Weekend Quotables
A culture of war and violence
Mad Men With Guns and Missiles
I went to bed Saturday night to the news of one mass shooting at Brown University and woke Sunday morning to the news of another — an antisemitic terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia in which 16 were killed. I’m trying hard to make any sense out of all this hatred and gun violence and put it all in some rational context. But I can’t.
The Bondi Beach attack can be directly tied to fallout from Israel’s war on Gaza, where mass killings are still in full swing despite Trump’s supposed ceasefire. Israel has committed 738 violations of the ceasefire agreement between Oct. 10 and Dec. 12, including 358 land and air bombardments, the killing of at least 383 Palestinians, and the injuring of 1,002 others, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza and the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Providence shooting is more likely part of America’s endemic gun violence problem, though it exists in the same global climate of fear and polarization.
The investigations into the mass killings should be allowed to go on independently and thoroughly. Justice requires facts, due process, and accountability – not speculation, collective blame, or political opportunism.
We should reject any attempt to use these attacks to stigmatize entire communities, inflame hatred, or deepen social divisions. Equally, we should oppose efforts to exploit this violence as a pretext to crack down on immigrants, peaceful protest, civil liberties, or fundamental democratic freedoms. History shows that responding to terror with repression only multiplies injustice and insecurity.
The genocide in Gaza and the culture and glorification of violence by Trump and Hegseth have created a volatile global atmosphere, and both shootings can be understood as part of that fallout—one indirectly (Providence, through a climate of gun violence and instability) and one directly (Sydney, through antisemitic extremism).
This doesn’t mean every act of violence is caused by the war, but it does mean war is shaping the context in which violence occurs.
Weekend Quotables
R.I.P. Rob & Michelle Reiner
“Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people.” — Greg Mitchell
Ron Filipkowski
Can we assume that Kash isn’t going to fly to any more hockey games, UFC fights, concerts, wrestling events, or Formula 1 races with his girlfriend until they find the RI killer? — BlueSky
Colorado Attorney General Phill Weiser
After Trump claimed that he is granting a “full pardon” to Tina Peters, a former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who was sentenced to nine years on state-level charges related to election interference during the 2020 election, Weiser said,
“The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up.” — ABC News
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez
Spain’s choice, Sánchez often says, is between “being an open and prosperous country or a closed and poor one.”
His words stand in stark contrast to those of other Western leaders, and so far, his bet seems to be paying off. Spain’s economy has grown faster than any other EU nation for a second year in a row, due in part to newcomers boosting its aging workforce. — AP
Rep. Ro Khanna
“NSPM-7 is a greater infringement on freedoms than the Patriot Act,” said Khanna. “We’re seeing the greatest erosion of civil liberties and human rights in our modern history.” — The Intercept
Jimmy Kimmel mocks Trump’s 80th birthday plans.
Whose 80th birthday theme is inviting men to beat the crap out of each other on his lawn? The most miserable son of a b—h in the world, that’s who.” — ABC Late Night
