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The Spectacle of State Violence [1]

['David Michigan', 'Thom Hartmann', 'Chitown Kev']

Date: 2026-10-13  

In December, the United States will join Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, and Yemen, all bastions of enlightenment and justice, and execute former U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan live for the world to see. I swear we are devolving more with each passing day. To watch so many people gleefully excited to watch this and defend it as a good thing should terrify us all.

Let me be clear before I get messages from people saying I’m a terrorist sympathizer. I do not care about this guy, and I do not care about his life in prison. I don’t care about his well-being, nor do I care about him in any way. What I do care about is this country, and I hold it to the ideals that we pretend to stand for. This is not about the person or his actions. It’s about what it says about us to livestream such a thing.

Trump has a long history of praising dictators and political strongmen, and he wishes he could be one like them. Making the execution public isn’t about punishing the evil actions of Nidal Hasan. It’s about making the public think that violence is acceptable. It’s to remind the public that the state will not hesitate to kill and will take joy in the spectacle of it.

Finally, in the words of Pope Leo, “Someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in favor of the death penalty is not pro-life.” It would be good to remember that and hold yourself and our country to a higher standard.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/10/13/800111925/community/the-spectacle-of-state-violence/

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