October 5, 2022

"Experts say the steady patter of bellicose talk has helped normalize the expectation of political violence."

"In late August, a poll of 1,500 adults by YouGov and The Economist found that 54 percent of respondents who identified as 'strong Republicans' believed a civil war was at least somewhat likely in the next decade. Only about a third of all respondents felt such an event was unlikely.... [The Chicago Project on Security and Threats] researchers tracked tweets mentioning civil war before and after Mr. Trump announced the search on Mar-a-Lago."

I'm reading "Talk of ‘Civil War,’ Ignited by Mar-a-Lago Search, Is Flaring Online" (NYT).

"In the five preceding days, they logged an average of roughly 500 tweets an hour. That jumped to 6,000 in the first hour after Mr. Trump published a post on Truth Social on the afternoon of Aug. 8, saying 'these are dark times for our Nation.' The pace peaked at 15,000 tweets an hour later that evening. A week later, it was still six times higher than the baseline, and the phrase was once again trending on Twitter at month’s end.... In August, a single tweet stating 'I think civil war has just been declared' managed to reach over 17 million profiles despite coming from an account with under 14,000 followers, according to Cybara, an Israeli firm that monitors misinformation. 'Ideas go into echo chambers and it’s the only voice that’s heard; there are no voices of dissent,' said Kurt Braddock, an American University professor who studies how terrorist groups radicalize and recruit.... 'The statements Trump makes are not overt calls to action, but when you have a huge and devoted following, the chances that one or more people are activated by that are high,' Mr. Braddock said.... Republicans have often argued that their language is political rhetoric and blamed Democrats for twisting it to stoke divisions. It’s Democrats and the left, they said, who are courting violence by labeling Mr. Trump’s supporters adherents of what Mr. Biden has called 'semi-fascism.'"

58 comments:

Richard Aubrey said...

"but always lands on democrats" See Cayler Essening, whose name I have not heard in public in a week.

M said...

More violence comes from the Left in a year than the right in ten years. Leftism is inherently violent and unstable. There will never be a peaceful utopia where all the freaks and hairies live together in harmony.

Aggie said...

Yes, the actual steady patter of bellicose talk, oh, and the occasional running over of a Republican teenager in an alleyway. Yeah for some weird reason, there's an expectation of violence now.

Mr Wibble said...

Talk was there long before the fbis bullshit raid. It mere solidified a lot of opinions.

CJinPA said...

A zeal for political violence is forever descending on the right but landing on the left.

rcocean said...

More nonsense from USA Pravada. Never has a sitting President OK'd a FBI raid on an ex-POTUS, THE MAN HE DEFEATED IN AN ELECTION, over a few documents. Never has a sitting POTUS allowed Congress and the DoJ to go after a ex-POTUS by waiving executive privilage.

NEVER.

LBJ and JFK called up Ike and asked for advice. Nixon talked to LBJ and invited Jackie to the White House. The Bushes, Clinton, and Obama all treated the Predecessors with Respect. Carter never thought of using the DoJ to destroy Gerald Ford.

Biden is one of the most spitful hatefilled ever to be POTUS, and he will use to DoJ indict and jail Trump. If he can.

So NYT aka USA Pravda turns that around and makes Trump and his supporters the aggressors and Biden and the Democrats, the poor little victims. Incredible. Up there with Goebbels and Poland attacking Germany in 1939

boatbuilder said...

Was the decision to raid Mar a Lago a "Call to Action?" A provocation?

Do Biden/Garland/Wray have any responsibility for their actions?

Was the raid itself an act of political violence?

Were/are they trying to stir up "dissent" so they can crack down on political expression?

What do the "experts say" about these questions?

PM said...

The 'experts' harvest this violence-info by tracking tweets, the news writer's pal for whatever direction the article is intended to go. In this case, straight to panic mode with the midterms only a - very long - month away.

Rob C said...

What do those experts have to say about the steady patter of riots?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

[The Chicago Project on Security and Threats] researchers tracked tweets mentioning civil war before and after Mr. Trump announced the search on Mar-a-Lago. In the five preceding days, they logged an average of roughly 500 tweets an hour. That jumped to 6,000 in the first hour after Mr. Trump published a post on Truth Social on the afternoon of Aug. 8, saying 'these are dark times for our Nation.

It's a significant mark against these pathetic morons, that they can't even imagine that people might think for themselves, and judge for themselves.

I didn't have to read Trump on Truth Social to know that it was a signally bad event for the Biden FBI to be raiding Trump's home for BS reason.

I didn't need Trump to tell me the Biden FBI's reasons were BS, they told me that themselves when the "justifications" for their raids were leaked to lapdog members of the press, rather than presented in a press conference

Lefties always project. The fact that they are unable and unwilling to think for themselves, judge for themselves, tells them that therefore no one else can do it, either

About that, they are wrong

Michael said...

Of course there will not be a shooting Civil war other than in the dreams of lefty propagandists. But there is a cultural civil war underway at the moment with normals beginning to gain ground against the woke institutions. Little by little some skirmishes are being won by normals.

Static Ping said...

When you call your mainstream political opponents "semi-fascists," you either want a civil war or a preemptive surrender.

If it had been said by anyone other than Biden, who has always been an idiot and is now a semi-vegetable, that probably would have been sufficient to start a civil war. The fact that no one takes him seriously, including his own advisors and the media, is the only saving grace.

Earnest Prole said...

In 2018 fully two-thirds of Democrats believed Russia had literally hacked voting machines to deliver the election to a complicit Donald Trump; if that isn't Civil War talk I don't know what is.

Joe Smith said...

Sure...all the riots and all the crime in big cities is because of MAGA republicans.

Tell that to all the Asians and Jews who have been killed or assaulted by African Americans.

That will go over well...

Joe Smith said...

Oh, and if someone writes 'Experts say,' then they are automatically full of shit and should be ignored or belittled.

GRW3 said...

A whole column on the potential for violence without a mention of Biden's Hitler speech or the various Democrats who are calling for violence. No mention of the violence done by Democrats. How insightful.

I think it's true the Democrats and Establishment are trying to trigger a response. I suppose there is a level of aggression that would provoke a response, but I think it will take a lot more than they've done so far and, as a result, it would be more intense than they anticipate.

Krumhorn said...

I don't know if the FBI raid on a former president was the equivalent of the Concord Bridge, but it was surely an unprecedented political act of an oppressive leftie state. The scale of political combat ratchets up whenever the lefties get a chance. Paybacks should be a mf'er.

- Krumhorn

Dave Begley said...

The biggest political violence events since 1968 were the George Floyd riots. That was the Left.

I wish the NYT would stop gaslighting America.

iowan2 said...

My perception, the prevalence of "civil war" in the 'talk sphere' comes from others constantly talking about the possibility. I have heard no one actively seeking a civil war. I liken it to the polls that ask if the economy is good, get 55% saying its 'good'. But, if they ask how the economy is treating their neighbors, they only get a 35% 'good', rating.

Same as the Q thing. The only people talking about are leftists. I run across some very conspiracy minded conservatives. They never mention Q.

The point, media is vested in amplifying the very small noise that is 'civil' war.

There is also the prevalence of bots on twitter, and facebook.

Amadeus 48 said...

'Ideas go into echo chambers and it’s the only voice that’s heard; there are no voices of dissent'

Are we talking about the NYT and WaPoo comments sections?

Is there any mention of the shooting Rep. Steven Scalise and devoted Bernie Bro James Hodgkinson in the article? And how about Andy Ngo, a photojournalist attacked and beaten by antifa thugs? How about the people injured and killed in the St. George Floyd riots? And who was that person killed in the Capitol riot (as opposed to died of natural causes)? Oh yeah, a demonstrator shot by an irresponsible Capitol cop who managed to leave his pistol in the men's room on an earlier occasion.

These people at NYT are mendacious. Do any of their "experts" track violence and talk of violence on the left? What do those folks say? I can only imagine the rhetorical surgery that goes on to separate Democrats--historically the party of rebellion, Jim Crow, and lynching--from the thugs in the streets.

rhhardin said...

Bellicose talk is talk. It substitutes for violence.

Howard said...

You mean the Obesity Army of the deplorable States of America and the low testosterone opioid addled martyrs whom are helpless in the face of trans-gentrified radical feminists and urban libtard soy boys? Bring It on.

I can't wait to watch you disgusting fat bodies suck wind, fall to your knees and puke your guts out. You're so worthless you couldn't even qualify to be a fourth-tier Russian Army reservist.

Gospace said...

I have met exactly one person- in person- who thinks the USA wil break up within 5 years. One. And that was just the other day. And he thinks it will be peaceful. The second half of that makes him deluded- no breakup of a nation is ever peaceful. Of course, since he brooked the question, and I quote- "Do you think th United States will last more than five years?" the quetion runs in my mind- "Is he a Fed?"

The upcoming civil war is something Ionly see online. I am in the "If" it happens category. Many of my online acquaintances are in the "When" it happens category.

The left has been turning the violence on and off for years- they pay for it. Stop paying, it turns off. The right has an on switch that isn't under anyone's control. We'll all know if gets flipped. The "Off" occurs when the right wins or is destroyed. The second part is unlikely.

Mike Sylwester said...

What percent of "strong Democrats" think that White Supremacy is a major threat?

Do they think also that this threat might have to be suppressed violently?

bobby said...

No violence. We're simply going to beat them all like rugs in their next elections and then disassemble all of the Democrat garbage.

Then they'll start the violence. As always.

gilbar said...

believed a civil war was at least somewhat likely in the next decade.

didn't the civil war start, some time ago?
Questionable elections
Political discussants jailed; without charges
"Trumped Up" talk of "insurrection"
Heavily armed forces attacking the opposition leaders HOUSE
Heavily armed forces invading political opponents houses, saying:
"We're going to take him whether we have a warrant or not"
Spying, Wiretaps, censorship, suppression of free press/assembly/speach
And, finally; dress codes.. Wear head covering, or go to jail

Sounds like a civil war to ME!

mccullough said...

The Mar-a-Lago raid was six weeks ago.

If the “chances are high” then where’s the Revolution?

An expert is someone who can predict events at least 70% of the time.

Jupiter said...

"In August, a single tweet stating 'I think civil war has just been declared' managed to reach over 17 million profiles despite coming from an account with under 14,000 followers, according to Cybara, an Israeli firm that monitors misinformation."

August, hey. And sure enough, by early September, millions of Americans were locked in a bloody and lethal armed struggle, neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, father against son. Civil war is the most vicious form of warfare, and this war we are fighting now is among the worst of its kind. Oh wait. Never mind.

traditionalguy said...

The 1861 War of the Southern Rebellion was ignited by the Dred Scot Decision declaring African Slaves were neither human nor citizens. That left the abolitionist Republican’s no way to outlaw slave ownership. So a crafty trial lawyer from Illinois baited the southern aristocracy in Charleston to fire the first shot.

Who will fire it this time? The baiting being done is rigging vote counts so we cannot vote out the Obama Gang to stop them from turning the FBI and IRS into Secret Police running Camps to arrest framed political opponents.

Ambrose said...

Experts say that do they?

Rocketeer said...

Howard didn’t deploy his usual overtly racist language in that little projectionist screed, so I guess we should count that an improvement of sorts. Plenty of the day left though, eh, Howard?

tim in vermont said...

Yeah, it was the Mar a Lago raid that started the bellicose language, and not the Year of Rioting Peacefully when IEDs were thrown into a US Courthouse and US Marshals were blinded by green lasers, which is considered a war crime, BTW, if done in combat.

Big Mike said...

It’s Democrats and the left, they said, who are courting violence by labeling Mr. Trump’s supporters adherents of what Mr. Biden has called “semi-fascism.”

Yup. “It all started when those damned Christianist Trump-cultists hit us back. Waaahh”

Big Mike said...

Bring It on.

Walden Pond would stink of urine if anybody ever took Howard up on his taunts.

Leland said...

Likely the same experts that were certain the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian propaganda. The same ones that decided not to take a deal available for 3 months for Rev. Houck to turn himself in and opted to use a SWAT team to arrest him. They keep stoking for a flare up, and they get them with Democrats running over 18 year old kids.

BUMBLE BEE said...

NYT's pool of "experts... the same caliber of chuckleheads that say chicks with dicks can get pregnant? Or are these the intellectuals who had the direct line to the pee tapes. Hot stuff, got a Pulitzer for "Stalin" too

PresbyPoet said...

I'm surprised the number is so low. I suspect that quite a few thought better of revealing their true opinion.

the Canadian practice run at debanking, California's law that if your doctor gives you "disinformation", they can lose their license, is evidence of the danger. Anyone on the right who thinks there is nothing to worry about, is like a German Jew in the 30's, told they are being sent to a camp, who thinks there is nothing to worry about.

The danger for the left is that 3 billion worldwide will die in such a civil war, with them likely casualties. Food production will end, cities will die. As we have seen as we mess with the supply chain, civilization is fragile.

The problem is that only the left can prevent this. They keep pushing, civilization falls off the cliff. We will be lucky if we end up with someone as good as Putin, running what is left of the country.

The right does not want a civil war, they warn of the result. The left thinks they can push on to victory. This is where we are. It is not too late to pull back from the cliff, but only the left can do it.

Roger Sweeny said...

At first, I read that as The Chicago Project on Security and Theater. Which is what so much of this concern is.

Maynard said...

It is always good to hear from our betters - the experts.

Once again they tell us that the (political) science is settled.

MadTownGuy said...

"[The Chicago Project on Security and Threats] researchers tracked tweets mentioning civil war before and after Mr. Trump announced the search on Mar-a-Lago. In the five preceding days, they logged an average of roughly 500 tweets an hour. That jumped to 6,000 in the first hour after Mr. Trump published a post on Truth Social on the afternoon of Aug. 8, saying 'these are dark times for our Nation."

The Chicago Project tracks civil war tweets before Trump announced the search. What prompted them to track those tweets beforehand?

The count jumped in the first hour after Trump's Truth Social post. How hard would it be to have a cadre of Twitterers standing by to boost the count. Yeah, I know, conspiracy theory. But it reminds me of the week or two before states began locking down in early 2020. Shelves in the stores started going bare a couple of weeks before any announcements were made; then the usual suspects on social media deplored the toilet paper and grocery hoarders. How hard would it have been for a cadre of participants to start the panic buying? Maybe I'm paranoid; but being paranoid doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Michael K said...

Howard said...

You mean the Obesity Army of the deplorable States of America and the low testosterone opioid addled martyrs whom are helpless in the face of trans-gentrified radical feminists and urban libtard soy boys? Bring It on.


Howard, I am coming to the conclusion that someone else posted on another thread today. You are becoming a troll. You say these ridiculous things about political others while your team destroys the country.

What is happening slowly is a redistribution of the population. "Normals" are moving to red states. Crazies are being left behind. The cities run by Democrats are becoming more and more dystopic. If the loony left leaves us alone to resettle, as I did 5 years ago, there will be no civil war. There was actually a book about this a few years ago. All you have to do is leave us alone. We will leave you alone with your Green Nude Eel to freeze in the dark.

rsbsail said...

I really detest this talk about a civil war. I would like to ask the people who believe that a civil war is coming who are you going to shoot first? The neighbor down the street? A co-worker? The clerk at the post office? And how will you decide who you are going to kill?

I also believe most people who say this have no idea what it means to take a life. Are you really ready to go kill someone over Jan 6? Really?

Ampersand said...

I am not alone in the following beliefs:

Violence is stupid and immoral. Almost as bad, its effects are unpredictable, though probably awful. We weren't put on the planet to hurt each other. This is still a great country, and hope for the future is still there.

tim in vermont said...

Look what someone did to a cafe in Portland because somebody followed Trump on social media.

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1577801190955425792

Rabel said...

"No one fucks with a Biden."

Bellicosity to the max.

Lurker21 said...

Catharsis. Isn't that still a thing? People don't still talk themselves out online and then just nod off? I don't think the media ever really understood that catharsis was also a thing for Trump. He wasn't plotting to take out his enemies because he had already taken them down in his tweets. He needed them as foils for his performance, so they weren't languishing in jails. It's the Bidenites who indulge in the politics of vengeance.

tim in vermont said...

"Experts say..."

[>>Insert GIF of that pretty girl spitting her coffee and doubling over laughing<<]

Tina Trent said...

What has reduced the discourse is reality. Not surveys but bills such as the one being pushed by the head of Senate Judiciary in New York State, co-signed by all of his fellow Senate Democrats, which will require frequent parole hearings for any --ANY -- offender who has reached the age of 55 and spent 15 years time served.

I am compiling a list of those who can now seek release.

I'm starting with cannibals, like the guy from Poughkeepsie who fried up his victims' dicks and ate them. Then onto a list of serial killers with at least ten victims. Then those who raped and killed children. Then those who first killed then raped dead bodies. Also cop and EMT assassains.

You want to talk about civil discourse? Let's start with my list. Every fucking elected Democrat in the New York State Senate supports this sick legislation. Some idiot academician wants civil discource? There can be none with these subhumans holding a supermajority in the New York State.

Parole hearings for men who torture boys to death then cook and eat their dicks. I bet none of you have ever heard of this actually viable legislation. These academicians want civility? Let's start with the dick eating bill, sponsored by one of the most powerful people in the New York State Senate and Democrat Party, Brad Hoylman.

I'm sickened and grinding my teeth down just compiling these lists. Why aren't we screaming from the rooftops? My next list is dismembered torsos. No exceptions. The Democrats, and anyone who supports them, are going to hell, and civility is only greasing the slide.

No exceptions.

Tom said...

Most of the west coast needs to be a different country. Most of the north and central east. Let them pick work authorization socialism. The rest of us are tiring of paying for it.

RMc said...

Of course there will not be a shooting Civil war other than in the dreams of lefty propagandists.

They assume they'll win such a war, because they are the good guys, after all. (Won't they surprised when, post-revolution, they'll be the ones kneeling besides the muddy trench, and not the ones holding the clipboards!)

Fred Drinkwater said...

Hell's bells. What "normalized the expectation of violence" was the literal normalization of violence, thanks to "hands up", George Floyd, CHAZ/CHOP, Waukesha, Hodgkinson, Ashli Babbitt, "people did some stuff" , etc. etc. ad nauseum.
The NYT and their experts are fucking liars, with past and future blood on their hands.

Amadeus 48 said...

"Are you really ready to go kill someone over Jan 6?"

No. But a lot of things in the culture make me think that we are living in the modern equivalent of Rome in 400 AD. Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410.

Bill R said...

"...researchers tracked tweets mentioning civil war before and after Mr. Trump announced the search on Mar-a-Lago."

That's clever. The human agent for the change in attitude is shown as Donald Trump who "announced" the raid on his home. Joseph Biden and Merrick Garland who planned and executed the raid go unmentioned.

It's blatant propaganda and utterly transparent as such but still clever.

Cappy said...

I doubt it. Persecution porn for liberals.

mikee said...

"...researchers tracked tweets..."

In other words, Twitter's algorithms are moving us to Civil War. Elon Musk hardest hit?

Rory said...

"I would like to ask the people who believe that a civil war is coming who are you going to shoot first? The neighbor down the street? A co-worker? The clerk at the post office? And how will you decide who you are going to kill?"

Depersonalization takes a long time. Alinskyites have a half-century head start.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Joe Smith said...
Oh, and if someone writes 'Experts say,' then they are automatically full of shit and should be ignored or belittled.

This x1000

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"I would like to ask the people who believe that a civil war is coming who are you going to shoot first? The neighbor down the street? A co-worker? The clerk at the post office? And how will you decide who you are going to kill?"

Any person who publicly supports CRT or DIE