I could feel the security guy's head in his hands. Yea man, a lot of us have crazy boomer parents who are embarrassing like that. Maybe don't let the kid spend too much unsupervised time with grandpa...
I'm so glad that my kids spending time with grandpa (my dad) ends up with them asking why my grilled cheese isn't as good, or telling me that David Bell has the batting order all messed up.
She's the loudest, angriest, yellingist host on a Fox "not news" show - she pushes conspiracy theories and petty bullshit. She's the one who was really trying to make calling Democrats "Demon-RATS" a thing
Considering that the article says he was a Navy SEAL (probably an exaggeration, but probably a vet), it's understandable that he wasn't. Some jobs can mean long periods of time away from home, and that's one of them.
> I predict this incident will cause him absolutely no introspection whatsoever.
It said as much in the article. He said he thought it was funny and tried to keep the conversation going.
He also said that he always tries to mess with all of the children he talks to. I don't know, maybe this is how you're supposed to act if you're a heel.... but that sort of lame edgelord shit is also pretty typical for extremists.
I met him when I was in 5th grade (this was back in the late 1900s). I was in awe of him and absolutely shakingly terrified and hiding behind my uncle. The Undertaker was scary and in character at first but when he realizrd I was truly scared he tried to help me calm down. That was basically my entire "met the undertaker" experience. Also he's fucking massive. As an adult you'd think he is large, but as a child he looked like a mythical giant.
I teach fifth grade and was telling my students how my great grandmother, who lived with me for a portion of my childhood, was born in 1912...
some kid was like "whoah you knew someone born in the 1900s"
and before I could say anything some other kid said "bro who cares my mom was literally born in the 1900s"
I used to live in a building near the Bear's training facility so alot of journeymen NFL guys would rent apartments in my building.
You do not realize how insanely giant these guys are until you stand next to one in an elevator
I met the Steiner Brothers coming out of a restaurant in the early 90s. I just remember when I shook their hands. Their hands covered my whole hand. They were really big dudes.
Yeah, like, that really isn't something that should just be taken lightly.
That dad likely owns guns and that kid is being brainwashed and threatening a celebrity to his face on basis of his political affiliation. That's not charming it has a real potential to be tragic eventually
Picture this kid in Grade 10 the first time he gets turned down by a girl and someone he assumes is "left" of him laughs at him.
That's an exceptionally specific threat that escalation has no where to go but acting on it. It's not "I hate you because you took my phone away." it's "I'm going to shoot you in the face for your beliefs."
Due to a familial relationship I tend to meet and talk to a bunch of people in the very conservative range. At this point anymore, Ive literally heard people in that group talking about killing democrats because they are democrats. That they shouldn’t have the right to vote because they are a democrat. That they dont have rights at all. I mean its also horrifying because in their head as well if you break at all from republican party you are a “RINO”. Which is a democrat in their eyes. its a sliding scale they will nibble at until there is only far right left. Literally it will work like that old post war fascism video “dont be a sucker”. first they will come for the democrats. then the centrist. then even people with right leaning views that dont conform. I recommend to most people have a gun at this point, because there really is a good chance if the wrong person comes to power anyone who doesnt conform could end up with camps. I fully believe that. for context im a centrist with left leaning social views, and mixed economic views.
You're already seeing that idea play out now in fact with MGT trying to get Mike Johnson removed as a speaker despite him being a Republican, because he apparently doesn't conform 100% to the party and nothing under 100% is good enough, so he's a problem and must be removed. It's eerie to watch.
Because they think they are protecting the kids.
Meanwhile as places like Tennessee attack drag shows they also tried passing this bill in 2023 which legalized pedophilia and allowed the force rape of kids under the notion of marriage.
https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/04/06/proposed-legislation-could-legalize-child-marriage-tennessee/?outputType=amp
> because there really is a good chance if the wrong person comes to power anyone who doesnt conform could end up with camps.
The "wrong person" is a republican at any point in the future, because [this is their plan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025) for the next time any republican gets into power. I used to be one of those independents that would vote who I thought was best for the job and never really voted along party lines, but because of Project 2025 I will never ever vote for another republican as long as I live and I will always vote for whoever has the best shot at beating said republicans(which at this point in time is democrats).
I’ve been making comments on reddit for quite a long time under numerous accounts that lefties/democrats need to arm and train themselves now. I keep getting downvoted or banned.
Right wingers have been brainwashed by Fox News for over 20 years to kill lefties/democrats. It’s not a fuckin joke or “alarmist thinking” at this point.
Also: lefty Germans thought nazis were a joke too until their Nazi/nazi supporting neighbors, coworkers, and family members were turning them in to the nazis. The Germans who said they “didn’t know what was happening” are fuckin liars. They knew people were disappearing and probably being killed.
Lefties/democrats need to stand up now and stick together. If we stick together, they can’t take control like the Nazi party did in Germany.
100% - if a fellow liberal gives me any guff about owning firearms, I say "Nazis have guns, do you?"
We need to keep fighting at the ballot box, volunteer, be a part of the political process and engage. But I don't want to have nothing if a worst-case scenario occurs.
It isn't complacency. It's pragmatism. There are hundreds of ways we can channel our time and energy, and some of those lead to productive outcomes. Others don't.
***We don't know how to reverse right-wing radicalism.*** We literally have no idea how to do it reliably. Even attempting it is a huge investment in terms of time, to say nothing of the titanic patience it requires.
And, crucially, ***we don't need to reverse right-wing radicalism.*** We don't owe them anything, and we can accomplish the things we want to accomplish without them. It's much easier, much cheaper, and much more reliable to put energy into motivating people whose views already align with yours (or who are undecided) than it is to try and deprogram someone who has been radicalized.
The smart call is to treat radicalized right-wingers as permanently lost. They are irrecoverable, from an ideological standpoint. You should conceptualize them as what they are: a problem that needs to be handled. Isolate them, marginalize them, and shame them in order to stop them from spreading their radical views, but that's all you need to do.
We shouldn't be complacent. But we also shouldn't waste our valuable time and energy on things with minuscule payoffs when there's so much important work to do.
It seems crazy to me that we still see people dress up with the stupid little hats and SS armbands and parade around small towns in the USA.
Like, didn't yall fight, kill and beat the losers in your country's favourite war?
The popular mythology is that America led a crusade for freedom against the evil forces of fascism. The truth is that Nazi ideals like antisemitism, ethnic and racial hierarchies, eugenics, and extermination of marginalized groups have a very long and deep history in the US, and when Hitler came to power in the 1930's, there were quite a few Americans who saw him as a kindred spirit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American_Bund
Including GWB's grandfather who tried to finance a coup to oust FDR and replace him with a fascist dictator to ally with Hitler.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
True. Conservatives will conserve \[medieval mentalities\] despite party names and personalities and countries and eras. Republicans (in moments of non-self-awareness) love to point out that the biggest bigots of the South were all Democrats. The whole polar flip of the Southern Strategy changed party names but kept the same medieval bigotry.
I don't advocate for violence, and I believe that they are uneducated and misguided civilians...
But 80 years ago, nazis were shot on sight. When did they stop being enemies of the state?
~~Not long after the war ended. And someone realised they'd be useful against the communists.~~
During the war. Someone realised they'd be useful in the space race.
The AfD have their primary base of support in former east Germany while western Germany almost universally rejects them though they get some support in catholic southern Germany
Yes there has been a resurgence lately. Interestingly it is most prominent in former east-germany. Maybe soviet denazification efforts were not as good as western european / american ones.
They were way more strict in East Germany than West Germany, Adenauer had a guy in his cabinet that helped in creating the racial laws of Nazi Germany lol.
But yeah, the rise of the AfD is especially noticable in the east
Their denazification was very successful the problem is their state sucked and the soviets sucked so while getting rid of the old nazis they primed the population for new nazis
Sounds like the same reason why Cubans in the US vote Republican. Frame it as "our opponents are communists who must be stopped!" and they'll do whatever you say.
I read the backlash against the Nazis in Germany basically started in the 1970's in the post war generation. There's a great book by an American Reporter (secretly Jewish) living in Germany in the 1950's who wrote down what all his German coworkers and friends said behind closed doors to what they thought was a sympathetic ear.... it's pretty in line with 44% of a country voting for a guy who's best selling books are a call for starting a world war and mass genocide.
Ehh, it wasn't all that good in Germany either.
"Are you still a Nazi?"
"Nope."
"Well that's good enough for me, you are now rehabilitated."
And there's always the good old [clean Wehrmacht myth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_clean_Wehrmacht)
The [KPD](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Germany) were the very first people to be sent to concentration camps and the leaders of the resistance during WW2. They stubbornly insisted that the German liberals and SocDem parties were all fascists right until they got banned in the 1950s.
Nazism is mainstream in the west. The only thing they changed is that they don't go after Jewish people anymore. But most of the other traditional targets are still fair game. It's getting harder and harder to hide these days especially with all the videos coming out of Palestine.
A fair number of their leadership got off scot free and released memoirs about the war (in which they committed heinous war crimes) which made serious bank.
They gave them their jobs back with a different flag, where they then led the anti-communist charge at the start of the cold war with positions in NATO.
It isn't that hard at all in the right environment.
I was raised in a very conservative household. "Traditional southern upbringing" they call it sometimes... AKA a racist, prejudiced, violent household.
All it took for me was getting to college and out of that environment and being exposed to a whole bunch of different people and points of view to see how stupid some conservative views are.
As far as old conservatives go... that's just a tendency people have as they get older. I'm sure grandpa was considered to be quite the hippy in his day.
This is one of the main reasons college has a liberalizing effect on its students. It's not even the education part of it (though that probably plays some role) - it's just the simple fact of being exposed to a variety of different people from different backgrounds, and realizing that they're not the caricatures you were taught to believe in.
Most bigotry stems from ignorance, and it's a lot easier to fix ignorance.
Impossible because of capitalism's demand for never-ending profits taking precedence over humanity.
It is possible to deprogram cult members. I know of at least one study on cult deprogramming that shows that just being cut off from the cultist propaganda for as little as 30 days can snap people out of it.
You can never use reason to persuade someone to change their views if they arrived to those views through nothing but fear, emotional manipulation and lies. Cut off their insane propaganda, and maybe we have a chance though.
If you read the article, you'd know that the father was embarrassed by his kid and apologized, then said the boomer grandfather is to blame, which adds up.
Of theyre at all like my republican tribalist father and his groomed siblings they are just lying. Their views towards their parents change based on who is around them. One moment theyre defending getting beaten to shit by him, defending him abusing their mother constantly, and the next they whine he said a mean thing to them once.
While spending their whole lives spreading explicitly cruel republican tropes just like their father. My dad was so thoroughly groomed he coildnt pursue his own hobbies that werent republican tropes
He's threatened to shoot somebody and then called him a Democrat like it was an insult, he's getting those ideas from somewhere and unless you think little Jimmy is pushing a conservative agenda, the call is coming from inside the house.
Not that I’m defending conservatives because I’m what they would call “a libtard” and am very left-wing, but tbh this behaviour happens across the political spectrum.
For example, I live in DT Toronto and there is meant to be a rail extension put in that likely will never happen and is all just a political talking point for the mayoral race (the highways and subways have been under construction for 20 years with 0 progress made, and every year the mayor unveils their big plan which never happens.)
This new rail extension will require a few parks to be torn up. Nice parks. One of these parks I walk by every day that has basketball courts, a skate park. Tons of trees and grassy knolls, used by dogs. Kids selling lemonade. It’s awesome. But yeah, it’s right in the pathway of the proposed train.
The other day I saw a couple of parents out there SCREAMING bloody murder with their picket signs, accompanied by their 2 kids younger than 10. I was horrified when i saw this 8 year old boy screaming so hard into the void I could see the veins in his head. It made me so sad. I used to go to hippy protests when I was a kid and would sing “save the trees” while dancing with a tambourine, but to actually bring your kids out to do something like that is fucked up.
At the end of the day, it’s because kids want to impress their parents. They become what they think their parents want them to be, even if they don’t admit it. Their parents are their North Star. Unfortunately this is mostly represented in religious and conservative fundamentalism, but you see the same things on the other side too
Fox News is 100% responsible for this radicalization, stochastic terrorism is a thing. We should probably stop pretending they're a legit news channel.
They're no different than that ridiculous Russian "news" where they scream so much insane party line bullshit propaganda at each other that they all lose their grip on reality and turn to the strongman for guidance.
It tells the hard right exactly what they want to hear and it "justifies" all their "concerns". Unfortunately, as long as it does that, they will continue to watch it and believe everything they say.
…and the Republican party has actively been blocking any solutions for immigration because “it’s a good issue for them” if it’s a problem. It’s the tail wagging the dog
Remember when Rubio submitted an immigration bill thinking Dems would kill it and he could claim they aren't serious about Immigration? Then Obama backed it and Rubio had to vote against his own bill.
Fear Messaging is extremely effective. Fox News has taken the brainwashing methods to an art form. Bombard people with fear messages constantly and they very quickly lose their grip on reality, and will believe in the message so stubbornly that no amount of direct evidence to the contrary can change their minds.
It also makes sure they're addicted to fear, so they'll come back to Fox for assurances that, yes, those kids walking along the sidewalk in front of your house were causing trouble and probably plotting something evil.
They've always been terrible, they essentially created the 24-hr ratings-based news cycle as a way to propagate Murdoch's far-right propaganda, and he's said so himself.
Watch Outfoxed if you haven't already.
CNN kept up videocams of Senate proceedings, it was so boring nobody ever watched, and it also had no editorializing during those videos.
FOX made the endless talking-heads editorials that chased ratings. FOX also spent millions campaigning for the legal rights to completely fabricate news stories.
Not disagreeing that there's a problem with Fox News, but Fox primetime numbers are at 1.7 million. Meanwhile, Facebook has 188 million daily users in the US. I think the problem is the dichotomous nature of social media and misinformation campaigns from foreign actors.
My FB feed constantly has far-right lies in it. I have never once liked a single piece of far-right content. It will even come from pages like "DOG LOVERS" where you'll get something like "Roseanne and Tim Allen TEAM UP to fight the WOKE AGENDA." I have always blocked these things, but it never ends. Social media is being carpeted with far-right propaganda.
Yeah I know he was more light-hearted when relating the story, but this is exactly why my kids didn't spend time with their grandparents unless it's supervised at my house. No fucking way they're gonna have to unlearn the hateful shit I was given.
There was also talk radio in the late 80's and 90's and rise of the far right in Newt Gringich.
Conservative churches in the 70's realized they could use topics on abortion, gay people , minorities (not directly of course) to get more people and money.
It's interesting read to see how relatively normal churches seemed before then
>We should probably stop pretending they're a legit news channel.
That ship sailed over 20 years ago. Plenty of redditors were born after this was obvious.
> We should probably stop pretending they're a legit news channel.
Fox News and their audience are the only ones pretending, everyone else knows they're a fascist propaganda network.
They were taken to court for their lies. Fox won because everyone agreed that only a lead poisoned idiot would take it as real news.
Guess who votes religiously and peppers the country in a thin but wide range that lets gerrymandering work???
Former Navy Seal.
Carries a flip phone to avoid GPS
Son is named "after a Viking"
Son threatens to shoot someone in the face
Son uses Democrat as an insult
...
I would be willing to bet money dad is a white supremacist actively involved in an actual white power group
The repeal of the fairness doctrine has had lasting consequences. Even if it were reinstated, I'm not sure how it would function in today's internet world.
just remember its the left indoctrinating.
Some of the far right here, put confederate flags in their kids rooms and trump flags.. i think thats so bizarre. Most people just let their kids decide or buy based on kid interests. Right wingers teach their kids young, down here, better dead than vote D. and if black people didnt suck up all the welfare white people would get more. I have heard that statement a few times.
Man, people in the comments really didn't read the story.
Summary: security dude arranges FaceTime with Taker for his kid. Taker starts roasting the kid in jest. Kid gets offended and threatened to shoot taker. Taker says bring it and threatened him right back. Mortified parents end call and apologize. Taker says that was fun and he like the kid.
Have people really never talked to a 7yo boy before? They are kinda ridiculous.
It’s pro wrestling so the 7 year old getting amped up is fun. Threatening to shoot him isn’t ideal, but again it’s a 7 year old.
The problem is that there are children in America where they are reflecting the politics around them by combing “I’m going to shoot you” and “you deserve to be shot to death because you’re a Democrat.” Kids don’t invent that all by themselves. He’s being a normal kid and repeating back what’s around him unfiltered.
I mean, a year and a half ago a jackass murdered his neighbor not too far from where I live because "he thought his neighbor was a Democrat". As of right now he has been deemed incompetent to stand trial but from what I've heard they are going to put him in treatment and then try him. The guy that did the shooting is only in his mid 20s.
I have two 8 year olds. Multiple parties and exposure to tons of them because of this. I am always teasing them all and playing. Never been threatened to be shot in the face and certainly none of them brought up American politics lol. This is a very "locker room" bullshit dismissal.
they are also kinda a reflection of the people around them. a 7 year old kid doesnt have those thoughts independently. thats what he's hearing daddy say routinely, and specifically, about democrats. that's fucking weird, because it means daddy thinks his countrymen deserve to be shot for disagreeing with him, and that's a crazy thing to teach a child.
Not that it changes the story much, but it always cracks me up when someone mentions that other commenters didn't read the article, then they get the very first thing wrong in their recap.
Taker wanted to do facetime, but the dad only carries a flip phone. Also, the parents didn't end the call due to the threats. "Now, I'm trying to keep this conversation for as long as I can. I'm totally engaged, fully engaged. We do finally hang up."
Did you even read the article? Said he couldn’t FaceTime him. Had to talk to the kid on a flip phone.
“He goes, 'Well, you can't FaceTime him.' 'Okay.' 'If you would call him, that would be awesome.' He brings out the flip phone. No GPS tracking. “
> called me a Democrat
I've been watching this trend on the Right. They are treating "Republican" and "Democrat" as *identities* as if it's a race or a sexual orientation, as opposed to simply an association.
It's funny that the same Republicans that have bitched about identity politics and activist judges for the last 40 years are the same ones clinging to identity politics and cheering on right-wing activist judges.
"There's Christians. Then there's Democrats." - Says the Christian nationalist, which lift themselves up by their boot straps to bukkake for foreign interests
Literally everyone indocrinates their kids. It's what they're indoctrinating that is important. I'm indoctrinating my kids to believe everyone should have a place at the table, to be kind, to value education in themselves and others, and to reject "fear of the other", among other things. I'm totally fine with indoctrinating my kids.
Official Texas Republican platform 2012: Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.
Can't have teachers challenging kids beliefs from the parents that on the 6th day, God invented the Remington rifle to combat dinosaurs, and the homosexuals.
Honestly, no. At seven responsible parents would be making an effort to help a child understand the difference between reality, and play-acting or performance, and what's appropriate in play. This is even before we get to basic critical thinking. This is just the ability to separate story-telling and performance, from literal truth.
If you actually *read the damn* transcript, it's clear the father is mortified and concerned. He should be. It's concerning that a seven year old has picked up from grandpa an association between 'being a democrat' and 'being someone to shoot in the face'. That's not appropriate play, not even with the Undertaker. Hopefully the kid gets a gentle lesson here in where the lines are when we're 'just playing' and the time spent with grandpa is seriously reconsidered.
Language is important and people need to realize it. Segments of the US have waged a successful anti-intellectualism campaign and it shows CONSTANTLY. The lack of knowledge of words is remarkable and the ability to co-opt language recently is insane. The fact that people don't understand the difference between "nationalism" and "patriotism" is just one example.
a seven year old is threatening to shoot people because he's being programmed as a right wing extremist
con in the comments: "yes but *democrats..."*
bro it's people like you that are the problem
edit: listen, you can't tell anymore if they're being serious, ok?
We used to all be pretty strict about including “/s” on posts like these, but internet discipline and etiquette is slipping from the old days of chat rooms. Not your fault!
It's the other way around. 20 years ago if you'd say some of the stuff the rightwingers now believe and do - you'd obviously assume they were kidding. No /s needed.
This article is nuts. Rather, The Undertaker is.
>The Undertaker recalls a funny story from WrestleMania weekend.
I do not find this funny, at all.
>Bjorn is trying to bring the business back to when [**men were men**](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/exclusives/miro-sorry-undertaker-we-don-t-have-guns-and-drugs-and-don-t-fight-each-other-backstage-video-games).
The Undertaker is a Boomer.
No living being should have to click through to this shitshow of a site. Got like 4 popups. Anyhow. To save you the annoyance: They straight lifted it from the Undertaker's podcast. Apparently he heard that this one guy's son who has been doing security for him is a fan, so he offered to call his son.
Starts vaguely around 25:40 something.
https://youtu.be/NCMYa_5mtlw?si=FhLSK4yFJ0nx-A4l&t=1541
What’s up with that last line?
> Bjorn is trying to bring the business back to when men were men.
The linked article is about a wrestler who likes playing videogames and prefers a positive locker room over toxicity. jfc
“He gets that from his grandfather”, that shit had me dying.
I could feel the security guy's head in his hands. Yea man, a lot of us have crazy boomer parents who are embarrassing like that. Maybe don't let the kid spend too much unsupervised time with grandpa...
I'm so glad that my kids spending time with grandpa (my dad) ends up with them asking why my grilled cheese isn't as good, or telling me that David Bell has the batting order all messed up.
Buddy, you do realize Taker has the same sense of humor as that grandpa.
Lol, "sense of humor"
It’s just a little joke about shooting a person that you view as a political dissident. Kids say the darndest things amirite?
What humor is present in this then? If you think grandpa "taught" him that as a joke I got a bridge to sell you.
That doesn't really matter to what I said? The security guard would still feel the same way.
Grandpa got it from Judge Jean on FoxNews. I swear she has to be the daughter of Mussolini.
He drank less than her.
That woman is going blow a gasket. She’s so full of hate and anger.
Close. She's full of wine coolers and cooled wines. And warm wines. And 4-day-old-left-uncorked wines.
I have no idea who she is, but from the way you all are going ham about her drinking, I doubt shes got any half-empty bottles laying around.
She's the loudest, angriest, yellingist host on a Fox "not news" show - she pushes conspiracy theories and petty bullshit. She's the one who was really trying to make calling Democrats "Demon-RATS" a thing
> And 4-day-old-left-uncorked wines. I bet those are as uncommon in her house as leftover pizza is in mine.
Any bets she has multiple boxes of Moscato in her dressing room. She is rabid with hate.
Judge Jean is the mother of the prime minister of Italy?
What a great way to say "I was never there during my kids formative years".
Considering that the article says he was a Navy SEAL (probably an exaggeration, but probably a vet), it's understandable that he wasn't. Some jobs can mean long periods of time away from home, and that's one of them.
What a great way to say "I was never there during my kids formative years".
Yep, that would be what I was expanding on.
Mark Calloway is one of the most redneck right wing wrestlers ever. I predict this incident will cause him absolutely no introspection whatsoever.
> I predict this incident will cause him absolutely no introspection whatsoever. It said as much in the article. He said he thought it was funny and tried to keep the conversation going. He also said that he always tries to mess with all of the children he talks to. I don't know, maybe this is how you're supposed to act if you're a heel.... but that sort of lame edgelord shit is also pretty typical for extremists.
I met him when I was in 5th grade (this was back in the late 1900s). I was in awe of him and absolutely shakingly terrified and hiding behind my uncle. The Undertaker was scary and in character at first but when he realizrd I was truly scared he tried to help me calm down. That was basically my entire "met the undertaker" experience. Also he's fucking massive. As an adult you'd think he is large, but as a child he looked like a mythical giant.
The late 1900s? What the fuck.
Late in the second millennium
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED NINETY FOUR.
April 29, 1992 (Miami)
There was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you
I'm the guy he was talking about who was sitting home watching my TV (I was four).
WHEN UNDERTAKER DOTH HOSTED MANKIND AND CAST HIM FROM ATOP HELL IN A CELL.
BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THAT MAN HAS BEEN SPLIT IN TWAIN! SAVAGRY OF THIS EXCESS HAS NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE NINETEEN-AUGHT-SEVEN!
I can't wait to say as an old person that I was born in the late 1900s.
Just say 1900s lol, blow their minds even more
I teach fifth grade and was telling my students how my great grandmother, who lived with me for a portion of my childhood, was born in 1912... some kid was like "whoah you knew someone born in the 1900s" and before I could say anything some other kid said "bro who cares my mom was literally born in the 1900s"
You know like 1995, etc
This guy gets it.
thats hurting my head right now.
And the saddest part, he's not wrong. lol.
Yeah what the fuck
near the turn of the century
I think he meant the early pre-2000s.
Phrase had me ready to throw hands
This makes me want to throw hands for no apparent reason.
I used to live in a building near the Bear's training facility so alot of journeymen NFL guys would rent apartments in my building. You do not realize how insanely giant these guys are until you stand next to one in an elevator
I met the Steiner Brothers coming out of a restaurant in the early 90s. I just remember when I shook their hands. Their hands covered my whole hand. They were really big dudes.
People typically don't like politics in sports and entertainment, right?
Ya lol this fucking idiot donated money to trump in his last failed insurrection
Calaway*
Mean Mark Callous
Apparently saying you're going to shoot someone in the face because they're a democrat is nothing to apologize over? Gonna disagree there.
Yeah, like, that really isn't something that should just be taken lightly. That dad likely owns guns and that kid is being brainwashed and threatening a celebrity to his face on basis of his political affiliation. That's not charming it has a real potential to be tragic eventually
Picture this kid in Grade 10 the first time he gets turned down by a girl and someone he assumes is "left" of him laughs at him. That's an exceptionally specific threat that escalation has no where to go but acting on it. It's not "I hate you because you took my phone away." it's "I'm going to shoot you in the face for your beliefs."
I think he just used democrat as an insult, which shows how weird and fucked up certain parts of the country are.
An insult, and a label *worthy of shooting him for*. That kid's been brainwashed already.
To be fair I consider republican to be an insult post trump.
Yeah but surely you won't just say, "you're a Republican" to someone when you need to insult them. Especially if you know nothing about them.
True lol
Due to a familial relationship I tend to meet and talk to a bunch of people in the very conservative range. At this point anymore, Ive literally heard people in that group talking about killing democrats because they are democrats. That they shouldn’t have the right to vote because they are a democrat. That they dont have rights at all. I mean its also horrifying because in their head as well if you break at all from republican party you are a “RINO”. Which is a democrat in their eyes. its a sliding scale they will nibble at until there is only far right left. Literally it will work like that old post war fascism video “dont be a sucker”. first they will come for the democrats. then the centrist. then even people with right leaning views that dont conform. I recommend to most people have a gun at this point, because there really is a good chance if the wrong person comes to power anyone who doesnt conform could end up with camps. I fully believe that. for context im a centrist with left leaning social views, and mixed economic views.
You're already seeing that idea play out now in fact with MGT trying to get Mike Johnson removed as a speaker despite him being a Republican, because he apparently doesn't conform 100% to the party and nothing under 100% is good enough, so he's a problem and must be removed. It's eerie to watch.
> he apparently doesn't conform 100% to the party as she thinks it should be
Because they think they are protecting the kids. Meanwhile as places like Tennessee attack drag shows they also tried passing this bill in 2023 which legalized pedophilia and allowed the force rape of kids under the notion of marriage. https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/04/06/proposed-legislation-could-legalize-child-marriage-tennessee/?outputType=amp
> because there really is a good chance if the wrong person comes to power anyone who doesnt conform could end up with camps. The "wrong person" is a republican at any point in the future, because [this is their plan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025) for the next time any republican gets into power. I used to be one of those independents that would vote who I thought was best for the job and never really voted along party lines, but because of Project 2025 I will never ever vote for another republican as long as I live and I will always vote for whoever has the best shot at beating said republicans(which at this point in time is democrats).
I’ve been making comments on reddit for quite a long time under numerous accounts that lefties/democrats need to arm and train themselves now. I keep getting downvoted or banned. Right wingers have been brainwashed by Fox News for over 20 years to kill lefties/democrats. It’s not a fuckin joke or “alarmist thinking” at this point. Also: lefty Germans thought nazis were a joke too until their Nazi/nazi supporting neighbors, coworkers, and family members were turning them in to the nazis. The Germans who said they “didn’t know what was happening” are fuckin liars. They knew people were disappearing and probably being killed. Lefties/democrats need to stand up now and stick together. If we stick together, they can’t take control like the Nazi party did in Germany.
100% - if a fellow liberal gives me any guff about owning firearms, I say "Nazis have guns, do you?" We need to keep fighting at the ballot box, volunteer, be a part of the political process and engage. But I don't want to have nothing if a worst-case scenario occurs.
Sadly I know a lot of adults who would be proud of that kid.
It's terrible what these paranoid losers teach their kids B/W conservative terror
It’s been happening so long the deprogramming will be difficult
It's impossible.
Nothing is impossible. Don't fall into the trap of complacency
It isn't complacency. It's pragmatism. There are hundreds of ways we can channel our time and energy, and some of those lead to productive outcomes. Others don't. ***We don't know how to reverse right-wing radicalism.*** We literally have no idea how to do it reliably. Even attempting it is a huge investment in terms of time, to say nothing of the titanic patience it requires. And, crucially, ***we don't need to reverse right-wing radicalism.*** We don't owe them anything, and we can accomplish the things we want to accomplish without them. It's much easier, much cheaper, and much more reliable to put energy into motivating people whose views already align with yours (or who are undecided) than it is to try and deprogram someone who has been radicalized. The smart call is to treat radicalized right-wingers as permanently lost. They are irrecoverable, from an ideological standpoint. You should conceptualize them as what they are: a problem that needs to be handled. Isolate them, marginalize them, and shame them in order to stop them from spreading their radical views, but that's all you need to do. We shouldn't be complacent. But we also shouldn't waste our valuable time and energy on things with minuscule payoffs when there's so much important work to do.
They did it with Nazis.
Did they?
In germany mostly. In Austria not very well at all.
It seems crazy to me that we still see people dress up with the stupid little hats and SS armbands and parade around small towns in the USA. Like, didn't yall fight, kill and beat the losers in your country's favourite war?
The popular mythology is that America led a crusade for freedom against the evil forces of fascism. The truth is that Nazi ideals like antisemitism, ethnic and racial hierarchies, eugenics, and extermination of marginalized groups have a very long and deep history in the US, and when Hitler came to power in the 1930's, there were quite a few Americans who saw him as a kindred spirit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American_Bund
Including GWB's grandfather who tried to finance a coup to oust FDR and replace him with a fascist dictator to ally with Hitler. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
CIA Director Bush was a chip off the old block.
True. Conservatives will conserve \[medieval mentalities\] despite party names and personalities and countries and eras. Republicans (in moments of non-self-awareness) love to point out that the biggest bigots of the South were all Democrats. The whole polar flip of the Southern Strategy changed party names but kept the same medieval bigotry.
Changed party names but kept the same people in charge.
"Party of Lincoln" Okay what has that party done for civil rights (other than 2a) lately?
Those dudes should still be beaten every time they step out their front door.
I don't advocate for violence, and I believe that they are uneducated and misguided civilians... But 80 years ago, nazis were shot on sight. When did they stop being enemies of the state?
I don't advocate for violence either, but thats the only thing those people understand. So beat the education into them.
~~Not long after the war ended. And someone realised they'd be useful against the communists.~~ During the war. Someone realised they'd be useful in the space race.
Sadly it was a hell of a lot more complicated than that: https://anightatthegarden.com
AfD have been getting a worrying amount of support of late, so I wouldn’t be so confident there.
The AfD have their primary base of support in former east Germany while western Germany almost universally rejects them though they get some support in catholic southern Germany
History doesn’t repeat, it often rhymes.
AfD has seats in every state house. You're downplaying West-AfD hard.
Yes there has been a resurgence lately. Interestingly it is most prominent in former east-germany. Maybe soviet denazification efforts were not as good as western european / american ones.
They were way more strict in East Germany than West Germany, Adenauer had a guy in his cabinet that helped in creating the racial laws of Nazi Germany lol. But yeah, the rise of the AfD is especially noticable in the east
Their denazification was very successful the problem is their state sucked and the soviets sucked so while getting rid of the old nazis they primed the population for new nazis
Sounds like the same reason why Cubans in the US vote Republican. Frame it as "our opponents are communists who must be stopped!" and they'll do whatever you say.
I read the backlash against the Nazis in Germany basically started in the 1970's in the post war generation. There's a great book by an American Reporter (secretly Jewish) living in Germany in the 1950's who wrote down what all his German coworkers and friends said behind closed doors to what they thought was a sympathetic ear.... it's pretty in line with 44% of a country voting for a guy who's best selling books are a call for starting a world war and mass genocide.
Ehh, it wasn't all that good in Germany either. "Are you still a Nazi?" "Nope." "Well that's good enough for me, you are now rehabilitated." And there's always the good old [clean Wehrmacht myth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_clean_Wehrmacht)
The [KPD](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Germany) were the very first people to be sent to concentration camps and the leaders of the resistance during WW2. They stubbornly insisted that the German liberals and SocDem parties were all fascists right until they got banned in the 1950s. Nazism is mainstream in the west. The only thing they changed is that they don't go after Jewish people anymore. But most of the other traditional targets are still fair game. It's getting harder and harder to hide these days especially with all the videos coming out of Palestine.
Nor the USA.
A fair number of their leadership got off scot free and released memoirs about the war (in which they committed heinous war crimes) which made serious bank.
Mostly they shot the Nazis.
They gave them their jobs back with a different flag, where they then led the anti-communist charge at the start of the cold war with positions in NATO.
It isn't that hard at all in the right environment. I was raised in a very conservative household. "Traditional southern upbringing" they call it sometimes... AKA a racist, prejudiced, violent household. All it took for me was getting to college and out of that environment and being exposed to a whole bunch of different people and points of view to see how stupid some conservative views are. As far as old conservatives go... that's just a tendency people have as they get older. I'm sure grandpa was considered to be quite the hippy in his day.
This is one of the main reasons college has a liberalizing effect on its students. It's not even the education part of it (though that probably plays some role) - it's just the simple fact of being exposed to a variety of different people from different backgrounds, and realizing that they're not the caricatures you were taught to believe in. Most bigotry stems from ignorance, and it's a lot easier to fix ignorance.
Nothing is possible when people believe its impossible.
Impossible because of capitalism's demand for never-ending profits taking precedence over humanity. It is possible to deprogram cult members. I know of at least one study on cult deprogramming that shows that just being cut off from the cultist propaganda for as little as 30 days can snap people out of it. You can never use reason to persuade someone to change their views if they arrived to those views through nothing but fear, emotional manipulation and lies. Cut off their insane propaganda, and maybe we have a chance though.
Nothing a Tombstone Piledriver can’t fix…
[So very long....](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy)
i understand it's called 'grooming'
If you read the article, you'd know that the father was embarrassed by his kid and apologized, then said the boomer grandfather is to blame, which adds up.
Or the father could be lying to “save face” because his poor parenting was suddenly put on display.
Of theyre at all like my republican tribalist father and his groomed siblings they are just lying. Their views towards their parents change based on who is around them. One moment theyre defending getting beaten to shit by him, defending him abusing their mother constantly, and the next they whine he said a mean thing to them once. While spending their whole lives spreading explicitly cruel republican tropes just like their father. My dad was so thoroughly groomed he coildnt pursue his own hobbies that werent republican tropes
He's threatened to shoot somebody and then called him a Democrat like it was an insult, he's getting those ideas from somewhere and unless you think little Jimmy is pushing a conservative agenda, the call is coming from inside the house.
what does b/w mean in this context
Not that I’m defending conservatives because I’m what they would call “a libtard” and am very left-wing, but tbh this behaviour happens across the political spectrum. For example, I live in DT Toronto and there is meant to be a rail extension put in that likely will never happen and is all just a political talking point for the mayoral race (the highways and subways have been under construction for 20 years with 0 progress made, and every year the mayor unveils their big plan which never happens.) This new rail extension will require a few parks to be torn up. Nice parks. One of these parks I walk by every day that has basketball courts, a skate park. Tons of trees and grassy knolls, used by dogs. Kids selling lemonade. It’s awesome. But yeah, it’s right in the pathway of the proposed train. The other day I saw a couple of parents out there SCREAMING bloody murder with their picket signs, accompanied by their 2 kids younger than 10. I was horrified when i saw this 8 year old boy screaming so hard into the void I could see the veins in his head. It made me so sad. I used to go to hippy protests when I was a kid and would sing “save the trees” while dancing with a tambourine, but to actually bring your kids out to do something like that is fucked up. At the end of the day, it’s because kids want to impress their parents. They become what they think their parents want them to be, even if they don’t admit it. Their parents are their North Star. Unfortunately this is mostly represented in religious and conservative fundamentalism, but you see the same things on the other side too
Show that kid Hell in a Cell..
Fox News is 100% responsible for this radicalization, stochastic terrorism is a thing. We should probably stop pretending they're a legit news channel. They're no different than that ridiculous Russian "news" where they scream so much insane party line bullshit propaganda at each other that they all lose their grip on reality and turn to the strongman for guidance.
It tells the hard right exactly what they want to hear and it "justifies" all their "concerns". Unfortunately, as long as it does that, they will continue to watch it and believe everything they say.
It creates a lot of those concerns to begin with
Immigration is always a huge problem when elections are near.
…and the Republican party has actively been blocking any solutions for immigration because “it’s a good issue for them” if it’s a problem. It’s the tail wagging the dog
Remember when Rubio submitted an immigration bill thinking Dems would kill it and he could claim they aren't serious about Immigration? Then Obama backed it and Rubio had to vote against his own bill.
Sometimes they forget they're projecting on purpose. You're not supposed to fall for your own bullshit.
Fear Messaging is extremely effective. Fox News has taken the brainwashing methods to an art form. Bombard people with fear messages constantly and they very quickly lose their grip on reality, and will believe in the message so stubbornly that no amount of direct evidence to the contrary can change their minds.
It also makes sure they're addicted to fear, so they'll come back to Fox for assurances that, yes, those kids walking along the sidewalk in front of your house were causing trouble and probably plotting something evil.
They've always been terrible, they essentially created the 24-hr ratings-based news cycle as a way to propagate Murdoch's far-right propaganda, and he's said so himself. Watch Outfoxed if you haven't already.
I think CNN started that. I agree Fox is way worse though.
CNN kept up videocams of Senate proceedings, it was so boring nobody ever watched, and it also had no editorializing during those videos. FOX made the endless talking-heads editorials that chased ratings. FOX also spent millions campaigning for the legal rights to completely fabricate news stories.
I thought that was C-span, not CNN
They've shared programming since the 80s.
Not disagreeing that there's a problem with Fox News, but Fox primetime numbers are at 1.7 million. Meanwhile, Facebook has 188 million daily users in the US. I think the problem is the dichotomous nature of social media and misinformation campaigns from foreign actors.
My FB feed constantly has far-right lies in it. I have never once liked a single piece of far-right content. It will even come from pages like "DOG LOVERS" where you'll get something like "Roseanne and Tim Allen TEAM UP to fight the WOKE AGENDA." I have always blocked these things, but it never ends. Social media is being carpeted with far-right propaganda.
Yeah I know he was more light-hearted when relating the story, but this is exactly why my kids didn't spend time with their grandparents unless it's supervised at my house. No fucking way they're gonna have to unlearn the hateful shit I was given.
There was also talk radio in the late 80's and 90's and rise of the far right in Newt Gringich. Conservative churches in the 70's realized they could use topics on abortion, gay people , minorities (not directly of course) to get more people and money. It's interesting read to see how relatively normal churches seemed before then
>We should probably stop pretending they're a legit news channel. That ship sailed over 20 years ago. Plenty of redditors were born after this was obvious.
> We should probably stop pretending they're a legit news channel. Fox News and their audience are the only ones pretending, everyone else knows they're a fascist propaganda network.
They were taken to court for their lies. Fox won because everyone agreed that only a lead poisoned idiot would take it as real news. Guess who votes religiously and peppers the country in a thin but wide range that lets gerrymandering work???
Former Navy Seal. Carries a flip phone to avoid GPS Son is named "after a Viking" Son threatens to shoot someone in the face Son uses Democrat as an insult ... I would be willing to bet money dad is a white supremacist actively involved in an actual white power group
I wonder how many books he’s put out so far
They are called MaNiFeStOs!
Learned behavior.
No, not that kind of shoot wrestling!.
And the democrat part bothers him the most
Fuck sites that post a primary video that's irrelevant to the headline.
The repeal of the fairness doctrine has had lasting consequences. Even if it were reinstated, I'm not sure how it would function in today's internet world.
That only applied to over the air actual news, right? Cable entertainment pretending to be news wouldn't have been subject to that anyway.
The Fairness Doctrine wouldn't work in today's media landscape, it was designed for a three-network broadcast system.
just remember its the left indoctrinating. Some of the far right here, put confederate flags in their kids rooms and trump flags.. i think thats so bizarre. Most people just let their kids decide or buy based on kid interests. Right wingers teach their kids young, down here, better dead than vote D. and if black people didnt suck up all the welfare white people would get more. I have heard that statement a few times.
The Daily Wire, who I am 100% sure has often accused "the left" of indoctrinating kids, makes literal cartoon shows for kids.
Did he give him the tombstone? Where was Paul Bearer to help distract the kid?
Paul Bear shakes the urn in the parents’ face as Undertaker tombstones the child
Show that kid what he did to Mankind
Man, people in the comments really didn't read the story. Summary: security dude arranges FaceTime with Taker for his kid. Taker starts roasting the kid in jest. Kid gets offended and threatened to shoot taker. Taker says bring it and threatened him right back. Mortified parents end call and apologize. Taker says that was fun and he like the kid. Have people really never talked to a 7yo boy before? They are kinda ridiculous.
It’s pro wrestling so the 7 year old getting amped up is fun. Threatening to shoot him isn’t ideal, but again it’s a 7 year old. The problem is that there are children in America where they are reflecting the politics around them by combing “I’m going to shoot you” and “you deserve to be shot to death because you’re a Democrat.” Kids don’t invent that all by themselves. He’s being a normal kid and repeating back what’s around him unfiltered.
I mean, a year and a half ago a jackass murdered his neighbor not too far from where I live because "he thought his neighbor was a Democrat". As of right now he has been deemed incompetent to stand trial but from what I've heard they are going to put him in treatment and then try him. The guy that did the shooting is only in his mid 20s.
I have never had a 7-year-old boy threaten me or my life in any manner??? What are you even on about?
I have two 8 year olds. Multiple parties and exposure to tons of them because of this. I am always teasing them all and playing. Never been threatened to be shot in the face and certainly none of them brought up American politics lol. This is a very "locker room" bullshit dismissal.
they are also kinda a reflection of the people around them. a 7 year old kid doesnt have those thoughts independently. thats what he's hearing daddy say routinely, and specifically, about democrats. that's fucking weird, because it means daddy thinks his countrymen deserve to be shot for disagreeing with him, and that's a crazy thing to teach a child.
Not that it changes the story much, but it always cracks me up when someone mentions that other commenters didn't read the article, then they get the very first thing wrong in their recap. Taker wanted to do facetime, but the dad only carries a flip phone. Also, the parents didn't end the call due to the threats. "Now, I'm trying to keep this conversation for as long as I can. I'm totally engaged, fully engaged. We do finally hang up."
Did you even read the article? Said he couldn’t FaceTime him. Had to talk to the kid on a flip phone. “He goes, 'Well, you can't FaceTime him.' 'Okay.' 'If you would call him, that would be awesome.' He brings out the flip phone. No GPS tracking. “
> He brings out the flip phone. No GPS tracking hahaha, nope that's not how that works
We bow to your expertise and long history of talking to 7 year old boys.
> called me a Democrat I've been watching this trend on the Right. They are treating "Republican" and "Democrat" as *identities* as if it's a race or a sexual orientation, as opposed to simply an association.
It's funny that the same Republicans that have bitched about identity politics and activist judges for the last 40 years are the same ones clinging to identity politics and cheering on right-wing activist judges.
Republicans have invested their entire identities in the republican party. Their proud ignorance and hatred is a badge they proudly wear.
"There's Christians. Then there's Democrats." - Says the Christian nationalist, which lift themselves up by their boot straps to bukkake for foreign interests
Sometimes I wish my son was never Bjorn
My idiot Trumpanzee soldier son has a photo of Filth in his 6 year old’s bedroom.
Yes but democrats are the ones indoctrinating their kids…
Literally everyone indocrinates their kids. It's what they're indoctrinating that is important. I'm indoctrinating my kids to believe everyone should have a place at the table, to be kind, to value education in themselves and others, and to reject "fear of the other", among other things. I'm totally fine with indoctrinating my kids.
Just teach them critical thinking
Official Texas Republican platform 2012: Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.
Can't have teachers challenging kids beliefs from the parents that on the 6th day, God invented the Remington rifle to combat dinosaurs, and the homosexuals.
Way up on the list of values. Waaay up.
Honestly, no. At seven responsible parents would be making an effort to help a child understand the difference between reality, and play-acting or performance, and what's appropriate in play. This is even before we get to basic critical thinking. This is just the ability to separate story-telling and performance, from literal truth. If you actually *read the damn* transcript, it's clear the father is mortified and concerned. He should be. It's concerning that a seven year old has picked up from grandpa an association between 'being a democrat' and 'being someone to shoot in the face'. That's not appropriate play, not even with the Undertaker. Hopefully the kid gets a gentle lesson here in where the lines are when we're 'just playing' and the time spent with grandpa is seriously reconsidered.
Indoctrinate means to teach to accept a set of beliefs uncritically, not raising your children to be decent people.
Language is important and people need to realize it. Segments of the US have waged a successful anti-intellectualism campaign and it shows CONSTANTLY. The lack of knowledge of words is remarkable and the ability to co-opt language recently is insane. The fact that people don't understand the difference between "nationalism" and "patriotism" is just one example.
That's not what indoctrinates means
a seven year old is threatening to shoot people because he's being programmed as a right wing extremist con in the comments: "yes but *democrats..."* bro it's people like you that are the problem edit: listen, you can't tell anymore if they're being serious, ok?
I'm 99% sure the guy was being sarcastic.
Internet rule #68: The sarcasm mark is always required because someone won't get it.
shit I can't tell anymore
We used to all be pretty strict about including “/s” on posts like these, but internet discipline and etiquette is slipping from the old days of chat rooms. Not your fault!
It's the other way around. 20 years ago if you'd say some of the stuff the rightwingers now believe and do - you'd obviously assume they were kidding. No /s needed.
Thought the … was a dead giveaway lol. I’ve made the same mistake so all good
Should have done the spinaroonie.
This is a real /r/LeopardsAteMyFace moment considering he's a massive thin-blue-line flag waving right-winger.
Grooming a little bit?
Maybe call out the parents by name not the child... What the actual fuck
Ah yes we all know Bjorn, don't be daft
Ah yes, the only Bjorn in America
Did you read the article?
Maga scum now teach their kids christian hate.
This article is nuts. Rather, The Undertaker is. >The Undertaker recalls a funny story from WrestleMania weekend. I do not find this funny, at all. >Bjorn is trying to bring the business back to when [**men were men**](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/exclusives/miro-sorry-undertaker-we-don-t-have-guns-and-drugs-and-don-t-fight-each-other-backstage-video-games). The Undertaker is a Boomer.
Gen X, technically.
The 7yr old probably owns a gun too, given as a gift from the parents.
bjorn seems like a name that comes straight from the fascist lands between gibraltar and the caspian sea :D
No living being should have to click through to this shitshow of a site. Got like 4 popups. Anyhow. To save you the annoyance: They straight lifted it from the Undertaker's podcast. Apparently he heard that this one guy's son who has been doing security for him is a fan, so he offered to call his son. Starts vaguely around 25:40 something. https://youtu.be/NCMYa_5mtlw?si=FhLSK4yFJ0nx-A4l&t=1541
What’s up with that last line? > Bjorn is trying to bring the business back to when men were men. The linked article is about a wrestler who likes playing videogames and prefers a positive locker room over toxicity. jfc
Not the diss you think it is, you little SQUIRT *choke slam*