In a sane party . . .

[Kishkumen]

Trump would have disqualified himself when it was learned that he asked then Defense Secretary Mark Esper if they could “shoot protestors in the legs.”

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/09/10975174 ... -secretary

I have to assume that this idea (shooting protestors) is acceptable to Ajax, Markk, HoH, and ceeboo. They happily voted for it.

[Gunnar]

Trump would have disqualified himself when it was learned that he asked then Defense Secretary Mark Esper if they could “shoot protestors in the legs.”

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/09/10975174 ... -secretary

I have to assume that this idea (shooting protestors) is acceptable to Ajax, Markk, HoH, and ceeboo. They happily voted for it.

Australian news reporter shot with rubber bullet live on air while covering LA anti-ICE riots

[Gadianton]

you mean, "if they spit, we hit".

going around raiding garment factories in full tactical gear and then sending in every division of the military if the people object is obviously a game of, how much disproportional force can he get away with using? This administration isn't concerned about illegal immigration, it relies on illegal immigration. What do you think will happen to Trump hotels without any cheap labor? Every deportee will eventually be backfilled whether it's on his own watch, another Republican's or a Democrats, because the power of supply and demand is more consistent and enduring than the power of MAGAs feigned outrage.

The effort is entirely how beat the system, get around the courts; get around congress and any local authorities and be the only sheriff in town. Exact the most disproportional force in any situation. The ultimate goal isn't to get rid of illegals, it's to get away exacting force against anyone deemed undesirable. It's ultimately about gaining the power to directly punish anybody not loyal to him personally.

Will it work? I have no idea. Odds I think are still against it, what are a bunch of marines standing around really going to do? The game this administration started is for the rioters to provoke a disproportional response, and will that lead to an expansion of power, or does that lead to rejection of the administration in whatever ways are available? Does he pull a Mussolini or a Yoon? One thing is guaranteed, we will find out for sure!

[Moksha]

Australian news reporter shot with rubber bullet live on air while covering LA anti-ICE riots

The video showed the shooter taking careful aim at the reporter after he was able to ascertain she was live on air.

[Kishkumen]

you mean, "if they spit, we hit".

going around raiding garment factories in full tactical gear and then sending in every division of the military if the people object is obviously a game of, how much disproportional force can he get away with using? This administration isn't concerned about illegal immigration, it relies on illegal immigration. What do you think will happen to Trump hotels without any cheap labor? Every deportee will eventually be backfilled whether it's on his own watch, another Republican's or a Democrats, because the power of supply and demand is more consistent and enduring than the power of MAGAs feigned outrage.

The effort is entirely how beat the system, get around the courts; get around congress and any local authorities and be the only sheriff in town. Exact the most disproportional force in any situation. The ultimate goal isn't to get rid of illegals, it's to get away exacting force against anyone deemed undesirable. It's ultimately about gaining the power to directly punish anybody not loyal to him personally.

Will it work? I have no idea. Odds I think are still against it, what are a bunch of marines standing around really going to do? The game this administration started is for the rioters to provoke a disproportional response, and will that lead to an expansion of power, or does that lead to rejection of the administration in whatever ways are available? Does he pull a Mussolini or a Yoon? One thing is guaranteed, we will find out for sure!

Keen observations, as usual. Yes, Trump has always wanted to behave in an over-the-top, authoritarian manner, and he was frustrated when military authorities in his last administration kept him from doing it. Now, he has found the weak, inexperienced, and unprincipled people who will do his bidding and allow him to do what he has always wanted. He is rolling this out in hopes that, when done incrementally, he can normalize and get court approval to exercise martial law in every state.

[Some Schmo]

I have to assume that this idea (shooting protestors) is acceptable to Ajax, Markk, HoH, and ceeboo. They happily voted for it.

Actually, I think what they're really into is shooting people who don't buy into their fascist wet dream. They damned lost their minds (well, pretended to, anyway) when a rioter was shot at the capital on Jan 6.

[Kishkumen]

Actually, I think what they're really into is shooting people who don't buy into their fascist wet dream. They damned lost their minds (well, pretended to, anyway) when a rioter was shot at the capital on Jan 6.

Because it is all about team Trump to them. It is not about legality, principle, or anything else.

I have nothing particular against Ashli Babbitt, the confused soul who got snookered by Trump and his gang of ghouls and con artists. It is sad and unfortunate that she was turned against the Constitution she once swore to uphold. That is what extremists do. They become convinced by the unscrupulous that things are so bad that they simply MUST turn against their own commitments. Conspiracy theories are useful for this. The conspiracy theories surrounding the election were such that the intemperate were induced to attack the seat of democratic government, the single most democratic branch of government in the Constitution.

So Ashli Babbitt is hoodwinked and led to her own death by Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the finger on that trigger. He is the one who is responsible for Babbitt's death. Imagine if he had immediately mobilized the National Guard--as was his legal authority in the District of Columbia--to protect federal property on January 6th. Not only would it have been perfectly legal. It would have been the right thing to do. And Ashli Babbitt would still be alive today.

Instead, he sent Ashli Babbitt in to take a bullet for him in an attack on his own nation's government. And of course he did nothing to stop the deliberate plan he set in motion. Ashli died to soothe the wounded feelings of a childish would-be authoritarian loser. He killed her. And he paid 5 million bucks to her family to show his approval of what she did. For Trump, it is all about Trump. Nothing else matters. No one else matters. No principle or law matters. All is a tool for him. His followers are his tools to aggrandize himself.

We fight for the dignity of every human being. We fight for the rights of the most sacred calling in the history of the world: the citizen of a free society. Let us never falter in our commitment. We do not want to become Ashli Babbitt. We don't want others to become Ashli Babbitt. Those who do go down the shameful path of selling out their sacred rights for the appeasement of one sick person, Donald Trump, are to be pitied, not praised.

[Chap]

We fight for the dignity of every human being. We fight for the rights of the most sacred calling in the history of the world: the citizen of a free society. Let us never falter in our commitment. We do not want to become Ashli Babbitt. We don't want others to become Ashli Babbitt. Those who do go down the shameful path of selling out their sacred rights for the appeasement of one sick person, Donald Trump, are to be pitied, not praised.

Well said.

What is happening at the moment is a (so far at least) frighteningly successful attempt to overthrow the project of the US Founding Fathers to establish a state based on the principles of the Enlightenment, with no arbitrary power, and a system of democratic checks and balances to prevent anything like the royal power re-establishing itself on their side of the Atlantic.

The system they bequeathed to modern Americans is not perfect. But was a damn sight better than the one-man rule of an ignorant and unscrupulous oligarch that Trump and his supporters are planning to establish on the ruins of the system for which people fought and died in the Revolutionary War, and in several conflicts after that.

[canpakes]

Actually, I think what they're really into is shooting people who don't buy into their fascist wet dream. They damned lost their minds (well, pretended to, anyway) when a rioter was shot at the capital on Jan 6.

Don’t forget that Trump has now sent the Babbitt family millions of dollars, for Ashli being shot while breaking into the Capitol, storming down the building and trying to squeeze through a glass lite while leading armed protesters, after being repeatedly warned not to by Security inside.

But those Mexicans working at the donut shop … well, they’re obviously dangerous criminal insurgents requiring 2000 National Guard troops and 500 Marines to escort out.

[Kishkumen]

Well said.

What is happening at the moment is a (so far at least) frighteningly successful attempt to overthrow the project of the US Founding Fathers to establish a state based on the principles of the Enlightenment, with no arbitrary power, and a system of democratic checks and balances to prevent anything like the royal power re-establishing itself on their side of the Atlantic.

The system they bequeathed to modern Americans is not perfect. But was a damn sight better than the one-man rule of an ignorant and unscrupulous oligarch that Trump and his supporters are planning to establish on the ruins of the system for which people fought and died in the Revolutionary War, and in several conflicts after that.

The sad thing is that I don't believe many of the Christian authoritarians ever believed in the Constitution or the rule of law. They had to rewrite the history or distort its interpretation to arrive at a United States of America they could believe in. Then they commenced the overthrow of the one that exists in order to make theirs a reality. Do things like turn the Supreme Court into a College of Cardinals. Rewrite the laws to conform with the Bible.