2020 Protests megathread

[Pyro]

Trump to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321

Cannot be overstated how dangerous a slippery slope this is, essentially labeling ideological resistance a crime.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Trump to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321

Cannot be overstated how dangerous a slippery slope this is, essentially labeling ideological resistance a crime.

It's not a dangerous slippery slope because it can't happen without lots of new legislation to criminalise ideological resistance. "Antifa" is not one organisation and the necessary legislation isn't passing without a trifecta.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Trump to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321

It's all talk. "Antifa" is an umbrella term for thousands of disparate organisations. Unless he plans to go comprehensively after a list of specific groups, he'd need to massively expand the scope of currently existing law to target "antifa" as an ideological grouping.

Exactly. "Antifa" as a distinct, identifiable, coherent, and unified organization doesn't exist. Antifa isn't a organization, it's more of an ethos, an ideology. It's like trying to ban "communists". And therein lies the danger: That due to the ambiguity of who and what Antifa is this could turn into McCarthyism 2.0.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Trump to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321

It's all talk. "Antifa" is an umbrella term for thousands of disparate organisations. Unless he plans to go comprehensively after a list of specific groups, he'd need to massively expand the scope of currently existing law to target "antifa" as an ideological grouping.

Exactly. "Antifa" as a distinct, identifiable, coherent, and unified organization doesn't exist. Antifa isn't a organization, it's more of an ethos, an ideology. It's like trying to ban "communists". And therein lies the danger: That due to the ambiguity of who and what Antifa is this could turn into McCarthyism 2.0.

It can't, because McCarthy only managed it with significant institutional backing (it's often forgotten now, but he was viewed as a moderate outside of his anti-communism at the time). Trump cannot get anything substantial on this through a divided Congress and is not even all that competent at getting what he wants past Republican interests.

[GM Team Member and Deputy PPT WB]

Message from the hacker collective Anonymous:

https://twitter.com/YourAnonCentral/status/1266947376482095105?s=20

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Trump to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321

Cannot be overstated how dangerous a slippery slope this is, essentially labeling ideological resistance a crime.

[afleitch]

Of course he's going to try and ban 'Antifa'. Every response he gives to every issue is to the people who live in the alternate reality with it's alternate media.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Trump to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321

It's all talk. "Antifa" is an umbrella term for thousands of disparate organisations. Unless he plans to go comprehensively after a list of specific groups, he'd need to massively expand the scope of currently existing law to target "antifa" as an ideological grouping.

Exactly. "Antifa" as a distinct, identifiable, coherent, and unified organization doesn't exist. Antifa isn't a organization, it's more of an ethos, an ideology. It's like trying to ban "communists". And therein lies the danger: That due to the ambiguity of who and what Antifa is this could turn into McCarthyism 2.0.

It can't, because McCarthy only managed it with significant institutional backing (it's often forgotten now, but he was viewed as a moderate outside of his anti-communism at the time). Trump cannot get anything substantial on this through a divided Congress and is not even all that competent at getting what he wants past Republican interests.

Implying the (right wing) executive needs the legislature to do much of anything in 2020.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Trump to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization - NBC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-will-designate-antifa-terrorist-organization-gop-points-n1220321

It's all talk. "Antifa" is an umbrella term for thousands of disparate organisations. Unless he plans to go comprehensively after a list of specific groups, he'd need to massively expand the scope of currently existing law to target "antifa" as an ideological grouping.

Exactly. "Antifa" as a distinct, identifiable, coherent, and unified organization doesn't exist. Antifa isn't a organization, it's more of an ethos, an ideology. It's like trying to ban "communists". And therein lies the danger: That due to the ambiguity of who and what Antifa is this could turn into McCarthyism 2.0.

It can't, because McCarthy only managed it with significant institutional backing (it's often forgotten now, but he was viewed as a moderate outside of his anti-communism at the time). Trump cannot get anything substantial on this through a divided Congress and is not even all that competent at getting what he wants past Republican interests.

Implying the (right wing) executive needs the legislature to do much of anything in 2020.

In terms of new laws, it does. It doesn't need to do much other than perpetuate the status quo to allow elites to extract wealth, but as of yet they have little interest in perpetuating unrest with some vague crusade against college leftists.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1267101298832355328?s=19

The headline is a bit iffy because he waffled, but to see someone as anti-police as DeBlasio cower at his chance for criticism tells it all.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1267101298832355328?s=19
The headline is a bit iffy because he waffled, but to see someone as anti-police as DeBlasio cower at his chance for criticism tells it all.

It speaks more to DeBlasio's general incompetence and laziness, tbh.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/webradius/status/1266908364145131521

https://mobile.twitter.com/KarenAttiah/status/1267077957731921920

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/samswey/status/1180655701271732224
good stuff.

[GP270watch]

 We're seeing a police response that looks like something out of Communist China. I'm waiting for conservatives and establishment governing Democrats to defend tanks rolling over protestors.

[Estrella]

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1267101298832355328?s=19
The headline is a bit iffy because he waffled, but to see someone as anti-police as DeBlasio cower at his chance for criticism tells it all.

It speaks more to DeBlasio's general incompetence and laziness, tbh.

I'd say that in this situation a seemingly moderate-ish response like de Blasio's is outright dangerous. It sounds like a paradox, but he and other mayors are playing a game of chicken by waffling like this. If they don't give at least an impression of trying to deal with police violence, they risk escalating the situation even more. Perhaps not during this wave of protests, but during the next one - which will come - you might very well get people so radicalized by their inaction that they'll go all Three Bilboards Outside Ebbing and start throwing Molotovs at police stations en masse.

[Intell]

DeBlasio has no power over his city, let alone the NYC police department. The police union is pressuring DeBlasio and have been doing so for some time.

[ProudModerate2]

Atlanta mayor on Trump: 'He should just stop talking.'

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Sunday rebuked Donald Trump's rhetoric amid days of protests after the death of George Floyd, saying the President "is making it worse" and is stoking racial tensions.

"He should just stop talking. This is like Charlottesville all over again," Bottoms told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." "He speaks and he makes it worse. There are times when you should just be quiet and I wish that he would just be quiet. Or if he can't be silent, if there is somebody of good sense and good conscience in the White House, put him in front of a teleprompter and pray he reads it and at least says the right things, because he is making it worse."

https://us.cnn.com/2020/05/31/politics/keisha-lance-bottoms-president-trump-cnntv/index.html

[lfromnj]

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1266994347200798726

Unless if this person turned out to be someone trying to stop a fire this is good ol fashioned natural karma.

Hopefully everyone here agrees on that.

Cops should arrest him in a month to avoid paying for his stupidity.

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

Philadelphia live on national news. Leading the nation, you must be so proud.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

I don’t feel like going through 18 pages of posts....has someone actually come up with a rationalization as to why one group of protesters has to follow certain guidelines during a pandemic and another group does not?

[Pyro]

Police in Brooklyn targeting medics.

https://twitter.com/sa0un/status/1267157808962777091

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1267021384732905472?s=19
So messed up and evil.

https://twitter.com/xoofxos/status/1267080962418135041?s=21

This thread in a nutshell. And back-to-back posts, no less.

Again, "A tale of two perspectives".

[It’s so Joever]

I don’t feel like going through 18 pages of posts....has someone actually come up with a rationalization as to why one group of protesters has to follow certain guidelines during a pandemic and another group does not?

No, both groups should be punished severely.
You are correct in pointing out the hypocrisy currently happening among some segments of the left.
Unfortunately, viruses don’t just stop once the media stops reporting on it.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/1266917228752056320

[lfromnj]

http://archive.is/QxXjH
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1267144558246195200
https://twitter.com/ChrisPalmerNBA/status/1266946927658020864

The elites can be so condescending until it happens to them.

Archive is proof of the 1st tweet.