In case you hadn’t noticed, “Millions of Angry” has been trending on Twitter today, along with Newsweek.
Here’s why:
If armed violence erupts in 2024, the fate of the nation might well be decided by a simple fact: a big subset of the Republican Party has been systemically arming itself for this very reason. https://t.co/Iwmo7jaSpN
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) December 20, 2021
David H. Freedman’s very earnest — and long — piece kicks off with a bang:
Mike “Wompus” Nieznany is a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran who walks with a cane from the combat wounds he received during his service. That disability doesn’t keep Nieznany from making a living selling custom motorcycle luggage racks from his home in Gainesville, Georgia. Neither will it slow him down when it’s time to visit Washington, D.C.—heavily armed and ready to do his part in overthrowing the U.S. government.
Millions of fellow would-be insurrectionists will be there, too, Nieznany says, “a ticking time-bomb” targeting the Capitol. “There are lots of fully armed people wondering what’s happening to this country,” he says. “Are we going to let Biden keep destroying it? Or do we need to get rid of him? We’re only going to take so much before we fight back.” The 2024 election, he adds, may well be the trigger.
Nieznany is no loner. His political comments on the social-media site Quora received 44,000 views in the first two weeks of November and more than 4 million overall. He is one of many rank-and-file Republicans who own guns and in recent months have talked openly of the need to take down—by force if necessary—a federal government they see as illegitimate, overreaching and corrosive to American freedom.
Reading Freedman’s piece, you’d think that hordes of angry, knuckle-dragging Republicans with itchy trigger fingers are hunkered down in their underground militia tunnels planning the coup to end all coups.
— TatorPrincess (@sdea92) December 20, 2021
— Michael Brett (@brett1963) December 20, 2021
Are there some nutjobs out there? Sure. Do they make up more than a tiny sliver of Republicans in America. No. And where the hell is Freedman’s long and detailed look into violent left-wing activism that has crossed well beyond “threat” status and become reality in some of America’s largest cities?
People actually believe this nonsense?
— Jason Amaro (@Jason_Amaro) December 20, 2021
Enquirer or Star level fodder. Sad.
— BR got her booster (@BRisvaccinated) December 20, 2021
can somebody pinpoint the moment where you became propaganda?
— jimmyolsenblues (@jimmyolsenblues) December 20, 2021
Tabloid fear mongering crap. pic.twitter.com/jt9AoQqQ1x
— lc 🏈🎄☃️❄️🛷🧦☃️🤶🏼🧤☕️ (@lcatboonies) December 20, 2021
Fear porn
— Carol Scott (@itzblue) December 20, 2021
It really does come across like lefty fanfic. Because if we didn’t know any better, we might say that Newsweek is rooting for civil unrest.
And Newsweek, along with others in the MSM, will do all it can to fuel the division within the country.
— Alfred Taylor (@aetaylor55) December 20, 2021
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