I think anyone reasonable can agree that peaceful protests are okay, and riots are not. It doesn’t matter the reason for the riot, or if the protest turned violent: if it’s not peaceful, it’s not legal and should not be excused. I also think it would be reasonable to say that calling what happened at the Capitol a “riot” would be underselling it. It was a coup attempt. It was domestic terrorism. It was many acts of sedition spurred on by a president and people working for and with him, who all had a dirty hand in it. It was all of these things. The building did not need to burn. Much, much worse than that happened there.
So much so that the US military leaders put out a joint statement about it: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN29H2WF
Of course it was a coup attempt. Trump and his family pushed all their remaining chips forward on the Elizabeth Smart Kidnappers to take over the Capitol and install Trump as their leader again. Once it failed, they threw their racket into the net. Trump conceded the election hours later after promising to NEVER do it as well as his hangers-on.
I'm sure all those folks that rioted for everyone, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and later sexual orientation and gender identity, to gain equal protection under the law in the 60's would disagree with you. It seems to me that when people say all rioting is bad, it's because they've had the privilege of never needing to something to riot for.
Holy shit. Some of these guys were ready for war not gonna lie, I’m not sure what it is about this, but something over the course of these events has made me seriously start to question where I stand as far as gun laws go. I’m increasingly a fan of tight regulation, licensing, and ongoing mandatory training for firearm owners. I don’t see myself bending regarding concealed carry laws. Though my thinking regarding the legality, or at least the ease of purchase and availability, of semi-automatic rifles, of which I own several, is not as firm as it once was.
You should consider leading by example then. Turn in those unregistered semi-automatic weapons and submit yourself to protection by public safety and concealed pistols only. Half of America is with you, half is not; the rhetoric of the day and current trend toward attempting to exclude and silence those who disagree with you isn't going to make that feeling get any better either. If anything, the reaction is having the opposite effect. As someone who has friends deeply entrenched on either side, I see it. I don't support rioting and I have even less support for people the Government chose to ignore and gave unspeakable power too, using that power to silence dissent and the Government supporting that effort. This is the hard part; freedom it's not always sunshine and rainbows; it is dangerous at times but it always beats the alternative.
I think you're confusing riots with protests. A large, well-executed protest can change the world. The aftermath of a riot is typically stricter laws and a portion of a community that never recovers. Also, my overarching point wasn't so much that riots happened, but that police and politicians encouraged them and didn't do nearly enough to thwart them. For example, in those areas where stores were being smashed and looted, the National Guard should have been activated like they were activated in Washington this week. And, again, you're missing my other point: who gets to decide what riots are "worthy" and which ones are "bad"? From the perspective of the Capitol Hill rioters*, they genuinely believed the election was a fraud and that large amounts of the government were actively allowing that fraud to occur. In an alternate reality, where they somehow won and thwarted the sitting government, they would view themselves as victorious and the riots as justified. That is, of course, nonsense, but history is written by the victors. Which is why civil unrest of this magnitude - for any reason - is unacceptable. Unless you like the thought of a collapsed state or something. *I agree with RoTN. This wasn't JUST a riot. It was an attempted coup, and those people were worked into a lather because the sitting president of the United States told them to do it. Which is also, IMO, part of the coup.
Sometimes the cause is objective, most of the time it is not. These people believe to their core than the election was stolen from them. The fact there were some dubious things that happened* during the ballot counting in some areas that will go unaddressed is only fueling that fire. What they did was unacceptable, but they don’t see it that way, and that’s a huge problem. People cannot see rioting as legitimate. Per your point, I just don’t see how burning neighborhoods to the ground is going to engender support for a cause. Likewise, storming the US Capitol and having the most undemocratic “protest” ever won’t either. *I'm not saying the election was stolen or that people fraudulently entered votes in favor of Biden whatsoever. For most of this stuff, I always assume human incompetence rather malice. Ballots randomly coming out of the woodwork or the procedural delays in counting in a few places is just stupid. Even though none of that really matters, it has now been extrapolated into full-blown fraud claims. If anything, there should be a brief investigation just to shut these people up about it. Otherwise, they aren’t letting it go. Everyone has the right to expect a fair election, and even if it’s a waste of time, I think spending resource to solidify that is worth it. Then again, maybe that’s giving too much legitimacy to fringe lunatics? I don’t want the House to have hearings every time some retard sees a UFO either. I’m not sure what the right answer is.
Sounds about white. The guys up in Sask. Correctional and a bit further north in Pine Grove don’t have working toilets or showers 2/3s of the fucking time, but a seditionist gets his precious organic diet while being held in remand. That’s top shelf horseshit right there.
oh I’m sure he will get PLENTY of special treatment from his new friends in prison. “heard you only eat organic? How’s this for organic Buffalo man!”
That and the fact that a lot of these prisoners (mostly minorities) don’t exactly care for hardcore supporters of your cop-loving president.
Sounds like the Senate will have 67 votes to convict. Mike Pence will have the shortest Presidency in history.
don’t they have to agree to come back to session though? I thought the next time they were coming back was after Biden became President?
Has that been finalized? Then I don't know. The update I heard this morning was that the vote might be moved up.
Source for that? All I've seen is McConnell "supports impeachment, according to someone familiar with his thinking." Senate is supposed to come back on the 19th. Also, my former team got activated for the inauguration. It doesn't sound like an enjoyable gig.
lol, it was a pretty sorry coup - the people they were trying to overthrow were willing to shoot to kill, the coup-ers didn't fire a shot despite significantly outnumbering them.
Eh, McConnell SAYS he'd support impeachment, but I think when it comes right down to it, he's going to say "Look, he's almost gone, let's move on and heal together." The only thing he's learned is what NOT to do again. He's still a Republican.