Two Minds On Seattle...

Like so many things I think about, I have two minds about the crap occurring in Seattle.

On one hand...

1) The "Free Capitol Hill" Antifa/anarchist project is fascinating to watch in real time, and like every other Utopian project, it will fail. Because, for all the attempts, human nature cannot be changed. Even in the past 36-48 hours since its inception, the cracks have already shown. Running out of food, putting up a border wall, cracking down on dissent, and so forth. Utopia always falls into an authoritarian trap, no matter what "good intentions" it might have. 

On the other hand...

2) This is a civil society that needs order and liberty. Anarchism has neither. It is amusing (and ironic) that they are premised on "black lives matter" and yet are acting like South Carolina, circa 1860. So Antifa is the Confederacy?  

CANCEL THEM! 

Backpedaling Like A Cornerback

One of the new slogans that the internals polls insisted would work is "Defund the Police".

In Minneapolis, the city council is already under way in attempting to do just that.

One problem...

There is no broad support for this (although that could change in a week). In fact, let me add a second problem here - now the very people who are saying "Defund the Police" are also saying, nay, insisting, that people who are taking them at their word are mistaken.

You see, when they say "defund", they really mean "reform".

Sorry - that cat is not going back in the bag.

Hotep Jesus said it best...

Liberals: Defund doesn't mean defund.

(Words no longer have meaning. Orwell warned us) pic.twitter.com/znCWXDwwFf

— Hotep Jesus (@HotepJesus) June 9, 2020

Indeed. But then again, that can't possibly be a surprise to anyone who is paying attention.

While We're At It...

Just some mumblings...

1) I just can't deal with the following things - pandering, victimhood, and scolds. It's no wonder leftism is so allergenic to me. Liberalism/leftism/communism is the combination of the worst impulses of all three.

2) Very good distillation of what's happening in the world today - the fight between paganism and Christianity (found via Instapundit). In a nutshell, the article argues that the two sides are really in an argument about whether we exist individually as sinners (Christianity) or as a collective that requires blood payment (paganism), and the current iteration of identity politics is an attempt to try and have it both ways. I have to say, it makes some very convincing cases, especially in light of what we are seeing in terms of people "confessing" their "guilt" despite the fact Officer Chauvin alone did it and was arrested and charged for it. Do read the whole thing.

3) The revolution always eats their own. All you have to do is see the Man-child Mayor of Minneapolis get booed out of a struggle session protest because he refused to back de-funding and abolishing the police. Or Muriel Bowser get criticized for painting "Black Lives Matter" on a street as a "stunt for white liberals." 

4) The NFL better be careful - their decision to pander (there's that word again) to the players will most likely backfire. I can find better things to do on fall Sundays than watch the Ravens and Redskins play. 

5) MLB is just about toast. The MLBPA thinks they are ordinary working Joes. Here's a clue...they aren't. In a fight between millionaires and billionaires, most people will side with the billionaire owners. Why? Because anyone who has any association with a business understands that the one who owns the business is the one who bears all the burdens, risks, costs, and maintenance. The players are...employees. They only have two concerns - health and pay. That's it. They're entertainers.  The Orioles are terrible, but I still enjoyed going to a few games per year. That will end. Book it. 

Mascots of the Anointed

Girl praised, becomes "icon" after participating in march.

Kids are regarded as untouchable. They make for wonderful human shields.

Unless they are unborn, of course. 

Thomas Sowell knew exactly of which he spoke and wrote. 

The Great Disappointment

General Mattis...

I have a lot of respect for what he did in his time as a Marine officer. His sniveling over the President, as published in The Atlantic, comes off as a toddler's stompy-foot tantrum. That respect is tarnished a bit.

I'm not going to rehash what he said, because many others have done so. The best one comes from an unlikely source - Paul Mirengoff of Powerline, who is usually sympathetic to anti-Trump screeds. However, Mirengoff is a Marylander and has a closer look to what is actually going on - that the rioting in DC needed to be put under control, and people like Mattis are clueless about the threat.

Or worse, sympathetic. 

Cancel Culture Comes Hard For Drew Brees

Drew Brees, the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, said something that isn't actually all that remotely controversial - that he doesn't agree with fellow players who kneel for the national anthem, thus they are disrespecting the flag. 

For this, he has been crucified, and hard (so to speak, of course).

It is clear, then, there has to be an Official List of Approved Opinions™ for use on social media and in public. 

You know, for safety reasons. 

And this is how societies die.

UPDATE - And now, there's a list of Approved Thought right here!

UPDATE II - Brees has caved and apologized. Too bad. The Kulturekampf is alive and well.

Remember...

David Dorn and Patrick Underwood. 

Who?

Peace officers who were murdered by rioters. Dorn was a retired captain in the St. Louis department; Underwood was a Federal Protective Services officer.

Both black. 

Black lives matter, but some more than others, apparently. 

Powerful Read

Worse than war: My night besieged by looters and thugs in NYC

It's a great look at what was happening in real time in places like New York. I have tried to warn people (verbally) for years that when the revolution comes (starting when Occupy Wall Street was a thing), it will eat its own first. Like what we see here:

This is so nuts. Sad, but kind of hilarious pic.twitter.com/9fHBDX8FP9

— Ami Horowitz (@AmiHorowitz) June 2, 2020

It doesn't matter for one second if you are on *their side*, you will be devoured. It's sad, but it is also true. Feeding a lion a steak and praying it becomes vegetarian is not a strategy. 

Unfortunately, it's the very strategy adopted by the elected officials of places like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and so forth.

Now if only we could figure out what they all had in common....

Shhhh. Don't Tell the Archbishop

The Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, decided he had to one-up the Episcopalian screeching over the President's visit to St. John's last night. Today, the President went to the St. John Paul II Shrine in Northeast Washington, DC, and his excellency entered the fray.

I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree. Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.

Never mind that this whole visit was planned well in advance. The Shrine released its own statement:

Today is also the 41st anniversary of when Pope St. John Paul II visited his home country of Poland for the first time, giving inspiration to what would become the Solidarity movement. Archbishop Gregory's statement is a disappointment, to say the least, looking more to appease the CNNistas than actually lead as a shepherd in these turbulent times. Too many clergy (of all types) have decided they would rather be of the world rather than in it.

Although, in retrospect, I do appreciate the clarity, even though he isn't my bishop.

Interesting Theory...

I did not appreciate how profitable fake news could be for Jeff Bezos. If the Washington Post can support the protestors long enough, there will be no retail store competition for Amazon. Almost there. I’d give it a week.

— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) June 2, 2020 

You know, I can buy that if I squint hard enough. Loot enough stores, and Amazon can achieve what Pinky and the Brain could only talk about. 

Should We Be Optimistic?

According to Scott McKay at the American Spectator, the answer is yes, as he provides seven different thoughts about what's going on in our country and society:

2. Tom Cotton’s sentiments are spot on, but his methods are off. 

I’m a fan of Tom Cotton, but when he tweeted over the weekend that the rioters ought to come face to face with the 101st Airborne, or the 10th Mountain Division, I’ve got to admit I wasn’t crazy about it. 

[snip]

 

The police can handle these rioters if they’re allowed to. If the police can’t, in some circumstances, the National Guard certainly can. This isn’t some invading army; it’s the dregs of society who have been induced into the streets for free air fryers from Target. The slightest application of law enforcement muscle will put this rioting down. 

Absolutely right. I can't get behind deploying the military unless it is a totally last resort. As suspicious as I am about police and its use of force, these kind of events are the ones for which it was made. Another one: 

6. The suburbs aren’t burning despite all the calls to burn them. It isn’t hard to understand why. 

Brandon Morse has a great piece at RedState warning the Antifa clowns that if they actually follow through on their threats to invade the suburbs, they won’t like the result. 

[snip]

Because the pasty honkies in the black sweatshirts live in the suburbs. Where do you think mom’s basement is, Watts? They’re not going to burn down their own neighborhoods; that’s for the proles to do, not the Marxist vanguard.

In other words, you don't defecate where you eat. Do read the whole thing, as they say. 

Tucker Carlson's Monologue

If you haven't seen this, you should - even if you are a dyed-in-the-wool liberal. It is Tucker at his best: no prisoners, and no one is spared. Not rioters, not leaders, not the President. Beware, it has some frank video of violence in it:
 

Russia! Russia! Russia!

Susan Rice says Russia behind riots

At least it's nice to know some things never change, although this adds an extra layer of unintentional comedy. Yesterday, I wrote about how if the authorities are to be believed concerning the involvement of white supremacists, it would then imply that Joe Biden and other liberal celebrities  (like Colin Kaepernick) are funding bail for white supremacists. 

So now they are also funding bail for Russian agents? GOOD SHOW!

Time To Act

Over at American Thinker, Monica Showalter has a post about how it's time for the President to assert himself with regards to the demonstrators protesters rioters:

[S]omething's gone wrong with his strange silence and ineffectual tweets with this crisis. I'm not the only one who's noticed 

          <snip>

Now the protests have became a vehicle for criminals, using color of race, for some kind of national 'devil's nights.' It's the Detroitification of America, a neglected, miserable place, except going for multiple nights, with global markets and all the world watching.

I agree. The President was going to be blamed no matter what he did, so he might as well step in and do the right thing. Do, as they say, read the whole thing. 

One other thing - I bristle at the modifier "peaceful" being attached to the word "protest". A protest by definition is peaceful. The addition of it is to try and rationalize rioting as a method of "protest" when it is in fact depriving people of life, liberty, and property. The instant someone breaks a window, it ceases being a protest and becomes something else.