John Adams once wrote: “America … the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant.”
Unfortunately, this week, the “grand scene and design in Providence [R.I.]” “illuminated” rather than eliminated the ignorance of our times. Liberals in that city, including the mayor Brett Smiley, demanded the removal of a mural in the memory of Iryna Zarutska, a young woman murdered on a train. Unlike memorials to figures like George Floyd or others, a memorial to the young white woman was deemed triggering and “divisive.”
On Aug.22, Zarutska was stabbed to death in a random and unprovoked attack on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Shocking surveillance video of the incident showed suspect Decarlos Brown Jr. allegedly stabbing Zarutska in the neck before walking away. Brown has a long record in the criminal justice system with more than 14 arrests and prison stints of five years.
The mural was set on the exterior of The Dark Lady, an LGBT bar in Providence. The bar immediately became the focus of a cancel campaign and eventually caved.
Providence’s Democrat Mayor Brett Smiley then joined the mob and denounced the mural to Zarutska, calling it “divisive” and saying that it “does not represent Providence.”
He seemed to strike out at artist Ian Gaudreau and said that the city would “support local artists whose work brings us closer together rather than divide us.”
Providence is not the only place where these memorials have been defaced or destroyed. In Chicago, a mural to Zarutska was defaced.
Gaudreau lashed out at the campaign and the local politicians who destroyed his artwork as an attack on free expression.
Smiley and other Democrats, however, piled on the artist and the work as an attack on minorities and a message of white victimization.
Smiley told WPRI that memorializing this young woman is an effort of right-wing billionaires, and it found its way to our community.”
“I didn’t stifle anyone’s speech, it was his decision whether to continue with it or to take it down, but it certainly wasn’t bringing us together as a community…so I don’t think we’re a stronger, more united community because of this mural, and so I thought the best thing to do was just to take it down.”
What is most striking is how hypocrites like Smiley actively fuel this rage while insisting that they are the voices of tolerance. He and other liberals in Providence cannot tolerate even the image of a murdered young woman in their city.
This is a city that loves to repeat its motto, “What cheer, Netop,” the greeting from 1636 from early interactions with local Native Americans, meaning “Greeting Friend.” It seems the faux welcoming culture doesn’t extend to those with opposing views or different values.
If the mural is devisive it means there are two or more ways to view this poor girl’s murder:
1. I Support the victims of unspeakable crime, I want to remember her and prevent crime.
OR
2. I Don’t support the victims of unspeakable crime, forget her.
Smiley and the Providence City Council are gatekeeping monsters.
Take a guess how many people have also been stabbed in Providence this year?
They solve everything with speed bumps and tax raises. That’s the limit of their mental abilities.
Lets face the truth. These people are NUTS!
A young women who did nothing wrong to the world, yet libs want to smear her. But Floyd is a hero.
Yeah, and Floyd was murdered by a group of cops. All convicted of murder. Willfully blind eh?
Floyd wasn’t murdered by anyone.
Very nearly the first entry on the autopsy was “No life threatening injuries.”
He did have 11 ng/mL of fentanyl in his system and 9 ng is regularly sufficient to kill. He had an enlarged heart and severe cardiovascular disease with 90% blockage of some arteries. He also had an adrenal tumor and Covid.
Nobody killed that worthless thug.
Nuts, the word nuts won’t do. They aren’t within the spectrum of civilization. These are outliers and sociopathic.
The artist should do a mural of Devon Flanagan in her cute magenta outfit. She represents something for everyone: public servant, miscreant, redemption from sin. People will look up and wonder, is that Grace Kelly in a culotte?
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/03/02/r-i-prosecutor-who-told-police-im-an-ag-during-arrest-is-back-at-work/
Ironic. Socialist Smiley is a right-winger compared to the Ruthless Marxist Providence City Council.
Apparently the mayor and his triggered constituency see solely in black and white. The only part race played in the tragic murder of Iryna Zarutska was in her killer’s deranged impulses, which might just as well moved him to attack a bus driver, subway rider, or even a mayor. Had Mayor Smiley control over his own, ignorance-driven, impulses, he might’ve seen in the mural a message about society’s obligation to honor and protect the innocent and vulnerable from the dangerous and deranged.
That is precisely why the left wants it destroyed.
Of course they want it destroyed, it pushes their guilt for this horrendous crime and places it right at their feet. They know that we know that they know that this crime and all the others committed by progressive ideologies are the DIRECT result of their insane notion that criminals are to be protected from the consequences of their crimes because it would be racist to do otherwise.
If that is not the definition of insanity I do not know what would serve as a better example – oh wait! – sure I do; it would be their egregious sanctuary policies and their open borders policies. Why not face it; if a prog/dem is involved it will cause social, cultural, and economic pain but that is fine because we are in the process of “perfecting man” in our fundamental transformation of our nation – so everything is good.
Funny how you always rant about insanity… repeating it over and over. You are the perfect example of a hatemonger.
Just invectives and never substantiated facts to deny the above assertions. And why? Because there are NO FACTS to defend the progressive ideology. It is wrong-headed from the start because, instead of dealing squarely with human proclivities that repeatedly deny their ideology; they choose to just deny the facts and create a concept of “the perfectibility of man” through government agency. This is as close to communism/cult status that you can come. Unfortunately for the progs, they truly believe that their plan is perfect and, (just like their claim that communism works when everyone is perfect and on board with this notion) will overcome our natural inclinations and give up our autonomy for the “good of the communal society” and we all know that this never works but these poor saps have bought in to it hook, line and sinker because their progressive academcians told them so.
Wait a second. Your comments are always ignorant and brutal and then you whine about being criticized for them.
and your posts are always useless and without intellectual merit, just your typical, premade prog blather. Go away and pick up some basic traditional education as you sorely need some.
Whimsicalmamma, You’re making a grand philosophical argument about ‘the state’ and ‘communism,’ but you’re ignoring the most basic conservative principle involved here: private property rights.
The facts are simple and substantiated:
The Venue was Private: The Dark Lady is a private business. The owners—not a government agency—decided they didn’t want their walls used for a political campaign funded by out-of-state billionaires like Elon Musk.
No Government Mandate: There was no ‘government agency’ forcing a move. The Mayor expressed an opinion, but he issued no legal order. In a free market, a business owner has the right to decide what is painted on their own building.
The Art Wasn’t Banned: The mural wasn’t ‘erased’ by a regime; it was moved to Opa the Phoenician, another private business that wanted it.
You’re arguing against a ‘communal society’ while simultaneously demanding that a private business owner be forced to host a political message they don’t agree with.
That’s not ‘defending autonomy’; that’s demanding the right to use someone else’s property for your own political narrative. Which side is actually denying the facts of individual property rights here?
Have you not been following the kerfuffle that is going on in my backyard (Sackett’s Harbor, NY where the pretentiously prog mayor issued a personal proclamation that Tom Homan, who owns a home in that town, was not welcome to dock his boat or utilize any of the businesses owned by the mayor). We all agreed that the idiot prog mayor had the personal right to say and do what he wants with his private property, but the ensuing boycott of the entire city by the rest of very red Northern NY has caused financial harm on the other, more sane and conservative members of the town and their businesses. The actions of one person (think of that insane ad exec at Bud Lite) can indirectly affect others far removed from the initial act. The fact that whomever painted the mural, or who wanted it expunged, has caused distress to the left is indicative of the left’s unconcern for the feelings of crime victims and their pathological, and wrongly idealized protection of minorities based on their fear of being seen as racist. Let us not ignore the essential cause of this mural and ask just why the illustration of a heinous and thoroughly preventable death, has caused discomfort. Therein lies the reason that the progs are attached to a losing proposition that they cannot defend in the end.
Whimsicalmamma, It is a major stretch to compare a local dispute over a mural to the situation in Sackets Harbor, New York, where Mayor Alex Morgia (as a private business owner) recently declined to renew a boat slip for Border Czar Tom Homan.
In the Sackets Harbor case, the mayor was fully transparent about his identity and his reasons—citing a personal and business decision based on his own discomfort with federal enforcement directions. In Providence, the issue was exactly the opposite: the owners of The Dark Lady say they were misled by the project’s organizers and had no idea they were becoming a pilot site for a $100,000 political campaign funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe.
The “discomfort” you’re talking about wasn’t caused by the victim’s tragedy, which everyone agrees is horrific. It was caused by the deceptive tactics of the funders, who specifically targeted an LGBTQ+ venue to provoke a reaction they could film for social media engagement.
If this were truly about “humanity for the poor girl,” the funders could have spent that $100,000 on victim advocacy or a local memorial that the community actually wanted. Instead, they treated a private business owner’s property like a pawn in their national PR game. A private business owner exercising their right to say “no” to a deceptive vendor isn’t “Marxism”—it’s individual autonomy and the free market at work. The mural is now at Opa the Phoenician, a location that actually wants to be part of that campaign, so where exactly is the “losing proposition”?
If what you say is true then the LGBT community supports the killing, murder of white women. Ok.
Murals cannot be taken down and moved. The muralist must do the work again elsewhere.
X is without logic causing him to lie in use half truths. Turing test fail.
Thank you X, for the half truth.
In—> or ^^^
Misleading and deceitful characterization. I’d say there’s damages owed the muralist for work done. Damages in time and money
“the perfectibility of man”
You keep conflating that concept with communism.
The Founders, as with the Enlightenment and ancient Greece, embraced the *perfectibility* of man.
See, for example, Franklin’s 13 virtues — all for the purpose of achieving perfectibility. And the Preamble: “in Order to form a more perfect Union.”
You want to peddle the utter depravity of man — that’s your prerogative. But you don’t get to smear a noble concept by tying it to an evil political system.
What is incorrect about whimsicalmama’s post ?
Zarutska’s killer was with near certainty violently insane. We have spent more than 200 years trying to figure out how to address people with mental heatlh issues and we have nothing even close to an answer.
Regardless if whimsicalmama’s post is in error – how so, and what answer do YOU have ?
And who is it that whimsicalmama “hates” – violent criminals ? Don;t we all ? Left wing nuts who refuse to deal with violent criminals ?
Are you saying that it is immoral to hate those who oppose improved public safety ? Getting violent criminals off the street ?
John Say, No one is defending a violent criminal or ‘hating’ on public safety. The ‘error’ in whimsicalmama’s post isn’t about the tragedy of Iryna Zarutska—which we all agree is a horrific crime—it’s about the misrepresentation of why the mural moved.
Here are the facts that keep getting sidestepped:
This wasn’t a grassroots memorial. It was a $100,000 political branding exercise funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe. They didn’t choose a public park; they targeted a specific private LGBTQ+ bar to host a project promoted by figures like Andrew Tate.
The Bar Owners, not ‘The State,’ made the call. As private business owners, they realized their property was being used as a pawn in a national culture war. They chose to stop the project because they didn’t want their business associated with those specific funders. That is individual autonomy in action.
The ‘Answer’ to Public Safety isn’t Mural-Based. Everyone wants violent criminals off the street. But suggesting that a private business owner must host a billionaire-funded political mural to prove they care about safety is a non-sequitur.
The mural wasn’t ‘canceled’—it was relocated to a private business that actually wanted to participate in that specific political campaign (Opa the Phoenician). Why is the focus on ‘left-wing nuts’ instead of the property rights of the bar owner to decide what goes on their own wall?
X, do murals in Providence require permits? Anything else? All money is green. Perhaps the Clinton Foundation might have laundered it. Epstein estate no longer functions so can’t be that. He’s been murdered.
Back to permits? Maybe none required.
@opitmus40463 you have brains of coprolite.
Not optims… but your comment isn’t any better. Are they James F Joyner III? Whats the point of the suffix? You clown.
Telling the truth is insanity? Think about that for the next ten years.
We really do need to grow up in this country. The race of the victim is immaterial. The race of the perpetrator is immaterial.
What is material? A crimminal with MULTIPLE convictions and accusations was released back into society where he continued his crimminal behavior. THAT IS WHAT IS MATERIAL
PSA: With warning to blog readers and commenters, Turley has implemented a user blocking plug-in. You are being blocked, prevented from expressing your Free Speech. So much for Free Speech by a constitutional lawyer. Hypocrisy your name is Turley.
Just like the Nazis, the Commies, and the Democratic Party, Turley hates free speech. Why is afraid of free speech, he publishes lies and garbage, why not you?
Your post which is not blocked and remains up is evidence that Turley has NOT done as you claim.
Did you read what the poster wrote? Okay, stupid, as you say. The poster didn’t say it was being blocked, or did it? Are you paid for being stoopid?
Please READ the head post to this thread paying attention to:
“You are being blocked”
Turley is perfectly free to censor posts on his blog if he wishes.
I have seen ZERO evidence of viewpoint censorship.
Turley does have a published civility rule
https://jonathanturley.org/civility-rule/
That nearly all here ignore and that is only imposed against the most extreme egregious repeat offenders.
Neither the original poster – nor YOU have provided any evidence that this blog has limited you in any way.
There is only rare evidence that the civility rule is being enforced.
There is certainly far more freedom of speech here that any place the left controls.
“YOU have provided any evidence that this blog ha… ” Or have you? Amazing the level of stupidity of the bloggers here.
When you are going to quote someone – do so ACCURATELY
What I wrote
“Neither the original poster – nor YOU have provided any evidence that this blog has limited you in any way.”
Do not edit my quote to alter its meaning. That is called LYING.
Liars accusing others of stupidity is hillarious.
Funny, Turley uses a c_o_p to monitor his blog… b_lack c_ o_ p no less! B lack c_o_p to monitor and punish a mob of white crazies.
Funny, Turley uses a cop to monitor his blog… a black cop no less! A black cop to monitor and punish a mob of white crazies.
When did Professor Turley become the Congress? I must’ve missed that one.
Better said, when did Turley become a free speech champion. Answer never. Let him do what he wants, not much to see here with all those old crazy retirees running roughshod on everyone. Worse than my girls.
MaryG Turley has always been a free speech champion.
That you fail to grasp that is a disturbing reflection on you.
With respect to “old crazy retirees” – who here is doing anything that you are not perfectly free to do ?
Feeedom does not mean you can do whatever you want and no one can criticize.
It means that in return for being able to say whatever you want “old crazy retirees” can pi$$ all over what you say.
No one on this blog has more freedom to post than you. Some merely choose to excercise that freedom more than you.
Very strange Anonymous. Turley is blocking posts on this forum. Yet here you are posting umpteen times on this forum from early morning to the midnight hour. Anonymous so loves to be the victim.
When her eyes first open in the morning she sees herself as a victim. When her eyes flutter as she falls asleep at night her last thoughts confirm that she is a victim of the mean cruel world. The very essence and love of her life is her perceived hate for her by everyone in her little world. A slave of her own making.
Sadly Anonymous doesn’t understand that there’s more to life than spending her entire day slouched at her computer making comments on this forum. Her claims of censorship are just part of her victim fetish. First fetish victim. Second fetish MAGA. And her world goes round and round and round.
Thinkitthrough thinks he’s not anonymous? Yet here you are posting umpteen times on this forum from early morning to the midnight hour as as anonymous commenter. Fool.
Greybeard, perhaps I misconstrue your comment. If you should review my comments you will often find that after a few comments in the morning most times you will see that it’s not until the next morning that I post a comment. I post under one name only and then I’m off to pursue my passion for billiards which I can now pursue because I am retired. Your conspiratorial thoughts are only composed of what’s in your head.
Seriously, you think people want to read your nonsense? Get a life instead of wasting all day on the blog.
Read, Don’t – your choice.
GB
pseudonymity and anonymity are not the same thing.
IKs it necescary to explain the differences ? Or are you smarter than a 5th grader ?
You sound crazy for a misogynist. No, wait, you are a crazy misogynist.
Does Turley think that people are all warm cuddly on blogs? What a pathetic attempt[t at blocking free speech. No notification, just being a democrat Nazi.
Turley you coward. Next he’ll put tattoos on you like the Nazis did in the camps.
Evidence ?
Turley also collects and stores your IP addresses, any and all, personal info too.
@James
Again, that is not me. We seem to have a couple of impostors of late.
And no he doesn’t; that said, if one isn’t using a VPN and taking other security measures, that information is always available anytime one is online, to anyone, and your ISP absolutely DOES have and keeps all the logs and data. You are an idiot, ‘James’.
Too many people in these blue fever dreams are beginning to lose touch with their basic human decency, and that leads nowhere good. Again, my concern is where they go and what they bring along with them as things collapse under the weight of insanity and ideology and they flee their self-made hells.
PS – I always have the turquoise AV.
Wait, you think I’m swatting you. Please, don’t be stupid and territorial, you have no claim of any kind with that moniker. Ever think you’re not the only person named James on this blog, or for that mater, the planet? Actually, it’s not like you have a brand to protect, your comments are not that interesting.
@Gobbledygook/Anonymous/Gigi/X/George/???
No, I think you are the same troll or trolls that post over and over hoping to accomplish I don’t know what, and it is a lost enterprise here, I can tell you. Happy Easter. Hope you have something good to eat today, because we already have eaten your lunch.
After multiple years, surely someone knows they are wasting their money on trolling this site.
I am far more concerned about Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google than Turley.
And most concerned that government will confiscate information collected privately without a warrant.
@John Say
Always love your comments, John.
At this point I’d even say that it is all of the algorithm companies to watch, and they are legion at present; though Google will never be ethical, that is a given, Microsoft is a default, but clueless, and Apple at least pretends to care about privacy – the smaller companies don’t have any ethics or restraints and can do some real damage even after this initial gold rush to their technologies; indeed, when it shakes out, which it will, it might only then create monopolies.
And not to insult anyone, but if you are still giving Google anything whatsoever, I don’t know what to tell you. The cognizant abandoned them years ago, and no, you do not need to rely on them for anything beyond the duties of a job, which is still possible to keep separate from the rest of your life, even if that does not appear to be the case.
James – little that I disagree with.
BUT there is still a huge difference between the information we choose often without thinking to share with private actors, such as our bank or Google,
And Government stepping in and making use of that information – without a warrant – without having to establish ANY basis for investigating anyone or anything.
The purpose of warrants is NOT solely to protect our Private information.
It is also to preven Government from going on baseless fishing expiditions.
Sure New Jan.
This anonymous has brains of coprolite.
No. Just preventing you CCP spammers from your task of destroying America.
Funny, Turley uses a cop to monitor his blog… a black cop no less! A black cop to monitor and punish a mob of white crazies.
Funny, Turley uses a cop to monitor his blog… a black cop no less! A black cop to monitor and punish a mob of white crazies.
Hopefully this becomes Mayor Smalley’s legacy.
Sadly, we are so divided as a country and I don’t think we can ever come together again. This is so sad and so sickening.
We were ever together? No. Was any nation ever together. No. Human existence is a contrast between and war and peace.
We were together a lot more than we are now.
Only in your mind Jeanne. Time to grow up and face reality. Grow a pair. Act like an adult. Be an adult.
I am more grown up than you will ever be!
You definitely proved it with that comment.
You are ALWAYS so negative and are quick to argue, but you offer NO solutions or suggestions. If you were so brave and grown up, why are you afraid to give your own name rather than go by “SOMEONE”? You are a weak coward, with ZERO common sense.
You are ALWAYS so negative and are quick to argue, but you offer NO solutions or suggestions.
Well, let’s see, did you offer solutions, you were quick to argue. Multiple times.
Zero common sense you say? Come on, if you had any you would know better than to pick a fight. Walk away.
You are ALWAYS so negative and are quick to argue, but you offer NO solutions or suggestions.
Well, let’s see, did you offer solutions, you were quick to argue. Multiple times.
Zero common sense you say? Come on, if you had any you would know better than to pick a fight. Walk away.
Says ANON the eight year old!! ha ha ha
We are more broken and divided now than ever before.
Grow up ANON! Always posting useless/lame replys!!
He should do a new mural with the killer with his knife stabbing her has she cowers for her life.
And add a bit of BLM terror, a dab of antisemitism, and top it off Hamas logo.
Would you like that, George?
Turley claims Mayor Smiley “forced the removal” of the mural. In reality, no executive order, permit denial, or legal threat was issued by the city. The mural was located on The Dark Lady, a private LGBTQ+ bar. The owners—not the city—made the ultimate decision to halt the project after realizing the mural was part of a broader political campaign they hadn’t fully vetted. Expressing a political opinion about a mural’s “divisiveness” is a form of speech, not an act of state-sponsored “cancellation.”
Turley attempts to “rage bait” readers by comparing this removal to memorials of George Floyd, implying a racial double standard. This ignores the fact that Floyd’s memorials were organic, community-led responses to a local event. The Zarutska mural was an imported political statement about a crime that happened 700 miles away in North Carolina, placed on a venue (an LGBTQ+ bar) that felt the imagery was being used as a “dog whistle” by figures like Andrew Tate.
Far from being “destroyed,” the artwork found a new home. The artist was free to move the project to Opa the Phoenician on Federal Hill—a private business that welcomed the message. This proves that “free expression” was never under threat; rather, a private business owner simply exercised their right to decide what is painted on their own walls.
Turley is literally rage baiting. On Easter no less. Wow.
Rage bait you say? And what exactly are you doing?
Tell us George, what exactly your qualifications to expound on any subject here? Education, prof. experience, in competition with Turley, or just provoke people with your lies and and BS?
George understands baiting better than anyone. In fact, he’s a master baiter.
My qualifications? I have a high-level certification in Reading Comprehension and a PhD in Not Falling for Billionaire PR Stunts.
You don’t need to be a constitutional scholar to see the difference between a ‘government mandate’ (which never happened) and a private business owner deciding they don’t want Elon Musk’s $100,000 political ad on their wall.
Turley is an expert at framing ‘private property rights’ as ‘censorship’ when it fits his narrative. I’m just the guy pointing out that the mural wasn’t ‘destroyed’—it just moved to a business that actually wanted to participate in the culture war. But hey, if facts are ‘lies’ and ‘BS’ to you, maybe stick to the Turley fan fiction?
Raging again George? You should take time off, your comments have attained stupid level.
X, you contrarian weirdo, after 100 Floyd murals and statues why can’t you admit this isn’t devisive, it’s a memorial to a young woman killed by a guy your side released 13 times? Cripes man, have some humanity for the poor girl. What a political a* you are.
Why don’t you just shut-up – forever! You rage and rant like liberal, all day long, non-stop. Jump off a tall bldg. Please.
Hullbobby, I have plenty of humanity for the victim; her death was a senseless tragedy. The problem isn’t the woman, it’s the intent of the funders.
This wasn’t a local, organic memorial—it was a $100,000 project funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe specifically to use a 700-mile-away tragedy as a political wedge. The ‘divisiveness’ isn’t about her; it’s about a tech billionaire choosing an LGBTQ+ bar to host a project backed by figures like Andrew Tate.
The bar owners weren’t ‘the state’—they were private citizens who realized their business was being used as a billboard for a narrative they didn’t sign up for. If the goal was truly just to honor her, they could have done it without the partisan baggage and dark-money funding. The mural wasn’t banned; it just moved to a business that actually wanted to participate in that specific political campaign.
Turley left out a few pertinent facts.
George
Hullbobby, I have plenty of humanity for the victim; her death was a senseless tragedy. The problem isn’t the woman, it’s the intent of the funders.
____________________________________
BULL! Now you care where the money came from? Jezzz think for just one second. Musk was NOT born in the USA. So he can share his feeling on the death of a young woman. who did not deserve to die. Thanks you point you fool.
Go back to telling us how Prez Trump is going to keep the new 787-8 for himself…
Dustoff, you must be seriously confused. When did Qatar give Trump a 787-8? Dustoff, I assume by your call sign you know the difference between a UH-1 and a UH-60? Right?
What did Trump get?
He is seriously confused. Fact. Comments make zero sense.
The City of Providence publicly said that the mural had not been registered with the “Department of Art, Culture and Tourism” and had not been “officially commissioned” by the city. That is a veiled threat, whether you want to admit it or not.
Providencestan.
It’s marxist-speak for we want to control what is art.
Same thing happened in past communist revolutions.
That’s what’s happening in Providence.
So, keeping score, they got:
1. no property rights for owners,
2. control of art,
3. and so, control of political messages,
4. Anyone with a financial interest in the city is under socialist dictates.
5. People here start believeing art is only art if it’s “official”
6. people start believing only “official” politics is allowable.
7. best not to mess with the commies
8. Want your free stuff? vote for me.
9. People take the easy route and stay living.
RI is 56% Harris to 41% Trump votes. Kam-a-la got all 4 of the electorals.
C O N T R O L
It appears that aside from massive spin you are mostly factually correct.
HOWEVER, The artist did NOT put the mural up in a vaccum. Nor did someone pay him to put up a mural on someone else’s property without their permission.
A private Business owner DID decide to excercize his right to decide what was painted on his walls. He decided he wanted the Mural of Iryna Zarutska.
Then and only then did Left wing nuts decide to make his life miserable until he canceled contracts to get it taken down.
That is typical of left wing nuts.
You jump in noting the “Dark Lady” is a gay bar – as if gay people all think with one mind and all universally support the murder of women on public transportation.
YOU rant that the mural was part of some broader political campaign – as if that matters ? What are Gay bars only allowed to put up Pro Trans Murals funded by Democrats ?
Is this part of some broader political movement – certainly. Is it part of some broader political movement to deprive minorities of their rights ? Absolutely not.
The only minority “targeted” by this Mural is Violent Thugs.
Absolutely those of you on the left are Free to “pressure” the owners of the Dark Lady to walk away from their contract for this mural.
And the rest of us are Free to Question what the h211 it is you think the “broader political movement” behind this mural is advancing ?
It doesn’t make sense.
The “broader political campaign” is that we seem to have a problem with homicidal maniacs running around killing people and maybe the government should do something (anything!) about it. If that’s considered divisive by the left, then well I think they have pretty obviously chosen the wrong side.
UNLESS their voters are complete idiots, well, that changes the calculation doesn’t it.
John Say,
You’re missing the most important ‘fact’ in your list: The property owners say they were misled.
The owners of The Dark Lady didn’t just ‘cave to a mob’; they issued a statement saying they were never told this was part of a $100,000 national political campaign funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe. They thought they were hosting a local memorial for a victim of violence. When they found out their business was being used as a high-priced ‘pilot’ for a partisan branding exercise, they exercised their right to back out.
Is it ‘left-wing nuttery’ for a business owner to be annoyed when they find out they’re an unwitting pawn in a billionaire’s PR stunt?
And as for ‘who is targeted’—the local community didn’t object to a memorial for a victim. They objected to the political dog-whistling from figures like Andrew Tate who were using this specific mural to score points.
If this was really about the ‘poor girl’ and not the ‘broader movement,’ why did the funders insist on putting it on a gay bar instead of a public space or a business that actually shared their politics? They wanted the confrontation. They got it. And the mural moved to Opa the Phoenician—a private business that actually wanted the political baggage. That’s the free market at work, not a conspiracy.
You took Turleys rage bait without a shred of skepticism.
Please X – tell us all what the “broader political movement” being advanced by this mural that has caused you so much offense is ?
Iryna Zarutska was a legal US immigrant – those of you on the left claim to Support immigrants.
Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. is her murderer – A US citizen who committed more than a dozen acts of violence before murdering Zarutska.
So what exactly is the “broad political movement” that so angers you here ?
It is one of the core social contract obligations of government to punish those who initiate violence against others – a duty that govenrment FAILED misserably at in the Zarutska instance.
Is Zarutska a martyr – absolutely. She is a martyr to stupid left wing policies on crime that violate the social contract and leave us all less safe.
Please LETS have a public debate of the “broader political movement” behind the Zarutska mural !
John Say,
You’re asking for a debate on the ‘broader movement,’ so let’s look at the actual players. This wasn’t a local safety initiative; it was the ‘Pilot’ for a national branding campaign launched by tech executives Eoghan McCabe and Elon Musk.
Here is the ‘broader movement’ that caused the friction:
Weaponized Philanthropy: This is a coordinated effort to use tragedies in blue cities as content for a specific media narrative. If the goal was simply ‘public safety,’ the $100,000 spent on this one mural could have gone to victim advocacy or local policing initiatives. Instead, it went into a high-visibility ‘culture war’ prop.
The ‘Dog Whistle’ Strategy: Why was a Ukrainian refugee’s story—which happened in North Carolina—imported to a gay bar in Providence? Because the funders wanted the reaction. They used a venue that represents one demographic to ‘troll’ another, knowing it would provoke the exact ‘left-wing’ response they could then film and post for engagement.
The Andrew Tate Connection: The movement’s supporters included figures like Andrew Tate, whose ‘movement’ has nothing to do with immigrant rights or the ‘social contract’ and everything to do with a specific brand of hyper-partisan provocation.
The ‘social contract’ also includes honesty. The bar owners say they were told this was a memorial, not a $100k pilot for a billionaire’s political project. They didn’t reject the victim; they rejected being used as a backdrop for a political commercial they didn’t authorize.
The mural is now at Opa the Phoenician. It’s still there. It’s still a memorial. The ‘movement’ just lost its ability to use someone else’s private property to stage a fight.
What we have here is the Left coercing others on the left to toe the line politically – against a political issue that has 90% popular support.
God forbid that Gay Bar owners should be opposed to criminal violence.
You appear to be correct that nothing unconstitutional – beyond possible tortuous interference in contracts, occurred here.
But you are totally incorrect in your presumption there is nothing here to be upset about.
The right boycotted Budweiser over the Dylan Mulvaney beer cans. They were free to do so, you were free to disagree. AHB was significantly harmed and has not recovered.
The left is similarly expressing its outrage over a mural of Zarutska. They are free to do so, The rest of us are free to disagree. We are also free to ask – What is the “broader political movement” that you are so afraid of ? Zarutska is not some Nazi. Her Killer was not an illegal alien – though I am not sure why that would matter. Super Duper majorities of the country want public transportation to be safer, they want violent offenders like her killer to be incarcerated.
Please tell us what is the Message of the Zarutska mural that offends you ?
Please explain why a gay bar is sacred space that this Mural offends ?
You have made nebulous claims that some evil broader political movement is at work here.
Please explain yourself ?
John, You’re comparing this to the Bud Light boycott, but there’s a massive difference: Anheuser-Busch knew they were hiring Dylan Mulvaney. The owners of The Dark Lady say they were deceived.
Here is the ‘message’ and the ‘movement’ that caused the fallout, explained plainly:
The Deception of the ‘Sacred Space’: A gay bar isn’t ‘sacred,’ but it is a community-specific business. The owners agreed to a ‘memorial for a victim.’ They were not told they were the pilot site for a $100,000 national media campaign funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe. When they realized their business was being used as a tactical ‘pawn’ in a billionaire’s culture war without their informed consent, they exercised their right to opt out. That’s not ‘toeing a line’; that’s a business owner firing a vendor who lied to them.
The ‘Broader Movement’ of Provocation: The movement isn’t ‘public safety’—it’s performative conflict. If the goal was to memorialize Zarutska or improve safety, the funders could have put this on any of the thousands of available walls in Providence. They specifically targeted a high-profile LGBTQ+ venue to trigger a reaction they could film and monetize for ‘anti-woke’ engagement.
The Message of the Mural: The mural itself isn’t the problem; the packaging is. When figures like Andrew Tate—who has his own well-documented history with ‘human proclivities’—become the loudest cheerleaders for a project, a local business has every right to say, ‘Not on my property.’
No one is ‘afraid’ of a mural of a young woman. They are tired of billionaires using local tragedies as content for their social media platforms under the guise of ‘charity.’
The mural is now at Opa the Phoenician, an immigrant-owned business that actually wants to be part of that political movement. The ‘free market’ solved the problem without a single government order. Why does that bother you so much?
If the rage is not from the left – why must the mural be taken down ?
It is not the right wing mayor that is demanding it come down. It is not Trump.
No one on the right would be offended by this Mural being taken down – except that the mural is being taken down because those of you on the left demand it.
And you provide no clear explanation why
John, there IS a clear explanation. The mural was taken down because the property owners realized they’d been sold a bill of goods. It wasn’t a “government mandate” or a “liberal mob” forcing the issue; it was a private business exercising its property rights after discovering they were being used as an unwitting pawn in a $100,000 political branding exercise.
The owners of The Dark Lady stated they agreed to a memorial for a victim, but were never told the project was a “pilot program” funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe. When it became clear their bar was being used as a tactical backdrop for a national culture war—promoted by figures like Andrew Tate—they chose to opt out. That isn’t “yielding to a collective”; it’s a business owner firing a vendor who wasn’t transparent about their agenda.
If the funders truly just wanted to honor the victim, they could have placed the mural on any wall in the city. Instead, they specifically targeted an LGBTQ+ venue to provoke a reaction they could monetize for social media engagement. The mural has since moved to Opa the Phoenician, a business that actually wants to participate in that political campaign. The “free market” worked exactly as intended, so why is there still a demand that a private owner be forced to host a message they didn’t sign up for?
The removal of the mural is the face of the left and your face as well. You are correct; the leftist mobs pushed for its removal, insisting that no illegal immigrant, no matter how violent, should be spurned. So the community of leftists forgot the peaceful woman sitting there and canonized the violent killer in cheer. Leaders should know the difference between right and wrong, but Smiley is a leader who has learned how to follow the crowd, nothing more than a venal panderer for votes. He lashed out at the painter rather than the killer and represented the city at its worst; a deranged city and a depraved people.
S. Meyer,
Wow, that’s a lot of fan fiction to pack into one comment.
First off, the killer was a U.S. citizen, not an illegal immigrant, but why let a pesky fact like “citizenship” get in the way of a good rant? No one is “canonizing” a murderer; they’re just not interested in a $100,000 political ad funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe being slapped onto a private business under false pretenses.
It’s hilarious that you’re calling Mayor Brett Smiley a “panderer” for agreeing with the actual property owners who felt misled by the project’s backers. I thought you guys loved private property rights? Or does that only apply when the business owner agrees with your favorite billionaire’s “pilot program”?
The mural wasn’t “banned”—it just moved to Opa the Phoenician because the original venue didn’t want to be a tactical pawn for Andrew Tate’s social media engagement. But please, tell us more about this “depraved city” while you ignore the fact that the free market literally just relocated the art to someone who actually wanted it.
Do you want to see the actual arrest records for the killer so you can stop spreading the “illegal immigrant” myth, or is the “rage bait” narrative more comfortable?
GSX is correct. The killer, Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., acted in a way that many illegal alien criminals have been acting, and the authorities treated him the same. Like many illegals, he was arrested many times; in his case, 14 times. Also, like many of our illegal criminals who GSX cherishes, he had a large rap sheet; a conviction for a robbery with a dangerous weapon, convictions or charges for felony larceny, breaking-and-entering with communication threats. He sounds so much like those illegal aliens some sent here directly from their jails and insane asylums.
Notably, the authorities had warnings of severe mental health issues, and his mother wanted an involuntary psychiatric commitment. He also had convictions or charges for felony larceny, breaking-and-entering, and communicating threats. Months before, he was arrested and let go by a judge, a controversial decision that many left-wing judges do. I am sorry, GSX, that I made the mistake, but I am pointing to all those illegal immigrants and American citizens who were inadequately managed by our legal system. You side with the killers, never the innocent Americans soe of whom are women and children; even as in this case, immigrants. That is why so many look at you as a horrible human being.
“No one is “canonizing” a murderer; “
You do almost every day or week. How many innocent American deaths have you mourned on the blog that were killed by illegal immigrants? None, but you mourn their removal and incarceration. You side with killers. Could that be the way you get your jollies?
“It’s hilarious that you’re calling Mayor Brett Smiley a “panderer” for agreeing with the actual property owners”
Hillarious, when an innocent death leads to a pandering mayor? You are one sick person.
“The mural wasn’t “banned”—it just moved”
The people can do what they wish, but a leader makes sure his followers do the right things, and do not act like thugs. Are you a thug?
I wonder why anyone talks to you as if you are normal when what we see is a mendacious supporter of criminals and killers who gets his jollies from the deaths of innocent American women and children considering all those heinous acts, hilarious.
S. Meyer, It’s interesting that while you admit you were “mistaken” about the killer being an illegal immigrant, you’re still using that same false premise to ignore the actual facts of this case.
No one is “siding with the killer.” Decarlos Brown Jr. is a violent criminal who should have been behind any number of bars long ago. But a horrific crime doesn’t give out-of-state billionaires the right to lie to a private business owner about what they’re painting on their walls.
Here is the “reality” you’re calling “thuggish”:
The Owners Were Deceived:
The owners of The Dark Lady agreed to a memorial. They were not told it was a $100,000 political “pilot program” funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe. When they found out they were being used as a tactical backdrop for a national culture war—coordinated on X by people who don’t live in Providence—they exercised their private property rights and said no.
The Mayor Supported the Property Owner:
You’re calling the Mayor a “panderer” for agreeing with a local business owner’s right to not be exploited by a tech mogul’s PR stunt. I thought the right was all about protecting small businesses from “elites”?
The Mural Still Exists:
If the goal was truly to “honor the girl,” the mission was accomplished. The mural moved to Opa the Phoenician, a business that actually wanted to participate in the campaign. The “free market” provided a solution, yet you’re still here acting as if the art was “erased” by a “thug.”
You’re so focused on “jollies” and “heinous acts” that you’re missing the irony: you are demanding that a private citizen be forced to host a political message they didn’t sign up for. That’s not “leadership”—it’s an attack on individual autonomy.
Since you’re so concerned with “mentally ill people being let go,” would you like to discuss the actual North Carolina laws that allowed a U.S. citizen with 14 arrests to stay on the street, or is it easier to just keep blaming “illegal immigrants” and “mobs” in Rhode Island?
“while you admit you were “mistaken” about the killer being an illegal immigrant,”
That has nothing to do with my reply. For you to suggest so is plain ignorant and lacks class.
“No one is “siding with the killer.”
The actions are political, and those political actions side with the killer and every killer permitted to do so by lefties like you and the Democrat Party. You shoulder the blame, and only ignorance prevents you from understanding that.
“The Owners Were Deceived” was an excuse after the fact. Your claim that Musk was financially involved is no different than a few of the people who started the hate and are funded and supported by the left. Your obstinate denial of leftist intervention in all these things reflects ignorance, or you choose a dirty side to be involved with. You choose killers over innocents, and that makes you a miserable human being. The mayor pandared, and you are dirty. Excuse me for leaving your post early, but being around your filth tells me I need a shower.
Interesting how Meyer always resorts to irrelevancies and personal attacks and insults when he suddenly realizes he is wrong. He admits he was wrong in stating that the killer was an “illegal immigrant”, but nevertheless doubles down and responds that the killer was “acting” like a an illegal immigrant, and therefore this somehow proves that he is actually right. And then he extends this insanity to claim that X shoulders the blame for what happened to this poor woman. Extraordinarily disturbed thinking.
He never lets actual facts get in the way of his rants, and when proven wrong his only response is to resort to insults. Obviously a very unstable and deeply disturbed character.
“but nevertheless doubles down and responds that the killer was “acting” like a an illegal immigrant,”
Yes, and that is why some of the news outlets referred to him as an illegal immigrant.
You have nothing left to say, and yes, GSX, lefties, Democrats, and you create an environment where many of these preventable deaths could have been prevented. Let me say it again since GSX is listening. GSX is a horrible person whose affinities kill and maim innocents. There, now you can go to sleep following my affirmation of what I said earlier.
No news organization reported that DeCarlos Brown was an illegal immigrant.
Some news outlets, most prominently Fox, deliberately tried to conflate the killing of Iryna Zarutska in August with another killing on the same transit train in December by Oscar Solarzano, an actual illegal immigrant, months later in December. Fox ran the story about this killing in December and included a reference to the killing of Iryna Zarutska, along with the security camera photo of her being assaulted. They did not explicitly state that DeCarlos Brown was an illegal immigrant, but by making a reference to him in a completely unrelated killing, and publishing the image of Iryna Zarutska in the report of a completely unrelated crime, they clearly intended to conflate the two stories in a way to inflame idiots like you, who fell for the comparison.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/charlotte-hit-another-light-rail-stabbing-suspect-identified-previously-deported-illegal-immigrant
I also find your comment that “I can go to sleep now” quite interesting. You clearly assume that I am in the Eastern Time zone like you. However, where I live it is still bright and sunny out, and I won’t be eating dinner for a couple of hours. This indicates a certain narrowness of thought that explains why you are so easily convinced by false stories, and are unable to engage in rational thought. You assume that most people are like you in the opinions that you hold, and even that most people live where you live. This is classic Dunning-Kruger effect, whereby you falsely believe that your opinions are representative of the vast majority of the population.
Everyone knows X is here to post his idiotic take of obvious stuff. Why? Making up stuff, that’s why.
In Providence, property owners and landlords feel the weight and power of the evil socialists running this place heavily.
The mayor being displeased is more than enough to get ANY property owner to cower and comply and this was in fact the pressure exerted in this case. It worked and it always does in Providence. Rights? They will find a way around that.
Ask the natives what their “What Cheer?” friendliness got them around here. NO cheer.
Of course X spouts off like he almost believes his propaganda.
So what? MAGAs are triggered by rainbow flags and the notion that slavery and racism existed in the US.
I do not see MAGA Mayors trying to take down Rainbow flags
I do not see any evidence that MAGA is “triggered”
by Rainbow flags.
No one – MAGA or otherwise doubts the past existance of Slavery and Racism in the US.
But Unlike those on the left – most of us Grasp that Slavery which has existed everywhere in the world since Humans first gathered in tribes,
was Ended FIRST by those in the WEST – the Anglo Sphere, by the British in 1833 and by the US a few decades later.
Slavery in much of the rest of the world was not ended until much later. The US and UK Navies were nearly solely responsible for ending the international african slave trade – though it continued overland to the mideast for nearly a century. Even today slavery exists in some arab countries, and virtual slavery in significant parts of the world.
As to Racism – the US is the most diverse country int he world. Whatever you may think of American racism – The US has been and remains the least racist country in the world.
There are very very few actually diverse countries in the world. Most of the world is 90+% one race or another, often 90+% one race one ethnicity, one religion, one denomination.
Western countries that looked down on the US for its supposed Racism in the 20th century are finding that allowing as little as 10% immigrants – often immigrants who are NOT from substantially different races, is tearing their countries apart. Sweden and Denmark went from the most liberal immigration policies in Europe to deporting immigrants who are naturalized citizens.
Absolutely racism exists – everywhere in the world.
If you are lookin for the country with the most diversity and the least racism – that is beyond any doubt – the US.
If you are looking for the country with the greatest oportunity – without regard for your race ethinicity, …. that is the US.
Poor Minorities – even illegal immigrants who are being taken advantage of are better off than most of the people in the world.
Despite your rants about past slavery and past and present racism – people want to come to the US more than anywhere in the world.
That is an impressive historical lecture, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the private property rights of a bar owner in Providence.
You are lecturing about the “Anglo-sphere” and the history of the slave trade to avoid the very modern reality of this case: A small business owner was misled.
The owners of The Dark Lady didn’t pull the mural because they “hate the West” or “deny history.” They pulled it because they were told it was a local memorial, only to find out it was a $100,000 political branding exercise funded by Elon Musk and Eoghan McCabe and promoted by Andrew Tate.
In the “greatest country in the world” that you’re praising, we have a little thing called informed consent. A business owner has the right to decide they don’t want their walls used as a tactical backdrop for a billionaire’s social media “pilot program.” If a vendor lies to a business about who is cutting the checks and what the “message” is, the business has every right to fire them.
The mural wasn’t “banned” by a Marxist regime; it moved to Opa the Phoenician, a business that actually wanted to be part of that specific political campaign. That is the free market and individual autonomy in action. Why are you arguing against a private owner’s right to control their own property while claiming to defend American values?
You’re a libertarian. You should have recognized the issue for what it really is. But your need to blame the left for everything seems to have clouded your judgement.
The rainbow is in the Book of Genesis. It doesn’t mean what you think it means.
Danny, There has been no slavery in the US for nearly 200 years – Slavery in the US ended long before nearly all the rest of the world.
Why is past Slavery some concern of yours. Why is past or Present racism some great fixation of yours ?
Instititional racism in the US is gone – and has been for a long time.
If you are poor and black in the US – you will likely reach middle class by your middle ages.
If you are in the 4th Quintile in the US – you have a higher standard of living than most of europe.
Whatever your race, if you finish High School, Avoid crime, avoid drugs, get a job – even a crappy one and keep it.
Do not get married until you can afford to, do not have children until you can afford to raise a family,
You will do remarkably well in this country. You will raise yourself atleast 3 quintiles by middle ages.
Race, sex, sexual orientation, myriads of other “minority” identifiers are the least significant factors in the US to your future.
Is Racism still real ? Absolutely. Most people throughout the entire world all other things being equal prefer those who are most similar to them.
And that is NEVER changing.
We prefer people from the same church, social circles, civic organizations, ….
We mostly prefer those in our family to those not.
Preference for people who share things with us is near universal among humans.
Danny is a victim in his own eyes and needs to lash out and find someone to blame for his own ineffectiveness.
He can’t blame the thousands of white men who gave their lives to free the slaves so he’s gotta find someone…
Danny
slavery and racism existed in the US.
__________________________
Have you not learned anything? ( slavery and racism existed everywhere in the world) and still does today.
Look what Prez Obama did to Syria. They are now a (black) slave trader nation. Yeah, a black Prez did that.
You do not know MAGA if it bit you
I shoot every MAGA before it gets even close. I am a patriot who loves the US.
I guess I would wonder what kind of mural wound be in place in Providence, Rhode R.I., if the victim in Charlotte had been Brett Smiley’s daughter and not some unknown immigrant from the Ukraine trying to escape the destruction of her homeland. God forbid that we be reminded of policy failures that lead to people’s deaths on the streets where they live.
Excuse me, think you can focus on today’s piece, instead of making this about you?
Could the “offensive” nature of the mural be because it evokes the realization that the criminal who killed Iryna was the product of North Carolina Democrat policies that enabled repeat offenders like Iryna’s killer to freely roam the streets to commit more crimes? That Democrat policy in Charlotte was not interfered with, or hindered by, the former state Attorney General and now Governor, Josh Stein, and former Governor, Roy Cooper, currently running for U.S. Senate. Providence Democrat mayor Brett Smiley should forever be known as “Mayor Smiley the Spineless”.
It helps when you resound to a person posting. To use their name (Ano)
” calling it “divisive” and saying that it “does not represent Providence.” No issue with that, its a mayor doing what is right for all. Want to mourn the girl, do it in the privacy of the internet. Yuck, yuck.
Zarutska was an innocent murder victim. Does she deserve memorialized ? Probably not. Is doing so a huge deal ? Absolutely not.
If people wish to post a mural of her – that is their business – they can mourn her in private, in public, in marches and in murals.
If you do not like that – you can portest.
George Floyd was a criminal and drug addict who overdosed by eating his own stash, and likely that of his dealer.
All over the country left wing nuts and celebrate him as some kind of martyr – which he most definitely was not.
Those of you on the left are perfectly free to privately or publicly mourn his self inflicted death. You are free to beleive whatever delusions you wish.
You can create murals have marches engage in protests.
Those are all your rights.
Just as the people who want a mural to Zarutska. Zero difference.
What should NOT be done – is for govenrment to take any sides in this.
Government should not fund Floyd or Zarutska murals – nor should it prohibit either.
I have no idea if the Zarutska is actually some right wing Billionaires whim or if it is funded grass roots.
Nor do I care.
It is GOVERNMENT that must stay out of free expression – both in terms of censoring it as it is doing here, or advocating for it, as it has done with Flody and other left wing nuts.
Post your replys in the privacy of your mind ANON! yuck yuck
I believe the vast majority of his citizens want public safety in their city, certainly a higher percentage than citizens who support ongoing No Kings or anti-ICE rallies.
It would be of great interest to me if someone would write an objective, detailed, account about how Rhode Island made the transition from being a refuge for mafioso, as it appeared to be in the 1960s and early 1970s, to a Marxist enclave. It almost seems as if it has somehow become the ultimate destination for those M@$$h013$ who have found that even the communist dynamic of their native state moves too slowly, and is insufficient to their wishes.
This is why liberals are just another parasite. They aren’t interested in staying with their own kind, they want to move to where you are because they want your stuff. This is why breaking the country into various pieces along political lines wouldn’t work. Liberals would have no interest in staying in those areas, among other liberals. They want, even need, others to pay for their stuff. Once they’re done taking all they can, they move somewhere else. How long before the top taxpayers leave NYC? When they’re gone who’s left to pay the bills?
Ah the first actual Soviet State of America – Rhode Island. The woke mob has decided the murder of certain persons shall not receive attention unless it feeds the narrative of the mob. Hmmm, so ‘red’ states are free to destroy and remove St George Floyd murals and tributes, right? Let’s get the paint buckets out once we have a big enough crowd of pitchforks and torches!
You MAGAOts and your pathological fixation with commies…
Given that the left is no longer hiding its marxism – seems the rights concerns – all the way back to Sen. MacXarthy are proven correct.
What is really disturbing is that anyone with half a brain could be a marxist or frankly lean left at all.
We once again face serious problems with healthcare costs – I though the left had fixed that in 1965 ? and … ? and …. ? and with PPACA/OObamacare ?
Centuries old laws of economics predict the various ways that your policies will fail – as they ALWAYS do, but once started we are Stuck with the nonsense foist on us by the left.
Left wing nuts then blame republicans for not fixing the stupid policies that the Left implemented.
It does not matter whether you call yourselves Marxists, or communists or socialists.
The correct label is ignorant of the laws of economics and the history that repeatedly proves them.
I don’t think you are going to persuade anyone leaning left to your views by insulting them.
So ?
I would suggest rereading my post.
The PRIMARY insult I throw at the left is being disconnected from reality.
If that offends you – that is YOUR problem.
The more disconnected from reality you are – the more you will fail. Do I need to explain that too you ?
I can not help it that you choose to be insulted by exposure to reality.
A man said to the universe:
“Sir, I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”
John Say, It’s impressive how you managed to jump from a local dispute over a mural to Senator McCarthy and the collapse of healthcare in one go.
But if we’re talking about the “laws of economics,” let’s look at the most basic one: private property rights.
The “Marxism” you’re seeing here is actually just a private business owner deciding what happens on their own walls. The owners of The Dark Lady weren’t “seizing the means of production”; they were firing a vendor. They agreed to a memorial, but when they found out they were being used as a $100,000 political billboard for out-of-state billionaires like Elon Musk, they exercised their right to opt out.
Is it “Communist” now for a small business owner to refuse to be a pawn in a billionaire’s branding exercise? Because usually, that’s called capitalism.
The mural wasn’t banned by the government; it moved to Opa the Phoenician, a business that actually wanted to participate in that campaign. The free market provided a solution, the art still exists, and the “socialist” government didn’t seize a single paintbrush. Maybe the “laws of economics” aren’t failing here—maybe you just don’t like how a private owner chose to use their own autonomy?
It’s amazing how the far left suppresses any speech it doesn’t like, any speech that doesn’t promote its false narrative. They only acknowledge, as Ilhan Omar implied, crimes by white males against minorities and women. Crimes by minorities against whites are ignored and buried. Just like the victims.
As if. There are numerous examples of the right doing the same thing. In Florida, officials have performative censorship down to an art — whether on campus or on stage. Take drag. As anti-drag bills became this year’s legislative fad, Florida joined the ranks of governments cracking down on drag performances. State officials dispatched undercover officers to monitor performances of “A Drag Queen Christmas.” Those undercover agents reported — in records obtained by FIRE — that there were “provocative” outfits, but “no lewd acts.” That didn’t stop Florida’s officials from going after the theater’s liquor license anyway. Not content to be left out, Florida’s legislature then passed a law of its own targeting drag performances — a law soon put on ice by a federal court. I bet you are all for banning drag shows because it is an expression that you don’t like.
“There are numerous examples of the right doing the same thing.”
On the scale of the left ? Absolutely not.
Tom Sawyer is not being Banned by the Right – it is banned by the left.
When we hear the left talk of book bannings – the missing context is that more than half of all books that are banned from schools are american classics whose portrayal of some minority or whose word choices are considered triggering by the left.
Dress up however you please – but PLEASE stayed Dressed.
The Florida “anti-drag law” – bars children from attending live sex shows. It does NOT preclude Drag shows. It does NOT preclude Gay or Trans adult entertainment.
It merely precludes bringing children to sexually explicit shows.
After a 2 year battle the federal courts have UPHELD the law.
If as you claim law enforcement is overstepping – is foreclosing free expression rather than precluding children from explict adult entertainment – then the ACLU or Fire should intervene. Just as they should be doing here.
Though I question your claim that the state is improperly going after an establishments liquor license.
I do not know about Florida but in most states children are prohibited from bars, and the “anti-Drag” laws prohibit exposing children to sexually explicit content.
What are children doing in a bar ? whether there is a drag show or not ?
Say, are you a drag queen when you’re not commenting?
No but why would that matter ? Do you think there are no libertarians among the gay or trans community.
My personal fetishes, as well as those of anyone else are irrelevant so long as they are not harming anyone else, and if they are zexually explicit they are done in private or audiences of only consenting adults.
John, Actually, if we’re talking about FIRE or the ACLU intervening, they usually prioritize protecting private citizens from government overreach. In this case, the “overreach” you’re looking for didn’t happen.
The government didn’t pull a liquor license or ban a book here. The owners of The Dark Lady—a private business—simply fired a vendor because they felt they were misled about the $100,000 political branding campaign behind the mural. If you’re a fan of the Florida laws because they “protect” certain spaces, you should surely support a private bar owner’s right to “protect” their own walls from being used as a billboard for a billionaire’s pilot program.
As for the “book banning” comparison, there’s a big difference between a school board removing a classic from a library and a private business owner deciding they don’t want Elon Musk’s PR stunt on their property. One is a debate over public education; the other is a basic exercise of private property rights.
The mural wasn’t “banned” from the city—it was moved to Opa the Phoenician, a business that actually wanted to participate in that specific political movement. That’s the “reality” of the free market. Why is it “Marxism” when a business owner says “no” to a billionaire, but “common sense” when the state regulates a drag show?
Drag used to be a risque, after-hours night club act, for adults? In that setting, no one, even people in FL, have a problem with that. Why do they promote the lifestyle of drag queen story time in elementary schools? What is the left’s fixation with involving children with this odd perversion?
It’s amazing how the FAR RIGHT suppresses any speech it doesn’t like..”, like on this blog? Scream em down, insult them, do whatever it takes… right?
Has someone suppressed one of your idiotic posts?
The reverse is done here.
I don’t know why white liberals have such a thing for BLM, or George Floyd for that matter. It seems that Black activists don’t like whites, no matter what their political badges may be.
Thing you ask? Compassion is a concept you obviously are unfamiliar with.
Each of us arfe free to engage in whatever compassion we wish.
What you are NOT free to do is FORCE others to engage in YOUR prefered form of compassion through government.
Putting the window dressing of compassion on totalitarianism does not change the FACT that it is immoral.
Life has far more inequities than any individual or even nation could ever possibly address.
I get to chose what issues I care about – just as You get to choose yours.
You can not confiscate what I would have given to Oxfam or MCC in order to provide school lunches in chicago.
YOU only get to decide how YOU engage in compassion.
You are not somehow a better person than the rest of us because you steal to support YOUR prefered causes.
WTF are you yapping about you lug head? Like Olly and George, you got something useless to add to everything. Go put on your drag stuff and play outside.
ATS – You claim I am off on a tangent – when my reply was directly on point with the idiotic “I am better than you, because I FORCE my idea of Compassion on others”
post, While your reply has no point at all.
Yes, I have something to add to the posts of hyprocites who claim to be better than others.
Read, Don’t – your choice.
Rant stupidly – also your choice.
Just as it is my free choice to point out how stupid your rants are.
As to your Drag remarks – Talk about WAY off point ?
I happen to be straight – like approximately 95% of people that the survival of the species demands, But I have no issues with gay, trans, drag, or whatever your or anyone else’s personal fetishes – so long as they are not indoctrinated in schools, or foist on children without the consent of their parents. Live your life however you please – so long as you do not harm others, and so long as you keep explicit adult content in the adult world.
Careful! That observation got Scott Adams (Gilbert) cancelled.
Don is anonymous. Let him rant, its what he does best. So much for Christian compassion eh?
A central conservative talking point during the Trump era holds that a conspiracy of liberal political figures, social media companies, and left-leaning academics have censored people on the right. Sen. J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) asserted the claim once again during his debate on October 1 against vice presidential rival Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota.
Since 2021, our Center has published extensive research that refutes the claim of anti-conservative bias online, pointing out that there are no systematic studies supporting the accusation. Now, there is new social science reinforcing our findings.
In a study published October 2 in the journal Nature, researchers from Oxford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, and Cornell made a pair of findings: First, supporters of former President Donald Trump and other conservatives are more likely to have their content taken down or accounts suspended on major social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) than are supporters of President Joe Biden and other liberals.
But that does not mean that content moderation — the human and automated filtering done by social media companies — is biased. That’s because of the second finding: The researchers reported that conservative accounts may be sanctioned more often because they post more misinformation.
Here’s how the study’s authors put it in their own, more technical, terms, explaining who and what they studied:
We argue that differential sharing of misinformation by people identifying with different political groups could lead to political asymmetries in enforcement, even by unbiased policies. We first analyzed 9,000 politically active Twitter users during the US 2020 presidential election. Although users estimated to be pro-Trump/conservative were indeed substantially more likely to be suspended than those estimated to be pro-Biden/liberal, users who were pro-Trump/conservative also shared far more links to various sets of low-quality news sites—even when news quality was determined by politically balanced groups of laypeople, or groups of only Republican laypeople—and had higher estimated likelihoods of being bots. We find similar associations between stated or inferred conservatism and low-quality news sharing (on the basis of both expert and politically balanced layperson ratings) in 7 other datasets of sharing from Twitter, Facebook and survey experiments, spanning 2016 to 2023 and including data from 16 different countries. Thus, even under politically neutral anti-misinformation policies, political asymmetries in enforcement should be expected. Political imbalance in enforcement need not imply bias on the part of social media companies implementing anti-misinformation policies.
As The Washington Post noted in its helpful analysis of the new research, this study “is not the first to find that conservatives are more likely to share stories that have been debunked, or that originate from fake news sites or other sources deemed ‘low-quality.’” The Post added that “one common objection to such studies is that defining what counts as misinformation can be subjective. For instance, if the fact-checkers skew liberal or the list of fake news sites skews conservative, that in itself could explain the discrepancy in sharing behavior.”
All true. But notice in the excerpt I quoted above that the study in Nature found that conservatives share more falsehoods and low-quality information online even when Republicans define what counts as untrue or “low-quality.”
The Nature study won’t end the debate about social media bias. But that’s because one side of the debate doesn’t base its case on factual argument. The fact is that there is no evidence of a systematic bias against conservatives online.
AI slop
Oh, that’s just Olly just warming up.
George just forgot to add his name.
ROFL
Extra Extra, read all about it, Biased left wing nuts studying themselves and finding they are not biased left wing nuts.
Extra Extra, read all about it, nut job, Say exposing himself as a left wing drag queen kook.
What’s suddenly wrong with drag queens? Five moronic posts ago, you were angry that they were being banned in FL. Now, they’re back to being left wing kooks. Talk about being useful idiots for the left.
You seem to think I care about your completely of the point attempts at Drag insults.
There is nothing left (or right) about most of my posts. They are solidly libertarian.
If some combination of genes or whatever it is that causes homosexuality or trans or drives sexual orientation or specific fetishes had made me that way – I would be fine with it.
What is wrong with you – that you think that this idiotic 4yr old nonsense is a reasonable form of discussion ?
Never read the Twitter files did you? It exposed clear censorship by the government and coercion against Twitter and Facebook
and apparently the terms of service say nothing about posting misinformation, so there is no valid reason for posts to be deleted
Easter Sunday he dumps red meat for the MAGAots. Have you no shame Turely? I wonder what Jesus would say?
As Jesus was a Jew who believed strongly in the moral tenets of his religion, he would probably say (to you): “”Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”
Seriously, are you that dumb to play the Jesus card? He would definitely probably say TO YOU: ”Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” Good thing we’re not neighbors.
The biggest difference between Left and Right is that when an unarmed drug-addicted ex-con who had once punched a pregnant woman was inadvertently killed by a cop of another race, there was rioting for days, causing a half-billion dollars in damage, with nationwide protests for months.
Yet when an unarmed USAF veteran was deliberately shot dead by a cop of a different race, there were no riots or even protests.
What is MAGA about this article ? I can not find anything on the right anywhere in the story.
Just left wing nuts behaving badly to their own.
We have a story about left wing nuts coercing the owner of a gay bar to take down a mural of a legal immigrant who was murdered by a mentally ill person who had committed more than a dozen violent acts before this murder.
There is a legitimate question regarding whether someone should be memorialized with a giant wall mural merely for being a victim – though the left makes victims of people who are victims of themselves.
Beyond that the only question is What has got the goat of you left wing nuts that this mural pi$$es you off so much ?
What would Jesus say of the left in this
Alas, alas for you,
Lawyers and pharisees
Hypocrites that you be
Searching for souls and fools to forsake them
You travel the land you scour the sea
After you’ve got your converts you make them
Twice as fit for hell!
As you are yourselves!
Oh, you want ‘facts’ and ‘reality’? Here’s the reality you’re ignoring: This wasn’t a local memorial; it was a $100,000 corporate pilot program launched on X.
On September 9, 2025, tech CEO Eoghan McCabe posted a call for murals to highlight this specific tragedy. Elon Musk immediately jumped in, pledging $1 million to the project, and was followed by Andrew Tate pledging another $1 million. They even set up a GiveSendGo page—a platform synonymous with partisan fundraising—to bankroll these ‘spontaneous’ tributes in blue cities.
The ‘broad political movement’ you’re asking about is a top-down branding exercise by out-of-state billionaires who used a private LGBTQ+ bar as a tactical backdrop for a culture war without being honest with the owners about who was cutting the checks.
The owners of The Dark Lady didn’t ‘cave to a mob’; they fired a vendor who misled them. They chose not to let their small business be used as a billboard for Musk and Tate’s social media engagement. That’s called informed consent and private property rights. If you’re so big on the ‘laws of economics,’ surely you support a business owner’s right to kick a deceptive political campaign off their own property?
The mural moved to Opa the Phoenician, a business that actually wanted to be part of the ‘pilot.’ The art exists, the market worked, and no one’s rights were violated. So, who’s the one disconnected from reality now?
so what! you are more obsessed about who funded it then you are sympathetic towards the victim
Floyd’s death was unfortunate, but he was certainly no innocent victim. I never certainly no reason for memorials of him to exist outside of Minneapolis
“The ‘broad political movement’ you’re asking about is a top-down branding exercise by out-of-state billionaires . . .”
You mean like the Soros Foundation and ActBlue?
I don’t understand why so many comments had to be made to correct you. One word, stupid, says it all.
Maybe someone like the one below will teach you “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
Pastor compares Trump to Jesus Christ in Easter prayers.
Did Jesus ever try to get a blow job from a thirteen-year old girl?
What kind of idiocy is this? You respond to a serious column with a non sequitur smearing Trump with a false charge because…why? The TDS is strong with this one.
It’s amazing how the FAR RIGHT suppresses any speech it doesn’t like..”, like on this blog? Scream em down, insult them, do whatever it takes… right?
Insulting stupid left wing nuts is NOT supression of free speech – it is exactly what Justice Brandies demanded.
The proper response to bad speach is MORE speach.
If you do not want insulted – to not say stupid things.
If you do not want called a liar – do not lie.
People all over the political spectrum are going to insult each other – THAT IS FREE SPEECH – free speech does not mean you get to talk and no one can point out how stupid what you have said it.
Regardless – some people hurling insults at their political opponents are correct, and others are lying.
Today it is most common to find insults from the left are lies, and those from the right are truth.
You can easily flip that – Don’t lie.
Do not make obviously stupid claims that your free speech is being infringed on because people respond to what you say in a manner that you do not like.
Your very idea of free speech REQUIRES Obvious censorship.
You confuse the free speech of others you do not like with censorship.
You are censored – when you are not allowed to speak.
When your murals is taken down.
Not when you are triggered by someone else’s remarks on your own speech.
Happy Easter to you too, gullible purveyor of lies.
I presume you were looking in a mirror when you wrote that.
Thirteen yo girl? What dystopian fantasy is this?
Realize that we have records of Biden’s interactions with Senators’ pubescent daughters on C-SPAN video.Joe can be seen grabbing them, sniffing their hair, brushing against the side of their newly developing boobs, and alluding to their budding sexuality to both the girls and their brothers. We can see the one girl actually cringing from Joe’s approach.
If Joe permitted himself these attentions in front of the csble channel’s cameras, who knows what went on behind closed doors?
Didn’t Biden’s daughter claim in her diary that he molested her in the shower? Isn’t that why the secret service was tasked with retrieving the diary? Seems odd they would have done that if that wasn’t true.
I remember when someone else got one in the Oval office.
Is that you Bill?
I suppose we will never know just what went on between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, now will we, so perhaps you are just living up to your reputation as a nasty smearing, snarky prog with cheeto dust all over his/her/its Che T-shirt.