Erik Haugen @ech@qoto.org
Computer programmer
"From what we can tell, Haugen works at Google. So much for "Do no evil."" – Kent Anderson
Joined Mar 2023
@gerbrand @QasimRashid that or maybe normal people in the Democratic party who aren't on the extreme fringe.
@blogdiva I totally agree that the "the easy way or the hard way" thing was super shady and I seriously hope we find a new fcc chair ASAP.
But: this Mon Mothma speech is about misinformation, and it feels like the main problem with Kimmel's thing is that he was so spectacularly wrong about the facts.
@georgetakei When George Takei, Tucker Carlson, and Ted Cruz all agree: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/09/19/cruz_likens_fcc_chair_to_mafia_boss_over_kimmel_this_will_end_up_being_used_to_silence_every_conservative.html
@Ronnoc_Nlb @Strandjunker It's not looking like it!
But again, it really doesn't matter wrt. anything. The point here is don't obsess about the shooter and lord that over your political opponents. This is a mistake to do, for several reasons.
a) If you end up being wrong, as in this case, it makes you look ridiculous.
b) Even if you're right, it's a useless distraction; it doesn't tell us anything interesting.
@itsmeholland @antifaintl OK thanks; I figured it was something roughly that flimsy.
@antifaintl why do we think Robinson is a right winger? (Not that it matters wrt anything at all)
@crk5 why do you think the shooter was a "right winger"? (it's looking like he was not, a possibility that really should have given you pause here!) Does it matter? Does the existence of a deranged lefty like James T. Hodgkinson, or a deranged righty like Eric Rudolph mean anything at all about the broader groups? of course not.
@torf @austinkocher It's hard to understand identarians!
@cd_newton @AlSweigart It's looking more like he might be a lefty, but it really doesn't matter; this has no bearing on anything.
@soliman @AlSweigart I don't know much about Nancy Mace, but FWIW these two sentiments are 100% consistent.
@Oregon_Pacifist @augieray Yeah what's up with all the jumping to conclusions. All we know, based on media, is that he doesn't like Kirk's views on ... something we don't even know what. The casings suggest anti-"fascist" but who knows.
Why would someone like Augie take the credibility hit on something like this? (I know, he said "not a democrat" but still.) It doesn't even matter if he was left or right or whatever; obviously that has nothing to do with any important or interesting question.
Does Augie *seriously* believe he knows that Tyler Robinson isn't on the left? Or is the thinking that if we find out later, this post won't be remembered?
@lostarlingtonian @Strandjunker I think the only thing we know about him at this point is that he really doesn't like Kirk's views on... something.
The casings found indicate that he considers Kirk fascist? Hard to make sense of those, though. We may never know, like with Boelter; these two people seem to have a tenuous grip on reality.
It's probably not super important to make sense of why they did what they did.
@Strandjunker I predict this post will age like fine milk.
But you're right: focusing on the motives of a deranged person and using that to make conclusions about the moral standing of huge groups of people is stupid, and anyone who did that here or in previous incidents should feel bad about themselves.
@bobo_buffington @contrasocial @CaffeinatedBookDragon @pluralistic no I'm "deflecting" because jumping to conclusions about who the shooter was is a totally different thing than what I asked about, gravedancing/gloating. If this is too much nuance, let's call it a day.
Computer programmer
"From what we can tell, Haugen works at Google. So much for "Do no evil."" – Kent Anderson
Joined Mar 2023
