Only an intellectual could ‘justify’ these riots

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George Orwell’s timeless admonition, “Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them,” has been given new life by the desperate efforts of pundits, scholars and Twitter blue-checks to defend the violence, looting, disorder and general monstrousness that have overtaken America’s cities.

The glorification of mob violence and petty criminality that was one of the disgraceful hallmarks of bien-pensant thinking throughout the 20th century resonates through every tweet, every deep TV observation and every piece of writing that casts the coast-to-coast destruction and anarchy in a positive light.

A Northwestern University journalism professor named Steven Thrasher took to Slate to offer this analysis: “The destruction of a police precinct is not only a tactically reasonable response to the crisis of policing, it is a quintessentially American response, and a predictable one. The uprising we’ve seen this week is speaking to the American police state in its own language, up to and including the use of fireworks to mark a battle victory. Property destruction for social change is as American as the Boston Tea Party. . . .”

Sure, that’s why “protesters” in New York City set NYPD vans on fire. It’s why a “protester” in Seattle was seen carrying a strawberry cheesecake from a Cheesecake Factory — as she sported a mask to protect herself from contagion.

It’s why Somali immigrants who spent their life savings opening restaurants in Minneapolis lost everything in a single night — and even as they began to clean up the debris from a business that will likely never reopen, told Minnesota Public Radio that they, too, felt grief and anger at the killing of George Floyd.

Thrasher’s effort to turn an act of wanton arson and wholesale destruction into an episode of “Schoolhouse Police State Rock” follows directly in the path of Norman Mailer’s groundbreaking 1957 essay “The White Negro,” whose purpose was to infuse rank inner-city delinquency with social significance:

“It can of course be suggested that it takes little courage for two strong 18-year-old hoodlums, let us say, to beat in the brains of a candy-store keeper . . . Still, courage of a sort is necessary, for one murders not only a weak 50-year-old man, but an institution as well, one violates private property, one enters into a new relation with the police and introduces a dangerous element into one’s life. The hoodlum is therefore daring the unknown.”

The difference between the hoodlums of Mailer’s day and the antifa “insurgents” of Thrasher’s and our time is that our insurgents are fully aware there is a phalanx of media and academic apologists at the ready, who will not only excuse their behavior but laud it. This both provides them internal psychological cover for the unleashing of the evils inside them and a vocabulary to explain away the evils they release.

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let us see, thrasher a registered democrap(socialist) teaching at a highly polarized socialistic university in a city and state controlled by a fat ass socialist gov. and black gay mayor-how rich can Oz become.
the deterioration of the contemporary university derives directly from the ills of the late 20th century society. these alleged universities of high learning were entrusted with the concept of an American renaissance in teaching. the irony is that we have increasingly turned in despair of out university to do precisely what it cannot; to correct the fundamental malignancies of our modern culture. they did not correct but promoted the marxist communist manifesto. the corruption of America’s higher education is filled with educators promoting their own band of marxism and socialism. little do they realize they are just expendable pawns. as for thrasher, he will fade into oblivian 5 seconds after he retires

@MOS#8541: @MOS#8541: Been 53 years since I killed ChiCom for JFK. What the H is 8541?

Grungiest Sgt

0311

Make it GRUNT please

Curt

Why is LAPD disarming property owners trying to protect themselves from looters?

When and if this ends, add up all the damage and stolen goods, and designate the total cost as reparations.

Maybe they will owe us some dough.

UPDATE: Getting ready for tonight’s “peaceful demonstration”:

BREAKING: 2 crates filled with pipe bombs discovered near Korean War Memorial in DC after suspects spotted in bushes. Federal assets in pursuit
twitter.com ^ | 06.02.2020 | Jack Posobiec

June 2, 2020 – GOP senator: Trump used ‘the Word of God as a political prop’

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Tuesday he disagreed with the decision to forcefully clear protesters from around Lafayette Square for a “photo op” and accused President Trump of using the Bible as a “political prop.”

“There is a fundamental—a Constitutional—right to protest, and I’m against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo op that treats the Word of God as a political prop,” Sasse, who won his Senate primary last month, said in a statement.

The National Guard, U.S. Park Police and Secret Service used rubber bullets and tear gas to clear demonstrators from Lafayette Square so that Trump could cross the street to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been set on fire by vandals the night before.

Trump held a Bible as he stood in front of the church.

Trump on Tuesday hailed the “domination” of protesters in Washington, D.C., where military helicopters and tear gas were used Monday evening to disperse demonstrators, including those gathered peacefully outside the White House.

While a handful of Republican senators, including Sens. Tim Scott (S.C.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), have broken with the White House, several others have sidestepped by saying they haven’t seen footage of the incident or defended it because it followed nights of protests and riots around Washington, D.C.

Sasse, in the same statement, also addressed the rights, saying that there was “no right to riot, no right to destroy others’ property, and no right to throw rocks at police.”

“Every public servant in America should be lowering the temperature and that means saying two basic truths over and over: (1) police injustice—like the evil murder of George Floyd—is repugnant and merits peaceful protest aimed at change; (2) riots are abhorrent acts of violence that hurt the innocent. Say both things loudly and repeatedly, as Americans work to end the violence and injustice,” he added.

@Meremortal, #5:

Yeah, sure “they” did. Earlier “they” spotted an unidentified van dropping off a delivery of paving bricks. Jack Posobiec is an alt-right Twitter provokateur.

Here’s an equally credible, totally unsubstantiated possibility. Maybe the “they” are working for the Trump administration.

06/02/20 – Barr personally ordered law enforcement to push back Lafayette Square protesters: report

When was William Barr given the authority to command that teargas be fired into crowds standing outside the boundaries of federal White House property?

BREAKING: US Park Police chief says USPP & Secret Service found “baseball bats & metal poles hidden along the street” near the White House. Smoke canisters & pepper balls were used to disperse the rioters (tho “no tear gas was used”) & prevent them from using the secreted weapons— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) June 2, 2020

@Greg: You really have gone off the deep end, haven’t you Greg?

I gave a source for my comment, your source was “report”.

Impressive.

You didn’t even link your source. Once I ran it down, the guy making the claim didn’t provide a source either.

Paul Sperry is another right-wing reactionary trying to incite rather than calming things down. Half of these morons imagine they’ll come out on top if they provoke a full-blown showdown, but nobody would win but those who want to damage our nation.

@Greg: Troll alert.

Q: Who was it that said, “cities will burn” if Bernie doesn’t win the nomination?

A: It was a Bernie bro staffer.

Antifa = Bernie Bros?

Trump is done. He just doesn’t know it yet. He was done the moment he had peaceful protesters driven from a Washington DC street so The Mighty Trump could strut down the middle of it with his inner circle in tow to pose in front of a church holding up a bible as a stage prop—all without so much as a courtesy call to the bishop or rector. Did you like his heartfelt prayer? There wasn’t one. It was nothing but a cynical photo op to provide politically useful images, just like the dozen or so staged photos of him hugging an American flag, trying on a range of inappropriate facial expressions.

There are limits, and this clueless, incompetent, gold-plated, two-bit nincompoop is way past them. Come November, his reality TV show is going to be cancelled by popular demand.

June 2, 2020 – Episcopal priest describes being gassed and overrun by police at Lafayette Square church

@Greg: Greg, why is there systemic racism in all these Democrat run cities and why don’t the Democrats mayors fix it? They’ve been running those cities for decades, long before Trump.

@Greg:

so he could strut down it with his inner circle in tow to pose in front of a church holding up a bible as a stage prop, without so much as a courtesy call to the bishop or rector.

Since when does anyone, including the President of the United States, need the permission of a bishop or rector to stand on a public sidewalk? Name the law that requires that, Comrade Greggie.

Did you like his prayer? There wasn’t one.

President Trump didn’t need to say a prayer. We Christians know what he meant; he meant the Word.

Take your atheist ass to another blog because you offer no meaningful discussion.

Frankly, you need to explain just what your purpose here serves beside blathering your hateful rhetoric.

@Greg: You lied about tear gas being used Joe Biden lied about tear gas being used. Protestors were asked 3 times to vacate the area. Public property including the Lincoln Memorial was vandalized, WW2 veterans memorial also vandalized these night time hoods are less than animals.
Trump is far from done, even the governor of NY is attacking The Mayor for not requesting assistance. None of this can be placed at Trumps feet when the cities burning have been run down by Democrats for decades.

@kitt:

@Greg: You lied about tear gas being used

Sure, he lied. He listens to XiNN and that is what they told him so he repeated XiNN’s lie. It’s what our resident Communist propagandist does best.

Instead, he’ll pimp for Handsy Joe Biden who said that if the police find an “unarmed” man with a knife coming at them, the police should shoot them in the leg. He also said that he recommended the nation be shut down in January. Is that why he continued to have campaign rallies until mid-March?

While the police officer did indeed commit police brutality, and it’s looking like murder one, has anyone actually established it was racial?

Did he do it because Floyd was black, or is this just coincidence?

It is completely irrational to say that when an white police officer kills a black man that it was racially motivated… Unless there is clear evidence.

Assuming white people are racist is in itself racist.

@retire05, #18:

Smoke grenades and pepper balls, then. Do you think that makes one helluva huge difference? Do you think you can justify an incompetent president’s contemptible behavior based on somebody’s misidentification of the chemical irritants that were used on a crowd of peaceful demonstrators?

Concentrated capsaicin can inflict as much or more pain that teargas, which, like capsaicin, is actually a powder. Both can be dispersed as a dry particulate or dissolved in a liquid carrier. The effects depend on where it comes into contact with the body.

A pepper-spray projectile, also called a pepper-spray ball, pepper-ball or pepper-spray pellet is a frangible projectile containing a powdered chemical that irritates the eyes and nose in a manner similar to pepper spray. These projectiles are fired from specially designed forced compliance weapons or modified paintball guns.”

“Although generally considered less-than-lethal when properly used (targets should exclude the face, eyes, throat or spine), deaths have occurred when they have been fired at inappropriate areas. In one well-publicized incident in 2004, the Boston Police Department’s use of an FN 303 during a crowd control situation resulted in the fatal shooting of Victoria Snelgrove, when the projectile struck her in the eye.”

The man had a public street forcibly cleared as a demonstration of his power and to have some pictures taken, while half the country watched with utter contempt. Those who experienced a surge of respect and reassurance over the appalling spectacle likely have their own psychological insecurities to to blame. Only the weak find reassurance in seeing a “strong” leader’s display of domination. Secure people see it for what it is—a means of compensation for fear.

President Trump didn’t need to say a prayer. We Christians know what he meant; he meant the Word.

“We” who? You and Donald? That’s a laugh. You’re as full of it as he is. You reflect the spirit of Christ in your words and behavior to the same degree that he does—which is to say, not at all. None of what this petty, mentally unbalanced man says or does strikes me as Christian. Much of it strikes me as an affront to fundamental Christian values.

Since when does anyone, including the President of the United States, need the permission of a bishop or rector to stand on a public sidewalk?

He was exploiting the Episcopal Church as a backdrop. They do not endorse his posturing or his bullshit. They take strong exception to it. Social justice is high on the list of Episcopal Church priorities. They view it as a Christian issue.

The Democrat “resistance” has failed badly, starting with Hillary, then Mueller, the Ukraine impeachment hoax, CV-19 tyranny and now violence while using black people they care nothing about.

Democrats have had 50 years running some of these cities, but a lot of people sure aren’t happy with the results. They more they fail, the more the people demand. They will learn eventually.

@Nathan Blue: The cop has not been charged so far with a hate crime the entire dept is in need of higher hiring standards and better training. They are to serve the public not bludgeon them into submission and cover each others asses.
None of this is racial its the need to have the police look at people as humans not subjects.

LA rioter lights firework on street, has it thrown back in his car!
Turn up the sound.

Hysterical.

@Meremortal: he has to splain that to mom when he gives the keys back. lolololol

@Greg: Maybe even your rusted closed brain can comprehend this.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/uspp/6_2_20_statement_from_acting_chief_monahan.htm

@Greg: All of your own posturing and bullshit is just partisan rhetoric.

The media had a clear objective to twist Trump’s action to walk across Lafayette square to the church as some kind of exploitation.

The reason no one can take you seriously is because you would give a completely different reason or it being a Good thing if this were Barack Obama or a Democrat president.

Your opinions and projections are completely inconsistent and do not follow anything other than just simple partisan bias.

@Nathan Blue:

@Greg: All of your own posturing and bullshit is just partisan rhetoric.

Correct. He is here for only one reason; to blather his “#HateTrump rhetoric. That’s it. Now, had Obama done the same thing, Comrade Greggie would be declaring Obama a healer of the nation.

Instead, he avoids the obvious; that Obama actually worsened race relations in the U.S., not heal them. But see, the DNC is the party of identity politics. Keep the blacks dumb and angry and they will vote for the Democrats. I have to laugh as Joey Biden claims that he can fix things. What the hell did he do in the 30 years he spent in the Senate and the 8 years as VP?

But Comrade Greggie, who claims I will never have a “meaningful” dialog with him, refused to answer my questions of what it was, exactly, that Dems ever did for minorities.

I wish Curt would ban him. He doesn’t do anything but post what can be found on any left wing site.

@retire05: Ban our pet troll? How then will we know what the commies think without having to give them clicks, or the high chance of brain damage of actually reading or watching that shit?

@Curt: Its perfect when he thinks he has an airtight leftist case to be laughed down, he is easy and totally predictable.

@Curt:

Thanks, Curt. Watching Cory Booker at the Rosenstein hearing. I swear Comrade Greggie is in communique with Booker.

Of course, Booker spends his five minutes complaining about having a hearing during the Chi-Com emergency. Wonder if he will tell the rioters to social distance while stealing from stores.

“The destruction of a police precinct is not only a tactically reasonable response to the crisis of policing, it is a quintessentially American response, and a predictable one. The uprising we’ve seen this week is speaking to the American police state in its own language, up to and including the use of fireworks to mark a battle victory. Property destruction for social change is as American as the Boston Tea Party. . . .”

So… why didn’t the rioters loot and burn City Hall? If there is an endemic police problem, the responsibility rests with city leadership, not the PD. Why didn’t they storm the governor’s mansion, since none of the Democrat governors have addressed such an obvious and widespread problem?

@an ol exJarhead:

Why is LAPD disarming property owners trying to protect themselves from looters?

Oh, so NOW you want looters to get hurt! RACIST!!

@Greg: Pelosi accuses Trump of using the Bible as a prop… as she uses a Bible as a prop.

Those “protesters” didn’t have a permit to march or block roads. There were told to disperse and they didn’t. So, the police moved them and, of course, the left had to lie about teargas because the TRUTH never supports the argument of the left.

Trump is done.

Your coup failed. Now you think violet left wing insurrection will remove him? I think his support is getting more and more and stronger and stronger. Because AMERICANS can now see the the incompetence of Democrats and the danger they pose to the country, Trump’s popularity is growing as he successfully confronts crisis after crisis, many fabricated by Democrats, ALL made worse by Democrats.

Smoke grenades and pepper balls, then. Do you think that makes one helluva huge difference?

Well, let’s see… is smoke teargas? Are lies the truth? Do you or anyone else on the left even CARE about the truth?

@Meremortal:

Antifa = Bernie Bros?

In 2016, ANTIFA disrupted Trump rallies in Bernie’s name. Bernie NEVER denounced them and never did Hillary or any other Democrat.

Greg, why is there systemic racism in all these Democrat run cities and why don’t the Democrats mayors fix it?

Why, because Orange Man Bad! Don’t you know anything? How is Biden going to suddenly improve race relations when he spent 40 years doing nothing but make it worse?

@Nathan Blue: I’ve been asking that question all over the place; no answer. The left always jumps to that conclusion because they desperately believe keeping racism alive is their best hope. Why hasn’t Chauvin’s social media history been presented? How about reports on why Floyd was arrested and detained? Usually this would be all over the place. You think if Chauvin voted for Trump it would be suppressed?

@kitt:

The cop has not been charged so far with a hate crime the entire dept is in need of higher hiring standards and better training.

How is any police department going to this when Democrat leaders vilify them and the public is taught to hate them? Police departments are going into a death spiral.

@retire05:

Instead, he avoids the obvious; that Obama actually worsened race relations in the U.S., not heal them.

Like any incoming totalitarian regime, Democrats need unrest and turmoil to blame on the opposition and present themselves as a viable alternative and solution to problems, most of which THEY created.

I don’t want people like Greg banned. It is good to see how the left presents their arguments; it provides me with well-founded confidence I am right. When all they can do is lie and defend lies, then we are in the right.

@Deplorable Me:

Like any incoming totalitarian regime, Democrats need unrest and turmoil to blame on the opposition and present themselves as a viable alternative and solution to problems, most of which THEY created.

Just as the KKK was the militant arm of the Democrat Party, now that militant arm is Antifa and BLM. Nothing under the sun ever changes. If Comrade Greggie wants to deny that, let him show a Democrat, any Democrat, that has ever condemned Antifa and BLM.

Compare and contrast. Maybe a visual aid will help someone to understand.

@Greg:

Obama was good at photo-ops, I’ll give him that.

@retire05: Of course, Obama didn’t have people calling for his assassination simply because he won.

@Greg: Here’s an uncropped version showing how the armed secret service kept the Obama family away from the rest.

Also cropped out were the Bush family.

@Nan G: Well, that’s how the Democrats are; like Stalin, they “crop out” the things that damage their lying narrative.

@Greg: Yes Obama couldnt tell the truth about anything including Selma.
Thanks for the reminder.

And how about Obama? Well, he credited the “Bloody Sunday” civil rights marchers of 1965 with the fact that his parents — a black African father and white Kansas mother — were empowered to fall in love and got married.

“They looked at each other and they decided, ‘We know that in the world, as it has been, it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child, but something is stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Ala., because some folks are willing to march across the bridge.’ And so they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma, Ala.!”

Obama was born in 1961; the Selma march was four years later. Obama said later that he meant to credit the entire civil rights movement with his parents’ union, not just the Bloody Sunday marchers.

@kitt: Yeah, he knew his sycophants wouldn’t be smart enough to figure it out and didn’t think anyone would actually READ his co-opted shit.