Iconic Bookstore Burned Down In Riots

Prosecutors: 3 held in Las Vegas on terror charges in right-wing conspiracy to spark violence during protests.

The E wrote:For example, you seem to believe that an NFL quarterback should not express his political opinions, or use what little platform he has to express them.

The E wrote:there is a clear bias towards more violent prosecution and harsher sentencing whenever the suspect is not white.

Donnachaidh wrote:Austin police…
Detroit police…
Rockford police…
Minneapolis police…
An NYPD officer…
An Atlanta couple…
Chicago police…

Imaginos1892 wrote:

Donnachaidh wrote:Austin police…
Detroit police…
Rockford police…
Minneapolis police…
An NYPD officer…
An Atlanta couple…
Chicago police…

Wow. Every single one of those cities is a bastion of left-wing politically correct oh-so-woke Democrat goodness.

That is what the Left advocates as the 'compassionate' alternative to those Eeeeevul conservatives and capitalists. They want us all to live under their benevolent rule, inspired by those shining examples of government 'help'.
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I used to live on a farm. I know what bullshit smells like.

In Union There Is Strength

I have watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words "Equal Justice Under Law" are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.

We must reject any thinking of our cities as a "battlespace" that our uniformed military is called upon to "dominate." At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict— between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.

Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.

James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that "America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat." We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.

Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that "The Nazi slogan for destroying us...was 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.'" We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics.

Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.

We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln's "better angels," and listen to them, as we work to unite.

Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.

James Mattis

Donnachaidh wrote:Your reaction that that is "but they're liberal cities"?

Imaginos1892 wrote:

Donnachaidh wrote:Your reaction that that is "but they're liberal cities"?

Because the subtext in complaints such as yours is always, ALWAYS "We must end these abuses by giving absolute power to the Democrats and the Left!" despite overwhelming evidence that they are the problem, not a solution.

Because we must first accurately identify the problem before attempting to solve it.

Because giving the Left that absolute power they crave will guarantee many more and worse abuses.
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My grandpa voted Republican until the day he died — but he’s been voting Democrat ever since.

Donnachaidh wrote:Austin police have severely injured a young man by shooting him in the head with bird shot rounds wrapped in cloth, and continued to shoot the medics carrying his body. They shot a known pregnant woman in the stomach, then stormed and abducted her from a medic tent. They maced young children during a peaceful daytime protest.

Detroit police have brutally beaten, tear gassed and arrested peaceful protesters. A curfew is set from 8pm to 5am city wide.

Rockford police dragged people from their cars and beat them last night.

Minneapolis police shot at people filming them on their own balconies.

An NYPD officer called a woman a "fucking bitch" and threw her on the ground. She went into a seizure and had to go to the emergency room. Then more New York cops rammed into crowds of protesters with their cars.

An Atlanta couple last night had their tires slashed, windows broken, and were dragged out of their car and tazed.

Chicago police announced a curfew and then raised the bridges out of downtown. Demonstrators were trapped and at the utter mercy of CPD roundups. A police supervisor ordered on the radio, "Gas 'em all." Over 1,000 people have been arrested.

Everywhere, journalists are being indiscriminately targeted and arrested. A Minneapolis photojournalist is blinded permanently in one eye after being hit by a less lethal round.

They've maced children. They've torn off a woman's hijab. They're turning off their body cameras and hiding their badge numbers.