OH SHIT THIS IS A “YOU CAN’T BRUTALIZE PEOPLE AND GET AWAY WITH IT” CITY NOW?!?
I’M OUT!
17 Likes
in the responses is:
https://twitter.com/clairewillett/status/1268430604917301248?s=20
In case you didn’t see her amazing thread, it’s a great explainer for Fred Hampton/COINTELPRO for laymen and people who have never heard of it before. It’s here:
https://twitter.com/clairewillett/status/1266894029498675200?s=20
7 Likes
Also…trebuchets in Portland?
https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1268438212831178752?s=20
3 Likes
Do it.
3 Likes
on a more serious note, Army follows Air Force lead:
There’s no way for me to prove this to you other than lived experience, but after what I’ve seen this week, I can easily say the military would have more restraint against Americans on American soil than the cops do. It’s so far outside the scope of everything they’re trained for. I’m not saying it would never happen, but of all the groups out there (cops, prison guards, fbi, cia, blackwater, whatever), the military is the one I trust the most to not open fire on a line of protesters.
4 Likes
I need an explainer for “baby carrier gossip group” and “mommy blog circuit”.
1 Like
I feel the same way. I don’t want them used for other reasons, namely precedent and the slippery slope we know Trump wants to take us down, but there is no doubt in my mind the soldiers aren’t going to break ranks to lob tear gas into a crowd to instigate. If their order is to not do anything to provoke, you bet your ass they won’t do anything to provoke.
But I don’t have to tell you that.
I also think they are mostly of a different background and makeup. Soldiers are less likely to be bullies and more likely to love the ideals of this country, a higher percent of soldiers grew up poor than cops I bet, so you have a more disciplined group with more empathy for the protesters who are better trained at restraint.
2 Likes
Just found this. Man, talk about an excellent use of language and framing. It hits all the typical military “HOORAH” notes but the message is ours. I haven’t looked into his politics, but from a veteran’s perspective, this video is spot on.
There is an entire internet subculture out there for moms, etc. Tons of facebook groups, especially. Mostly white suburbanites.
5 Likes
Aw sheeit that guy, Beau, is great. In fact he’s 1 of only 2 utubzers I’ve ever posted.
4 Likes
Yeah, he knows how to speak progressive values with a “conservative accent,” it seems (and I don’t mean southern, lol).
Constantly repeating stuff to stroke soldiers’ egos (you’re the greatest fighting force in the world, you get to actually defend freedom!) while emphasizing what ACTUALLY makes them heroes is genius level.
4 Likes
Man.
I am so not here for this.
Can we just NOT go with “but this other part of the American armed power structure is probably okay.”
The army has been completely fine committing war crimes for 150 years, they might be more disciplined than the thugs in blue, but can we just, fucking, not.
14 Likes
Groups of women who have children of the same age. You will often see groups of women pushing strollers with their babies in it around parks. I assume while they do that they talk, and when they can’t talk they type in their blogs.
1 Like
No you really don’t.
1 Like
Started watching it thinking I’d give it a couple minutes and then probably disagree with him and move on… Can’t judge a book by its cover, he nailed it.
I think sometimes on the left we get so turned off by the hero worship of the military that’s used by the right to coerce public support for endless wars that we can forget that the military is full of heroes. We may disagree with a lot of them on a lot of topics, especially foreign policy and guns, but most of the people signing up to join the military aren’t doing it because of bullshit rhetoric. They love America, even if their vision of it is more idealistic than reality, and they take their duty to protect Americans very seriously.
I particularly enjoyed his point about ego. Almost every encounter I’ve had with a cop has involved them showing their egotistical side. We all know you have to yes sir, no sir the shit out of them to be treated well.
Obviously I’m not seeing soldiers while they’re “on the job” but that doesn’t seem to be the vibe at all.
You hear soldiers all the time say they fight for the freedom of all Americans, even the ones they disagree with. The cops this week are showing how they feel about free speech they disagree with.
Here’s a crazy idea that can never happen:
Abolish the police. Shrink the military and reduce our footprint around the world fighting wars we shouldn’t be in. Start a bunch of new police forces that are demilitarized in terms of weaponry, but full of ex-soldiers policing the communities they live in with a goal of deescalation and protecting American lives as peacefully as possible.
Really hoping narrator doesn’t drag me in a few days.
2 Likes
Your quarrel is not necessarily with the soldiers, it’s with the power structure. I’ll buy a bad apples argument there a thousand times easier than with police.
I also think that even most of the bad ones are devaluing non-Americans rather than different Americans.
The problems are a different set of problems than the cops, and thus I think you have to separate that out. In this context, in this crisis, I’ll still stick with my points.
I can read a room so I’m sure I’ll wake up to a bunch of people ripping me a new one, but I’ll just remind you all that these guys aren’t likely to treat DC like Fallujah, and our gripes with foreign policy are with policy makers, not soldiers.
3 Likes
Also I think a huge part of it is simply accountability. If a cop does something awful he gets a two week paid vacation. At worst he has to move to another police force. You gotta literally and obviously murder someone on video to really get in trouble, and even then only like .5% chance of being convicted.
The military though… you disober orders and attack/hurt/kill civilians enjoy the rest of your fucking life in leavenworth.
But I do agree ideals come into play as well. Especially with leadership. I have no doubt right now they’re telling Trump/political leaders to fuck off in regards to being violent towards peaceful protesters.
2 Likes
I ended up going to bed early last night, anyone know what happened in DC last night with the peaceful protesters facing off against the airborne in DC? When I went to bed it was way past curfew and the soldiers had made no attempt to become violent or break up the peaceful protests at all.
I’m sure it wasn’t violent because it would have been huge news, but curious how it ended.
Not sure, I think it was more calm than the night before.
Just found out that both the San Diego PD and the SD County Sheriff have banned the use of carotid holds in their forces. It’s a start.
1 Like
Nevada men associated with right-wing extremist Boogaloo movement arrested
Three men with ties to a right-wing extremist movement have been arrested on terrorism-related charges, the AP reports.
Authorities said there was a conspiracy to spark violence during the protests in Las Vegas. Prosecutors said the thee white men had US military experience and were arrested after making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles and filling cans with gas, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the AP.
T hey were arrested Saturday on the way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas after filling gas cans at a parking lot and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles, according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Wednesday said they self-identified as part of the “boogaloo” movement, which U.S. prosecutors said in the document is “a term used by extremists to signify coming civil war and/or fall of civilization.”
Stephen T. Parshall, 35, Andrew T. Lynam Jr., 23, and William L. Loomis, 40, were being held on $1 million bond each in the Clark County jail Wednesday, according to court records.
Each currently faces two federal charges — conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosive, and possession of unregistered firearms — along with multiple terrorism-related state charges.
Court records don’t list lawyers for the men.
I think part of the issue is “who are these groups trained to hate / fear”. Whether it is police or soldiers, it usually takes some time to indoctrinate them into seeing their target as less than human so they will pull the trigger with no hesitation. What is so fundamentally wrong about policing in the US is that they have been indoctrinated to believe that their own fellow citizens around them (but especially the blacks) are a constant source of mortal risk. So they will kill them without a second thought.
I’m not sure soldiers are generally the same way. They’ve been indoctrinated to hate and fear foreigners. Just because they will murder indiscriminately in Fallujah doesn’t automatically mean they will do so in Cincinnati.
5 Likes