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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025

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The insane thing is that they imagined that cop killing would be a step towards defeating ICE. That firmly places them in the bottom political intelligence percentile of the broader SJ movement.

It should obvious to anyone that the US in 2025 is not China ca. 1930. It is very much not like there are millions of wokes just waiting for a signal to put down their pumpkin spice lattes and pick up their assault weapons and wage a civil war against the USG. They don't have the guns, they don't have the training, they don't have the stomach and I would argue that most of them do not have the ideological radicalism which enabled Mao's troops to win through atrocities. Sure, they might cheer on Hamas, but they would likely shy away from Hamas-level violence in the US. The slogan of the BLM riots was "defund the police", which misguided as it is, is notably different from "shoot the pigs".

It is obvious that the less violent resistance to ICE seen in California is a much less suicidal way to express their dissatisfaction with Trump's policies. If this is successful in affecting policy remains to be seen, the way I see it, Trump can use the publicity to highlight how he keeps his campaign promises, and he does not really care how much it will cost to continue the deportations despite widespread disruptions, it is not like he is fiscally responsible or anything.

But escalating to a firefight with the feds is terminally stupid.

Also, the group managed to have an excellent gender balance for a terrorist cell (four cis-women, two trans-women, four men, presumably cis), but their racial composition is Problematic. One of the women might be Asian, but all the rest is White. Let us hope that they were not shooting Black cops from their position of privilege.

Also, why post a picture of one of the guy's Mexican wife? That guy just tried to murder cops, he could be in a polycule with bearded North Koreans and it would not be relevant. Put the picture of his wife in once she is wanted or charged with anything.

It should obvious to anyone that the US in 2025 is not China ca. 1930.

China circa 1946, more like. The Nanjing decade was relatively stable for most Chinese people; the KMT lost an enormous amount of credibility from the general population during WW2. Mao has explicitly referenced this when speaking to Japanese officials.

Lots and lots of people believe their ideas are common and the normie sheeple are just waiting for a spark to fly.

I'm reminded of Day of the Jackal; the OAS fanatics thoroughly convinced that once DeGaulle was assassinated, the populace would "rise up and sweep away the treasonous rabble" and allow the OAS to take over France.

ICE agents are very disproportionately Hispanic. This was probably a whites on Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites ambush.

they imagined that cop killing would be a step towards defeating ICE

This isn't that uncommon a delusion. Remember that McVeigh thought that his actions would ignite a second revolutionary war. People who want to engage in direct action are quick to believe that such action can do a lot more than its immediate consequences, and slow to believe that it can have adverse consequences. Because direct action is cool, and ratting your way up the long march through the institutions is lame.

Antifa, by its very nature, selects for people who want to do the cool parts of politics.

The McVeigh story as understood in the popular consciousness is incomplete at best and outright wrong at worst. I'd recommend anyone wanting to learn more to read Aberration in The Heartland of the Real.

I'll add it to my reading list, but perhaps you can be more specific?

Also, why post a picture of one of the guy's Mexican wife? That guy just tried to murder cops, he could be in a polycule with bearded North Koreans and it would not be relevant. Put the picture of his wife in once she is wanted or charged with anything.

This group being whiter than a white nationalist meeting doesn't fit with the narrative.

Who's narrative?

The observation that BLM protests are often whiter than the police departments they're protesting is a running joke in southern states.