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Rest in power to a real one. If you're gonna go out, best to do it for a reason and in a way that's hard to ignore.
well goddamn. Too early to tell but I hope I was wrong about news coverage / sticking power. I'm going to a vigil tonight.
If they actually report it like this during prime time that would be more notable. It's CNN so assume this was cynical, probably the presidential horse race needs some spicing up.
Based (except for the self-immolation, I'm so sorry for him and his family).
If you're in the US, talk to other comrades and figure out how you can make sure these words are heard
Maybe this is disrespectful, but has anybody else been listening to "Born in the USA" a lot since Bushnell's self-immolation? Given the song's themes of US imperialism and working class issues, from the perspective of a (former rather than active) member of the US Armed Forces, you know.
I dunno. There's just something kind of... I dunno how to put it other than "painfully captivating" about someone famous only for his death, especially when that death happened "right before your eyes" in a sense. This tiny moment when this soul enters our collective awareness at the same time as he leaves it, having chosen to dedicate that singular moment to what he stood for. There is only so much we can learn about who he was as a person before that point, and nothing more we will learn after that point because there is literally nothing after that point. It's like starting a book in medias res right at the end.
Sigh. I hope Bushnell enjoys the afterlife. Free Palestine; death to fascism, colonialism, and imperialism; long live the Palestinians. Though he burned himself and his death was very striking, let us organize and fight and let us remember the myriads killed in this genocide.
Born in the USA
This reminded me that the Rascal Flatts cover of this song exists and I must share my pain
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Huh seems they skipped the, "This Is What Our Ruling Class Has Decided Will Be Normal" part
frankly i hate the news on this. probable trans person based on their username. i dont like seeing our people kill themselves, its just bad and awful and i hate everything about it. if any of you fuckers get any ideas like this i will hunt you down
Yeah, when I read the CrimethInc article I saw the footnote that the e-mail they received specified he/him pronouns, and I thought, "That's a bit unusual for a military man, but obviously it's quite welcome." -- and then I kept reading and I saw "LillyAnarKitty" and I thought, "💔"
And so I feel kind of torn. Ultimately he did ask to be referred to with he/him pronouns and by the name Aaron Bushnell, and so I've respected that, but a part of me thinks that that was only because he didn't want to be remembered as a trans girl for the sake of other trans girls. To not have to hear news about one of our own dying, to not have media coverage distract from the potent image of a member of the armed forces self-immolating by focusing on that person being a trans girl. It's pretty fucked but... Sigh.
Their comrades will know. It's not enough but it's something. One day the truth will come out.
probable trans person based on their username.
That's what I noticed too when I saw the username.
The name of their Twitch channel is lilyanarkitty. This is the Twitch channel name they chose to record their final moments on Earth.
Lilyanarkitty
recently I heard on a podcast that someone who was planning to participate in "the shoe bomb" was stopped by his dad. who said something along the lines of "I heard people are talking about suicide bombing. if you commit suicide I will fucking kill you." and he was sufficiently scared of this he changed his mind.
I didn't even know they were likely trans and that makes it even worse.
While I do hope Bushnell's sacrifice spurs the world into action there's this line to walk when honoring it where you don't tell comrades, many of whom are struggling right now, to jump into a fucking meat grinder in the hopes it will somehow kickstart a revolution.
I imagine he was privy to a lot more than most people see, and most of what we see is pretty fucking bad.
He probably didn't see any particular imagery we didn't, but knowing the work you're required to do is contributing directly to the bloodshed would get to you
It's strange that they're doing this. It would fit the mainstream media profile more to just bury it under the veteran mental health label.
Any idea of why they're allowing Bushnell to be heard?
Please understand manufacturing consent. The media won’t necessarily bury the truth by failing to report it. They will just have one report about it and 99 other reports about how mentally ill he was, or “is Gaza a genocide”, or remind you about the “Gaza Rapes”.
Anything nuanced is simplified and anything simple is bogged down in nuance
because he streamed the video and the video went viral on telegram and social media, so it couldn't be hushed or ignored. they needed to mention it to tamp it down and get a narrative going.
I really think the biggest part of it is that he was in the military- not only does mainstream society see them as more credible, they're more involved in the genocide. They can't sell it as some weird hippy guy doing something crazy. And I think it has the potential to hit Biden so much differently if the momentum of this story keeps up.
Shocking things get views which probably outweighs the negatives of promoting anti-Israel propoganda. CNN also has the ability to spread the mental health crisis line far wider than any internet personality, which is probably a more effective tactic to undercut Aaron's words than just trying to ignore something so shocking, especially when other competing channels will be showing it.
Good so I know my parents saw this—since CNN is on in their house 24/7–and then they thought: “But this will make it easier for Trump to win the election!” Then they thought that all violence is bad, something that did not apply on 10/6, in Ukraine, or really anywhere else. Then, as CNN cut to ten minutes of pharmaceutical commercials, they forgot about it.
This is not a reflection on Bushnell obviously, I have nothing but respect for him. I just hate my parents.
The same age as Ned Kelly, and although Bushnell is famous for far less than Kelly, I can only hope that Bushnell's last words will ring as famously as the Jerilderie Letter.
