{"id":102395,"date":"2018-02-23T00:05:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T07:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=102395"},"modified":"2018-02-23T01:11:50","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T08:11:50","slug":"real-paid-crisis-actors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/real-paid-crisis-actors.html","title":{"rendered":"The Real Paid &#8220;Crisis Actors&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>So over the last couple of days, the filthy blood-soaked Gun Cult has done what it always does: move from telling everybody to shut up about calling for gun control \u201cout of respect for the victims in this time of tragedy\u201d to sending death threats to the victims of Parkland. <a href=\"https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhill.cm%2Fw5VRhg9&amp;h=ATOy6w421jvx5uwyK3pXqPmdukDnbghCrJrwAPAFjRRR-BeamXrGbXpilXrr_ObJFpG1t-u64XNZjg4gwcN_qrRWAgA2vsSs_HtloeNWiiM_RmucU0_qNQZJOftDTI8aCi2PxCCvvJxzQgh0zNKF6tXvGvD_jnZ3tQaSSMViJEk-Pg5-CjDgimW0-pdvvcurn0kjBjRMn4eig1KrRJsGO3cfgn0k0Ohj2e16MaB34n7tTRgtyBci2zYK8z46PfGwYnaIUpUYW_DZFERqSNrdr8K_WdqjUW9G0X18P-tJk95THyoavM5vTH7QofKghJKrcVFUooeh9v-oPA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">No<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fflorida-shooting-survivor-facebook-nra-death-threats-2018-2&amp;h=ATNfWl728V59guo0jXr_GsH_7Ezd3rBUp8AXPKmxEb_ueyw4oqVXm_YlWwHRIjiSBQ0TiLT3vXt6sye4lBf75g_Q0tBBxsaW0u6Joj_7uzwNfZZb_-G1OCOaAEEuGGnNG2objIwAzFdikkde-1wPpjdjsHHXzm3ykdSkW5JlTKAPi7Q_AVXAKX7wOf5lYJKvKwdCt4v26q5y46g8W23Slrgdr1x88FiAlQdP_Ow\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Really<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And this is nothing new. The Gun Cult also issued death threats to the victims of Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>But in addition to this is the ongoing concentrated campaign of lies, lies, lies against survivor David Hogg. In the past 36 hours, it has become gospel and normative in the Party of Trump to bully young victim of trauma as a \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/nation\/la-na-conspiracy-theories-20180221-story.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">crisis actor<\/a>\u201c.\u00a0 It is the same filthy, despicable lie told about the victims of Sandy Hook and Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>The utter vile scumminess of this lie, eagerly propagated by the Chrisianist liars of the Gun Cult, cannot be overstated. This is a kid who, a mere week ago, was watching the slaughter of his friends and teachers. And now, with the passionate help of the Greatest Christians of all time (who should be giving succor and comfort to traumatized children), he is being called a liar and a part of some conspiracy to\u2026 what?<\/p>\n<p>Even the slightest interrogation makes the lie fold like a cheap suit. What precisely are the Russia bots\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/28276354_10155166564496811_5539564543527060703_n.jpg?_nc_eui2=v1%3AAeH-N6OB-_rcTb3dp8t4KX4tQVkdudT0UgHHthUpIgfseXBJygX7aQSGtHrMuX6rPr48gDsTNUMzUOAJTbI-1Zx9DEjWNa8ojPdyQKvg_N_PBQ&amp;oh=23a894bbbdf62810209384e93cc06b6b&amp;oe=5B143030\" alt=\"Image may contain: 1 person, text\"><\/p>\n<p>and the idiots who believe this lie saying?<\/p>\n<p>That the slaughter never happened? That he was not there? That he somehow engineered it? The \u201ccrisis actor\u201d lies suggest the first two. The sinister FBI conspiracy suggestion seems to point to the last. But then, as Screwtape notes, the purpose is to fuddle, not teach. As long as conspiracy theorists somehow conclude \u201cIt\u2019s a lie and he\u2019s a liar\u201d that is all the Right Wing Gun Cult smear machine really needs.<\/p>\n<p>The one very clear thing the Gun Cult seems to be asserting that Hogg is an ice cold bastard who sat through the slaughter thinking, \u201cI can really use this to advance my Nefarious Liberal Agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The irony, of course, is that this is *exactly* what the Gun Cult has done in coldly and calculatedly inventing and spreading this lie. This seems to me to be a perfect example of the way the Party of Trump always makes accusation a form of confession.<\/p>\n<p>For the truth is that the Gun Cult shows, by their massive campaign of lies against this victim that *they* are the ones who will lie to exploit tragedy and *they* are the ones who are the \u201cpaid actors\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.peacock-panache.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/GOP-NRA-Orlando-Massacre-Gun-Reform.png?resize=900%2C280\" alt=\"Image result for gop nra pay\"><\/p>\n<p>It is now the peculiar doom of the Right Wing Loony Bin that it will spend its days teaching gullible Christianists to imagine they can detect sinister conspiracies where none exist while being stone blind to what is right in front of their faces. They will accuse and accuse, and every accusation will be the confession of their own heart\u2019s desires.\u00a0 They will themselves to be actively stupid, fulfilling the word of the Prophet C.S. Lewis: \u201cThe trouble with trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you can often succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But all that said, there is a great deal of good news still, because the have met an enemy that knows how to fight back and is doing so.\u00a0 The victims of Parkland have been magnificent.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/florida-shooting-donald-trump-jr-david-hogg-814056\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">They have replied to the\u00a0\u00a0idiot liar named Donald Trump, Jr. that he is \u201cdisgusting\u201d for lying about the \u201ccrisis actor\u201d smear.<\/a> They have gone from trauma to confronting both the Florida legislature and the White House in a week. They have confronted the lies about Hogg. They have not let themselves be cowed, and they have inspired protest and multiple walkouts throughout the country. No weapon turned against them has prospered. Dinesh D\u2019Souza was forced to apologize for his despicable mockery of them. Dallas(!) just told the NRA to stay away from them with their disgusting convention of nuts. <a href=\"https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2Ffirst-national-bank-ends-nra-visa-card-5809195f1672%2F&amp;h=ATNpnEgyAsRgopv1XiH7orgiJTj5xD9r61Tf37j4S1Z_CcGCp92R5fLLrqbSMc0kHDHO3vG448A7a1rHALiQ5RTZdBj-Z9tHjoyZD5_KQ3XcmXg4CiGa75ypymAPGzXuJNMkixb2DRlSapoSw3d5Ir2mteSPFKxlrjuupJuXnJnQTdLQ8HPUgeJm9T_IuQY5-wPBqFnx4dpBGHygoDSYuGbsi1AWbLWEyVyEUMee\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">First National Bank just rejected the NRA as the moral lepers they are.<\/a>\u00a0Three major car rental companies <a href=\"https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2Falamo-national-enterprise-dump-nra-35d326965744%2F&amp;h=ATMDHJYOJGQCEXghKz5dVNHllm1_Xrwkmo2lMa0xqVOM8idxPMq5suYco9myGDcU_wUYvWZjXpO_ZrmfYnhUYKHZqDQF4uPdJ5dXftLDoCQ6uorqr4mOCOD5plKb0tZrFGQQdAH6T5uRZFyZ_cDJbbrEphilfVTtinFuMod9w7wJtijPgCThoGkAvuTZTAnv5UneG0EmM1oujg6JDA9vpQSMI76cgf89rr_kzkQ\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">just dumped them<\/a>.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-guns-blackrock\/blackrock-puts-gunmakers-on-notice-after-florida-school-shooting-idUSKCN1G62PC\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">And Black Rock the world\u2019s largest asset manager, is making ominous rumbling at the gun companies<\/a>. The NRA is in a flop sweat panic about this and freaking out as Trump starts making concessions to gun control advocates. As I write, the obscene Wayne LaPierre is jabbering about the \u201csocialism\u201d bogeyman in panic and chattering nonsense about God giving us gun rights.<\/p>\n<p>And the kids have a plan. I know that the idea of teenagers planning things fills the stupid conspiracy theorist (who has never mastered the whole \u201cthinking\u201d thing) with dark suspicions. But consider the fact that the reason you leap to \u201cconspiracy\u201d when you hear \u201cplanning\u201d is that you dumb, O Conspiracy Theorist, and that smart kids have planned things for years. Consider also, that there is no law in this country that forbid kids and adults with matching interests from networking. You do, after all, think it\u2019s awesome when LifeTeens march with grownups at the March for Life. Nobody calls that \u201cimpressionable young minds being manipulated by adults with an agenda\u201d for the very good reason that it\u2019s not. It\u2019s young people, capable of making moral judgments and acting to achieve goals in accord with them.<\/p>\n<p>So they have smartly planned their March for Our Lives, not right now, but in a month, to keep alive the pressure for change and not let it die as the heat of outrage cools after Parkland. They are bright, they are passionate, and worst of all for Russiabots and the dunces in the Party of Trump who are the biggest consumers of fake news, they know how to use social media.<\/p>\n<p>And they are coming for the GOP Paid Actors and the Gun Cult that owns them this November. 4 million of them will be eligible to vote. It will be such a pleasure to watch them unleash fury on the Party of Trump that has made clear it does not care if they live or die either before they are born or after.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So over the last couple of days, the filthy blood-soaked Gun Cult has done what it always does: move from telling everybody to shut up about calling for gun control \u201cout of respect for the victims in this time of tragedy\u201d to sending death threats to the victims of Parkland. No. Really. And this is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[390],"class_list":["post-102395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lies-and-the-lying-liars-who-tell-them"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Real Paid &quot;Crisis Actors&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So over the last couple of days, the filthy blood-soaked Gun Cult has done what it always does: move from telling everybody to shut up about calling for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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