point in history is probably unrealistic.
Fans of Comedy Central’s South Park surely remember Mr. Garrison becoming a politician and ultimately President. For those who don’t know, his character had been a grade school teacher – think some of the idiots we’re hearing about spouting ignorant ass Trump/MAGA/Q stuff to their students these days. Oh, and he fought his gayness for years before finally embracing it. As a politician his character became a send up of Trump, and his them was for all the folks that MAGA nation doesn’t like was to “fuck them to death.” Which the cartoon shows him actually doing sometimes.
I wonder how Gosar would react if the thirty second or so clip of Garrison fucking the Canadian Prime Minister to death were to be altered a bit, with GOSAR’s head (and the dialogue being altered a bit) being superimposed on the Canadian PM? We all know the answer of course. Gosar and MAGA/Q nation and the entire GOP and their propaganda outlets would rise up in outrage! And if the response was “It’s a cartoon…Can’t you take a joke?” conservatives would go bat-shit insane!
Honor to the Marines on their 246th year. I never wanted to learn German or japanese anyway. Thanks guys for being the first in.
Did someone ever try to force you to learn German or Japanese? I honestly don’t get your point here. In fact, whatever point you’re trying to make really runs counter to your previous criticisms of how poorly educated people in this country (much of your ire was specifically directed at the MAGA brigade but there was a lot of generalizations in it as well) because almost no state requires the study of any foreign language for graduation, much less any specific language or languages.
Talking about the marines’ role in WW2. They did play an important role in stopping those armies. If we had lost, u don’t know what language u’d be speaking. Guess the reference was too oblique. Studies show the highest demographic that poses the greatest domestic threat & also supports El cheeto, are rural, white men with an education level equivalent to high school or below. I’m simply parroting fact. Ask the next ten random people how many have read Buried My Heart At Wounded Knee? Or read 10 books in the last year? I stand by my experience & observation.
Boy. A title in America, like congressman, or El president, provides 100% protection from the bureaucracy backed by guns, known as the LAW. FACT.
Jennifer Gosar made a very important comment, in my mind. Why aren’t the democratic leaders holding him accountable?
Because they need Rs to vote with them , any punishment they decide. They have a very narrow majority, and many decisions like this require at least a 60% majority.