08-03-2020, 12:30 PM
(08-03-2020, 05:14 AM)David Horn Wrote:(08-02-2020, 05:59 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: Not all quiet in Portland. Unlike the last few days, the violent people amidst the protestor ranks managed to set the local police off. AP reports.
Some people just want to start trouble, the cause being protested having little to no consequence. It's hard for the real demonstrators to police them, and it's even harder to invite the actual police in to do it for them. The French, with their centuries of active protest, call them agents provocateur. I find that fitting and accurate. FWIW, the FBI provided them during the antiwar protests, so this could have the Trump stamp on it.
A warning to people who exploit a protest to do something wrong:
1. The news media aren't your friends. They gladly give footage of criminal misconduct to law enforcement.
2. Protesters are not your friends. Some of them have cameras rolling to document police brutality and end up getting video of you. They see someone torching a car and think... "Oh, my God! I don't want someone torching my car! I brought Fluffy along!"
3. The local police might infiltrate a protest. I recall seeing that the San Francisco PD found its way into Gay Pride rallies... and broke off to bust the disorderly, often drunks who had nothing to do with Gay Pride. The cops often busted people who did violence against gays.
4. Legitimate protesters are well-behaved people. It's not that I define 'legitimate' by whether I agree with their agenda. Fred Phelps' Godh@tesf@gs can behave at times even the late Fred Phelps was extremely unpleasant and provocative. Assault, vandalism, arson, and looting are not acceptable behavior.
5. Agents provocateurs are to be avoided. They are trouble-makers, often professional in competence at what they do
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.