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  • I'm sure I'd disagree with most of his voting record, too, if I looked at it, but that's of no importance in light of the fact that, as with Jo Cox, it's the murder of an MP. As we all know, 'democracy' isn't perfect/very good/etc., but it's still a hell of a lot better than Trumpism or Orbanism or Lukashenkism or [insert dictator of your choice]ism. As with the attack on the Capitol, murdering MPs attacks something that we must not lose to illiberal dictatorship, no matter how flawed it is.

    MPs are one of the more vulnerable parts of the existing order. Likewise, some of the Capitol attackers had in mind that they wanted to kill members of Congress if they could find them, which fortunately they didn't. As a historical side note, people sometimes claim that the Nazis came to power in Germany 'legally', i.e. by keeping to the constitution and laws. This is not true. Among the many illegal and violent things they did was massive intimidation of MPs.

    For all these reasons, one should condemn violence against MPs unequivocally, regardless of their political party.

  • Agreed, but you can condemn political violence without lapsing into hagiography

    So did you really object to it when people said lots of nice things about Jo Cox? I'm sure she was also vilified on-line by hate-filled people, but the mainstream media reaction seems to me to have been pretty much the same as with David Amess. Unless it's a serial murderer or someone like that, people try to say nice things about prominent figures who die. I'm not sure that amounts to hagiography. I maintain that the important thing here is to acknowledge the victim was attacked in his function as an MP. Everything else pales into insignificance.

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