Nothing Else To Add

Today in America has been shameful.

A true failure of leadership from Donald Trump and just a complete breakdown for D.C. Capitol police. The angry mob that broke into the heart of America's democracy and actually reached the floor of the House and Senate - threatening lawmakers, pulling guns, looking at classified documents and destroying property - should all be prosecuted. Yet, hours into this mess at the time of this writing, there is no video of anyone in handcuffs. How can that be? 

Anyway, the rock world - hell, the ENTIRE world - is weighing in on this mess. Paul Stanley made some comments.

PAUL STANLEY On Pro-TRUMP Protesters Storming Capitol Hill: 'These Are Terrorists. This Is Armed Insurrection.' https://t.co/iX8MUGzIdd pic.twitter.com/uBOBaWCufy

— BLABBERMOUTH.NET (@BLABBERMOUTHNET) January 6, 2021

The photo below will probably win a Pulitzer.

Police officers drew their guns inside the House chamber on Wednesday after a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol building and thousands swarmed the steps outside. https://t.co/SLrckdWNJR pic.twitter.com/q8kFvossFk

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 6, 2021

Comments

[bkallday]

Idiots. All of em. This is just as bad as the looting and statue tearing down actions from the summer, if not worse since its a government building. Smfh

[Gary]

@Bk. Spot on my friend. Spot f*cking on. We now have people with speed limit IQ’s representing both sides of the aisle. Morons...

[EddieLongHair]

"...hours into this mess at the time of this writing, there is no video of anyone in handcuffs. How can that be?"

I'm not the first to note this, and I'm sure there are those who will disagree with me, but the obvious answer is that the vast majority of these domestic terrorists were white. There are often different standards when it comes to law enforcement.

[Mike]

What was I just saying on the Mark Morton post about the dangers of Political fanaticism? Could not find a better example that what happened at the Capitol yesterday. Hopefully this serves as an eye-opener for many.

[Gary]

@Mike I’m thoroughly convinced that about 75% of the country are centrists. May lean one way, but are completely open to all viewpoints. Problem seems to be (to me,anyway) that the other 25% are what the media thrives on. Whack job,mouth breathing,easily lead drones. That’s what you see everyday on any channel,regardless of the affiliation. Me thinks it’s time for the majority of us to get involved (I’m just as guilty as anyone of bitching but not lifting a finger to try to change things) Burning, looting, stealing, and general foolishness are bullshit. This place was built on a system of checks, balances, and compromise. Maybe it’s time we held our “esteemed” elected officials hands to the fire. For chrissakes, we spend 750 BILLION a year on defense, and the nerve center of out govt was steamrolled in 2 hours yesterday by the cast of Duck Dynasty and a dude in a Chewbacca bikini and Hagar the Horrible horns. Lol

[Him]

Gary, thank you for some desperately needed laughs and useful bits of advice! You, Sir, are deserving of (in the words of Nicholas Cage) "high praise."

Kudos to one and all for noting that this was a buffoon bonanza.

Eddie, sadly, yup. Doc Rivers had some eloquent comments right in line with yours.

[Basileus]

Eddie,

You are 100 percent wrong on this. We just ran this experiment over the summer. Riots, destructions and takeovers of government buildings and courts, thousands of private businesses looted and burned, occupations of city blocks and declarations of autonomous zones, abandonment of police precincts...and on and on. Some arrests but prosecutors have declined to prosecute en mass, and lots of defense and bail funds were set up and very very few of any Democrats said anything negative about it. Many made public statements egging the rioters on, justifying their actions.

If BLM/Antifa had done this, Dems would have laid out the welcome mat and the media would have cheered them on. We know this because it already happened.

You are dead wrong on this.

All that said. I don’t condone what happened and support prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. Same way i supported prosecutions of the Summer rioters.

[Bryon]

Gary - spot on. Extremists have always, and will always be part of society. What social media and our 24 hour information obsession has amplified the extremes to such an extent that they have become mainstream.

And IMO, the biggest problem with the amplification of those ideas is that they have 'polluted' the center. Extreme conspiracy theories and craziness used to be only shared in underground 'zines and meetings, and most people just shrugged them off as insanity. Not any more. Things we would have outright laughed at 25 years ago are now discussed as facts, just by virtue of how much they have been amplified.

[EddieLongHair]

Basileus - Nope. I'm neither 100 percent wrong nor dead wrong. I don't/didn't in anyway condone the violence and destruction during the riotous behavior in the summer and I certainly don't condone the violent attack on our federal government institutions on Wednesday.

Let me first let you know what I do for a living. I am a video editor for a TV news organization. I see HOURS and HOURS of this footage all the time. I see the stuff that doesn't make it to air as well. What I was pointing out was the different approach from law enforcement at the scene (not prosecutions, etc. That's yet to be seen).

During the summer protests I saw unmarked cars and vans operated by armed and uniformed agents (of no discernible affiliation) grabbing people off the streets. I did not see anything like that on Wednesday.

During the summer I watched as a 53 year-old Navy veteran (unarmed, hands at his side) approach a group of heavily armed and body-armored federal agents outside a federal building on a public street in Portland. The agents, under no provocation, began beating him with batons (they broke his wrist) and pepper spraying him directly in the face. Wednesday I watched as police officers calmly talked to rioters, including one carrying a spear, who had already broken into the Capitol building.

During the summer I saw 2 Buffalo police officers push a 75 year-old peaceful protester to the ground when he tried to speak to them. He suffered a fractured skull and a brain injury. On Wednesday I saw a police officer pose for a selfie with a rioter in the Capitol building and another one helping to pour water into the eyes of one who was hit with pepper spray.

On Wednesday I didn't see anyone's neck knelt on for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. I didn't see anyone shot in the back 7 times. I didn't see anyone's hands and feet shackled and thrown into a van and given a "rough ride".

There are differences in the way law enforcement agencies react to black people and their allies. Plain and simple.

[Mike]

@Basilus - wow is that ever and ignorant statement. Some friendly advice from me: Turn off your TV, smoke some pot, open your mind.

[Him]

Being the apolitical one here, I have to say: for the most part, this is another example of this site doing what this sites does so well. There are some fairly strong points of divergence. Opinions differ, natch. But it is, on the whole, an exchange of ideas, with people advancing one set of thoughts and others responding. If only that carried over into the larger web of discussions on issues like this which are, regardless one's political persuasion, important.

I guess what I am saying (again) is this: I appreciate the fact that all of you stated your opinions. Lil' ole me learns from what others have to say, even when I don't necessarily agree. Imagine that, huh?

[Basileus]

C’mon Eddie

The riots over the summer were the most sustained, destructive, and widespread riots in decades, if not ever. Of course in some places there were some reactions on the part of law enforcement. That does not mean that in the main, the law enforcement reaction was harsh. There was incredible frustration on the part of many of us that the rioters were left to act violently without repercussions. Police precints were overrun and abandoned. An FBI squad literally took a knee. Churches were burned. Occupied city blocks were decoared autonomous zones for weeks at a time. Courts were breached and occupied. Heck, even the White House fence was breached. And on and on. The president considered invoking the insurrection act and didn’t, to the frustration of his supporters who wanted him to. And in response, bail and defense funds were set up. Prosecutors declined to prosecute. And almost every Dem figure spoke positively about the riots. We know what the response largely was.

And by the way way. Yes, there were some Capitol Police who acted like you described. But not all of them. One of them was killed and 13 of them ended up in the hospital and they used tear gas. Several rioters were killed. So clearly the response was not nothing. But yes, I saw footage of the Capitol police opening the door and the rioters walking in calmly as if they were tourists, with the cops just watching them walk by. That’s fucked up. Just as fucked up as the lack of repercussions the summer rioters faced after all the destruction, dead bodies, and ruined lived they caused.

Mike,

I will address any points that you consider ignorant about anything I wrote. You haven’t pointed to anything except engage in ad hominem.

[GNR]

Pretty sure there are arrest warrants and wanted pictures of people being spread. And they look white to me. Follows all the wanted pictures of previous riots, looting, etc. From earlier in the year. You would think the stealing lego kid on a Target security camera would be easy pickings. Is that a double standard of law enforcement ?