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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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/
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/
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.
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.
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."
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
Thank you for breaking this down. What a joke our political system is.
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.
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.
“Police to protect us, not you.” Typical DC hypocrisy.