The Many Faces of US Politics...

[Eamonnca1]

Woah, imagine if Obama had said this

Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are 'Losers' and 'Suckers'

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_term=2020-09-03T21%3A44%3A35&utm_content=edit-promo

"Who were the good guys in this war?"

He actually asked this question about the First World War. A war that the USA participated in.

How much of a f***ing idiot does he have to be before the RWNJs wake up to the disaster that's unfolding in plain sight right in front of their very eyes?

I just don't get it. Why is Trump still looking like he might win? Why is he not relegated to the lunatic fringe? Why is this extremist stupidity going mainstream?! OMFG!

[Maiden1]

BLM becomes a double edged sword when it goes along with looting and smashing up businesses.

Anyone who gets bent out of shape about a few broken windows but doesn't care about black people being slaughtered by cops needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

That's bs. If I went round my neighbourhood and started smashing windows and lifting TVs out of houses would that be ok? Woukd anyone who tried to stop me be or disagreed be a racist?

[Taylor]

BLM becomes a double edged sword when it goes along with looting and smashing up businesses.

Anyone who gets bent out of shape about a few broken windows but doesn't care about black people being slaughtered by cops needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

That's bs. If I went round my neighbourhood and started smashing windows and lifting TVs out of houses would that be ok? Woukd anyone who tried to stop me be or disagreed be a racist?

Is it impossible for anyone to say....

BLM and the way some cops are behaving is a disgrace and needs stamped out.
The rioters & looters are a disgrace and is a lot more than just smashing a few windows - these also need stamped out.

It seems no one is allowed to be against police brutality and against the riots.

[imtommygunn]

It seems to be society. You are either for me or against me. One particular poster here sums this up really.

[Rossfan]

In a normal society the likes of Trump would have at most about 5% support.
Here the "RWNJ" got at most 1% in the GE.

[sid waddell]

BLM becomes a double edged sword when it goes along with looting and smashing up businesses.

Anyone who gets bent out of shape about a few broken windows but doesn't care about black people being slaughtered by cops needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

This thread sums it up

https://twitter.com/BreeNewsome/status/1287915342896009216

"I was prepared to support the humanity of Black people until I saw someone set a car on fire."

"I don't know if I can support slavery abolition because I read someone burned a field of cotton. That's going too far."

"I'm not racist, I just find it difficult to distinguish the murdering of a Black person from the breaking of a window. It's equally violent, right?"

"If you want us to respect you as human beings and equal citizens, you must plead your case before us within these parameters we have identified according to our own comfort level or else we will have no choice but to further brutalize you."
-white society

"I must witness you patiently endure my violence against you in order for me to possibly feel sympathy toward you. It's your responsibility to move my heart & mind by allowing me to do that."

This is the centuries-long dynamic of race in America.

And yet somehow, despite all the various forms of protest, white America is still majority on the side of white supremacy. Again, maybe—just maybe— the issue of enduring racism in America isn't about the method of protest against it but about the pathology of whiteness.

There are some serious DUP style attitudes here

[sid waddell]

BLM becomes a double edged sword when it goes along with looting and smashing up businesses.

Anyone who gets bent out of shape about a few broken windows but doesn't care about black people being slaughtered by cops needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

That's bs. If I went round my neighbourhood and started smashing windows and lifting TVs out of houses would that be ok? Woukd anyone who tried to stop me be or disagreed be a racist?

Is it impossible for anyone to say....

BLM and the way some cops are behaving is a disgrace and needs stamped out.
The rioters & looters are a disgrace and is a lot more than just smashing a few windows - these also need stamped out.

It seems no one is allowed to be against police brutality and against the riots.

"Interesting" framing

You say Black Lives Matter - all of it - is "a disgrace" and "needs stamped out"

But only some cops

The proverbial "few bad apples", I guess

A neat illustration of your pre-existing bias there

Bet you didn't say that about the RUC, mind

[brokencrossbar1]

The world has become extreme black and extreme white and I am nit talking about skin colour. You either have an extreme black or an extreme white approach. The grey in the middle is where the real truth lies. I often use this sentiment when I am trying to negotiate a deal or a settlement. I have my truth, my opponent has their truth and somewhere in the middle is generally the truth.

The killing and persecution of black people by the police is wrong. The overreaction of police in circumstances that could be defused is wrong but the question I ask is what training is coming from above to help them deal with it?

The looting is wrong, the destruction is property is wrong, the terrorising of neighbourhoods is wrong, the question I ask is where are the community leaders on the ground trying to defuse it? 

There has been decades of problems on both sides now exploding. There is no easy answer and Trump will not solve it. Neither will Biden. I believe there is an end game playing out in US politics and we may see significant constitutional change happening over the next medium term as the 2 party and federal system is broken. I don't know what the answer will be but I believe the presidency has changed irreversibly and there will be major differences in 20 years to where we presently are.

[sid waddell]

The world has become extreme black and extreme white and I am nit talking about skin colour. You either have an extreme black or an extreme white approach. The grey in the middle is where the real truth lies.

I see this sentiment used a lot, yet almost never is it backed up with actual honest analysis of the situation it claims to be describing

It's empty cliched rhetoric

It refuses to recognise the essential injustice of the situation

The cause of Black Lives Matter is righteous and just

Their demands are righteous and just

Those who oppose them - the police, white supremacist mobs who have no cause for existence other then chaos, violence and death, and Trump, who has no cause other than chaos, violence, death and benefitting from massive corruption - are attempting to deny justice

There is no way you can "both sides" this

One side wants justice, the other wants injustice

It really is that simple

[brokencrossbar1]

The world has become extreme black and extreme white and I am nit talking about skin colour. You either have an extreme black or an extreme white approach. The grey in the middle is where the real truth lies.

I see this sentiment used a lot, yet almost never is it backed up with actual honest analysis of the situation it claims to be describing

It's empty cliched rhetoric

It refuses to recognise the essential injustice of the situation

The cause of Black Lives Matter is righteous and just

Their demands are righteous and just

Those who oppose them - the police, white supremacist mobs who have no cause for existence other then chaos, violence and death, and Trump, who has no cause other than chaos, violence, death and benefitting from massive corruption - are attempting to deny justice

There is no way you can "both sides" this

One side wants justice, the other wants injustice

It really is that simple

And by cherry picking my quote you have shown exactly what I mean.

I stated in the rest of my quote that the stance being taken by the BLM movement is correct. The police are wrong. I also stated that the looting is wrong. You can believe in the rights of the BLM movement and also believe that the looting is wrong.

[sid waddell]

The world has become extreme black and extreme white and I am nit talking about skin colour. You either have an extreme black or an extreme white approach. The grey in the middle is where the real truth lies.

I see this sentiment used a lot, yet almost never is it backed up with actual honest analysis of the situation it claims to be describing

It's empty cliched rhetoric

It refuses to recognise the essential injustice of the situation

The cause of Black Lives Matter is righteous and just

Their demands are righteous and just

Those who oppose them - the police, white supremacist mobs who have no cause for existence other then chaos, violence and death, and Trump, who has no cause other than chaos, violence, death and benefitting from massive corruption - are attempting to deny justice

There is no way you can "both sides" this

One side wants justice, the other wants injustice

It really is that simple

And by cherry picking my quote you have shown exactly what I mean.

I stated in the rest of my quote that the stance being taken by the BLM movement is correct. The police are wrong. I also stated that the looting is wrong. You can believe in the rights of the BLM movement and also believe that the looting is wrong.

There isn't a grey area here

93% of Black Lives Matter protests have been entirely peaceful

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/over-90-percent-of-protests-this-summer-were-peaceful-report-shows/ar-BB18H2sZ

The cause is righteous and just

Those opposing these protests are fighting for injustice and a white supremacist society

The problem is lack of accountability, the problem is the police, the problem is Trump, the problem is the refusal of white society to admit that America is a white supremacist state, the problem is lack of justice

Black Lives Matter protestors have been incredibly restrained and tolerant

White Vigilantes Have Always Had A Friend In Police
New data shows that far-right vigilantes, often with support from cops, have threatened protesters nearly 500 times since police killed George Floyd.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-vigilantes-kenosha_n_5f4822bcc5b6cf66b2b5103e

[brokencrossbar1]

Sid I agree with you. The looting though is wrong.  I am not equating the looting with the BLM movement by the way. Just simply stating that it is wrong

[sid waddell]

Sid I agree with you. The looting though is wrong.  I am not equating the looting with the BLM movement by the way. Just simply stating that it is wrong

It is the entirely understandable reaction to 400 years of continuing oppression

A riot is the cry of the unheard

Until white America starts listening and starts acting, what on earth does it expect

The reality is that entirely peaceful protest gets you nowhere, and it will certainly get nowhere under this president who is openly on the side of white supremacist terrorism and the police murderers of unarmed black people

The Civil Rights movement in the US was never entirely peaceful - it desired confrontation, there were riots

John Hume too, like Martin Luther King, desired confrontation, he desired that the brutality of British forces be exposed for what it was

The issue is not looting, the issue is the continued killing with impunity of unarmed black people by police, the criminal justice system being a tool of mass oppression of black people, and the endemic white supremacist nature of US society

This is pretty black and white

[Jeepers Creepers]

Sid I agree with you. The looting though is wrong.  I am not equating the looting with the BLM movement by the way. Just simply stating that it is wrong

It is the entirely understandable reaction to 400 years of continuing oppression

A riot is the cry of the unheard

Until white America starts listening and starts acting, what on earth does it expect

The reality is that entirely peaceful protest gets you nowhere, and it will certainly get nowhere under this president who is openly on the side of white supremacist terrorism and the police murderers of unarmed black people

The Civil Rights movement in the US was never entirely peaceful - it desired confrontation, there were riots

John Hume too, like Martin Luther King, desired confrontation, he desired that the brutality of British forces be exposed for what it was

The issue is not looting, the issue is the continued killing with impunity of unarmed black people by police, the criminal justice system being a tool of mass oppression of black people, and the endemic white supremacist nature of US society

This is pretty black and white

Rioting yes. Looting no. Unfortunatley both are intertwined during occasions of civil unrest throughout the world not just the States.

[sid waddell]

Sid I agree with you. The looting though is wrong.  I am not equating the looting with the BLM movement by the way. Just simply stating that it is wrong

It is the entirely understandable reaction to 400 years of continuing oppression

A riot is the cry of the unheard

Until white America starts listening and starts acting, what on earth does it expect

The reality is that entirely peaceful protest gets you nowhere, and it will certainly get nowhere under this president who is openly on the side of white supremacist terrorism and the police murderers of unarmed black people

The Civil Rights movement in the US was never entirely peaceful - it desired confrontation, there were riots

John Hume too, like Martin Luther King, desired confrontation, he desired that the brutality of British forces be exposed for what it was

The issue is not looting, the issue is the continued killing with impunity of unarmed black people by police, the criminal justice system being a tool of mass oppression of black people, and the endemic white supremacist nature of US society

This is pretty black and white

Rioting yes. Looting no. Unfortunatley both are intertwined during occasions of civil unrest throughout the world not just the States.

Both are the products of fundamental injustice

Anybody who focusses on them as the problem is part of the problem

The problem is the injustice - not occasional riots or looting

Focussing only on riots and looting by one side is part of the continuing, centuries long strategy of categorising criminality as inherently black and blackness as inherently criminal

Trump openly does this and the whole of Republican media does it

Republican media is not remotely interested in justice, Republican media is white supremacist

When Republicans talk about "liberty" and "freedom", they mean the liberty and freedom of whites to oppress blacks, the whole ideology was built on justifying slavery

The so called "libertarianism" of the Republican party is carte blanche for the bully to bully, it's a transparent fraud