It's the story of the monkeys, the ladder, and the banana all over again.

Get the mob to attack anyone who strays from the path you set and you'll rule the kingdom. The mob won't even understand why it's attacking the stray, but it will attack viciously and without mercy or explanation.

Conan, the research seems to be fictionalized, if you read on in the piece.

But there is research out there on mob mentality, and the effects of that mentality are truly horrible.

Yeah, I read that. But the story's illustrative and fits this case well.

Besides, "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1097568622610771969

I've been refraining from commenting on the Smollett story until now, because I wanted to make sure the facts were all in so that I didn't speak out of school. But from the beginning, it just seemed too pat. All of the left-wing tropes where there: high-scoring intersectional victim, white guys with Southern accents, MAGA chants, the whole bit. A noose. Seriously? How many people do you know that walk around with a noose in their pocket? Have you ever even seen one in person? Add the weather angle to that, and yeah, it was too good to be true from the start.

There was a workplace shooting in Aurora, not too far from where Smollett lives, the same week. A big part of that story was the complete breakdown of Illinois' supposedly strict gun-control regime -- which allowed convicted felon Gary Martin to buy a gun, something he probably would not have been able to do in a lot of states with less strict gun laws. This should have been a big story, and a reason for Illinois citizens to demand answers from their elected representatives. Jussie Smollett made sure it became a non-story.

Fake hate crimes such as this are not really about painting the pretend-victim as a victim, so much as they're about slandering the group of which the pretend-perpetrator is pretending to be a member.

This ought to be actionable as defamation against Trump supporters in addition to the trouble Smollett and his shills are already in from the police.

Conan, the link didn't work.

Among the many, many things that didn't add up about the Smollett story (Cousin Dave runs down some of them) was his claim that the attackers said "This is MAGA Country."

Really? Have you ever heard anyone say that? MAGA is a slogan, a hashtag, something on a hat or a T-shirt, but it's not a commonly spoken expression.

It reminded me of the Jeffrey McDonald murders, in which he claimed the hippies that broke in and killed his family were chanting "Acid is groovy, kill the pigs." And McDonald went to jail.

Lenona, it works for me. Try this:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/games-primates-play/201203/what-monkeys-can-teach-us-about-human-behavior-facts-fiction

Down the comment thread on the Quillette article a Portland local added another bit of information to the situation: “However I remember another similar social justice mob action a couple years ago against a new restaurant that opened up called Saffron Colonial. The SJWs were outraged that the owner was celebrating “colonialism”. They organized a boycott and picketed the restaurant.
Ristretto Roasters was one of the local purveyors that severed ties with Saffron Colonial as a result. They stopped selling Saffron Colonial’s baked goods at their coffee shops.”. Thoughts?

white guys with Southern accents...Add the weather angle

They would have frozen their butts off. When I first heard about this incident, I took a look at the weather reports from Midway airport at 2am. They reported a temperature of 8F, and a windchill of -8F, with a wind of about 10 MPH. Weather not fit for man or beast.

What fine person walks 8 blocks round trip for a wee snack at that time and in those conditions?

"This is MAGA Country."

Chicago is about as bright blue as one can get. San Fran is probably bluer, so I'll put Chi-town at #2.

...Ristretto Roasters was one of the local purveyors that severed ties with Saffron Colonial as a result. They stopped selling Saffron Colonial’s baked goods at their coffee shops.”. Thoughts?

Keep in mind, the revolution always eats its own. As Grandmaster Mel Melle said in Vice

The mob, a full time job
Known to extort and steal or rob
Started as a hitman, lookin for wealth
And now he's the boss workin for his self
For all the blood money that he did earn
It made him take lives with no concern
But soon he would learn that next is his turn

Among the many, many things that didn't add up about the Smollett story ... was his claim that the attackers said "This is MAGA Country." ~ Kevin at February 19, 2019 9:07 AM

That's the part of the story that stood out for me and made me skeptical.

I've been refraining from commenting on the Smollett story until now, because I wanted to make sure the facts were all in so that I didn't speak out of school.
_____________________________________

Well done. Same here. (Of course, it's possible we still don't have all the really relevant facts and we'll be astonished even further.) I didn't even want to talk about it with my friends, neighbors or relatives - and they didn't either. I mean, why do people automatically trust the words of ANYONE who's a celebrity - or a famous politician?

As the saying goes: "There's a time and place for everything - and this isn't it."

That is, it only makes sense to keep quiet until one is really informed by the true experts - in this case, the police, even if they're imperfect - AND wait for the proper forum, where it's truly polite to talk about anything remotely political. There's nothing wrong with the old rule that says that one can't just assume that one can talk about sex, religion or politics in such-and-such a location. All too often, other people Do Not want to talk about those things and will get irritated if one tries to break that rule.

From my favorite female columnist:

"...But she balks at the idea that we can all now be trusted to enliven our social lives by discussing important political, social and religious issues.

"How enlightening or enjoyable is social conversation among an assortment of people who have strong feelings about, say, the morality of abortion, assisted suicide or capital punishment, the effects on society of the welfare system or affirmative action, or whether sex education or prayer should be permitted in public schools?

"It isn't as though etiquette is opposed to airing controversy. On the contrary (so to speak): It prides itself on its specialty of providing rules for the very situations where controversial matters are most strenuously contested, such as courtrooms, classrooms and meetings. Etiquette (usually supplied by the rules of order of Miss Manners' colleagues Messrs. Robert or Riddick) is what keeps debate fair and to the point, rather than allowing one person to dominate or the whole thing to deteriorate into an exchange of insults.

"So it is a terrible insult to etiquette to characterize it as running around seeking superficial agreement at the cost of meaningful debate.

"But such rules cannot be invoked in social settings.

"Lightly held views and topics of no tremendous weight to those present may be bandied about pleasantly. People who trust one another enough to be able to discuss one of the supercharged topics peacefully (possibly because they are superpolite in spite of their differences, but more likely because they are all on the same side) may also do so without interference from etiquette, which knows enough not to disturb people who are having a good time.

"But confirmations of opinions already held and exercises in faking respect for people whose stupid or vicious opinions differ from one's own should not be confused with meaningful exchanges.

"So it isn't Miss Manners who is banning the casual airing of important topics; it is human nature."

Here's the rest of it (the above was from the second half; the first half has other taboo subjects listed):

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-01-01-9801010196-story.html

I've started a petition at whitehouse.gov to make it a felony to fake a hate crime.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-it-felony-fake-hate-crime

Interesting, JD.

If Smollett isn't charged with a hate crime, then no one should be. It's either a legal principle or an instrument of totalitarian political power. If the latter, then we should get rid of hate-crime laws immediately and should have done so long ago.

https://twitter.com/Doc_0/status/1097870275591503872

Especially if the incident was staged to trigger outrage against MAGA hat wearing Trumpinistas. Like this one:

Pierce tells 13 News that he was shopping with his wife when Phillips "Pulled a .40 caliber out and stuck it in my face, backed up and said, 'It's a good day for you to die.'"

Pierce went on to tell 13 News, "I said, 'Then pull the trigger. Put the gun down and fight me or pull the trigger. Whichever one you want.' And he backed up and he said it again, he said, 'It's a good day for you to die.'"

https://www.wbko.com/content/news/Man-arrested-after-alleged-incident-at-Sams-Club-in-Bowling-Green-505971901.html

The balls on that guy. Great, big, brass ones.

"So it isn't Miss Manners who is banning the casual airing of important topics; it is human nature."

Well, yes. When was the last time you or anyone you knew changed someone's mind, or had your mind changed by reasoned discussion? How does Scott Adams put it? we're watching two (or more) movies on the same screen.

One thing that stood out to me, besides NO ONE walks 8 blocks at 2am in Chicago even in nice weather, was that he went all the way to the hospital with the noose around his neck--would you do that? Or take it off as soon as possible?

I'm fascinated by the (fake) letter.

One would think the studio mailroom would flag it unopened as it as the work of a nutcase and hand it over to security before it reached the actor.

One would think the actor might exercise a bit of caution if it was mailed to him and not open it himself.

One would think that anyone handling it must feel that there was a powdery substance inside the envelope.

One would think. But it doesn't seem Smollett is much of a thinker.

jd wrote:

I've started a petition at whitehouse.gov to make it a felony to fake a hate crime.

Not necessary in the Smollett case. From the Illinois "hate crime" statute:

"Sec. 12-7.1. Hate crime.
(a) A person commits hate crime when, by reason of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals, regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors, he or she commits . . . disorderly conduct"

From the Illinois criminal statute defining "disorderly conduct"

"Sec. 26-1. Disorderly conduct.
(a) A person commits disorderly conduct when he or she knowingly: . . .
(4) Transmits or causes to be transmitted in any manner to any peace officer, public officer or public employee a report to the effect that an offense will be committed, is being committed, or has been committed, knowing at the time of the transmission that there is no reasonable ground for believing that the offense wf

Sorry, my comment got cut off:

the offense will be committed, is being committed, or has been committed;

So, under Illinois law, it's a hate crime to make a false police report motivated in part or whole by the race of a group of individuals. If Smollett intentionally misidentified the race of his alleged attackers, that's pretty good evidence of a racial motive for the false report.

Hate crimes are a felony under Illinois law. Of course, the Cook County prosecutor would have to have political courage to pursue the charge, so I'm not holding my breath.