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Seth RogenYearbookp. 216 |
How could this happen?
People were asking, “How could this happen?” And unfortunately, the answer is obvious. First, it’s real easy to get your hands on a high-powered assault rifle in America. Combine that with a president who de-stigmatized outward hatred in social-media platforms that allow people to stoke flames of hatred to the point of combustion.
Because of Twitter, the shooter didn’t see himself as a villain. He saw himself as a hero. This guy thought Jews were facilitating the entrance of terrorists into the country - an idea that’s been perpetuated by countless verified Twitter accounts, right-wing outlets, and GOP politicians. And without Jack doing anything to stop the spread of these lies, all he was telling people was that they were NOT lies. If they were, he wouldn’t be endorsing and amplifying them, right? Wouldn’t he take the verification away from people who dpread these lies if they were in fact lies? No action, no infraction. It all must be true.
One of the first times the militant ant anti-Semitic right wing started to target me online was after I told off Ben Carson for saying that Jews could have protected themselves better during the Holocaust if they’d had easier access to guns. A crazy idea that not only blames Jews for being victims but uses the deaths of the Holocaus to bolster America’s ridiculous gun laws.
These victim-blaming talking points were being repeated just hours after the shooting, not only by the media but by the president himself. The idea that it’s up to the threatened classes to protect themselves from bigots rather than up to the bigots not to spread hatred anc act on their terrible instincts is a stupid as, well, Trump.