The right-wingers are fighting among themselves again, inspired by Hegseth’s bombing of boats. Claire Lehmann, the terrible racist founder of Quillette, starts the bickering by complaining about the sinking…not that she opposes murdering random people from South American countries, but that it doesn’t look good and you should be more quiet about the slaughtering:
This is really grotesque.
(And look I get it that sometimes hard men need to do ugly things. But if you’re going to do this, don’t broadcast it, & don’t brag about it. FFS)
Billionaire Joe Lonsdale responds. If you’ve forgotten who he is, he made his fortune by starting out under Peter Thiel at PayPal, and then got really rich with Palantir, the company that profits from spying on your internet usage all around the world. Later, he was one of the founders of the University of Austin, the fake college for far-right and libertarian freaks. He wants more publicity for extra-judicial murder.
She’s just wrong. Leftist schoolmarm leaders cause violence and evil in our civilization.
Sinking narco boats publicly helps deter others. As does hanging repeat violent criminals.
Killing bad guys is DoW job. He should brag more. Masculine truth: bold, virtuous men deter evil.
He’s a good example: bold, virtuous men failed to deter Joe Lonsdale. He might be on to something here, that maybe it’s time to hang a few billionaires to teach a lesson to those greedy parasites. He wants more than killing a few “narcoterrorists” (who haven’t been tried and convicted of anything), just public hanging for lots of crimes.
If I’m in charge later, we won’t just have a three strikes law.
We will quickly try and hang men after three violent crimes. And yes, we will do it in public to deter others.
Our society needs balance. It’s time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable.
For future reference, this is how billionaires want to run their utopia, in a “masculine” fashion with lots of public violence. I say we should hang them first. Viva la revolución! Give them what they want.
Leftist Schoolmarms are notorious for their violence and brutal assaults on society.
Correct me with I’m wrong, but historically public execution did not reduce violent crime. Or NON violent crime.
“ I say we should hang them first. Viva la revolución! Give them what they want.”
Liberals: “Whaaaaaa! Stop saying mean things! Donald Trump and his supporters were simply not hugged enough as children! They need to be loved, and understood, and educated, and loved, and listened to, and loved, and rehabilitated, did I mention they should be loved?”
@3
Actual, liberals, not some people’s imaginary ones – “If we devolve to their level, we become them. But, yeah, also, if you are raised to be a complete asshole, by assholes, its kind of really likely you will turn out as an asshole. Case in point, the sort of assholes that claim we are merely talking about ‘feelings’ rather than learned behavior.”
The xian fundies and their political arm, the GOP are never too far from violence and murder as solutions to any problems.
Last century it was the female slavers/forced birthers and their family planning clinic bombings and assassinations of health care workers.
These days they’ve branched out to ICE/BP and their daily terrorism. murders of Democratic elected officials such as the ones in Minnesota, supporting the Israeli slaughter of people in Gaza (67,000 killed), and anonymous boats in the Caribbean.
So, who are they going to kill next?
Trump has already declared war on Nigeria and apparently, already forgotten that he declared war on Nigeria.
Trump already threatened Canada and when they didn’t immediately back down, forgot about it.
Greenland didn’t get very far when the Greenlanders backed by the Danish and the EU didn’t immediately run away.
Probably Venezuela.
They have oil and an unpopular and ineffective government.
It might be California, New York city, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle though. The easy thing about sending US troops to invade the USA is that those places don’t actually have armies of their own.
But not necessarily in that order.
Re: Strewth @ #2…
Years ago I read that pickpockets worked the crowds that assembled to watch the hanging of…pickpockets.
That’s Hegseth and Trump for the chop, then. I mean, why do something as compassionate as hanging if you want a real deterrent? There are still headsman’s axes and swords in the museums, sittting there gathering dust. I’m sure there will be plenty of bloodthirsty volunteers eager to swing the axe, and after a dozen botched jobs they’ll probably get the hang of it. And if that still doesn’t work as a deterrent, there are plenty more traditional methods worth restoring. Hanging, drawing and quartering. Breaking upon the wheel. Impalement. Casting from the rock. Poena cullei. Crucifixion.
Back in the more ‘masculine’ 1950s we had the Friday Night Fights. Families would gather around their black-and-white TVs and watch men pummel each other between Gillette razor commercials. If this guy is in charge, perhaps we’ll have the Friday Night Hangings. Great fun for all ages. Watch men dance at the end of a rope. This way, your 5-year-old son can learn what it means to be a bold, virtuous man.
They used to hang pickpockets in London. Pickpockets were hard at work in the crowd watching the executions.
I’m sick of seeing the subtext that manly men must be lawless loose cannons. It’s erasing the value in laws and civil rights that protect the innocent.
I expect a lot of innocent fishermen have died because Trump and Hegseth want to “win” the toxic masculinity contest.
What they really want is what we have now but even more so.
This has nothing to do with justice, law, or masculinity.
It is the fundie xian/GOP’s desire for performative cruelty.
They just like watching people suffer, get sick, get injured, and die.
It’s like the ancient Roman Gladiator games except it isn’t as organized. Yet.
I wrote about this yesterday so here is a list of examples.
Tin soldiers and Trump are coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in…
Not Ohio. Hmm. Where will it be?
We have Trumpo the clown bellowing that people in our government that refuse to follow illegal orders need to be executed.
President Donald Trump accused six Democratic lawmakers of sedition on social media Thursday and threatened them with punishment as severe as death, after they appeared in a video message encouraging U.S. armed forces to refuse “illegal orders.”
https://www.govexec.com/defense/2025/11/trump-accuses-lawmakers-seditious-behavior-encouraging-troops-refuse-illegal-orders/409710/
Trump has adopted the Fuhrerprinzip.
His goal “to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable” will be hampered if he implemented hanging men after “three violent crimes.” Most violent crime in the world is committed by men, and for the US that’s mostly white men.
The “Paypal Mafia” — the world’s most wealthy band of despicable people. Or possibly the world’s most despicable band of wealthy people. Or both.
I think we’ve reached the point where we need a true revolution. The only way to do that without going through a very long and expensive tragedy is an overwhelming win at the ballot box, repeatedly. And the best way to do that is to provide people with reasons to vote for certain candidates, not to get people to vote against a particular candidate.
The Democratic Party, and Democratic Party candidates, need to very clearly articulate what they will do (seriously try to do, with fallback plans ready) if many many people vote for them in the next (several/many) elections. Detailed to the point of posting the actual legislation they will try to enact (‘long and complicated’ requires fantastically good presentation, most of this should be short, with short sentences). Having the legislation already written (and probably somewhat rewritten after public comments) can help make it clear that they really will do what they are saying they will do. And – because nothing ever works perfectly – with discussion of ‘Plan A’ and ‘Plan B’, and so on.
In doing all of this, they need to remember that they are now a revolutionary party and not a status quo party – even if some of the goals sound like the same goals, it needs to be clear that they are part of significant and productive change for everyone who sets foot in this country (even if they voted for the Reprehensible Candidate!).
“For future reference, this is how billionaires want to run their utopia, in a “masculine” fashion with lots of public violence.”
This is how Taylor Swift wants to run her utopia? Really?
I doubt that.
I wish this crowd had a biological marker so we could give them … not death, but a bug causing chronic nausea and itching.
Addendum: I want to give them the bug that messed up Baron Harkonnen.
I was (metaphorically) pilloried here and other places earlier this year for saying that Charlie Kirk deserved it. For saying similar about health insurance exec drone. And yet, I don’t want executioners on my train sitting next to me, looking forward to bring your daughter to work day. Having said that, if extra judicial killings of the sort that I willingly concede these were, occur and I refuse to do anything to help the police catch them and indeed case by case dependent might aid the perpetrators, as has been my position, am I to be pilloried? When many here are to some extent calling explicitly for hangings or even worse tortures to death? As a matter of policy?
I realize this is coming across as ‘waahh for me’ and I don’t want it too. What I would like, though, is an explanation of why my position was so roundly castigated and in such absolute terms (political violence is NEVER EVER justified), by the same people who are also and right here calling for hangings or worse. I don’t even necessarily disagree with you completely, I think, and I suspect we may find ourselves largely in furious agreement . But I am having a very difficult time figuring out what the actual position is. How do you call for hangings or worse while also maintaining that political violence is NEVER EVER justified?
“I realize this is coming across as ‘waahh for me’ and I don’t want it too. What I would like, though, is an explanation of why my position was so roundly castigated and in such absolute terms (political violence is NEVER EVER justified), by the same people who are also and right here calling for hangings or worse.”
Compartmentalisation.
[OT]
Birger @20, be aware that there is no canonical “bug” or infection for the Baron in the book(s).
You’re using your head-canon, not the actual corpus.
In Dune, the Baron’s condition is attributed to chronic morbid obesity, circulatory strain, and the long‑term effects of the suspensors.
(Not even the movies make that claim, non-canonical though they are!)
Murdering poor people is good. Murdering rich people is bad.
Yet in the midst of it they never realize/care that they are inciting a culture of political violence. That somewhere down the line a wing nut is going to get pissed at these idiots and decided to take them out.
(breaking my ignore John Morales rule)
85% of billionaires are men. There are similar biases for violence and family abuse
So many of the current problems we have are heavily influenced by toxic masculinity, and men need to start doing something about this rather than saying “not all men” or “look at this one woman who’s also a problem”
Be more like our host
‘85% of billionaires are men.’ has a complement.
The claim is universal, not existential.
I noted that.
John Morales @18
Taylor Swift observed observing and seemingly enjoying her betrothed engaging in his profession. Methinks lots of masculine public violence is indeed part of her utopia. Violence begets violence and each of the myriad steps leading to where the USA is now includes the NCAA, MLB, NBA, NFL, UFC, NASCAR, etc., etc., et fucking cetera. And, all the high school teams and rallies that feeds this beast. Then there’s sports betting…
[∃ vs ∀]
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/private-sector-and-philanthropy/profiles/gates-foundation/
↓
A key partner of the Global Fund for financing, governance and advocacy
Total contribution US$3.91 billion
Current pledge (2023-2025) US$927 million
Partner since 2002
The Gates Foundation is a key partner of the Global Fund, providing cash contributions, actively participating on its board and committees, and supporting the Global Fund’s advocacy, communications and fundraising efforts.
The Gates Foundation pledged US$912 million for the Eighth Replenishment. The Gates Foundation’s pledge to the Global Fund is composed of two elements: a core pledge of US$912 million, and an additional set of program-specific pledges for initiatives in which the Gates Foundation co-invests alongside the Global Fund.
The Gates Foundation has contributed US$3.91 billion to the Global Fund to date, and pledged US$927 million for the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment, covering 2023-2025.
Maybe the UN?
https://mptf.undp.org/contributor/bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation
or
https://observer.com/2025/12/gates-foundation-annual-report-warns-rising-child-deaths/
Alan, not like I know much about her, other than she is famous for singing and also female and also a billionaire.
No dark utopias that I can see.
But then, https://ceoworld.biz/2025/09/18/female-billionaires-2025/ which is rather extensive.
405 of them, everyone a billionaire.
So. “For future reference, this is how billionaires want to run their utopia, in a “masculine” fashion with lots of public violence.”
—
I reckon cherries were picked, hasty generalisations made, demonisation was employed.