Insanity of the Left

[Hashi Lebwohl]

The fight in Portland between protesters (who are now no longer concerned with issues like "justice for George Floyd") and Federal agents is escalating quickly. The protesters gather nightly and target Federal buildings while Federal agents respond with tear gas and mass arrests. The city tried to sue over how the agents were responding, has tried to ask--then force--Federal agents to leave, and has accused them of escalating the violence. Get a clue, Portland--the Federal agents would not respond with violence if the protesters did not act out violently in the first place.

Anyway, it is almost to the point where we should set a deadline and allow anyone who wishes to leave Portland to leave; after the deadline the city will be cordoned off and no one is allowed back in. Once set in place, we let the protesters have the city to do with as they will--no Federal agents and no police...but no fire departments, either. It will take the protesters about one or two months to figuratively eat each other before they degenerate to the the point where they begain literally eating each other. It was just this week (maybe last week) when the mayor, who has been supportive of the protests (primarily out of fear for his life, I suspect) got met with chants of "resign" by the protesters--they do not have his back, which probably surprised him since he was supporting them. Silly mayor--you can't use logic with the illogical and irrational.

If they city is not cordoned off then the only other option is for the governor to deploy the full resources of the Oregon National Guard to clamp down on the city with martial law. Even though there are laws against deploying the actual military on United States soil, if the ONG asks for military help it will be given because that is legal.

If you want to know what kind of future Progressives and Social Democrats want, look at Portland. They want to bring their vision of America to all cities.

[Obi-Wan Nihilo]

Harrowing account from inside the federal courthouse.

[sgt.null]

And yet the media. And the left. They demanded believe these are peaceful protests. I wish Wayfriend and Sky would answer to the report obi just posted.

[Obi-Wan Nihilo]

And yet the media. And the left. They demanded believe these are peaceful protests. I wish Wayfriend and Sky would answer to the report obi just posted.

They have no answer other than repetition of obviously untrue talking points. Empty vessels are only useful for carrying someone else's water.


More radical left-wing newspeak....

Link

[Hashi Lebwohl]

"Protests" are what we had in Fort Worth over the weekend--not a single window was smashed, no one got sucker-punched, no molotovs were thrown, etc. What is going on in the Pacific Northwest is rioting, not protesting. Now, of course, they are rioting over the police response to the previous night's riot--it is a self-sustaining cycle.

Ultimately, here is what will happen: when sufficient force is brought in to disperse the nightly riots once and for all the protesters will have no one to blame but themselves. They could walk away at any time but are choosing not to.

The protesters are firing ball bearing from sling shots--that can be a dangerous weapon because I saw some of the slingshots that weird German guy made on YouTube.

[Lazy Luke]

They have no answer other than repetition of obviously untrue talking points. Empty vessels are only useful for carrying someone else's water.

Totally agree with that.

[Kizza]

I thought the people carrying auto rifles on marches were MAGA righty extremists?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I thought the people carrying auto rifles on marches were MAGA righty extremists?

The Left realized that it had better start arming itself, which is why the fastest-growing group of gun owners in the last 5 years has been "self-identified liberals".

[sgt.null]

I thought the people carrying auto rifles on marches were MAGA righty extremists?

Hardly anyone is buying automatic rifles. Semiautomatic though...

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Portland is "fining" the Federal Government $500 because the fence outside the courthouse "obstructs the street". Do they mean the street which is already obstructed from all the rioters and the trash they leave behind? City officials are also calling the Federal officers who are present "an occupation". That is not an occupation--an occupation would be rolling tanks through downtown Portland streets, declaring martial law, and issuing a curfew backed up by incarceration.

Currently, the "fine" is up to nearly $200,000 but how Portland is going to force the Federal Government to pay is anyone's guess. I know--the Federal Government could pay that cost by offsetting with budget reductions from any Federal program going to, or based in, the city of Portland...including Medicare and Social Security. There, Portland--you got you money, but not in a way you wanted it. If they don't want Federal law enforcement then they don't want Federal money, either.

At some point, enough is enough--what the rioters in Portland are actually trying to do is secede. I say let them--but fortify the border heavily and blockade anything except food, water, and medical supplies--oh, and no one is allowed in. Electricity? No, the grid is ours--they can figure out how to generate their own electricity if it is that important to them.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Oakland City Council has passed a resolution that will allow them to take any legal measures available to prevent Trump from deploying any Federal law enforcement personnel in their city. I am curious: exactly how are they going to stop Federal agents from entering the city? Use the police? You mean the police they despise and want to defund? Why would Oakland police back the city council and opposed Federal agents? Is Oakland going to put up signs saying "no Federal agents" and expect them to react with "well, damnit--we can enter the city because there is a sign saying that we can't"? Is Oakland going to stop a California National Guard tank with its own tank?

So many unanswered questions. I would love to see an actual confrontation over this.

*************

Kim Geum-Hyuk, a recent defector from DPRK, can tell us what the United States really is from his first visit here. He was shocked that strangers--even random people in California--would say "hello" to him on the street as he walked past. He was surprised by the diversity of people living in the same neighborhoods. He thought the Grand Canyon was like being on another planet and that Texas was so large it might as well be its own planet (we really should be--Texas is the best...a fact with which Cail always vehemently disagreed).

Anyway, Mr. Guem-Hyuk is from the DPRK, as noted. These idiot rioters who think the United State is fascist should be forced to live in the DPRK for one year--they will be grateful beyond compare to come back to the freedoms they take for granted. Protest something in Pyongyang and you will simply disappear.

*************

edit/add: a Michigan bed-and-breakfast had to remove a Norwegian flag because customers and random passers-by were complaining about "the Confederate flag" hanging out front.



How is that similar to a "Confederate" flag? Technically, this is not "insanity" of the Left but stupidity.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

The NBA is still allowing any "woke" political message to be worn on their jerseys except any message which supports Hong Kong. The only way they could stop fans from ordering NBA products with messages to support Hong Kong was to remove fans' ability to customize their merchandise completely.

Meanwhile, there was a news story that broke recently--will have to find the link for it--oh, look, here it is over at ESPN--describing conditions at NBA camps in China where the coaches were physically abusing the student players and not trying to give them the education that was supposed to be part of the program.

From the story:

The program, launched in 2016, is part of the NBA's strategy to develop local players in a basketball-obsessed market that has made NBA China a $5 billion enterprise. Most of the former employees spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared damaging their chances for future employment. NBA officials asked current and former employees not to speak with ESPN for this story. In an email to one former coach, a public relations official added: "Please don't mention that you have been advised by the NBA not to respond."

One American coach who worked for the NBA in China described the project as "a sweat camp for athletes."

The NBA has sold itself to China, the country which tries to poison and pervert everything it touches these days.

I put this here in the thread about "The Left" because the NBA is adhering to the "woke" mindset which The Left supports.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Apparently Federal agents have withdrawn from Portland, resulting in a couple of nights of relative peace. The problem here, of course, is this: the Federal agents have given the mouse a cookie, so now it will want a glass of milk. The violent rioters will take this is a clear win and it will embolden them as it will embolden rioters in other cities.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Apparently Federal agents have withdrawn from Portland, resulting in a couple of nights of relative peace. The problem here, of course, is this: the Federal agents have given the mouse a cookie, so now it will want a glass of milk. ...

And the alternative would've been to ... what? "Impose peace" ad infinitum?

Isn't intrinsic to an "extraordinary police presence" the notion that they have to leave at some point?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

No one forced the rioters to show up and riot; they chose it. They could have chosen to walk away at any time and there would have been peace.

[sgt.null]

+JMJ+

Apparently Federal agents have withdrawn from Portland, resulting in a couple of nights of relative peace. The problem here, of course, is this: the Federal agents have given the mouse a cookie, so now it will want a glass of milk. ...

And the alternative would've been to ... what? "Impose peace" ad infinitum?

Isn't intrinsic to an "extraordinary police presence" the notion that they have to leave at some point?

So if lawbreakers want to keep a city they must have to wait out the feds?

[Savor Dam]

No one forced the rioters to show up and riot; they chose it. They could have chosen to walk away at any time and there would have been peace.

This is rather the point. While the protesters we grew up around were advocating for Peace, the current ones are advocating for Justice, positing that in the absence of Justice, Peace is naught but submission to Injustice.

Or so they would assert.

[TheFallen]

No one forced the rioters to show up and riot; they chose it. They could have chosen to walk away at any time and there would have been peace.

This is rather the point. While the protesters we grew up around were advocating for Peace, the current ones are advocating for Justice, positing that in the absence of Justice, Peace is naught but submission to Injustice.

Or so they would assert.

That's neatly put, SD...

...but that last line caveat of yours is I fear 100% necessary.

The protesters/rioters undoubtedly split into a number of categories, namely:-

A. Those genuinely protesting against injustice because of their (again sincerely heart-felt) moral outrage.

B. Those going along with the above, because it's the fashionably woke and virtue-signalling thing to do (and peer pressure will certainly come into play here).

C. Those going along just for the shits and giggles of being able to cause trouble and make mischief.

D. Those of a truly anarchic bent who simply want to overthrow the rule of law.

E. Those who want to pervert peaceful protests and use them as a vehicle for rioting and other illegal acts in an attempt to make some sort of much more generic political point (NB this category includes both left- and right-wing extremists).

F. Those who want the cover of protests and rioting for some form of criminal self-gratifications (looters and vandals).

I'll let others decide whether there should be more categories and what percentage of protesters/rioters fall into each.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

While the protesters we grew up around were advocating for Peace, the current ones are advocating for Justice, positing that in the absence of Justice, Peace is naught but submission to Injustice.

Most instances of police killing people are actually justified--if you read the news story links found over at killedbypolice.net you will find a repeating pattern of the suspect either using a weapon against police or threatening to use a weapon against police. When the random case occurs where police use too much force or, more importantly, misuse force then "justice" already happens--those police lose their jobs, making it difficult ever to work in law enforcement again, and almost always face criminal charges.

When these protesters say that they want "justice" what they actually mean is that they want "revenge"--they want the dangerous cop in question to be put in prison immediately without a trial, if not put to death (again, without a trial).

[Avatar]

I'll give you "many" but I think "most" may be over-stating a bit.

The question is then, how many people is it ok for the police to kill without justification?

--A