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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Repub Venality Open Thread: “Individuals Inciting Violence”

Repub Venality Open Thread: “Individuals Inciting Violence”

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  2. 2.

    debbie

    I don’t care how rudely this comes across (and I feel like being rude after all the crap that’s been going on in America), but Kelly, you really need a fashion consultant.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    WaPo and NYT both reported that tear gassing the Lafayette Park protesters yesterday was Bill Barr’s idea and done on his orders.

  18. 18.

    Gravenstone

    @Baud: Fall? He likely sees it as burnishing his hippie punching credentials. Regardless of whether he actually made the call or not.

  22. 22.

    Miss Bianca

    So, I’ve been keeping a lower profile on FB than I used to – mostly because as the government meetings reporter for my small-town newspaper, I feel a need to make some feeble pretense of “objectivity”, so spittle-flecked political screeds are a thing of the past except for my super-sekrit local liberal ladies’ group.

    However, “the spirit moved and I had to speak”, the other day. Not quite up to the standards of Betty C, Anne Laurie, or Tony Jay, but I thought it expressed my feelings quite nicely:

    You know, I haven’t voluntarily attended a church service in 40 years…but I was brought up an Episcopalian. And damned if Trump’s stunt of tear-gassing protestors so that he could cut a wide, waddling, unimpeded swath through them to hijack St. John’s, his minions and myrmidons bobbing in his wake like a particularly seedy collection of ducklings, all there to gape at Daddy Drake brandishing the Bible like he just had it ghost-written, just broke something in me.

    I didn’t think myself capable of being any more shocked, any more disgusted, any more infuriated by the Orange Shitgibbon’s antics. But this…like I said, this broke something in me. Proud as hell of the pushback from the pastor and her Bishop. Do.Not.Fuck.With.The.Episcopalians, y’all.

    It’s enough to make me at least *think* about reclaiming my do-not-fuck-with-me heritage and attending St. Luke’s this Sunday. Now, when the time comes, I’ll probably react the way my father did to the impulse to exercise – I’ll just lie down till the feeling goes away. So shh! Nobody tell my colleagues that I’m in danger of being a born-again Episcopalian!

    But fuck Trump. Fuck him, his family, his followers, and his low-quality hires, forever and ever. Amen.

  25. 25.

    Aleta

    This is the GOP campaign to reelect and  hold.   Making TV images, getting free advertising (like 2016), working the symbols that they hope will get out the single-issue vote.    Moving the media away from stories of the virus and their ongoing corruption.  I honestly suspect involvement of Bannon-like minds in steering some of the vandalism that’s been simultaneous in cities.

  33. 33.

    scav

    They all look plastic.  Entirely plastic.  Plastic skin and plastic joints in plastic clothes. Cheap-ass action figures and not at all collectable.

  36. 36.

    Cacti

    A week or so ago, I said lefties should be ready to fight in the literal sense for their right to vote this Fall.

    It was hand waved away by some.

    For those who did, are you still feeling confident that the Trump cult will go out peacefully?

  37. 37.

    Geoboy

    Did you see the film of him walking across the street?  There’s something neurologically seriously wrong with this guy.

  38. 38.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I think it was his idea and was done on his orders.

    Maybe.  Hitting the weakest person they can find is something a malignant narcissist does when they’re mocked.  But Trump is a world championship level coward.  He’s a coward beyond anything most people would believe, like being unable to fire anyone face to face even though he has all the power in that situation.  That has to be a major factor shaping these events.

  39. 39.

    Gravenstone

    @debbie: I believe Adam used the phrase the other day that his wrist was bigger around than her waist. Said right after begging someone to get her a sandwich…

  44. 44.

    scav

    @Baud: But then again, do we really want to see a more accurate representation of their bodies? Tailoring can only go so far . . . .

  48. 48.

    Mary G

    Here’s a real politician with guts:

    Crowd goes crazy as Senator Warren, her husband and her dog walk through the protesters in front of White House a half hour before curfew pic.twitter.com/YoVD58q288— Perry Stein (@PerryStein) June 2, 2020

    Masks and khaki shorts! Love her.

  49. 49.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud:

    According to LGM, W. issued a nice statement. 

    “Hahaha, most people have forgotten how terrible my war-crimes-committing dumb ass was!  Hahahahaha!”

    Fuck Dick, W, Donnie, Condi and Colin.

  53. 53.

    ThresherK

    @Baud:  But:

    Arnold was a brilliant general before he traitored.

    Booth was a fine actor before he got all Lost Causey. (I especially like him reading about Southerners mourning Lincoln’s assissination when Booth thought it was going to set off the South rising.)

    Trump shouldn’t have quit his day job, whatever that was. He was better at it than this.

  54. 54.

    Chyron HR

    @Cacti:

    That’s interesting, because here on planet Earth you got told to stop calling women “wh*res” and “c*nts” and whined that doing so was how you “fought to defend your right to vote”.

  56. 56.

    Bill Arnold

    So it’s probably worth being familiar with the United States Park Police acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan:
    Statement from United States Park Police acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan about the actions taken over the weekend to protect life and property (June 2, 2020)
    Narrator: There was no violence underway:

    To curtail the violence that was underway, the USPP, following established policy, issued three warnings over a loudspeaker to alert demonstrators on H Street to evacuate the area. Horse mounted patrol, Civil Disturbance Units and additional personnel were used to clear the area. As many of the protestors became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls. No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park. Subsequently, the fence was installed.
    Throughout the demonstrations, the USPP has not made any arrests. The USPP will always support peaceful assembly but cannot tolerate violence to citizens or officers or damage to our nation’s resources that we are entrusted to protect.

    Narrator: There was no violence, and he did not respect the protesters First Amendment rights to peaceable assembly.
    This was a show of force; as Putin instructed D.J Trump[1], “the word is dominate”. Protesters were dispersed on camera. Wannabe “dominant” male bullshit. Weak.
    The USPP made no arrests; they would have done so if there had been actual violence against their officers.

    [1] Demand a verbatim transcript of yesterday AM’s call between D.J.Trump and V. Putin!

  57. 57.

    Aleta

    Iirc, in Hong Kong, protest last June began against an extradition order(s) (one item on a list) but quickly grew  b/c of the harsh crackdown.   And lasted through the fall.  As people realized how much more was at stake.

    (And also b/c the rest of the items on the list by the Chinese remained  in place.)

  59. 59.

    Another Scott

    Former JCS Chair Mike Mullen at the Atlantic:

    […]

    I remain confident in the professionalism of our men and women in uniform. They will serve with skill and with compassion. They will obey lawful orders. But I am less confident in the soundness of the orders they will be given by this commander in chief, and I am not convinced that the conditions on our streets, as bad as they are, have risen to the level that justifies a heavy reliance on military troops. Certainly, we have not crossed the threshold that would make it appropriate to invoke the provisions of the Insurrection Act.

    Furthermore, I am deeply worried that as they execute their orders, the members of our military will be co-opted for political purposes.

    Even in the midst of the carnage we are witnessing, we must endeavor to see American cities and towns as our homes and our neighborhoods. They are not “battle spaces” to be dominated, and must never become so.

    We must ensure that African Americans—indeed, all Americans—are given the same rights under the Constitution, the same justice under the law, and the same consideration we give to members of our own family. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so.

    Too many foreign and domestic policy choices have become militarized; too many military missions have become politicized.

    This is not the time for stunts. This is the time for leadership.

    MIKE MULLEN is a retired admiral from the U.S. Navy and was the 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  60. 60.

    Aleta

    @Bill Arnold:  “Civil Disturbance Units”

    It’s beyond disturbing that their training or orders did not include the ability to pause to allow the helpers to leave (reportedly a priest on the church patio with the BLM volunteers flushing out eyes).  Just  kept advancing and lobbing.

    Sounds more like the mentality of an Army urban warfare operation.   Without modulation,  that’s a form of out of control.

  61. 61.

    Cacti

    @Chyron HR: That’s interesting, because here on planet Earth you got told to stop calling women “wh*res” and “c*nts” and whined that doing so was how you “fought to defend your right to vote”.

    I was told to stop calling the Washington Post a whore. The part about me calling anyone a cunt is you lying your ass off.

    Any other fictions you’d like to peddle?

  66. 66.

    Bill Arnold

    @Another Scott:

    The US Park Police leadership under Donnie does not deserve trust in their pronouncements.

    Yes, I’m just saying the right wing will be all “dumb liberals don’t think there’s a difference between smoke canisters and tear gas canisters”. There was a piece already at reason.com.
    The problem with this argument (if in fact it was smoke) is that the crowd has no way of knowing if it’s smoke or tear gas, because tear gas is part of the threat and has already been used elsewhere to disperse protests. It’s like loading a submachine gun with blanks and letting loose aimed over the crowed ; the crowd has to assume that it’s real.

  67. 67.

    The Moar You Know

    A week or so ago, I said lefties should be ready to fight in the literal sense for their right to vote this Fall.

    @Cacti: With what?  Righties have got most of the guns.  Either they go or they don’t, but don’t pretend that the left can “fight in the literal sense” because we cannot.  If it came to that, we’re massively outgunned.  That simple.

    This may well be the single most idiotic post I’ve ever seen here.

  70. 70.

    Bill Arnold

    @Bill Arnold:
    Also, other parties than the Park Police were involved. Including the Secret Service. Last I heard, the Secret Service did not deny using tear gas, claiming operational security prevented them from saying anything.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @debbie: To be fair, the one is probably being groomed as the replacement for the other.  KAC ain’t getting any younger, if you know what I mean.

  73. 73.

    Cacti

    @The Moar You Know:  Yep, keep shooting the messenger.

    I’m sure things will be better five months from now.

    If not, you can beg them for mercy.  That usually works well with fascists.

  74. 74.

    SFAW

    Just saw this on someone’s twitter thingy:

    Why’d the chicken cross the road?

    To take a picture with a Bible.

  75. 75.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Miss Bianca: I was thinking; great, something as WASPy as the Epicopalians is now on The Right’s enemies list.

    I now get the outrage in Iraq when a Mosque was boomed. This is like a repeat of the Iraq War, expect as a farce.

  76. 76.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Aleta:  No, the focus on the vandalism is just the presses knee jerk “Both sides do it”, the fact that the protests are just escalating and the Militia types are no were to be seen shows it’s not working.

    If the Trump admin was filled with people who are as clever as you are assuming none of this would be happening.

  77. 77.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Cacti: For those who did, are you still feeling confident that the Trump cult will go out peacefully?

    Have you notice the lack of Proud Boi’s, 4/Chan Ecil, Cosplay Militia  and MAGA hat counter protests?  Trump called for them to defend the White House from the mean black people and they’ve been a no show.

    You need to understand the wrestling term “kayfabe” because that’s what Trump is doing. This is all posturing from Trump.

  79. 79.

    Chris Johnson

    @Cacti: 
    Whoever you are, you could be saying exactly the same things if you were working from Moscow trying to heighten the contradictions. Sort of like the more cowardly version of undercover cops breaking the windows of Autozones to persuade people that the PROTESTERS are violent.
    How about fuck off.

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