The Pop Corporation

Remember all those people, January 6th 2024, loudly asking for Mike Pence to be hung? Well, the right side of America’s aisle doesn’t because they’re once again up-in-arms (when are they not? Soft arses) because someone they didn’t like the look of said something they didn’t like the sound of.

The person in question is Ethel Cain, who is a super interesting musician with a very dedicated following who hang on their every word.

Cain – an active Tumblr user – wrote about all the furore surrounding the death of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and Luigi Mangione, “KillMoreCEOs”. This is a message that resonates with millions of Americans and people worldwide, but obviously, there’s people who have been horrified that anyone might take the law into their own hands.

The irony of that, of course, is the sheer ferocity of which so many Americans want the right to bear arms to overthrow tyrannical, powerful groups, you’d think they’d be up for a bit of action now and then, but no.

Of course, these things demand a nuance that no-one in the current climate is willing to indulge in because, we’re all tethered to clicks and short attention spans, etc. Regardless, the media at large was hamstrung by the need to appear balanced in coverage that was effectively about a new folk anti-hero.

Luigi Mangione was manhunted, arrested, and found with a manifesto and continued to be a symbol of resistance against a system that both sides of the aisle have strong opinions on. Whether you’re down for the way the conversation started or not, it was a conversation that most of America was ready to have, even if their feelings about it were contradictory and muddy.

Cain showed her frustration earlier in the month, saying that she wasn’t being “reactionary”, and that violence was “sometimes” the answer. As outsiders looking in at the US, you’d argue that this is the way they’ve conducted a lot of their business in their interior history, so that’s not a hugely controversial thing to posit.

“It’s simple – you make them fear for their lives and hit them in the only place they hurt or nothing will ever get done.”

Of course, Fox News was absolutely gagging for a boycott, because they love to clamp down on a bit of free speech, or rather, free thinking. Right wingers, trad media, everyone was having a say on it. Fox went further saying that Cain was basically a “terrorist” and that her commentary was “depraved”.

Fox talking head Guy Benson said: “You know who used that exact same mentality, that type of language? Terrorists. That is actual terrorism, what she’s talking about here – this should be a very clear black-and-white moral issue, and it is scary to see how much support that type of sentiment has gotten.”

Cain has written more about the criticism she’s faced, saying that this whole thing is not “a red vs. blue issue” and that nothing said is a “woke liberal standpoint.”

“Since when has “upholding traditional values” gone hand in hand with… defending lawmakers and oil tycoons? My family and I complain about the same issues at the dinner table. The men in charge better hope they can keep their digital smokescreens running as long as they can because the moment the rednecks and the hippies lay down their swords long enough to realise they have the same enemy, all hell is gonna break loose.”

You can read her thoughts here.