Bill O'Reilly deserves the credit for creating the modern American conception of the War on Christmas. While O'Reilly is no longer a major player, the right has persisted in its odd insistence that Christmas is under attack. That this war has been debunked repeatedly does not matter. While I will discuss some aspects of this war, my interest is with the general methods used to craft and propagate a fictional narrative of a war on X (whatever X might be). I will call this WOX.
Charlie Kirk's evangelical faith was on display at his memorial service this weekend in Arizona. The service, held on a Sunday morning, felt much like a worship service, complete with prayers, songs and a call from Kirk's widow to "forgive" Kirk's alleged killer "because it was what Christ did." The event opened with performances of contemporary Christian worship music and Kirk's colleagues and friends referred to him as both a prophet and a martyr.
the world is evil, but God so good. The sound of this widow weeping [echoes] throughout this world like a battle cry, she said. They have no idea what they just ignited within this wife.
Now, let's just use logic for two minutes, and I'll put to rest the lies that Candace Owens is putting out about Jews. And she's gonna wind up getting Jews killed if she keeps the sh*t up. Let me be very clear: she's not nuts, she's not nuts at all. She just has latched on to a methodology to get morons to listen to her and tries to put pieces together that don't match, argued Savage, adding:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is beginning to look interesting. I do not think his surgeon is very good: The work has accentuated his mild lazy eye; his cheekbones are beginning to look dangerous to touch; his brow is wandering into the realm of the perpetually surprised. We will draw the veil of charity over the unusual maneuvers involving his hairline. I am a nearly middle-aged Italian American man, and making fun of others' misfortunes of coiffure invites heaven's revenge.
Manuel Vazquez Stewart Home, 63, is a legend of British counterculture: a director, writer, playwright, and activist, famous for his pulp novels that reflected 1970s London populated by hooligans, skinheads, and hustlers and for being someone who speaks bluntly about any subject he considers worth dissecting. His latest work is a book whose title leaves no room for ambiguity: Fascist Yoga (Pluto Press).
In the queer enclave of West Hollywood, some residents were furious at the sight of a Pride flag and a transgender flag lowered to half-staff to mourn Charlie Kirk's assassination. In the city of Los Angeles, an internal Fire Department memo saying flags should stay raised sparked conservative anger at Mayor Karen Bass. And in Huntington Beach, where MAGA politics are warmly received, officials pledged to honor Kirk's memory by keeping flags lowered for an additional week past the mourning period set by President Trump.
The last message he had texted me was the day before he passed away, Noem answered. And it said, 'We have to hold these mayors and local officials accountable for what they're doing.' I was traveling and in meetings in a different time zone and I didn't see it and missed it. I will always feel bad that I didn't respond because I would have said, 'Absolutely, I'm on it,' which I am, but I think he knew that, said Noem.
But in fact, the alleged shooter was not someone on the left. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is a young white man from a Republican, gun enthusiast family, who appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical. Rather than grappling with reality, right-wing figures are using Kirk's murder to prop up their fictional world. Briefly, they claimed Robinson had been radicalized in college. Then, when it turned out he had spent only a single semester at a liberal arts college before going to trade school, MAGA pivoted to attack those who allegedly had celebrated Kirk's death on social media.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk is widening the political divide in America-and some people who have made critical remarks about the conservative icon are finding their personal information being posted online, opening them up to harassment and threats. One site, called " Expose Charlie's Murderers," has been taken offline after posting the names of 41 people that it claimed were "supporting political violence online." The site reportedly said it was working on a backlog of over 20,000 submissions before it was taken down.
Theirs was a small-P political household. His dad was a social worker, his mum worked for various charities. She was from Mauritius, and now on the telly, the National Front were saying they were going to send people who weren't born in Britain home in six months. I was petrified that my mum was going to get sent home. The ambient racism of 70s and 80s Britain permeated everything. I just remember being scared, Lowles says.
The guy's out there selling finger art, right? You know, everyone, one of the great hospitality companies, you know, anywhere in the world. You know, we went through hell, believe me. My father was the first guy who hasn't made money off of the presidency. In fact, you know, if I were to send you a tally of our legal bills over the last X number of years.
We are not horrible bigots who do not accept trans people and think they should face discrimination. But that is usually the narrative. We are mainly women who have real and well-researched concerns about, for example, the effects of medical treatment that was being given to young people who do not have the maturity to appreciate the life-changing outcomes of puberty blockers and irreversible surgery.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
The American right is partially defined by its embracing debunked conspiracy theories such as the big lie about the 2020 election and those involving all things COVID. While some conspiracy theories are intentionally manufactured by those who know they are untrue (such as the 2020 election conspiracy theories) other theories might start by people being bad at reading things correctly.
Our post-event investigation is ongoing and officers have trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and continue to review evidence to help with enquiries. We have identified a number of people we want to speak to in connection with a range of offences and we are asking for the public's help to track them down We know people may have travelled from outside of London, so we're asking for people across the country to take a look at those pictured
If you're a Christian, white parent who loves the Lord and loves your children, then you need to have the talk. The talk that we're referencing is the talk that takes your children, according to their maturity, at the proper time, the appropriate time, and says there are certain parts of town that you cannot go and there are certain people that you cannot be around, right?
First the piece of content, then everyone hops on, makes it about them and puts their own meaning on it, and then all the players double down into another culture war, more content, clippable, meme-able, performative. Every now and then people remember that a tragedy has happened, and there's a bit of performative decorum. And then more content arrives in, and dopamine zings.
Conservatives have long struggled to find an ideological enemy to replace communism. It's easier to define yourself when you know what you're up against. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and others want transhumanism to be that defining foe. But transhumanism is a fringe notion that looms larger in the minds of conservatives than it does in reality. It is not the great threat that faces the country. It simply makes for a good enemy to advance a "respectable" form of right-wing populism.
