• DragonTypeWyvernEnglish
    17·
    11 hours ago

    Gun-fetishizing fascists like to pretend they’re the “sheepdogs” protecting the flock from the ethnically ambiguous wolves. Or transpeople using public restrooms.

    It’s a whole thing, got popularized by American Sniper but Eastwood was just repeating some established propaganda.

    https://www.quotes.net/mquote/971176

    It’s dangerous and quite frankly patronizing rhetoric that fits right into that whole 3%er/Moron Abe mindset.

    https://loadoutroom.com/thearmsguide/im-not-sheepdog-shouldnt-either/

    You’ll note the author of that piece, even when trying to be rational and self effacing, just slobbers all over boots as he does it. I’m not going to hold it against a guy who gets it just enough to recognize something that’s toxic and dangerous when he sees it, but that’s also very typically the kind of guy I see at my range and they most definitely do not get it.

    • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      4 hours ago

      Wayne Kyle: Then you’ve got predators who use violence to prey on the weak. They’re the wolves.

      And then there are those blessed with the gift of aggression, an overpowering need to protect the flock. These men are the rare breed who live to confront the wolf. They are the sheepdog.

      Huh, how are these two different, Eastwood?

      This mixed metaphor aside, sheepdog ARE protectors of the flock by means of deterrence. They don’t attack wolves unless the sheep are in immediate danger. The problem is that fascists think shooting up a mosque, banning abortion, or deporting immigrants is ‘deterrence’.

      So, I’m in support of using their metaphor not only for progressives, but for actually using it in the logically correct sense.