Tell me you're not this kind of insufferable dick at home or with your co-workers. That would be really depressing.
Not true. Only people over 105 don't have a twitter. Hell, even Devin Nunes' Cow has a twitter account.
Hold up there. That is a very broad group you are putting under the same umbrella, and looking at it from the perspective the abandoning democratic liberties. First off, activists beating up protesters is not the same as tearing down flags or shouting down university professors. One is acting with violence, the others are not. Beyond that, and looking at the tearing down of [Confederate] flags, that was done because the legal process did not work, and because the flag represents oppression and racism. The tearing it was not done to oppress as was/is the violence which happens when the activists beat up the protesters. Hate crimes are up. And don't think those 60% minorities are not looking over their shoulders more, wondering if there will be some raid or some stop asking for papers or taken to some facility because they were mistaken. I have friends who have been here, legally, for 15 years, have graduate degrees, have families, who are worried by that possibility. Not massively, but more now then they did 3 years ago. I agree with most of this, but I would argue that there was an attempt at fascism during WWII. The Japanese would have much to say. The Germans and Italians would have something to say about that during WWI.
No thanks bro ... Democracy means voting, not having goons beating people up on the street. The original Antifa in Europe was born out of the punk scene as a direct response to the skinhead scene who were beating up immigrants and gay people on the street. It was mutually agreed upon violence between two sets of gangs, and the occasional scuffle with the police. Those Antifa were essentially skinhead hunters. Everyone involved knew what they were getting into. They weren't just attacking conservative journalists, university professors and unarmed people in general. These twerps in Berkeley and Portland are basically antifa cosplay. They wouldn't last two minutes in a real gang fight. I'm sorry but beating up on a 100 lb. gay Asian kid or a 50 year old female university administrator does not make me feel safer. Please don't do that on my behalf. The fact that you think this is in defense of democracy is mind boggling. Nobody voted for these masked pasty pale skinny losers. They're the exact opposite of democracy.
Fair enough. There are degrees of this. The way I see it there are the people in the middle of the madness who are actually acting it out. Then there's another class of people who are egging it on, often on social media behind the safety of a keyboard. And finally another class of people who are just silently condoning it, presumably in exchange for votes. These are the people that should know better. They're basically the left wing Paul Ryans who see what is happening but are too chicken shit to say anything because they're handcuffed politically. Up until recently I just thought about these things in the abstract, until I decided to get a little involved with the local Democrats looking ahead to 2020. And I witnessed with my own eyes Biden supporters being verbally harassed very aggressively and threateningly by these woke radicals. It always feels different when you see it first hand. I think a lot of rational people on the left are still in denial about what's happening. Or at least too distracted by Trump to notice. But I think it's coming to a movie theater near you and the radicalism will begin to manifest itself more and more the closer we get to 2020. That's why I originally chimed in on this thread because the politicians on the left who are turning up the volume on this stuff are acting very irresponsibly. We need adults in the room, and allowing the lunatics to take over the asylum is not going to end well. We see how that worked out for the GOP.
In Charlottesville: yes, I agree. But punching out that pretend journalist in Portland? That was a gift to the alt-right. A few of their other random attacks as well. I'll say this again, and this is where I think Boloni is right: they are amateurs. And their refusal to organize in any meaningful way means they are easy as hell to infiltrate. There's going to be an antifa atrocity committed by right wing turds wearing Che t-shirts, berets and bandanas over their faces, and antifa won't have any way to defend themselves from the charges. And worst, corporate media will then aid and abet Trumpism by pinning this on the Democrats even though, unlike figures on the far right, antifa people probably don't even vote because they believe the system is too corrupt.
As opposed to the more organized Alt Right who would be destroyed in 5 minutes if our Justice Dept made it even a small priority. You guys crack me up with this false equivalence.
Yeah, we do. They have the White House and the Senate, and they have at least hundreds of thousands of people from a demo that's never been at risk for anything but opiate overdose demanding that Dems reach across the aisle and court an ideology of thuggery and raging conservatism. "Just stop calling them murderous, and try not to slip on those fresh puddles of Black blood..."
They sold their souls for short term gain, but in the long run their party will collapse. Shit, at this point there's more than a fair chance that the whole country collapses. It's like settling a dispute with your neighbor by dropping a bomb on the whole neighborhood.
Your definition of a long run may differ from theirs. As long as they have a combo of their base and people out there who think their base needs to be consulted by the Dems, they'll be fine. It's possible. But if that happens, they'll have been in control at the end. For some (most?) that's enough. Privilege has more value than money, because using privilege properly will get you money. Yes, it is.
I think one could argue that one defining trait of fascist moments in history is the tendency of the far Left to read the collapse of the Center as a signal to cut ties with the moderate/center-left and go in for the kill.
Well if we get lucky and Trump loses, then a "civil war" will break out in the Democratic party. This are just the army's maneuvering. Hopefully it will not be as bad as the tea party vs the gop establishment, but we will see.