Three Squad members -- all of whom recently chanted "Defund the Police" -- had the power to kill a $1.9 billion increase in Capitol Police and security spending. Instead, they ensured its passage.
Wow, I'm disappointed but not surprised. January 6th is like Pandora's Box in that it released the true colors of so many of the so-called 'left', 'anti-imperialists', and 'anti-establishment.' It feels off to read so many comments celebrating mass incarceration and prison abuse of Capitol rioters, from the same people who claim to oppose the prison industrial complex. I'll never forget the disturbing comments celebrating the police shooting of Ashli Babbitt...
Thank you Glenn Greenwald for being a voice on the left who's against this Domestic War on Terror.
"It feels off to read so many comments celebrating mass incarceration and prison abuse of Capitol rioters, from the same people who claim to oppose the prison industrial complex."
It sure did. Just as off as it felt in 2016 to watch a bunch of authoritarians who had spent their entire life sucking the dick of the Intelligence community suddenly discover the Bill of Rights when the FBI and CIA turned on their president.
The trick is that everyone hates monsters. We only disagree who the monsters are.
The Constitution was designed to keep monsters in check. Where the left is taking us is SO much darker, in every way than we can even imagine. It will release the worse aspects of humanity going forward - if it's allowed.
If by "The Constitution was designed to keep monsters in check" you mean the government itself, I agree, but the Constitution was guaranteed to fail as it has.
If you create a set of rules called the Bill of Rights, then give a specific group a monopoly on violence to enforce the rules for everyone, the first thing those with the monopoly on violence will do is declare that the rule that limits their power doesn't apply to them, or protect you and shoot anyone who disagrees.
That is why the Squad will never seriously consider removing funding, or demanding accountability from the police. The police are the hired enforcers who ensure their monopoly of violence makes them more equal than others. The Squad will pay lip service to those on the losing end of the power dynamic about spending some of the money on the community, but their very power depends on keeping the enforcers as well equipped well funded and unaccountable as possible. To terrorize the people into groveling compliance, you must have a group that uses violence without oversight or accountability. It's this very unpredictability that cows the public into worshiping their betters, meaning those who wield the violence.
I don't think government has a political ideology beyond more power. Government uses violence and fear to obtain more control over its citizenry. The right/left thing is just a game they inspire the public to play so we don't see the real game they are playing.
Read the following article to discover the vast divide in ideology between the Neo-Marxist DNC and the Patriotic Republican Party:
White House Backs Teachers Unions, CRT Curricula
.By Philip Wegmann - RCP StaffJuly 10, 2021
The Biden administration signaled its support for the teaching of “anti-racism” curriculum in public schools Friday, wading into an ongoing culture war over critical race theory playing out on cable news and in school board meetings across the nation.
Asked about a recent decision by the National Education Association to throw its weight behind controversial progressive teachings about race, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told RealClearPolitics that President Biden believes “kids should learn about our history” including the view that "there is systemic racism that is still impacting society today."
"I don't think government has a political ideology beyond more power."--Areslent
You are using a vague concept called "the government" which is actually and specifically people. Groups of peope who do indeed have political ideologies, ones that are deeply devided by right and left.
Your naive oversimplification may make you feel like a sophisticated sociopolitical theorist, but your misapplication of the Hegelian Dialectic is naive and gullible. In fact morbidly so.
To deny the profound devisions between the Neo-Marxist DNC and the Patriotic Republicans is irrational and suicidal thinking.
Call me a cock-eyed optimist but the Constitution wasn't "guaranteed to fail as it has" but to grow. The point here is that under the "liberal left" it is going in the wrong direction.
I agree with you about the wrong direction but I think all government is going to fail unless the people run it. How many people do you know who have read the Constitution? If we the people, are not involved, do you really think the worst side of government won't take over? The opportunity for us right now is to wake up, study what the rule book says, get involved and see if we can run it in accord with those guidelines. Government has never been the solution and isn't now. We are.
That is a good question Matt, personally I do know many people who have actually read the Constitution. But I may be a special case as most people I know are valiant Trump supporters, who do in fact tend to be well educated in US history and the great documents of the Revolutionary period.
A few of my pals are actual professors of US history with docteral degrees on the subject
Of course as the US Constitution is written in the language of the Common Law, ie, English, one needn't be a scholar to unerstand it. Afterall it was written for the People of the United States themselve. So it is not written in the Roman Statutory language that the US criminal code is.
What percentage of the American People would it take to stand up to an attempted draconian takeover by the criminal regime currently in power?
It needn't be much more that 5 to 10% to prevail. I strongly doubt that the US military would fire on US citizens in the case of a rebellion started by a tyrannical regime.
This is all supposition. And I hope it never comes to pass.
But if it does, I am confident the Patriots would win.
Reminded of Gingrich saying how reprehensible it was that Clinton cheated on his wife. Only for Gingrich to divorce his own wife shortly after Clinton's term ended, and marry the woman he had been cheating on her with since right after Clinton got elected...
For poetry on this subject take a look at Shakespeare's sonnet 94. He understood how people who hold power, especially unwanted power, over the lives of others tend toward corruption and destruction.
Is this the seed money for the new brown shirt police that protect the governmental tyrants as they slowly separate themselves from the citizenry they will eventually subjugate? Hhhmmmm.
I think it's been pretty informative over the past 14 months to see the same people who chant “defund the police” and other such slogans also be the most ardent supporters of using police power to break up house parties and “unauthorized” gatherings in public spaces, enforce mask mandates, and all the other insane restrictions justified by the “war” against COVID-19. Seems like they actually love a good old-fashioned police state, just as long as it makes *them* feel safe.
I’m not surprised at all that at least a sizable contingent of The Squad™️ and so many other attention-seekers would be totally on board with the horrifying War on Domestic Extremism since it makes *them* feel safer too.
I think deep in the subconscious of the American psyche is an overwhelming desire to crush any perceived opposition. Not saying it’s not present elsewhere, but I think Americans take especial glee from seeing their enemies humiliated with no chance of redemption, and it’s been magnified exponentially and at a truly terrifying rate by social media & sites like Reddit where people can stroke their “justice boners” at seeing a cell phone video of some jackass getting knocked out in a Wal Mart in Kentucky or whatever. When it comes to people perceived as enemies (communists, racists, snowflakes, Nazis, super-spreaders, etc.), there’s no depth so many people in this country won’t dutifully plumb in the quest to destroy them, so I’m not surprised that these people who consider themselves progressive will do the exact same thing in the name of vanquishing their fearsome enemy.
As an anti-war kinda guy who used to follow a lot of lefty outlets/people, I got truly disturbed by how vindictive and nasty they would get as soon as they convinced themselves that their ideological opponents were Nazis or fascists. It felt very similar to when I was coming of age during the start of the invasions of Afghanistan & Iraq and I saw how right-wingers reveled in the destruction of people they perceived to be terrorists/enemies of the state.
It's like the braying of "systemic racism." Whenever I hear someone go on and on about it, I always wonder what the demographics of their wedding reception looked like.
Isn't it weird that the systemic racism is so prevalent in places that Democrats have controlled for decades? You would think at some point they would do something about it? When was the last time Minneapolis had a (R) mayor? Baltimore? Portland?
There's no signs of them stopping it anytime soon because Democrats are working on the racism problem overtime. If I was a real white supremacist, I would keep voting for the same party again and again which has kept Chicago so peaceful that they have a dedicated website to tracking shootings per day:
Looks like 233 shootings in 20 days this month. Democrats must be curing the racism problem very very soon. I guess it must be all those gun laws they must not have - oh wait - they have the strictest gun laws. Must be the guns from other places? Oh wait, those other places don't have the shooting problem. Ah, lets put more gun laws. 90 years of Democrat ruling must be coming to fruition very very soon. Or maybe, just maybe, Democrat politicians must be loving blacks getting killed - not surprising based on the history of the party.
The immigrant folks who get brought in on H1B visas are basically exploited for work on lower wages. Liberals often think they are more virtuous for supporting H1B because companies like Apple and Google have lectured them about how H1B visas bring diversity. Anyone seriously thinks FAANG tech companies care about diversity? They care about low labour cost, employees who won't complain and won't report shady stuff going on in the company. H1B visas are perfect for that.
H1B visas is pretty much modern day slavery (bit hyperbole in a way) but it essentially gives full power over an immigrant to the employer because these employers have work rules that if you don't get promoted every 1-2 years, you get fired - which means H1B visa employees get deported back. So these immigrants end up working much harder for lower pay to not get deported. Meanwhile the companies get cheap labour while virtue signaling about diversity. This is also a reason why immigrants are hesitant to report work illegalities and thus the company prefer hiring them even more. This is also why all the tech companies were so against Trump - he cut their supply of H1B visas.
Here's another proof that this isn't about "diversity" or caring about immigrants but more about exploitation:
76% of the h1b go to Indians and 10% goes to China. Do you think this is about diversity? Does diversity only come from India and China? Source:
That's not them really supporting BLM so much at is them being faux progressive. Silicon Valley, much like corporate America in general is libertarian capitalism where the goal is to make as much revenue as possible. Right now, it's more marketable and profitable to be woke.
Same old "libertarian capitalism" comment as usual. If there was capitalism, companies wouldn't be getting bail outs, subsidies, government wouldn't be allowed to tell certain businesses to shut down, others to stay open, wouldn't be making back door deals with big tech to censor political opinions etc. Stop blaming capitalism for all the evil caused by crony capitalism, oligarchy and closer to communism.
There can never be real progressiveness because being "progressive" (regressive) means breaking up people into small oppressor oppressed baskets - initial using rich vs poor but now on steroids using white vs black, male vs female, trans, gay vs straight etc. Eventually you run out of things to divide upon. That's why being "progressive" ends up eating itself.
"The dominant strain of American liberalism is not economic socialism but political authoritarianism." - Glenn Greenwald
To paraphrase Jordan Peterson: a virtuous person isn't one who's weak. A virtuous person is one who's dangerous and powerful while knowing how to control and not abuse their power. Otherwise a weak rabbit would be the most virtuous.
As for the "I think deep in the subconscious of the American psyche is an overwhelming desire to crush any perceived opposition" - this is what I have learnt not just about American but here in Canada too. It's human nature to be greedy and abuse power.
Jordan B Peterson: You Probably Would Have Been a Nazi:
"I think deep in the subconscious of the American psyche is an overwhelming desire to crush any perceived opposition. Not saying it’s not present elsewhere, but I think Americans take especial glee from seeing their enemies humiliated with no chance of redemption."
Sadly, I have come to this same conclusion over the past 10 years. American's love the lash because they always imagine their turn will ever come. We are either unwilling or unable to look far enough in the future and imagine how the political decisions we allow for our guy will be used against us when our guy is no longer around.
Not exclusive to American unfortunately - it's human nature to be that way. And that's why solving societal problems using more government power never works positively.
Definitely the seed exists in everyone, but no people have watered, tended and nurtured the growth of that violent weed like the American people.
As it relates to this OP about our need to crush and humiliate our enemies, our enormous prison system along with our counterproductive and draconian anti-rehabilitation punishments people not just accepting, but celebrate for their enemies tells me we have become unique and not in a good way.
yep, my experiences reflect that as well. That and seeing trash TV like Jerry Springer or gaggles of awful reality shows where everybody wants to see that shitty deadbeat father or crackhead mom get put in their place. I see that as such a distinctly American export.
I also see Jazz, Rock & Roll, the Blues, & Baseball, all of which are amazing, as distinctly American exports so hopefully nobody will write me off as just trying to reduce the world’s problems to “America Sucks”, hahaha
It's a good point. Our celebration of the oppressor has given the world some of the most beautiful art from the oppressed. What a heavy price to pay for such beauty as Jazz, Rock & Roll and Blues.
Baseball. In so many ways it's decency reflects a different time in our history. I once heard a critic argue that we should stop using the term American since that title belongs to a fundamentally differently group of people who created this country. It's simply a mistake of history that we share that label with a group that is as different from what we now are as the Germans are different today.
I am from Canada and I am jealous of you guys because at least you have around 50% of the population which isn’t complacent and actually cares about freedom. Here in Canada, we barely have any of that. We are still locked down with no signs of slowing down, police being given powers to randomly question anyone, non essential items like socks underwear’s etc can’t be bought at Walmart and so on. Pastors are being arrested. And our Conservative party is bigger cucks than the RINOs in America.
I think the grass may seem greener on this side, and maybe it is, and I’m probably just looking a gift horse in the mouth, but the % who actually “care about freedom” is much smaller and lots of them are just playing the same partisan game. It just turns out their party’s stance is the “correct” one in this instance. For the past 20+ years sooo many of those same people were completely on board with restrictions on civil liberties and degrading treatment at the hands of authority, using deflections like, “if you don’t have anything to hide then you shouldn’t be worried,” that I can’t believe that they truly act today out of some guiding principle like a love of freedom. I’ll take what friends I can get these days, but I’m also resolved to not simply forget what was done when the shoe was on the other foot and cast my lot (or my vote) in with them in favoring one brand of authoritarianism over another. To be honest I think if Republicans/Conservatives in general hadn’t so thoroughly torched their credibility over the past decades, they might’ve gotten more Democrat/Left-ish buy-in to their stance for freedom and civil liberties they’re currently taking.
That said, my condolences on what y’all have been subjected to up there.
Media trust by Democrats is at an all time high of 73-76%. Independents is at 35% and Republicans is at the lowest 10%. Aka Democrats are buying whatever propaganda media is selling.
And I am not saying this to criticize democrats for political gain, I am saying this because this pendulum has chances of swinging to other side one day and then don't be surprised if everything they are supporting right now comes back to bite them in the ass one day.
And -- there is a new and legendary interview with Dr. Gabor Mate, Roger Waters, Aaron Mate, Mac Blumenthal, Ben Norton -- truly legendary in form and content -- worth seeing / listening every second and -- spreading far and wide:
Haha I wouldn’t be surprised if there was, but I was just doing it as a silly way to remark on how it’s more of a branding stunt than anything of actual substance, as Glenn’s article pretty solidly demonstrates IMO.
The squad is literally doing the villain rotation scam.
This old article continues to be incredibly relevant, and is possibly my favorite GG article of all time. It's a must read for anyone who hasn't done so yet.
Thank you sooo very much Jorah !!! A seminal GG's article -- from 2010. And - NOTHING changed -- both fascist parties are playing us like a violin, except that GOP is more transparent.
They are willing to bravely support any progressive bill as long as there's no chance it can pass
By GLENN GREENWALD -- FEBRUARY 23, 2010
……The primary tactic in this game is Villain Rotation. They always have a handful of Democratic Senators announce that they will be the ones to deviate this time from the ostensible party position and impede success, but the designated Villain constantly shifts, so the Party itself can claim it supports these measures while an always-changing handful of their members invariably prevent it.
One minute, it's Jay Rockefeller as the Prime Villain leading the way in protecting Bush surveillance programs and demanding telecom immunity; the next minute, it's Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer joining hands and "breaking with their party" to ensure Michael Mukasey's confirmation as Attorney General; then it's Big Bad Joe Lieberman single-handedly blocking Medicare expansion; then it's Blanche Lincoln and Jim Webb joining with Lindsey Graham to support the de-funding of civilian trials for Terrorists; and now that they can't blame Lieberman or Ben Nelson any longer on health care (since they don't need 60 votes), Jay Rockefeller voluntarily returns to the Villain Role, stepping up to put an end to the pretend-movement among Senate Democrats to enact the public option via reconciliation.
I think it's important to step back and consider the larger picture. This whole militarizing of the capitol is clearly a sign that there is the preparation to impose an all out fascist state. This is part of a much more general trend. The media censoring, the new domestic terror laws, the attempts to purge the military, the militarizing of the capitol, this is all because those within the higher echelons of the intelligence and finance establishment know that system is not going to be able to hold out for much longer. All the Wall Street banks are sitting on trillions of dollars of toxic debts, of worthless derivatives, and the only reason most of these institutions haven't already been vaporized is because of the infinite money printing and artificially low interest rates. All this has done is buy time. WE KNOW from history that this kind of hyper inflationary policy does not last forever, this is the real world. Those at the top know this, and the system is simply being kept on life support through infinite money printing, while they try to get everything in place. But we are on the trajectory to hyperinflation, and that's a scenario where you can imagine why all these fascist security state measures are being put in place. These security state measures are not reactionary, they are very well coordinated and thought out. This is also why they have the "bail-in" policy ready to go, which was put into Dodd-Frank (Section II) where banks will be able to directly seize people's deposits and impose "haircuts" in order to cover the gaping holes in their balance sheets.
However, contrary to how things might appear, all this goes to show how fragile things are, that anything could trigger a financial meltdown at this point, and if they don't have full control of the narrative, and haven't purged the military and law enforcement, their whole program could easily be derailed as Americans simply say no, no more.
We do need a re-organization of the financial system though, to avoid all out chaos. We are in a historic moment where the question really is whether we will continue to bail out the Wall Street and City of London transatlantic banking system and wind up in a hyperinflationary blow out, which inevitably leads to fascism, or will we do something like Solon of Athens, or Roosevelt in the 1930s, and kick the money changers out of the temple of our civilization?
The very party/congresspeople that opposed a wall on our southern border to protect Americans from an invasion of illegal aliens - calling it racist, xenophobic, hateful, blah blah blah, have erected TWO 15 foot fences replete with armed guards every 5-10 feet to protect their "safe space" on The Hill. And now, they've filled their trough with another $2B to keep the people (you remember the people - the "of ,by, and for" part of our government) out of their own capitol building...out of their very symbol of self-governance.
All animals are created equal. But some animals are created more equal than others.
It's no joke. Reason.com got subpoenaed for any information related to a couple posters who, admittedly, were making some rather inflammatory remarks. Nothing that wasn't protected under the 1st, though.
That behavior lines up with their attitudes towards all the BLM and Antifa riots of the last year (and continuing). It's ok to loot and pillage as long as it's for their cause and not in their house. Us poor peasants' safety and belongings don't matter. Our esteemed liberal overlords safety though is paramount.
1.9 billion dollars to "protect" people in congress who are already ridiculously rich. Seems like a great investment and use of everyones tax dollars. Fucking christ.
Also I'd add: they're protecting themselves from the public because they know what they're doing is fucking criminal and people are pissed off about it. If congress actually did a good job and wasn't such a fucking shit show nobody would be pissed off about it and there wouldn't be a reason for 'protection'
I am not the back the blue types because I know "back the blue" is who will show up to people's house to take their guns away, watch them get beaten by Antifa and arrest you for defending yourself, then arrest you for operating your business and going to church. But I am also not a freaking moron who believes this "defund the police" crap by corrupt politicians and Hollywood/Basketball elites who walk around with 24x7 security armed guards, military around the capitol and mansions protected with walls. They want to take away your protection and safety and arms while themselves sitting in their gated mansions. People who believed this crap are gullible useful idiots.
How it started:
June 17, 2020: The Baltimore City Council eliminated $22 million from the police budget amid calls to defund the police
But it’s even worse than the money. They’ve stigmatized the job itself. Good people don’t want to be cops anymore, they’re quitting in droves and it will only get worse. And guess who will end up filling that void? Bad people taking up those jobs and then you will see the real face of bad cops. And what sickens me about these "defund the police" types is they won't admit or accept they were wrong ever. They'll keep moving the goalposts, gaslighting and pretending they're always right in the name of social justice while painting murals for career criminals.
Everyone who supported these crazy defund the police tactics deserves to be shipped to Baltimore and Chicago and made to live in the most crime ridden spots.
As a YouTube comment described it:
"Police do bad things sometimes, we're better off without them."
"These oven mitts are a bit tight and hurt my hands, I'd be better off using my bare hands."
They are okay with honest innocent businesses being burnt down by rioters but all hell breaks lose if someone puts their feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk. They will send the american kids to foreign lands to kill people but kill her if she shows up to the politicians door step demanding election integrity.
As an 8 year Baltimore resident they wont even put a scratch on the problem.
One of the reasons I am so disillusioned by the DNC and their media cronies is I have heard their bullshit since the 1970s, and never seen a single positive result in any major DNC city I lived in.
Chicago - still shitty as ever.
Baltimore - still as shitty as ever.
Philly - see above.
SF - somehow even shittier
Which of these liberal meccas are getting results? None.
Which of these liberal meccas aren't having crime/homelessness problems? None.
Which of these liberal meccas were so broke from decades of fiscal mismanagement (without any fucking results either!) they needed multi-trillion COVID bailouts? ALL.
Walk me through how anyone who is a critical thinker can trust this group of leaders?
Jim, I see you under every one of Glenn's articles with the same old snarky comments. If you really are so pissed at Glenn's "poor articles", why did you pay to subscribe?
Very simply, because I expected journalism when I subscribed, but that's not what I'm getting. If you expect me to be silent about it then you are part of the problem. And if my tone has micro-aggressed you to the point where you ignore the message, then you have even bigger problems.
I don't think The Squad is inconsistent. When they say 'defund the police', they mean defund the police in poor neighborhoods. Rich people need protection from the mob.
To be fair any one of the other 213 Yea votes could have defeated the bill.
$2 billion seems a bit excessive. You can buy Trump for a lot less than that. I've read reports 50-100 extra police on Jan. 6 would have prevented the breech at democracy's 'Citadel'. It was well advertised.
The truth is the Squad was traumatized. AOC feared for her life, and I believe her. Fear is a powerful thing.
*if this had happened in a poor neighborhood, I would have walked outside and asked the Trump monkeys what the fuck they wanted. .. those are my peoples.
Great article. I'd like to add that all the beefed up security, National Guard, razor wire, fencing were a reaction to an out of touch Ruling Class that seeks to protect itself from the results of their performances or legislation, rather than actually push majority supported policies. Its the same as drone warfare, In-Q-Tel manipulation on social media and a perverted Surveillance State. These Aristocrats can't actually represent the people more than their donors will allow. They are too afraid to make the short leap back to real democracy because their vacation homes and board seats on a mega-corporation for them and their cronies would be harmed. That is the D.C. norm and almost no one seems to escape the vacuous gravity of that black hole of greed.
I believe it is very difficult as an individual to fight. They will marginalize you, smear you, investigate you. Just like they did to Trump. Anyone the DC establishment hates us probably in the right track. Anything labeled “debunked” or a “conspiracy theory” is probably true.
Wow, I'm disappointed but not surprised. January 6th is like Pandora's Box in that it released the true colors of so many of the so-called 'left', 'anti-imperialists', and 'anti-establishment.' It feels off to read so many comments celebrating mass incarceration and prison abuse of Capitol rioters, from the same people who claim to oppose the prison industrial complex. I'll never forget the disturbing comments celebrating the police shooting of Ashli Babbitt...
Thank you Glenn Greenwald for being a voice on the left who's against this Domestic War on Terror.
"It feels off to read so many comments celebrating mass incarceration and prison abuse of Capitol rioters, from the same people who claim to oppose the prison industrial complex."
It sure did. Just as off as it felt in 2016 to watch a bunch of authoritarians who had spent their entire life sucking the dick of the Intelligence community suddenly discover the Bill of Rights when the FBI and CIA turned on their president.
The trick is that everyone hates monsters. We only disagree who the monsters are.
"The trick is that everyone hates monsters. We only disagree who the monsters are." You've nailed human nature right there.
The Constitution was designed to keep monsters in check. Where the left is taking us is SO much darker, in every way than we can even imagine. It will release the worse aspects of humanity going forward - if it's allowed.
If by "The Constitution was designed to keep monsters in check" you mean the government itself, I agree, but the Constitution was guaranteed to fail as it has.
If you create a set of rules called the Bill of Rights, then give a specific group a monopoly on violence to enforce the rules for everyone, the first thing those with the monopoly on violence will do is declare that the rule that limits their power doesn't apply to them, or protect you and shoot anyone who disagrees.
That is why the Squad will never seriously consider removing funding, or demanding accountability from the police. The police are the hired enforcers who ensure their monopoly of violence makes them more equal than others. The Squad will pay lip service to those on the losing end of the power dynamic about spending some of the money on the community, but their very power depends on keeping the enforcers as well equipped well funded and unaccountable as possible. To terrorize the people into groveling compliance, you must have a group that uses violence without oversight or accountability. It's this very unpredictability that cows the public into worshiping their betters, meaning those who wield the violence.
I don't think government has a political ideology beyond more power. Government uses violence and fear to obtain more control over its citizenry. The right/left thing is just a game they inspire the public to play so we don't see the real game they are playing.
Areslent,
Read the following article to discover the vast divide in ideology between the Neo-Marxist DNC and the Patriotic Republican Party:
White House Backs Teachers Unions, CRT Curricula
.By Philip Wegmann - RCP StaffJuly 10, 2021
The Biden administration signaled its support for the teaching of “anti-racism” curriculum in public schools Friday, wading into an ongoing culture war over critical race theory playing out on cable news and in school board meetings across the nation.
Asked about a recent decision by the National Education Association to throw its weight behind controversial progressive teachings about race, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told RealClearPolitics that President Biden believes “kids should learn about our history” including the view that "there is systemic racism that is still impacting society today."
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/07/10/white_house_backs_teachers_unions_crt_curriculum_146062.html
"I don't think government has a political ideology beyond more power."--Areslent
You are using a vague concept called "the government" which is actually and specifically people. Groups of peope who do indeed have political ideologies, ones that are deeply devided by right and left.
Your naive oversimplification may make you feel like a sophisticated sociopolitical theorist, but your misapplication of the Hegelian Dialectic is naive and gullible. In fact morbidly so.
To deny the profound devisions between the Neo-Marxist DNC and the Patriotic Republicans is irrational and suicidal thinking.
Call me a cock-eyed optimist but the Constitution wasn't "guaranteed to fail as it has" but to grow. The point here is that under the "liberal left" it is going in the wrong direction.
I agree with you about the wrong direction but I think all government is going to fail unless the people run it. How many people do you know who have read the Constitution? If we the people, are not involved, do you really think the worst side of government won't take over? The opportunity for us right now is to wake up, study what the rule book says, get involved and see if we can run it in accord with those guidelines. Government has never been the solution and isn't now. We are.
That is a good question Matt, personally I do know many people who have actually read the Constitution. But I may be a special case as most people I know are valiant Trump supporters, who do in fact tend to be well educated in US history and the great documents of the Revolutionary period.
A few of my pals are actual professors of US history with docteral degrees on the subject
Of course as the US Constitution is written in the language of the Common Law, ie, English, one needn't be a scholar to unerstand it. Afterall it was written for the People of the United States themselve. So it is not written in the Roman Statutory language that the US criminal code is.
What percentage of the American People would it take to stand up to an attempted draconian takeover by the criminal regime currently in power?
It needn't be much more that 5 to 10% to prevail. I strongly doubt that the US military would fire on US citizens in the case of a rebellion started by a tyrannical regime.
This is all supposition. And I hope it never comes to pass.
But if it does, I am confident the Patriots would win.
very well explained. I couldn't agree with you more.
Thanks for taking the time to put your ideas down. Loved it!
We all are monsters within us. Very few know how to tame that monster.
Well said!
Reminded of Gingrich saying how reprehensible it was that Clinton cheated on his wife. Only for Gingrich to divorce his own wife shortly after Clinton's term ended, and marry the woman he had been cheating on her with since right after Clinton got elected...
Well said, Eli.
For poetry on this subject take a look at Shakespeare's sonnet 94. He understood how people who hold power, especially unwanted power, over the lives of others tend toward corruption and destruction.
Thanks for the recommendation. Often historical texts are very relevant to today.
Jordan B Peterson: You Probably Would Have Been a Nazi:
https://youtu.be/tVCAhGL0ohw
I thought the original was better:
"Who Goes Nazi?"
By Dorothy Thompson, August, 1941
https://harpers.org/archive/1941/08/who-goes-nazi/
Thx!!!! appreciate the sharing
Great share!
She played with a lot of dolls as a child, evidently.
Thank you for this. Just read the whole thing and will share with someone I know.
Great link, one that everybody should read. We have to acknowledge our ability to do evil in order to tame it.
Just gonna leave this terrible wikipedia link here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave_(experiment)
That was a great link and story. Very telling about human nature. We all have it in us; we have to realize that to keep it from happening again.
Also that is the same Palo Alto school district that author Ben Steinberg (Of the Larry Krasner story fame) currently represents.
The same county that was the first in the nation to declare COVID a pandemic, courtesy of their resident health director, a Clinton donor.
What is old is new again
Is this the seed money for the new brown shirt police that protect the governmental tyrants as they slowly separate themselves from the citizenry they will eventually subjugate? Hhhmmmm.
I think it's been pretty informative over the past 14 months to see the same people who chant “defund the police” and other such slogans also be the most ardent supporters of using police power to break up house parties and “unauthorized” gatherings in public spaces, enforce mask mandates, and all the other insane restrictions justified by the “war” against COVID-19. Seems like they actually love a good old-fashioned police state, just as long as it makes *them* feel safe.
I’m not surprised at all that at least a sizable contingent of The Squad™️ and so many other attention-seekers would be totally on board with the horrifying War on Domestic Extremism since it makes *them* feel safer too.
I think deep in the subconscious of the American psyche is an overwhelming desire to crush any perceived opposition. Not saying it’s not present elsewhere, but I think Americans take especial glee from seeing their enemies humiliated with no chance of redemption, and it’s been magnified exponentially and at a truly terrifying rate by social media & sites like Reddit where people can stroke their “justice boners” at seeing a cell phone video of some jackass getting knocked out in a Wal Mart in Kentucky or whatever. When it comes to people perceived as enemies (communists, racists, snowflakes, Nazis, super-spreaders, etc.), there’s no depth so many people in this country won’t dutifully plumb in the quest to destroy them, so I’m not surprised that these people who consider themselves progressive will do the exact same thing in the name of vanquishing their fearsome enemy.
As an anti-war kinda guy who used to follow a lot of lefty outlets/people, I got truly disturbed by how vindictive and nasty they would get as soon as they convinced themselves that their ideological opponents were Nazis or fascists. It felt very similar to when I was coming of age during the start of the invasions of Afghanistan & Iraq and I saw how right-wingers reveled in the destruction of people they perceived to be terrorists/enemies of the state.
It's like the braying of "systemic racism." Whenever I hear someone go on and on about it, I always wonder what the demographics of their wedding reception looked like.
Isn't it weird that the systemic racism is so prevalent in places that Democrats have controlled for decades? You would think at some point they would do something about it? When was the last time Minneapolis had a (R) mayor? Baltimore? Portland?
The Democrat utopia, known for curing racism and everyone living happily ever after peacefully and prosperously has been run by Democrats since 1931:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Chicago
There's no signs of them stopping it anytime soon because Democrats are working on the racism problem overtime. If I was a real white supremacist, I would keep voting for the same party again and again which has kept Chicago so peaceful that they have a dedicated website to tracking shootings per day:
https://heyjackass.com
Looks like 233 shootings in 20 days this month. Democrats must be curing the racism problem very very soon. I guess it must be all those gun laws they must not have - oh wait - they have the strictest gun laws. Must be the guns from other places? Oh wait, those other places don't have the shooting problem. Ah, lets put more gun laws. 90 years of Democrat ruling must be coming to fruition very very soon. Or maybe, just maybe, Democrat politicians must be loving blacks getting killed - not surprising based on the history of the party.
Democrats have destroyed the cities.
The child soldiers of Portland:
https://www.city-journal.org/critical-race-theory-portland-public-schools
Wow. Very scary. Thanks
It is only Republicans who "control" everything when they hold 51% of elected offices and become 100% responsible for outcomes.
Democrats never have "control", no matter their political dominance. It's still the other camp's fault.
Can't tell if serious or sarcasm. You can't tell me Chicago has been a shit hole because of Republicans despite it being run by Democrats since 1931.
How bout that "war on poverty"? How'd that turn out? How many billions of dollars spent on what?
Fun fact:
Tech Companies That Supported BLM Have Fewer Black Employees:
https://www.lacortenews.com/n/tech-companies-that-supported-blm-have-fewer-black-employees
Bloomberg source:
https://archive.is/WIhSp
It's not just black, it's also Hispanics. Tech companies are largely Asian/White, which may be the reason, guilt and penance, they are so woke.
The immigrant folks who get brought in on H1B visas are basically exploited for work on lower wages. Liberals often think they are more virtuous for supporting H1B because companies like Apple and Google have lectured them about how H1B visas bring diversity. Anyone seriously thinks FAANG tech companies care about diversity? They care about low labour cost, employees who won't complain and won't report shady stuff going on in the company. H1B visas are perfect for that.
H1B visas is pretty much modern day slavery (bit hyperbole in a way) but it essentially gives full power over an immigrant to the employer because these employers have work rules that if you don't get promoted every 1-2 years, you get fired - which means H1B visa employees get deported back. So these immigrants end up working much harder for lower pay to not get deported. Meanwhile the companies get cheap labour while virtue signaling about diversity. This is also a reason why immigrants are hesitant to report work illegalities and thus the company prefer hiring them even more. This is also why all the tech companies were so against Trump - he cut their supply of H1B visas.
Here's another proof that this isn't about "diversity" or caring about immigrants but more about exploitation:
76% of the h1b go to Indians and 10% goes to China. Do you think this is about diversity? Does diversity only come from India and China? Source:
https://www.gadgetsnow.com/slideshows/h1b-visa-these-countries-got-the-most-approvals/india/photolist/64098647.cms
Democrats use us as pawns and then abandon us when push comes to shove.
These 2 videos explain it well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFYj8Sg3x_c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-3FYea07pc
Have you seen the 1987 movie Matewan? It's a 1920's version of what you correctly describe here. Nothing really changes.
Excellent piece
Socioeconomics not race
That's not them really supporting BLM so much at is them being faux progressive. Silicon Valley, much like corporate America in general is libertarian capitalism where the goal is to make as much revenue as possible. Right now, it's more marketable and profitable to be woke.
Same old "libertarian capitalism" comment as usual. If there was capitalism, companies wouldn't be getting bail outs, subsidies, government wouldn't be allowed to tell certain businesses to shut down, others to stay open, wouldn't be making back door deals with big tech to censor political opinions etc. Stop blaming capitalism for all the evil caused by crony capitalism, oligarchy and closer to communism.
There can never be real progressiveness because being "progressive" (regressive) means breaking up people into small oppressor oppressed baskets - initial using rich vs poor but now on steroids using white vs black, male vs female, trans, gay vs straight etc. Eventually you run out of things to divide upon. That's why being "progressive" ends up eating itself.
"The dominant strain of American liberalism is not economic socialism but political authoritarianism." - Glenn Greenwald
To paraphrase Jordan Peterson: a virtuous person isn't one who's weak. A virtuous person is one who's dangerous and powerful while knowing how to control and not abuse their power. Otherwise a weak rabbit would be the most virtuous.
As for the "I think deep in the subconscious of the American psyche is an overwhelming desire to crush any perceived opposition" - this is what I have learnt not just about American but here in Canada too. It's human nature to be greedy and abuse power.
Jordan B Peterson: You Probably Would Have Been a Nazi:
https://youtu.be/tVCAhGL0ohw
YOU ARE THE NAZI - Jordan Peterson on lessons we learned from WW2:
https://youtu.be/eP_wE0fdlGE
How Ordinary Men Became Nazi Killers:
https://youtu.be/JM2o9e-pwoE
"I think deep in the subconscious of the American psyche is an overwhelming desire to crush any perceived opposition. Not saying it’s not present elsewhere, but I think Americans take especial glee from seeing their enemies humiliated with no chance of redemption."
Sadly, I have come to this same conclusion over the past 10 years. American's love the lash because they always imagine their turn will ever come. We are either unwilling or unable to look far enough in the future and imagine how the political decisions we allow for our guy will be used against us when our guy is no longer around.
Not exclusive to American unfortunately - it's human nature to be that way. And that's why solving societal problems using more government power never works positively.
Definitely the seed exists in everyone, but no people have watered, tended and nurtured the growth of that violent weed like the American people.
As it relates to this OP about our need to crush and humiliate our enemies, our enormous prison system along with our counterproductive and draconian anti-rehabilitation punishments people not just accepting, but celebrate for their enemies tells me we have become unique and not in a good way.
yep, my experiences reflect that as well. That and seeing trash TV like Jerry Springer or gaggles of awful reality shows where everybody wants to see that shitty deadbeat father or crackhead mom get put in their place. I see that as such a distinctly American export.
I also see Jazz, Rock & Roll, the Blues, & Baseball, all of which are amazing, as distinctly American exports so hopefully nobody will write me off as just trying to reduce the world’s problems to “America Sucks”, hahaha
It's a good point. Our celebration of the oppressor has given the world some of the most beautiful art from the oppressed. What a heavy price to pay for such beauty as Jazz, Rock & Roll and Blues.
Baseball. In so many ways it's decency reflects a different time in our history. I once heard a critic argue that we should stop using the term American since that title belongs to a fundamentally differently group of people who created this country. It's simply a mistake of history that we share that label with a group that is as different from what we now are as the Germans are different today.
I am from Canada and I am jealous of you guys because at least you have around 50% of the population which isn’t complacent and actually cares about freedom. Here in Canada, we barely have any of that. We are still locked down with no signs of slowing down, police being given powers to randomly question anyone, non essential items like socks underwear’s etc can’t be bought at Walmart and so on. Pastors are being arrested. And our Conservative party is bigger cucks than the RINOs in America.
I think the grass may seem greener on this side, and maybe it is, and I’m probably just looking a gift horse in the mouth, but the % who actually “care about freedom” is much smaller and lots of them are just playing the same partisan game. It just turns out their party’s stance is the “correct” one in this instance. For the past 20+ years sooo many of those same people were completely on board with restrictions on civil liberties and degrading treatment at the hands of authority, using deflections like, “if you don’t have anything to hide then you shouldn’t be worried,” that I can’t believe that they truly act today out of some guiding principle like a love of freedom. I’ll take what friends I can get these days, but I’m also resolved to not simply forget what was done when the shoe was on the other foot and cast my lot (or my vote) in with them in favoring one brand of authoritarianism over another. To be honest I think if Republicans/Conservatives in general hadn’t so thoroughly torched their credibility over the past decades, they might’ve gotten more Democrat/Left-ish buy-in to their stance for freedom and civil liberties they’re currently taking.
That said, my condolences on what y’all have been subjected to up there.
Fair point. I am just saying based on how I see things in the last 5 years. Things like:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/321116/americans-remain-distrustful-mass-media.aspx
Media trust by Democrats is at an all time high of 73-76%. Independents is at 35% and Republicans is at the lowest 10%. Aka Democrats are buying whatever propaganda media is selling.
And I am not saying this to criticize democrats for political gain, I am saying this because this pendulum has chances of swinging to other side one day and then don't be surprised if everything they are supporting right now comes back to bite them in the ass one day.
And -- there is a new and legendary interview with Dr. Gabor Mate, Roger Waters, Aaron Mate, Mac Blumenthal, Ben Norton -- truly legendary in form and content -- worth seeing / listening every second and -- spreading far and wide:
https://youtu.be/XWoRIztEWrQ
LIVE with Roger Waters and Gabor Maté, on Israel/Palestine, Gaza war, much more....
"There's a trademark on the nickname "The Squad" ? 😂
Haha I wouldn’t be surprised if there was, but I was just doing it as a silly way to remark on how it’s more of a branding stunt than anything of actual substance, as Glenn’s article pretty solidly demonstrates IMO.
Yeah good point. I guess I just wish it was at least a *little bit* more difficult to convince Group A that Group B is pure evil, haha.
The capitol must be protected from Americans. The border must not be protected at all. #democratpriorities
The squad is literally doing the villain rotation scam.
This old article continues to be incredibly relevant, and is possibly my favorite GG article of all time. It's a must read for anyone who hasn't done so yet.
https://www.salon.com/2010/02/23/democrats_34/
Thank you sooo very much Jorah !!! A seminal GG's article -- from 2010. And - NOTHING changed -- both fascist parties are playing us like a violin, except that GOP is more transparent.
The Democratic Party's deceitful game | Salon.com
https://www.salon.com/2010/02/23/democrats_34/
The Democratic Party's deceitful game
They are willing to bravely support any progressive bill as long as there's no chance it can pass
By GLENN GREENWALD -- FEBRUARY 23, 2010
……The primary tactic in this game is Villain Rotation. They always have a handful of Democratic Senators announce that they will be the ones to deviate this time from the ostensible party position and impede success, but the designated Villain constantly shifts, so the Party itself can claim it supports these measures while an always-changing handful of their members invariably prevent it.
One minute, it's Jay Rockefeller as the Prime Villain leading the way in protecting Bush surveillance programs and demanding telecom immunity; the next minute, it's Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer joining hands and "breaking with their party" to ensure Michael Mukasey's confirmation as Attorney General; then it's Big Bad Joe Lieberman single-handedly blocking Medicare expansion; then it's Blanche Lincoln and Jim Webb joining with Lindsey Graham to support the de-funding of civilian trials for Terrorists; and now that they can't blame Lieberman or Ben Nelson any longer on health care (since they don't need 60 votes), Jay Rockefeller voluntarily returns to the Villain Role, stepping up to put an end to the pretend-movement among Senate Democrats to enact the public option via reconciliation.
Who is Oceania at war with today?
FWIW as a conservative, the RNC also is an expert at this method.
Both parties adopted it from the Church, if I am not mistaken :)
Fine share!
This is unfortunate, but not surprising.
I think it's important to step back and consider the larger picture. This whole militarizing of the capitol is clearly a sign that there is the preparation to impose an all out fascist state. This is part of a much more general trend. The media censoring, the new domestic terror laws, the attempts to purge the military, the militarizing of the capitol, this is all because those within the higher echelons of the intelligence and finance establishment know that system is not going to be able to hold out for much longer. All the Wall Street banks are sitting on trillions of dollars of toxic debts, of worthless derivatives, and the only reason most of these institutions haven't already been vaporized is because of the infinite money printing and artificially low interest rates. All this has done is buy time. WE KNOW from history that this kind of hyper inflationary policy does not last forever, this is the real world. Those at the top know this, and the system is simply being kept on life support through infinite money printing, while they try to get everything in place. But we are on the trajectory to hyperinflation, and that's a scenario where you can imagine why all these fascist security state measures are being put in place. These security state measures are not reactionary, they are very well coordinated and thought out. This is also why they have the "bail-in" policy ready to go, which was put into Dodd-Frank (Section II) where banks will be able to directly seize people's deposits and impose "haircuts" in order to cover the gaping holes in their balance sheets.
However, contrary to how things might appear, all this goes to show how fragile things are, that anything could trigger a financial meltdown at this point, and if they don't have full control of the narrative, and haven't purged the military and law enforcement, their whole program could easily be derailed as Americans simply say no, no more.
We do need a re-organization of the financial system though, to avoid all out chaos. We are in a historic moment where the question really is whether we will continue to bail out the Wall Street and City of London transatlantic banking system and wind up in a hyperinflationary blow out, which inevitably leads to fascism, or will we do something like Solon of Athens, or Roosevelt in the 1930s, and kick the money changers out of the temple of our civilization?
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/04/21/real-new-deal-debt-jubilee-or-green-new-deal-global-dictatorship/
This is why any critical thinker can see that purchasing a firearm seems like a good hedge right now.
You’ve articulated my fears. I was really hoping to have a quiet retirement
Well ! that makes two and, it does look like we may have to roll up our sleeves and preach some history for the non believers.
Fascinating.
The very party/congresspeople that opposed a wall on our southern border to protect Americans from an invasion of illegal aliens - calling it racist, xenophobic, hateful, blah blah blah, have erected TWO 15 foot fences replete with armed guards every 5-10 feet to protect their "safe space" on The Hill. And now, they've filled their trough with another $2B to keep the people (you remember the people - the "of ,by, and for" part of our government) out of their own capitol building...out of their very symbol of self-governance.
All animals are created equal. But some animals are created more equal than others.
Honestly we should march there and tear it down.
Congrats, now you are on a list and democrats will soon be passing a Substack terrorist bill.
Hilarious but actually possibly true. What would our founding fathers(please forgive me for such an egregious sexist phrase) think of us??
It's no joke. Reason.com got subpoenaed for any information related to a couple posters who, admittedly, were making some rather inflammatory remarks. Nothing that wasn't protected under the 1st, though.
RUH ROH!!! You're in double dutch now!!
That behavior lines up with their attitudes towards all the BLM and Antifa riots of the last year (and continuing). It's ok to loot and pillage as long as it's for their cause and not in their house. Us poor peasants' safety and belongings don't matter. Our esteemed liberal overlords safety though is paramount.
Disgusting but true!!
1.9 billion dollars to "protect" people in congress who are already ridiculously rich. Seems like a great investment and use of everyones tax dollars. Fucking christ.
Also I'd add: they're protecting themselves from the public because they know what they're doing is fucking criminal and people are pissed off about it. If congress actually did a good job and wasn't such a fucking shit show nobody would be pissed off about it and there wouldn't be a reason for 'protection'
I am not the back the blue types because I know "back the blue" is who will show up to people's house to take their guns away, watch them get beaten by Antifa and arrest you for defending yourself, then arrest you for operating your business and going to church. But I am also not a freaking moron who believes this "defund the police" crap by corrupt politicians and Hollywood/Basketball elites who walk around with 24x7 security armed guards, military around the capitol and mansions protected with walls. They want to take away your protection and safety and arms while themselves sitting in their gated mansions. People who believed this crap are gullible useful idiots.
How it started:
June 17, 2020: The Baltimore City Council eliminated $22 million from the police budget amid calls to defund the police
https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-police-budget-explainer-20200617-4yjweepbkreknjlef4f45jiblm-story.html
How it's going:
MAY 12, 2021: Baltimore's spending board approves a $28 million increase in police funding following a large surge in crime
https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-ci-baltimore-budget-approved-20210512-br3npv62uje6lmortenlqbtwmy-story.html
But it’s even worse than the money. They’ve stigmatized the job itself. Good people don’t want to be cops anymore, they’re quitting in droves and it will only get worse. And guess who will end up filling that void? Bad people taking up those jobs and then you will see the real face of bad cops. And what sickens me about these "defund the police" types is they won't admit or accept they were wrong ever. They'll keep moving the goalposts, gaslighting and pretending they're always right in the name of social justice while painting murals for career criminals.
Everyone who supported these crazy defund the police tactics deserves to be shipped to Baltimore and Chicago and made to live in the most crime ridden spots.
As a YouTube comment described it:
"Police do bad things sometimes, we're better off without them."
"These oven mitts are a bit tight and hurt my hands, I'd be better off using my bare hands."
They are okay with honest innocent businesses being burnt down by rioters but all hell breaks lose if someone puts their feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk. They will send the american kids to foreign lands to kill people but kill her if she shows up to the politicians door step demanding election integrity.
As an 8 year Baltimore resident they wont even put a scratch on the problem.
One of the reasons I am so disillusioned by the DNC and their media cronies is I have heard their bullshit since the 1970s, and never seen a single positive result in any major DNC city I lived in.
Chicago - still shitty as ever.
Baltimore - still as shitty as ever.
Philly - see above.
SF - somehow even shittier
Which of these liberal meccas are getting results? None.
Which of these liberal meccas aren't having crime/homelessness problems? None.
Which of these liberal meccas were so broke from decades of fiscal mismanagement (without any fucking results either!) they needed multi-trillion COVID bailouts? ALL.
Walk me through how anyone who is a critical thinker can trust this group of leaders?
Serious question.
Integrity is a by-product of analytical thinking applied to oneself. The Squad merely emote.
What would really help the safety of those in Congress...
...term limits
If they were honest players, that is, not completely self serving, and servants of the rich.
And with the current makeup of the (especially) Republican party, with it would go decades of institutional knowledge.
Crucial, because these lightweight members have too little of almost 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩 and too much ignorance and bad faith.
https://nypost.com/2021/01/26/ted-cruz-reintroduces-amendment-imposing-term-limits-on-congress/
List all your liberal excuses below so we can point out how they are lies.
While I agree, Tim (who will comment soon I am sure) previously had a good point on why term limits is not a good idea. I will let him make his point.
Thank you for breaking this down. What a joke our political system is.
Really? You needed this article to make it all clear to you? You didn't figure this out on your own? Did you know the sky is blue??
Jim, I see you under every one of Glenn's articles with the same old snarky comments. If you really are so pissed at Glenn's "poor articles", why did you pay to subscribe?
Very simply, because I expected journalism when I subscribed, but that's not what I'm getting. If you expect me to be silent about it then you are part of the problem. And if my tone has micro-aggressed you to the point where you ignore the message, then you have even bigger problems.
Bullshit. It's called Free Speech. It's called courage. Millions of people died for your right. Now start doing your part to uphold it.
I don't think The Squad is inconsistent. When they say 'defund the police', they mean defund the police in poor neighborhoods. Rich people need protection from the mob.
Remember when Chicago mayor lightfoot brought in cops around her own neighborhood because she didn’t want the rioters to get there? Pepe remembers.
Corrupt politicians need protection from the citizens.
To be fair any one of the other 213 Yea votes could have defeated the bill.
$2 billion seems a bit excessive. You can buy Trump for a lot less than that. I've read reports 50-100 extra police on Jan. 6 would have prevented the breech at democracy's 'Citadel'. It was well advertised.
The truth is the Squad was traumatized. AOC feared for her life, and I believe her. Fear is a powerful thing.
*if this had happened in a poor neighborhood, I would have walked outside and asked the Trump monkeys what the fuck they wanted. .. those are my peoples.
Great article. I'd like to add that all the beefed up security, National Guard, razor wire, fencing were a reaction to an out of touch Ruling Class that seeks to protect itself from the results of their performances or legislation, rather than actually push majority supported policies. Its the same as drone warfare, In-Q-Tel manipulation on social media and a perverted Surveillance State. These Aristocrats can't actually represent the people more than their donors will allow. They are too afraid to make the short leap back to real democracy because their vacation homes and board seats on a mega-corporation for them and their cronies would be harmed. That is the D.C. norm and almost no one seems to escape the vacuous gravity of that black hole of greed.
I believe it is very difficult as an individual to fight. They will marginalize you, smear you, investigate you. Just like they did to Trump. Anyone the DC establishment hates us probably in the right track. Anything labeled “debunked” or a “conspiracy theory” is probably true.
“Police to protect us, not you.” Typical DC hypocrisy.