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misanthrope

(9,228 posts)
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 10:16 PM Oct 2023

Anyone else catch "The Insurrectionist Next Door"?

Some of those interviewed are actually deplorable. Some need mental health attention. Some are just plain sad. They are broken people abandoned by a society that only values wealth and so they end up grasping for what little they can find. In their desperation, they made perfect pawns.

At one point it shows a bar full of down-and-outers all singing loudly to a song named "Lost Cause," which I had never heard. Its central character is in a cycle of self-destruction and self-loathing. Hearing that room full of run-of-the-mill Americans relate to it so passionately is disheartening. This is what the Reagan Revolution has brought us, a huge swath of the citizenry drowning in hopelessness.

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sinkingfeeling

(56,552 posts)
2. I watched it this morning. I must be more cold-hearted than
Mon Oct 16, 2023, 11:25 PM
Oct 2023

you. I only thought one deserved my empathy and that was the 23 year old who blamed the left for his girlfriend dumping him. I think the only one to actually own up to his stupid decision was the long haired guy who held the Trump flag in the Senate. I believe he received 6 months. Several had rap sheets and lived by violence. The women were probably worse than the men.
I admired the way Ms. Pelosi handled the interviews. I couldn't have done it. I have zero tolerance for those who sink into alcohol and self pity and then blame others for their hopelessness.

I also watched HBO's "No Accident" about the lawsuit against the Alt-Right who participated in the Charlottesville 2017 "United the Right" March and violence.

Traildogbob

(12,002 posts)
4. The "No Accident"
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 12:32 AM
Oct 2023

Doc really passed me off. Spencer should do life just to get him out of society. Any guesses which side he and his cult of “good people” on that side, supports in the Israel Gaza war?
Started to watch the Insurrection doc but my blood boils seeing that footage again, especially knowing a lead organizer is about to be elected Speaker.

misanthrope

(9,228 posts)
5. "I have zero tolerance for those who sink into alcohol and self pity-"
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 12:33 AM
Oct 2023

"– and then blame others for their hopelessness."

While I could solely point out how "bootstrappy" that sounds, I can relate to both sides of it. When I worked in bars, I was disgusted by a lot of the patrons. Some of that came from overexposure.

That said, I have a background littered with sexual and psychological abuse, a deadbeat dad and a mother with a personality disorder. I've known people caught in the cycles of self-destruction that accompany a youth in turmoil. Some luck out and make something better from it, but it's mentally difficult to do so. Even more so when you live in a society that has the screwed up relationship to mental health and health care that the U.S. does.

So I know where you're coming from but I also know that in a lot of ways, there but for the grace of fortune go I. I might not commit their actions, but I relate to their struggle.

Hekate

(99,800 posts)
3. I don't get HBO but hope to catch it online one of these days. Alexandra Pelosi appears to be as...
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 12:05 AM
Oct 2023

…brilliant and incisive as her mother, in her own way.


Solly Mack

(95,847 posts)
6. I got the feeling that song was played nightly, like an anthem for those who gathered to connect,
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 12:43 AM
Oct 2023

even if only in those few minutes of song, as people who viewed themselves as outcasts and outsiders collectively and black sheep individually. Both tribal and personal. The demons they chased together and the demons each of them lived with alone.

A sing-a-long that at one time would have been performed to Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" or "Straight to Hell" by Drivin' N' Cryin' or "Wasted Rock Ranger" by Great White.

That scene was just plain sad.

At one point I was worried the man who blamed the left for being dumped would get out of control. He appeared to come close a few times. He definitely needs professional help.

He wasn't alone in that need.

I admit to feeling bad for them for a few minutes. I did wonder, though I could also guess, what caused them to be broken.

I've seen that kind of broken in real life. The stories are not dissimilar.

I agree that they made the perfect pawns.

But even pawns can be dangerous.








Response to misanthrope (Original post)

misanthrope

(9,228 posts)
11. I know Republicans I wouldn't describe as outright "hateful"
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 04:14 PM
Oct 2023

I am related to some of them. They are willfully ignorant and deluded, but not as hateful as others I know. I try to fight my worst instincts and view them on an individual basis.

If I am to expect my political opponents to not see me a inhuman, then don't I have to practice what I preach? The use of broad brush politics is destroying this nation.

Response to misanthrope (Reply #11)

Initech

(106,531 posts)
14. That's not what I meant.
Tue Oct 17, 2023, 05:27 PM
Oct 2023

I'm talking about the people who stormed Congress on Jan. 6th.

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