It’s been a rough day…
“And, in the end
The love you take
is equal to the love you make.”
Open thread.
ETA:
by TaMara| 86 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
It’s been a rough day…
“And, in the end
The love you take
is equal to the love you make.”
Open thread.
ETA:
This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Post-racial America, Republican Stupidity, Get Angry, Not Normal
Charlottesville police chief says violence was "premeditated," suspect is in custody https://t.co/rtTBkVpHdc
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 12, 2017
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Of 85 deadly US terror attacks since 9/11, far-right-wing extremists were responsible for 62, Islamic extremists 23.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 12, 2017
On the one hand, a national rally that gets 1,500 people is small. On the other hand, the ideal number of Nazis in the world is zero.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) August 12, 2017
Unidentified militia has arrived at #EmancipationPark ahead of the #Charlottesville rally with guns in tow. pic.twitter.com/zCLCBU78PF
— Craig Stanley (@_CraigStanley) August 12, 2017
David Duke now here in #charlottesville for #altright #unitetheright rally @USATODAY @RbtKing pic.twitter.com/au69sTiTlR
— Mykal McEldowney (@mykalmphoto) August 12, 2017
In 12 hours, Baked Alaska went from joking about using barrel bombs on civilians to crying like a baby from being maced.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 12, 2017
Neo-nazi Chris Cantwell, online: "“I think chemical weapons can do a great deal of good for mankind."
Chris Cantwell, trying that shit irl: pic.twitter.com/XeZ1YAAAl6
— Lana Del Raytheon (@LanaDelRaytheon) August 12, 2017
To those demanding photographic evidence of Nazi regalia in #charlottesville, here's what's on display before breakfast. Be safe today pic.twitter.com/sbdkgv9eD1
— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) August 12, 2017
Imagine spending $5000 on guns & tac gear for Sturmabteilung Rambo cosplay only to get owned by a park bench pic.twitter.com/TaEJ8Ill1i
— Local Milk Steak (@ZeddRebel) August 12, 2017
Pepper sprayed twice and spit on twice by Nazis as they marched passed me. #ClassAct
— Tom Perriello (@tomperriello) August 12, 2017
I was at Ferguson & Baltimore. Trying to imagine police response there if protesters had the artillery the #Charlottesville rioters have.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) August 12, 2017
I personally saw Ferguson police use crushing force against protesters for much less than what the Nazis in Charlottesville are doing today.
— caffe latte person (@AdamSerwer) August 12, 2017
Video of car hitting anti-racist protestors. Let there be no confusion: this was deliberate terrorism. My prayers with victims. Stay home. pic.twitter.com/MUOZs71Pf4
— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) August 12, 2017
Tough to call this anything but DOMTERR. #CarJihad — it's not just for Salafists anymore. :( https://t.co/d7nu7QuH3o
— John Schindler (@20committee) August 12, 2017
Back in June, Trump's DHS decided to cancel planned spending on deradicalizing violent white nationalists. https://t.co/KcFcATCCMy
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 12, 2017
It is neither unfair nor inaccurate to point out that the president has been tougher on Mitch McConnell than Putin or Nazis in last 24 hours
— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) August 12, 2017
Trump ignores reporters' questions:
-Do you want the support of these white nationalists groups?
-Would you call this terrorism, sir? pic.twitter.com/szXVWQMXe5— David Mack (@davidmackau) August 12, 2017
our president is always eager to point out that a boot might possibly have been damaged in the course of crushing a face
— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) August 12, 2017
The list of things Donald Trump is too weak and frightened to criticize:
1. Vladimir Putin
2. White Supremacists
3. Neo-Nazis terrorists— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) August 12, 2017
To be fair, condemning the only people who have ever given you unconditional love is hard.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 12, 2017
Loved getting this @wsj alert when hundreds of torch-wielding Nazis are gathering in Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/xpSMz6qpgC
— Nicolas Gonzalez ?? (@NicoSGonzalez) August 12, 2017
Open Thread: Quick Takes from the Thousand Thug MarchPost + Comments (118)
by Adam L Silverman| 69 Comments
This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Silverman on Security, War
It appears that Putin’s little green men are acting up in his other pet project.
#Donbas: battle alert has been called in #Donetsk, all leave pass canceled. Order from top. via @Eire_QC #Ukraine #Russia https://t.co/WJJfEogNt7
— Marko Enqvist (@menqvist70) August 12, 2017
Battle alert combined with Russian heavy equipment trains in the past week or so = all hell might be breaking loose in #Ukraine@20committee https://t.co/UiHI3InUbE
— Petri Mäkelä (@pmakela1) August 12, 2017
It is going to be a long night in Charlottesville – things will get worse after dark. But it is also looking to be a long night in Ukraine.
by Adam L Silverman| 185 Comments
This post is in: America, Domestic Politics, domestic terrorists, Election 2016, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, Not Normal
Earlier today at the rally and counter-rally in Charlottesville it appears that someone deliberately drove what appears to be a grey Dodge Charger into a silver convertible, which then rear ended a burgundy minivan or crossover SUV. From the video it appears that the driver of the Charger accelerated into the convertible. A number of people were injured.
Hard to watch. Raw footage of a car plowing into protesters in #Charlottesville. pic.twitter.com/aASpT2dfsT
— jordan ?? (@JordanUhl) August 12, 2017
In this second video you can see the Charger reversing at high speed and fleeing the scene:
Video of car hitting anti-racist protestors. Let there be no confusion: this was deliberate terrorism. My prayers with victims. Stay home. pic.twitter.com/MUOZs71Pf4
— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) August 12, 2017
Several state legislators, all of whom, so far, happen to be Republicans, have drafted and/or submitted legislation to indemnify drivers who run over protestors.
Drivers who run into protesters would be protected from lawsuits under new proposed legislation in Tennessee.
The bill offered by a pair of Republicans would apply only to instances in which drivers are “exercising due care” when they strike someone “participating in a protest or demonstration” that is “blocking traffic in a public right-of-way.”
A second clause in the half-page bill clarifies, “A person shall not be immune from civil liability if the actions leading to the injury were willful or wanton.”
The new bill is similar to one offered in January by a North Dakota legislator who said his mother-in-law’s path was blocked by protesters opposed to an oil pipeline.
“There’s a line between protesting and terrorism, and what we’re dealing with was terrorism out there,” North Dakota state Rep. Keith Kempenich, a Republican, told The Washington Post about his bill.
Similar legislation has also been put forward in North Carolina.
Drivers who hit a protester who’s blocking the road couldn’t be sued for injuries if they “exercise due care,” under a bill that passed the N.C. House on Thursday.
House Bill 330, approved in a 67-48 vote, comes in response to protests last fall in Charlotte. Protesters upset about the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott blocked interstate highways and other roads in the city.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Justin Burr of Albemarle, said drivers wouldn’t be allowed to deliberately run over protesters.
“This bill does not allow for the driver of a vehicle to target protesters intentionally,” he said. “It does protect individuals who are rightfully trying to drive down the road.”
The other legislators who have drafted similar legislation in other places have all made or issued statements similar to NC State Representative Burr that these laws will not allow a driver to deliberately target protestors. However, that is not necessarily the thinking among everyone. For instance everyone’s favorite “conservative intellectual*” got suspended from Twitter for suggesting:
Reynolds then issued a clarification on his website.
UPDATE: Ah, it was about this tweet.
Sorry, blocking the interstate is dangerous, and trapping people in their cars and surrounding them is a threat. Driving on is self-preservation, especially when we’ve had mobs destroying property and injuring and killing people. But if Twitter doesn’t like me, I’m happy to stop providing them with free content.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Was just on Hugh Hewitt talking about this. Since Twitter won’t let me respond to — or even see — my critics, let me expand here.
I’ve always been a supporter of free speech and peaceful protest. I fully support people protesting police actions, and I’ve been writing in support of greater accountability for police for years.
But riots aren’t peaceful protest. And blocking interstates and trapping people in their cars is not peaceful protest — it’s threatening and dangerous, especially against the background of people rioting, cops being injured, civilian-on-civilian shootings, and so on. I wouldn’t actually aim for people blocking the road, but I wouldn’t stop because I’d fear for my safety, as I think any reasonable person would.
“Run them down” perhaps didn’t capture this fully, but it’s Twitter, where character limits stand in the way of nuance.
The larger issue is that Reynold’s off the cuff formulation, as well as the clarification from his tweet got picked up far and wide. Here is an article on the subject be a member of the President’s 2nd Amendment advisory committee. While the article is fairly nuanced, the comments are, of course, completely off the map.
The problem with today’s incident is whether the nuance that is the signal has gotten lost in the noise that is the anger and hatred within the alt-right and this has now been socially learned as a definition neutralizing to prohibited behavior. It is important to note the learning component here may also include borrowing this as a technique from similar incidents perpetrated in Europe by those subjectively and/or objectively affiliated with ISIL.
If we’re very, very lucky this is a one off. If we’re not we’ll see a new form of socially learned political violence emerge here in the US.
Update at 4:oo PM EDT
MSNBC has just reported that one person has died as a result of the vehicular attack and a total of 19 others have been injured of the course of today’s events in Charlottesville.
*
More from the Charlottesville Rally: Improvised Vehicular WeaponPost + Comments (185)
by Betty Cracker| 296 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Assholes, General Stupidity
The governor of Virginia has called a state of emergency, and cops are trying to clear the streets of Charlottesville of violent Nazi troublemakers. Senators are speaking up, some specifically calling out Trump, who is quick to react to acts of terrorism in other countries, for remaining silent during this shameful crisis in America.
Melania Trump issued a mealy-mouthed, both-sidesy statement via Twitter:
Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let's communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence. #Charlottesville
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) August 12, 2017
Racist shitbag David Duke calls the hate rally what is is:
David Duke today in #Charlottesville talking how how the hate rally "fulfills the promises of Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/nvldJpykvA
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) August 12, 2017
Still nothing from Trump.
He’ll make a statement eventually — he has no choice. It’s possible his pea-brain is even now processing that this incident is too big for Twitter and he has to make a public statement on camera.
But it will either be as perfunctory and non-specific as the third Mrs. Trump’s in identifying the perpetrators, or maybe he’ll acknowledge the racism angle and remind us that he is “the least racist person you’ve ever met.”
He won’t say the only two words that would be truly meaningful under the circumstances: I’m sorry. (As valued commenter Brachiator noted, “I resign” would work just as well.)
UPDATE: So, he went with option #1 outlined above:
We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017
Shameful and wholly inadequate.
UPDATE 2: The shitgibbon tweets again:
Am in Bedminster for meetings & press conference on V.A. & all that we have done, and are doing, to make it better-but Charlottesville sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017
“Sad.” Yeah. Sounds like the press conference will be about praising the cops, as someone predicted in an earlier thread (“all that we have done, and are doing, to make it better”), and possibly Trump sucking his own dick about any federal assistance made available to Virginia.
Trump will almost certainly utter another vague “can’t we all just get along” statement. But nobody hold your breath waiting for him to name-check Nazis, racists, bigots and white supremacists.
I was thinking of my grandfather earlier, watching that footage of Nazis waving their flags. My grandfather waded ashore on D-Day at Utah Beach, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and made it all the way to Berlin without a scratch, kicking fascist ass every step of the way.
And now, thanks to the votes of 62 million flaming assholes, many of whom are the children of WWII vets, Nazis are marching through the streets of an American city, newly emboldened. Fucking hell.
by Betty Cracker| 188 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Assholes, General Stupidity
Here are some tweets from reporters covering the Nazi parade:
Violence erupts #charlottesville pic.twitter.com/yf9qUeGzX2
— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) August 12, 2017
Anti-Nazi protesters chanting, “We’re here! We’re gay! We fight the KKK!”
Thousands have flooded Emancipation Park and the surrounding area #charlottesville pic.twitter.com/shweXns1Cv
— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) August 12, 2017
Nazi scum chanting “Fuck you, faggots!”
You heard that right. They're chanting "Fuck you faggots." 2017. #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/pMwbSXZ3wW
— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) August 12, 2017
Militia goons surrounding a park:
Militia with semi-auto rifles surround the park (alongside cops) where the Unite the Right rally was initially scheduled #charlottesville pic.twitter.com/59FL4PfdRK
— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) August 12, 2017
Looks like it’s the wrong park too. Thanks for radicalizing these fucking geniuses, NRA!
Do you think Donald Trump will find a moment, perhaps on the golden throne, to tap out a tweet condemning the fact that honest-to-Christ Nazis are terrorizing an American city today? Hell no. They’re his base.
On the bright side, reporters are saying the anti-Nazi counter-protest is shaping up to be much larger than the Nazi march. Stay safe, counter-protesters.
Open thread.
This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Assholes, I'm Too Big To Cry/Hurts Too Much To Laugh
Going to venture a guess here… https://t.co/62oiWxCF2K
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) August 11, 2017
Analysts are trying to work out what happens to markets in the event of an all-out nuclear war https://t.co/hGEOi45G44
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 11, 2017
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Not The Onion — actually, the Washington Post:
President Trump on Friday assured the governor of Guam that the White House is “with you 1,000 percent” in the face of a threat from North Korea — and then told the governor that he’s becoming famous and predicted the attention would boost tourism “tenfold” in the U.S. territory.
Guam Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo (R) posted a video of his end of the call on Facebook, offering a candid glimpse of the dynamic between the two leaders…
Beaches like glass, Eddie. Beaches like glass https://t.co/xS3MIK1YUr
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 12, 2017
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Needless to say, I blame the Republicans.
***********
Apart from bad reboots (poor Charlottesville), what’s on the agenda for the day?
Saturday Morning Open Thread: How I Loathe This “Retro” FaddismPost + Comments (229)