The Partisan Divide on Issues

[pbrower2a]

(08-10-2021, 09:44 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(06-04-2021, 03:26 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Good use of the MAGA initials there! I think the number arrested is over 400 by now. Republicans still resist an investigation by a bipartisan independent commission to see who all is behind the attack and how it can be prevented in the future. They thereby support the attack and oppose democracy. Not voting to convict Trump, and a lot of them voting not to certify the election even after being personally in danger during the attack, is also an attack on democracy and the peoples' rights.

I had to check in to see if the blue population increased or if it's mainly the same old shit, different day. Well, it looks like it's still the same old shit, different day.

The fecal stench of the January 6 Putsch remains. Many people on the Right, especially the libertarian-leaning sorts who support minimal intervention from the government (which as much precludes crony capitalism as well as welfare) seem to be discovering that they have no political home in a GOP that has taken on many of the characteristics of fascism. 

I recognize as much as anyone that we all have the responsibility to create wealth, perhaps not ours, if we are to justify our own dignity as people. That wealth is capital that creates jobs and allows higher pay. It might not belong until we find that out the hard way should people start relying upon government to solve all one's problems from unemployment to traffic jams to education. Even if we rely upon heavy taxation to support a Scandinavian-style welfare state  such is difficult in the extreme with inadequate pay that allows people to pay the taxes that allow medical care and education for all. 

You have seen the stories of January 6, have you not? Have you heard the testimony of police officers beaten even with American flags? I'm sure that you consider such acts as burning, trampling, rending, or defecating or urinating upon the flag as desecration. I can think of worse, now: using Old Glory as a bludgeon against law enforcement doing its duty. 

Before you tell me that Antifa and Black Lives Matter are even worse... Black Lives Matters rallies were civilized by contrast. if you want to discuss local instances of looting, arson, vandalism, or assault, then people who took video (often with the aid of a cell-phone camera) of such overt crimes instead of police brutality (the police behaved themselves) ended up getting material for prosecution of violent rioters. Remember that news crews from the local TV stations typically get more footage than the station can use. The news media work hand and glove with police and prosecutors against crime, in part because trials and convictions for egregious crime are good material for news. 

One right-wing group involved in the insurrection, the Proud Boys, is now designated a "foreign terrorist organization" in Canada. 

Let's look again at the Bolsheviks storming the Winter Palace to overthrow a democratically-elected legislature -- oh, excuse me, Trump's people storming the Capitol to prevent a recognition of his electoral defeat:

 

Quote:       On January 6, 2021, many members of the Proud Boys participated in the storming of the United States Capitol building,[165] where some members of the group appeared wearing orange hats.[166] Some members wore all black clothing, rather than their usual black and yellow attire, as Tarrio had suggested in a Parler post days earlier, which prosecutors said was an apparent reference to mimicking the appearance of antifa members.[167] Analysis by CNN found at least eleven individuals with ties to Proud Boys had been charged by February 3.[23] The Justice Department announced on February 3, 2021 that two members had been indicted for conspiracy.[22] Five individuals affiliated with Proud Boys were charged with conspiracy on February 11, followed by six more on February 26.[168][169] Federal grand jury conspiracy indictments of others followed.[170] Federal prosecutors were considering whether to pursue charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which is typically used to prosecute organized crime syndicates.[171]


A review by the Wall Street Journal of social media posts from Proud Boys members showed that the group repeatedly invoked Trump's messages as a call to action,[172] and were disheartened by the arrests and what they perceived to be Trump's lack of action in the days leading up to Joe Biden's inauguration.[173]

On February 16, 2021, Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the United States House Homeland Security Committee, filed a federal lawsuit against Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, and Proud Boys International LLC. The lawsuit alleges that the events at the Capitol on January 6 violated the Third Enforcement Act of 1871.[174] The chairman of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, called the lawsuit "frivolous".[174]

The New York Times reported in March 2021 that the incident had caused Proud Boys and other far-right groups to splinter amid disagreements on whether the storming had gone too far or was a success, and doubts about the leadership of their organizations, raising concerns of increasing numbers of lone wolf actors who would be more difficult to monitor and might pursue more extreme actions.[175][176][177]

The New York Times reported in March 2021 that the FBI was investigating communications between an unnamed associate of the White House and an unnamed member of Proud Boys during the days prior to the incursion. The communications had been detected by examining cellphone metadata and were separate from previously known contacts between Roger Stone and Proud Boys.[178]

Citing private Facebook messages, prosecutors alleged in a March 2021 court filing that during the weeks preceding the attack, Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs had contacted Proud Boys who he said could serve as a "force multiplier" and that he had "organized an alliance" among the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and the Florida chapter of the Three Percenters.[179] A US district court in Portland also charged two Oregon brothers who are members of the group with the federal crimes of violence and terrorism for actions related to the storming of the capitol.[180][24]
In June 2021, federal judge Royce Lamberth declined to release Proud Boys member Christopher Worrell prior to his trial, citing Facebook posts he had made threatening retribution against who he believed "ratted" him out to the FBI.[181]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proud_Boys#Participation_in_the_2021_Capitol_attack

Nice folks, huh? 

Given the choice between criminal (including terrorist) violence and law enforcement, I'll side with law enforcement every time.