281 Comments
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Beth's avatar

“The second that you are engaging in an activity where someone else is forced to make a decision to save their life"....

I'm sorry to be dense, but what was Neely doing that so threatened the life of the "former Marine" that he had to kill him?

Beverly Hebert's avatar

I have also been reading the comments of MAGAs on social media about Jordan Neely's killing. As usual, they rush to judgement without any thought of waiting for more information. They choose sides based on their pre-existing biases and feelings about who is 'us' and who is 'them.' Without knowing anything about the man who choked Neely, other than that he had served in the Marines, they project and they make assumptions about his motivation that may have no basis in fact. They see people and situations in black and white terms - in this case, both literally and figuratively. Their racism goes hand in hand with their hatred of 'the left' so since 'the libs' think Neely didn't deserve to die, that makes them all the more certain that he did. These MAGAs who don't feel even a little sympathy for Neely - while lavishing praise on the man who killed him - really aren't so different from the sort of people who held the Salem witch trials or that later formed the lynch mobs. They are incapable of objectivity and that makes them dangerous.

Chris F's avatar

I have taken the subway for 20 years in NYC and DC. Anyone who lives in a city has a nuanced understanding of situational awareness and how to keep an eye on someone acting erratically. If we preemptively attacked every person who shouted, threatened, and punched the air, it would be a battle royale during every commute. I reserve judgement on Penny but a chokehold is not the only way to hold someone down. This isn’t something to celebrate. Both sides need to calm down and mourn that this happened at all.

Steve Grathwohl's avatar

The new GOP: the Right-to-Kill party.

Beth's avatar

Pro-life AND pro-murder. What a combination.

Steve Grathwohl's avatar

I would expand on it this way about the GOP: anti-aborton is honest, right-to life is marketing. Right-to-kill is honest, stand your ground is marketing.

pfuhlir's avatar

Correcting an injustice is one of the main arguments for life in prison.

Harley "Griff" Lofton's avatar

Funny how "conservative" commentators can run straight to "mental health" as the root cause of the gun violence problem but won't run in that direction when it comes to urban crime and the criminal neglect of our homeless mentally ill. They never ask why someone so obviously mentally ill is allowed to suffer. Perhaps they see killing the mentally ill as a kind of euthanasia--- mercy killing.

pfuhlir's avatar

Yes, but carrying out a death penalty is usually very expensive itself. I don't have exact numbers but I believe it can be more expensive than life in prison in many cases. And that's not considering the moral, ethical, legal, political, and social arguments against the death penalty.

Harley "Griff" Lofton's avatar

Personally I would be open to limited use of the death penalty--- if they would stop executing innocent people. Wrongful imprisonment for life has a remedy--- wrongful execution does not.

Harley "Griff" Lofton's avatar

Dear Bulwark staff:

As Dave Chappelle has noted "Twitter is not a real place."

Stop using Twitter as the chief barometer of measuring what is happening, interpreting what is happening, and stop using it as a predictor of what will/may/could happen.

SandyG's avatar

Who were the " . . . conservative commentators (who) put the incident in the larger context of urban crime, and acknowledged that the episode was a tragedy?

I hate it when pundits make general claims but don't name names.

Peggy Bussell's avatar

The progressive left may be small, but I’m glad they (we?) are here. Sometimes they (we?) go too far, but the movement is in the correct direction and for the correct reasons.

John's avatar

Does anyone know whether Clarence and Ginny Thomas had U.S. Marshall security on their private plane flights and yacht vacations? If they did, who paid?

Ted Tyson's avatar

I love my progressive left for being "outspoken" but not for being "uncompromising". You can be both, and there are plenty of examples in history to draw from. I think most people do appreciate the presence of AOC and the Squad in our debate, and more genuine interaction and engagement with these pols and their concerns is a good thing. But, if all they do is obstruct instead of persuade, they defeat their own purpose for being there. AOC in particular has a strong presence in our political culture. She makes an effective case for her ideas but then remains disconnected to most of official Washington, even to most voters, and her message gets lost. There's potential for compromise, for better communication and for stronger actions taken, but the left and the center and sane right need to listen to each other and work together. AOC has the political capital and the talent to make that happen. Though it's unfortunately and inexplicably unlikely, I'd love to see her on a Bulwark podcast truly engaging with Charlie and the other writers on these issues we are ALL concerned about.

Helen's avatar

Boy these "pro-lifers" sure love death.

Uncle Abe's Revenge's avatar

What Matt Walsh and others don't get is that if they got all their wishes, some of them would be the ones getting executed, officially or unofficially, window-style, in internal power struggles and purges. I imagine in MAGA paradise the courts would look something like Stalnist show trials, or this clip showing the infamous Nazi judge Roland Freisler screaming at a resistance man, Count Schwerin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_aluekfYmo. Happily, Freisler was later killed by an American bomb. The clip's worth watching to see a man of honor under intense pressure and also what the MAGAts would like our future to look like, although they'd probably have more audience participation with hooting and hollering.

dcicero's avatar

So let's see if I have this right. If you're convicted of child molestation, you get 1) no appeals and 2) a quick execution, but if you're convicted of any other crimes, like, say, sexual assault, tax fraud, falsifying business records, etc., you can appeal forever, the jury verdict means nothing and you walk.

Have I got that right?

Cry Havoc's avatar

We knew it would come to this with the GOP.

Now Ron DeSantis wants to murder people he disagrees with.