USA Politics

[Todd]

Sharing for Todd. He'll find the stupidity amusing.

It's Stumptown.  Stupid is its thing.  For instance, here is one of the more effective recent protests in the city:



(A frontal shot would have made a more powerful statement.)

[greg]

(A frontal shot would have made a more powerful statement.)

Lol. Considering what Portland people are known to look like, I'm surprised seeing the front half didn't make the entire police force quit their jobs and leave the country that exact night.

[drogulus]

     

https://conservativeus.com/hate-hoax-a-federal-courthouse-violently-targeted-by-antifa-blm-for-a-basketball-poster-that-was-mistaken-for-white-supremacist-symbol/

     My adblock prevents me from looking at the site. Has anyone found out if those arrested were part of a group action? I note that even fascist groups counsel members against violence on a circumstantial basis. Crimes against property tend to be actions by privateer sympathizers. I'd like to hear from those arrested. The real story will be more interesting, because it always is.

     This is from last month:

     No Sign Of Antifa So Far In Justice Department Cases Brought Over Unrest

U.S. Attorney General William Barr has repeatedly blamed anti-fascist activists for the violence that has erupted during demonstrations over George Floyd's death, but federal court records show no sign of so-called antifa links so far in cases brought by the Justice Department.

NPR has reviewed court documents of 51 individuals facing federal charges in connection with the unrest. As of Tuesday morning, none is alleged to have links to the antifa movement.

Of the cases brought so far, 20 involve allegations related to arson; 16 involve the illegal possession of a firearm, more often than not by a felon; another eight people face charges related to inciting a riot or civil disorder.

The single instance in which an extremist group is mentioned in court documents is a case against three Nevada men. Federal prosecutors allege the trio belong to the right-wing Boogaloo movement that wants to bring about a civil war. The men have been charged with plotting violence during Las Vegas protests.

     Now get this, y'all will like this:

In an interview Monday with Fox News, Barr said the lack of cases against alleged antifa activists so far does not mean they haven't been involved in the violence.


     It's also rumored that there were white and black people involved, and they are the worst races on the planet. That's it, beyond a reasonable doubt! See me being Attorney General?
     

[drogulus]

     "And my friends, in this story you have a history of this entire movement. First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you."

     The quote is attributed to different notables. It came from a labor organizer in the original form I quote. These days the monument thing looks iffy, and I'm not unhappy about it. If I can't have gods with bird heads or philosophers I lose interest.

[greg]

You can pause your adblock for that specific site or page, just click on AdBlock and adjust the setting, it does the same thing for me.

[drogulus]

You can pause your adblock for that specific site or page, just click on AdBlock and adjust the setting, it does the same thing for me.

     I was just making an excuse to avoid epistemic pollution. Do you promise me it's worth it, like if there's actual antifa in it and not artificial antifa flavoring?

[drogulus]

     In a revelation of stunning import, I will get an "October Surprise" vaccination if offered. Anything that tilts the odds in my favor is worth doing.

[greg]

     I was just making an excuse to avoid epistemic pollution. Do you promise me it's worth it, like if there's actual antifa in it and not artificial antifa flavoring?

I'm reading that PNW Youth Liberation Front is antifascist but there aren't links between it and Antifa. So the headline is slightly incorrect.

It's got a few more amusing screenshots about the situation, like the Twitter response showing it's just an NBA poster.

There are Antifa groups out there, though, just learned of this one being the oldest one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_City_Antifa


Founded in 2007. Nearly a decade before Trump presidency. Didn't even know that...


I have stumbled on Facebook profiles of people claiming to be Antifa and wearing that type of clothing. There's plenty of videos on youtube of people trying to interview them. The barrier for entry is super low, that's why they appear nebulous.

[Todd]

There are Antifa groups out there, though, just learned of this one being the oldest one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_City_Antifa

Oregon is filled with daffy groups.  The best are the various Dark Greens. 

[drogulus]

     Rose City Antifa

     I have to admit they choose their enemies wisely. I prefer the "sunlight is disinfectant" approach. Counter-demonstrations with some yelling and namecalling are OK.

     Anti-fascist groups take inspiration from British activists who opposed the British Union of Fascists led by Oswald Moseley in the '30s. They were a diverse bunch.

There were debates within the anti-fascist movement over tactics. While many east end ex-servicemen participated in violence against fascists. Communist Party leader Phil Piratin denounced these tactics and instead called for large demonstrations. In addition to the militant anti-fascist movement, there was a smaller current of liberal anti-fascism in Britain; Sir Ernest Barker, for example, was a notable English liberal anti-fascist in the 1930s.

     The Communists eventually pulled out and I think it wasn't because of the alliance with Hitler. Stalin hated the idea of coalition with socialists and liberals. He certainly hated them more than Nazis.

[BasilValentine]

The word antifa, even as it was used in English, apparently predates the German antifascist movement with that nickname, appearing in a Boston newspaper in 1930. Anti-fascists opposed Mussolini, Hitler, and Trump. So, a name with a fine tradition and a knack for being on the right side of history. Where do I sign up? 

[arpeggio]

It's Stumptown.  Stupid is its thing.  For instance, here is one of the more effective recent protests in the city:



(A frontal shot would have made a more powerful statement.)

There are nut jobs on both sides of the isle.

[milk]

The Left is Now the Right by Matt Taibbi

Some juicy quotes:

The National Museum of African American History and Culture created a graphic on "Aspects and Assumptions of White Culture" that declared the following white values: "the scientific method," "rational, linear thinking," "the nuclear family," "children should have their own rooms," "hard work is the key to success," "be polite," "written tradition," and "self-reliance." White food is "steak and potatoes; bland is best," and in white justice, "intent counts."

The astute observer will notice this graphic could equally have been written by white supremacist Richard Spencer or History of White People parodist Martin Mull. It seems impossible that no one at one of the country's leading educational institutions noticed this messaging is ludicrously racist, not just to white people but to everyone (what is any person of color supposed to think when he or she reads that self-reliance, politeness, and "linear thinking" are white values?).

And here:

The notion that such bugbears as time, data, and the written word are racist has caught fire across the United States in the last few weeks, igniting calls for an end to virtually every form of quantitative evaluation in hiring and admissions, including many that were designed specifically to combat racism. Few tears will be shed for the SAT and ACT exams, even though they were once infamous for causing Harvard to be overpopulated with high-scoring "undesirables" like Jews and Catholics, forcing the school to add letters of reference and personal essays to help restore the WASP balance.

And for us classical music fans:

Before blind auditions, women made up less than 6 percent of orchestras; today they're half of the New York Philharmonic. But because the change did not achieve similar results with Black and Hispanic musicians, the blind audition must now be "altered to take into fuller account artists' backgrounds and experiences." This completes a decades-long circle where the left/liberal project went from working feverishly to expunge racial stereotypes in an effort to level the playing field, to denouncing itself for ever having done so.

One more:

The same strategy is used in DiAngelo's version of antiracist training. A theater employee forced to go through her program described the shock of being separated into "affinity groups"...If you're wondering what employees who "identify as white" can learn from being put in a room without minority co-workers and urged to "express themselves sincerely and honestly," you're not alone. Is "learning to speak in the absence of Black people" a muscle any sane person believes needs development?


https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-left-is-now-the-right

[greg]

The word antifa, even as it was used in English, apparently predates the German antifascist movement with that nickname, appearing in a Boston newspaper in 1930. Anti-fascists opposed Mussolini, Hitler, and Trump. So, a name with a fine tradition and a knack for being on the right side of history. Where do I sign up? 

https://www.rosecityantifa.org/
:

Solidarity helps us model the kind of world we want to live in: a classless society, free from all forms of oppression.

Probably try your local communist office?

[drogulus]

https://www.rosecityantifa.org/
:Probably try your local communist office?

     As I have pointed out, Communists have not been reliable allies for liberals and other left groups. I can't say I'm displeased because I'm prejudiced against them for their disturbing habit of being Russian and Chinese. I wish they would stay in their own countries like Karl Marx did.

[drogulus]

     The use of militarized police action in Portland will be a trial run for the full rollout in a number of cities. I would imagine Trump has the election results in mind, not just his law and order campaign, but what he will want to have in place when the results come in.

     The lesson is that you take the despot seriously when he tells you what he will do, and what he's doing. The buffoonery doesn't mean it's just a show. Trump is preparing his options, and Portland ought to be understood in that context.

[Karl Henning]

     The use of militarized police action in Portland will be a trial run for the full rollout in a number of cities. I would imagine Trump has the election results in mind, not just his law and order campaign, but what he will want to have in place when the results come in.

     The lesson is that you take the despot seriously when he tells you what he will do, and what he's doing. The buffoonery doesn't mean it's just a show. Trump is preparing his options, and Portland ought to be understood in that context.

I don't hear any criticism from Trumpkins, do you?

[milk]

     The use of militarized police action in Portland will be a trial run for the full rollout in a number of cities. I would imagine Trump has the election results in mind, not just his law and order campaign, but what he will want to have in place when the results come in.

     The lesson is that you take the despot seriously when he tells you what he will do, and what he's doing. The buffoonery doesn't mean it's just a show. Trump is preparing his options, and Portland ought to be understood in that context.

if this doesn't backfire on him, I give up. Tump has been sinking. Will this really help him? I doubt it. There's money involved in the outcome in November too. If tump is broadly unpopular, influence will fly away. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.
On the other hand, what's going on locally with these protests will have another kind of effect, should trump go bye bye.

[Karl Henning]

"Former Ohio Governor John Kasich is expected to speak at the DNC in August on Joe Biden's behalf, in a show of support for the Democratic presidential nominee, the Associated Press reports. Kasich is a life-long Republican who rose to prominence in the Tea Party Movement and has been a vocal critic of President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic."

[Daverz]

"Former Ohio Governor John Kasich is expected to speak at the DNC in August on Joe Biden's behalf, in a show of support for the Democratic presidential nominee, the Associated Press reports. Kasich is a life-long Republican who rose to prominence in the Tea Party Movement and has been a vocal critic of President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Yeccchhh!!  I feel better about him when they are calling Uncle Joe a commie or a follower of AOC.