Regarding the Christopher Wray questioning by the Judiciary Committee, Grassley, Hawley and Cruz continued to regurgitate an obviously crash-tested rhetorical mantra that draws a false equivalence between the rioters at the Capitol on January 6th and those who joined the protesters in Portland and Washington D.C. and elsewhere, at protes…
Regarding the Christopher Wray questioning by the Judiciary Committee, Grassley, Hawley and Cruz continued to regurgitate an obviously crash-tested rhetorical mantra that draws a false equivalence between the rioters at the Capitol on January 6th and those who joined the protesters in Portland and Washington D.C. and elsewhere, at protests connected with the police killing of George Floyd. This ruse needs calling out and shouted down. As Merrick Garland said during his earlier confirmation interview at the Senate when pushed toward the false-equivalence, the violence in the wake of the Floyd killing that precipitated property damage to Federal buildings (the Portland court-house and the Washington D.C. church) was not motivated and coordinated for the purpose of interfering with Federal governmental functions the way the January 6 Capitol attack was admitted by its organizers to be an effort to interrupt the Electoral Vote count and interfere with the Constitutionally mandated transfer of presidential power. As is too often the case with protests galvanized by a triggering event like the death of George Floyd, persons often separate from the political purpose of the protest are attracted to the ambient anger and rage to trash property and even struggle with the forces of the law. Another false equivalence is then added to the theme "violence is universally bad and must be suppressed no matter what the motivating cause". Once Portland and the Capitol are made equivalents, the next move is to use destruction of property and attacks on the police, for whatever reason, to "prove" the folly of police reform or taking money from police budgets to hire persons trained in talking down persons in the throes of a psychological crisis, which stupidly got called "defunding the police." Ron "doe eye" Johnson too has gone even further to pin the Capitol insurrection on anarchists, faceless Stalin plants in the crowd as provocateurs of the left aimed at pinning the Capitol attack on fire-spitting AOC, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. For those who were paying attention at the Garland hearing, Garland aimed directly at the pro-Trump anarchist ploy when he said damaging Federal property is bad and needs to be treated as such, but it's not equivalent to attacking the Capitol and the members of Congress with the intention of interfering with the workings of our democracy. The not-so-clever Cruz-Hawley-Grassley response to Garland's distinction was to say Garland had no quarrel with attacking Federal property at night when Federal offices were closed and employees not in the building. Shame on you Grassley, Cruz, Hawley, and Cotton too. I hesitate to add Ron Johnson because I feel like I would be beating up on an old floppy-eared dog. A brief word on "liberator" Texas governor Abbott's decision to drop most public restrictions aimed at reducing virus spread in the name of "self-reliance". Abbott doesn't seem to get it that mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing are above all measures aimed at saving others from us, not saving ourselves, i.e., being super-spread agents. Since endangering others is totally lacking in testosterone laced freedom, why not liberate Texans to drive on whichever side of the highway that turns them on in the moment so as not to throttle the "call of the wild."
Sadpanic, this is a most insightful and sensitive analysis of violence, and especially vandalism, at racial-justice events. The dynamics are complex, but it rarely has to do with political protest, and carries little more weight than mayhem after a concert or sports triumph. The main exceptions come from false-flag violence or infiltration by rightwing provocateurs. THERE is the truly dangerous threat for honest law enforcement to address.
"False flag violence or infiltration of .... provacateurs".
Yes and that is one more equivalence that the negationists....and there is a word of shame in Europe that some will recognize here....are trying to make stick on Portland-Jan 6th comparisons. Normal strategy of the Perverse Narcissist as they are accusing their accusers of their own sins.
I live in Oregon, and am retired from law enforcement. The false equivalency arguments of comparing Portland's summer riots to the insurrection at the Capitol coming from my LE friends is something to behold. They acknowledge NO difference between disrupting the peaceful transfer of power, and the anarchist fringe that attached themselves to the BLM protests.
Sadpanic, you are so much more articulate than I have been. I may use some of your thoughts on the next Quixotic mission that I engage in.
Excellent analyses, Sadpanic. If anyone can show me pictures/videos of George Floyd protesters armed with militery equipment, I may be convinced of their equivalence to Jan 6.
You have to remember, Texas has a "tradition" to uphold, having been founded by cashiered army officers, failed politicians, slave catchers, back-alley assassins, bushwhackers, rustlers, bank robbers, con artists, and others on the lam from civilization for various infractions major and minor. The tradition is, they can only elevate people to public office who come from those backgrounds or similar. Anyone not from those backgrounds who gets into office is a fluke, and they do their best to remedy the mistake as quickly as possible.
Just look at the totally wild foundation myths that they managed to create by fantasizing reality at the Alamo and with Davy Crockett against Santa Anna. Hopefully there remains a few nuggets of the previous Native American and then Spanish-Mexican civilisation hidden away ready to widen their view of the world as in Santa Fe, NM.....but they seem to need a great deal of help in finding it these days!
Aw, come on Stuart, you seem to be bashing ALL Texans. I’m not a native Texan, but I married a 9th generation one whose forebears settled here while Texas was still part of Mexico. They were salt-of-the-earth, no-nonsense, hard-working people. My late mother-in-law was fond of exclaiming, “The world is full of people who can’t reason from A to B. And they don’t know that C and D are even out there!” That quote comes to mind more and more often these days.
your family obviously follows the Native American premise of thinking 7 generations ahead. In some parts of Texas the relations between newcombers and existing local inhabitants were friendly and cooperative.
I keep trying to figure out how Beto O'Rourke and Texas found each other. In any case, I think we can agree that whatever time Tedikins Cruz did on the Cross, it didn't last, nor sink in. As Texans burned the family furniture to stay warm in the recent power outage, Tedilonious Ticky saw how Texas was "turning blue" (from the cold) and moved his gang south of the border to watch the horror on Zoom and to ponder how snakes can change their political spots—with a presidential Sharpie no doubt.
Well, there is Beto! But truly Ann Richards was one of a kind. I didnt realize until a little while ago that her daughter was the former head of Planned Parenthood. She's another sharp cookie! There have to be others like that - just not speaking I guess.
Unfortunately Beto, like most of the best TX Dems, has never won a statewide race. Can he or another candidate break the pattern in 2022? Millions of lives may depend on the outcome, and not just in one state.
A “fluke” was the term used? And a “mistake” that was remedied ASAP. (I had to look up her term and indeed, it was limited to one) And the GOP attacks were vile.
GOP attacks? Always vile! But when you dont have authenticity & truth on your side what else is there, right? Wouldnt you think (or hope) that someone would actually listen & "cogitate" (good word) on the crap that they are spewing? Maybe, oh I dont know, think about it?
Your assessment of the opportunistic attachment of the anarchist movement to the BLM protests is accurate. The PNW has always had an anarchist component (really came to life during the WTO demonstrations in Seattle in 1999, and I had a fair number of incidents with them during some environmental protests in Oregon in the early 2000's. They seize on a legitimate protest (environmental awareness or racial inequity) and just plain create hate and discontent.
I concur with your description, Ally, with "opportunistic" anarchists against government in general. But in Portland they had their own shared interest in fighting federal officers sent by Trump, to set up a "police state" in the city of Portland.
My 17 year old son was working in Portland and paticipated in the protest between 8:30 pm and 11:00pm. As he was walking back to his car with people carring umbrells and a few leaf blowers to protect themselves in case of tear gas, the helmeted anarchists were arriving to confront the police with fireworks, frozen water bottles, and lacross sticks to toss the gas canister back over the police fence. The damage to the court house was primarily graffiti, not broken windows. The BLM protest walked through downtown Portland. The "rumble" between the anarchists and Boarder Patrol law enforcement et.al., didnt start until after 11:00pm. That confrontation was a few blocks east from downtown and confined to the block with the court house and the park across the street from the court house.
If the law enforcers wore identification uniforms instead of camouflage army fatigues, the people from Portland would not have felt the need to expose the federal law enforcement troops and their illegal detainment and interrorgation (sic) of protesters. They were not invited by the city nor the Portland police.
It is dangerous for the President to have access to his own "army" through his own appointed Homeland Security white suptremist.
Regarding the Christopher Wray questioning by the Judiciary Committee, Grassley, Hawley and Cruz continued to regurgitate an obviously crash-tested rhetorical mantra that draws a false equivalence between the rioters at the Capitol on January 6th and those who joined the protesters in Portland and Washington D.C. and elsewhere, at protests connected with the police killing of George Floyd. This ruse needs calling out and shouted down. As Merrick Garland said during his earlier confirmation interview at the Senate when pushed toward the false-equivalence, the violence in the wake of the Floyd killing that precipitated property damage to Federal buildings (the Portland court-house and the Washington D.C. church) was not motivated and coordinated for the purpose of interfering with Federal governmental functions the way the January 6 Capitol attack was admitted by its organizers to be an effort to interrupt the Electoral Vote count and interfere with the Constitutionally mandated transfer of presidential power. As is too often the case with protests galvanized by a triggering event like the death of George Floyd, persons often separate from the political purpose of the protest are attracted to the ambient anger and rage to trash property and even struggle with the forces of the law. Another false equivalence is then added to the theme "violence is universally bad and must be suppressed no matter what the motivating cause". Once Portland and the Capitol are made equivalents, the next move is to use destruction of property and attacks on the police, for whatever reason, to "prove" the folly of police reform or taking money from police budgets to hire persons trained in talking down persons in the throes of a psychological crisis, which stupidly got called "defunding the police." Ron "doe eye" Johnson too has gone even further to pin the Capitol insurrection on anarchists, faceless Stalin plants in the crowd as provocateurs of the left aimed at pinning the Capitol attack on fire-spitting AOC, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. For those who were paying attention at the Garland hearing, Garland aimed directly at the pro-Trump anarchist ploy when he said damaging Federal property is bad and needs to be treated as such, but it's not equivalent to attacking the Capitol and the members of Congress with the intention of interfering with the workings of our democracy. The not-so-clever Cruz-Hawley-Grassley response to Garland's distinction was to say Garland had no quarrel with attacking Federal property at night when Federal offices were closed and employees not in the building. Shame on you Grassley, Cruz, Hawley, and Cotton too. I hesitate to add Ron Johnson because I feel like I would be beating up on an old floppy-eared dog. A brief word on "liberator" Texas governor Abbott's decision to drop most public restrictions aimed at reducing virus spread in the name of "self-reliance". Abbott doesn't seem to get it that mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing are above all measures aimed at saving others from us, not saving ourselves, i.e., being super-spread agents. Since endangering others is totally lacking in testosterone laced freedom, why not liberate Texans to drive on whichever side of the highway that turns them on in the moment so as not to throttle the "call of the wild."
Sadpanic, this is a most insightful and sensitive analysis of violence, and especially vandalism, at racial-justice events. The dynamics are complex, but it rarely has to do with political protest, and carries little more weight than mayhem after a concert or sports triumph. The main exceptions come from false-flag violence or infiltration by rightwing provocateurs. THERE is the truly dangerous threat for honest law enforcement to address.
"False flag violence or infiltration of .... provacateurs".
Yes and that is one more equivalence that the negationists....and there is a word of shame in Europe that some will recognize here....are trying to make stick on Portland-Jan 6th comparisons. Normal strategy of the Perverse Narcissist as they are accusing their accusers of their own sins.
I live in Oregon, and am retired from law enforcement. The false equivalency arguments of comparing Portland's summer riots to the insurrection at the Capitol coming from my LE friends is something to behold. They acknowledge NO difference between disrupting the peaceful transfer of power, and the anarchist fringe that attached themselves to the BLM protests.
Sadpanic, you are so much more articulate than I have been. I may use some of your thoughts on the next Quixotic mission that I engage in.
Make my words yours for whatever good purpose you can put them to.
Nicolle Wallace nailed Johnson - RonAnon
That's gonna stick like tar.
Excellent analyses, Sadpanic. If anyone can show me pictures/videos of George Floyd protesters armed with militery equipment, I may be convinced of their equivalence to Jan 6.
military
You have to remember, Texas has a "tradition" to uphold, having been founded by cashiered army officers, failed politicians, slave catchers, back-alley assassins, bushwhackers, rustlers, bank robbers, con artists, and others on the lam from civilization for various infractions major and minor. The tradition is, they can only elevate people to public office who come from those backgrounds or similar. Anyone not from those backgrounds who gets into office is a fluke, and they do their best to remedy the mistake as quickly as possible.
Just look at the totally wild foundation myths that they managed to create by fantasizing reality at the Alamo and with Davy Crockett against Santa Anna. Hopefully there remains a few nuggets of the previous Native American and then Spanish-Mexican civilisation hidden away ready to widen their view of the world as in Santa Fe, NM.....but they seem to need a great deal of help in finding it these days!
Aw, come on Stuart, you seem to be bashing ALL Texans. I’m not a native Texan, but I married a 9th generation one whose forebears settled here while Texas was still part of Mexico. They were salt-of-the-earth, no-nonsense, hard-working people. My late mother-in-law was fond of exclaiming, “The world is full of people who can’t reason from A to B. And they don’t know that C and D are even out there!” That quote comes to mind more and more often these days.
your family obviously follows the Native American premise of thinking 7 generations ahead. In some parts of Texas the relations between newcombers and existing local inhabitants were friendly and cooperative.
There is some discussion of Texas history in the excellent book "The Comanche Empire" by Pekka Hamalainen.
"TCE" is recommended, with reservations.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RJJXCIKYLH4UO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001HZZ05C
Thanksjoan it's gone on my list.
I keep trying to figure out how Beto O'Rourke and Texas found each other. In any case, I think we can agree that whatever time Tedikins Cruz did on the Cross, it didn't last, nor sink in. As Texans burned the family furniture to stay warm in the recent power outage, Tedilonious Ticky saw how Texas was "turning blue" (from the cold) and moved his gang south of the border to watch the horror on Zoom and to ponder how snakes can change their political spots—with a presidential Sharpie no doubt.
Where does Ann Richards fit in?
She must have been an "outlier"??
A definite outlier - looks what came before and after. Too bad they can't have more outliers like her.
Well, there is Beto! But truly Ann Richards was one of a kind. I didnt realize until a little while ago that her daughter was the former head of Planned Parenthood. She's another sharp cookie! There have to be others like that - just not speaking I guess.
Unfortunately Beto, like most of the best TX Dems, has never won a statewide race. Can he or another candidate break the pattern in 2022? Millions of lives may depend on the outcome, and not just in one state.
A “fluke” was the term used? And a “mistake” that was remedied ASAP. (I had to look up her term and indeed, it was limited to one) And the GOP attacks were vile.
GOP attacks? Always vile! But when you dont have authenticity & truth on your side what else is there, right? Wouldnt you think (or hope) that someone would actually listen & "cogitate" (good word) on the crap that they are spewing? Maybe, oh I dont know, think about it?
Your assessment of the opportunistic attachment of the anarchist movement to the BLM protests is accurate. The PNW has always had an anarchist component (really came to life during the WTO demonstrations in Seattle in 1999, and I had a fair number of incidents with them during some environmental protests in Oregon in the early 2000's. They seize on a legitimate protest (environmental awareness or racial inequity) and just plain create hate and discontent.
I concur with your description, Ally, with "opportunistic" anarchists against government in general. But in Portland they had their own shared interest in fighting federal officers sent by Trump, to set up a "police state" in the city of Portland.
My 17 year old son was working in Portland and paticipated in the protest between 8:30 pm and 11:00pm. As he was walking back to his car with people carring umbrells and a few leaf blowers to protect themselves in case of tear gas, the helmeted anarchists were arriving to confront the police with fireworks, frozen water bottles, and lacross sticks to toss the gas canister back over the police fence. The damage to the court house was primarily graffiti, not broken windows. The BLM protest walked through downtown Portland. The "rumble" between the anarchists and Boarder Patrol law enforcement et.al., didnt start until after 11:00pm. That confrontation was a few blocks east from downtown and confined to the block with the court house and the park across the street from the court house.
If the law enforcers wore identification uniforms instead of camouflage army fatigues, the people from Portland would not have felt the need to expose the federal law enforcement troops and their illegal detainment and interrorgation (sic) of protesters. They were not invited by the city nor the Portland police.
It is dangerous for the President to have access to his own "army" through his own appointed Homeland Security white suptremist.
Brilliant analysis Sadpanic. Thank you.
or just covering your mouth when you sneeze.
I knew there was one anti-Covid measure I forgot to mention, mea culpa.