DC Unrest Megathread

[BlueSwan]

I don't understand why members of the House need to be fined for refusing to walk through metal detectors.

Just deny entry.  Can they walk onto a plane without going thru one?

They are lawfully elected members of a national legislature, not customers conducting a transaction.

It also seems like a petty tyranny, which is why I asked about it. What conceivable safety benefit is there to scanning the bodies of every member?

I somewhat agree with this, but violence has happened on the House floor in the past between members. Given how crazy some of these new people are, I honestly wouldn't put it past them to lose their cool and start waving a gun around.

So members of Congress can be trusted to vote on every piece of legislation affecting the country, but not to refrain from shooting their colleagues?

And we're supposed to take this seriously as a threat because Boebert likes to showboat about gun laws and violence in the House was a thing before electricity?

I take the riot extremely seriously but unless there's a much stronger case for it that no one is discussing, this seems like obvious security theater and a form of it that betrays some deeply undemocratic instincts. It would be more honest if those making the argument were willing to acknowledge that.

We now have literal QAnon wackos in congress. With people as lunatic as that, there’s no telling what they might do. We are not talking about regular rational people here.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/CarterElliottIV/status/1349722422744911882

[Alben Barkley]

https://twitter.com/CarterElliottIV/status/1349722422744911882

If true he needs to be expelled immediately.

[Yoda]

I don't understand why members of the House need to be fined for refusing to walk through metal detectors.

Just deny entry.  Can they walk onto a plane without going thru one?

They are lawfully elected members of a national legislature, not customers conducting a transaction.

It also seems like a petty tyranny, which is why I asked about it. What conceivable safety benefit is there to scanning the bodies of every member?

Sounds to me like a lot of republican politicians as well as posters on this forum have never held a real job before. Any American who works at a large plant, factory, shipping or sorting facility, warehouse, etc has to go through a metal detector, among other measures. I got through a metal detector and I'm scanned for a temperature check automatically as I scan my ID badge every day. I do realize that these are the kinds of working/middle class jobs that most republican politicians would never come into contact with at any point in their privileged, coddled lives, so I guess it's understandable.

[brucejoel99]

I don't understand why members of the House need to be fined for refusing to walk through metal detectors.

Just deny entry.  Can they walk onto a plane without going thru one?

They are lawfully elected members of a national legislature, not customers conducting a transaction.

It also seems like a petty tyranny, which is why I asked about it. What conceivable safety benefit is there to scanning the bodies of every member?

I somewhat agree with this, but violence has happened on the House floor in the past between members. Given how crazy some of these new people are, I honestly wouldn't put it past them to lose their cool and start waving a gun around.

So members of Congress can be trusted to vote on every piece of legislation affecting the country, but not to refrain from shooting their colleagues?

And we're supposed to take this seriously as a threat because Boebert likes to showboat about gun laws and violence in the House was a thing before electricity?

I take the riot extremely seriously but unless there's a much stronger case for it that no one is discussing, this seems like obvious security theater and a form of it that betrays some deeply undemocratic instincts. It would be more honest if those making the argument were willing to acknowledge that.

30 Representatives attesting to the report of a fellow member of Congress breaching COVID restrictions by giving an unauthorized tour to suspicious visitors who ended up being associated with the storming a day before the storming seems like enough of a reasonable case to me.

[Joe Republic]

So members of Congress can be trusted to vote on every piece of legislation affecting the country,

Usually.

[DINGO Joe]

We now have literal QAnon wackos in congress. With people as lunatic as that, there’s no telling what they might do. We are not talking about regular rational people here.

Why bother having Congress at all, with that attitude? Let's just dispense with the performance and let the security bureaucracy run the country without pretending that there are any real checks on it.

Why refuse to acknowledge the damage one percenters can do?  you act as if a metal detector is unreasonable tyranny.

[Fight for Trump]

I don't understand why members of the House need to be fined for refusing to walk through metal detectors.

Just deny entry.  Can they walk onto a plane without going thru one?

They are lawfully elected members of a national legislature, not customers conducting a transaction.

It also seems like a petty tyranny, which is why I asked about it. What conceivable safety benefit is there to scanning the bodies of every member?

Sounds to me like a lot of republican politicians as well as posters on this forum have never held a real job before. Any American who works at a large plant, factory, shipping or sorting facility, warehouse, etc has to go through a metal detector, among other measures. I got through a metal detector and I'm scanned for a temperature check automatically as I scan my ID badge every day. I do realize that these are the kinds of working/middle class jobs that most republican politicians would never come into contact with at any point in their privileged, coddled lives, so I guess it's understandable.

lol, I've been to plenty of large manufacturing facilities and never once had to go through a metal detector.  (I suppose there may be security checks to prevent theft in some places, but the threat is outbound in that case, not inbound)

Members of Congress are not employees. They are the reason the Capitol buildings, and Capitol security, exist. It is a ridiculous waste of time, and pure petulance by Pelosi, to demand members go through a metal detector. Why not strip search them? A plastic explosive wouldn't set off a metal detector...

As Averroes said, if you can't trust them not to murder on the House floor, you can't trust them to write and vote on legislation, at which point you might as well abolish Congress altogether.

[cg41386]

I didn't realize a harmless extra layer of security was such an infringement of one's freedom.

[John Dule]

I don't understand why members of the House need to be fined for refusing to walk through metal detectors.

Just deny entry.  Can they walk onto a plane without going thru one?

They are lawfully elected members of a national legislature, not customers conducting a transaction.

It also seems like a petty tyranny, which is why I asked about it. What conceivable safety benefit is there to scanning the bodies of every member?

Sounds to me like a lot of republican politicians as well as posters on this forum have never held a real job before. Any American who works at a large plant, factory, shipping or sorting facility, warehouse, etc has to go through a metal detector, among other measures. I got through a metal detector and I'm scanned for a temperature check automatically as I scan my ID badge every day. I do realize that these are the kinds of working/middle class jobs that most republican politicians would never come into contact with at any point in their privileged, coddled lives, so I guess it's understandable.

lol, I've been to plenty of large manufacturing facilities and never once had to go through a metal detector.  (I suppose there may be security checks to prevent theft in some places, but the threat is outbound in that case, not inbound)

Members of Congress are not employees. They are the reason the Capitol buildings, and Capitol security, exist. It is a ridiculous waste of time, and pure petulance by Pelosi, to demand members go through a metal detector. Why not strip search them? A plastic explosive wouldn't set off a metal detector...

As Averroes said, if you can't trust them not to murder on the House floor, you can't trust them to write and vote on legislation, at which point you might as well abolish Congress altogether.

I don't trust them to do this either, though.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

We now have literal QAnon wackos in congress. With people as lunatic as that, there’s no telling what they might do. We are not talking about regular rational people here.

Why bother having Congress at all, with that attitude? Let's just dispense with the performance and let the security bureaucracy run the country without pretending that there are any real checks on it.

Why refuse to acknowledge the damage one percenters can do?  you act as if a metal detector is unreasonable tyranny.

Takes me back to the ten minutes of explaining to LAX security that the underwire in my bra was setting off the metal detectors.  

Was a nice distraction from the suitcase of exotic lizards, though.  

[pbrower2a]

https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1349781522614804480

Imagine coming to her as a student who needs counseling and therapy.

How the hell did she even get her job, in the first place?
Do school districts not do thorough background checks?
What a loon.

She may not have been a Qultist when she was a school counselor and therapist.

[Hammy]

I didn't realize a harmless extra layer of security was such an infringement of one's freedom.

Remember when the entire Republican thing was "only wrongdoers need to be afraid of security measures and your freedoms don't matter?" Which they still push when they're not on the receiving end.

We now have literal QAnon wackos in congress. With people as lunatic as that, there’s no telling what they might do. We are not talking about regular rational people here.

Why bother having Congress at all, with that attitude? Let's just dispense with the performance and let the security bureaucracy run the country without pretending that there are any real checks on it.

There are literally standards required for every single job in the country, and there should be for elected officials. By your logic we should just abolish all jobs, let any rando perform surgery, connect your electric, handle your banking , etc rather than stop crazies who don't follow protocol from doing them.

[Crumpets]

https://twitter.com/CarterElliottIV/status/1349722422744911882

Looks like Good interpreted "representing Charlottesville" a little differently than he should have.

[Fight for Trump]

I don't trust them to do this either, though.

I'm happy to see you've joined the ranks of libertarian divine right monarchists. We allow ourselves to be bicoastal liberal elitists once in a while to attend cocktail parties.

[DINGO Joe]

If Santander shows up at my workplace he goes thru a metal detector.  That's a good thing.  He can have his weapons back when he leaves. 

[DINGO Joe]

We now have literal QAnon wackos in congress. With people as lunatic as that, there’s no telling what they might do. We are not talking about regular rational people here.

Why bother having Congress at all, with that attitude? Let's just dispense with the performance and let the security bureaucracy run the country without pretending that there are any real checks on it.

Why refuse to acknowledge the damage one percenters can do?  you act as if a metal detector is unreasonable tyranny.

Takes me back to the ten minutes of explaining to LAX security that the underwire in my bra was setting off the metal detectors.  

Was a nice distraction from the suitcase of exotic lizards, though.  

So you're good on flying without TSA?

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

We now have literal QAnon wackos in congress. With people as lunatic as that, there’s no telling what they might do. We are not talking about regular rational people here.

Why bother having Congress at all, with that attitude? Let's just dispense with the performance and let the security bureaucracy run the country without pretending that there are any real checks on it.

Why refuse to acknowledge the damage one percenters can do?  you act as if a metal detector is unreasonable tyranny.

Takes me back to the ten minutes of explaining to LAX security that the underwire in my bra was setting off the metal detectors.  

Was a nice distraction from the suitcase of exotic lizards, though.  

So you're good on flying without TSA?

Oh of course not, that was just one particularly aggravating experience -- lead TSA guy was on a power trip. 

[President Johnson]

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1349808278994300929

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I didn't realize a harmless extra layer of security was such an infringement of one's freedom.

I have liberal Twitter fanatics jumping all over me for making a TSA joke last week since I am insufficiently supporting the great work the TSA people do to keep us safe. Seeing the New Left openly mock anyone who doesn't full-on embrace any security measure makes me feel like I am living in bizarro world. Completely incompatible with the first half of my political existence.

It's not an issue where I personally care all that much. The reversal in passions is all the more amusing as a neutral. Another thing where Chapo is more right than not though: the amount spent per life saved shows a complete misallocation of resources. I will never quite understand how people these days are so terrified of death. No amount is too much to prevent that fifth standard deviation event...

[Yoda]

I don't understand why members of the House need to be fined for refusing to walk through metal detectors.

Just deny entry.  Can they walk onto a plane without going thru one?

They are lawfully elected members of a national legislature, not customers conducting a transaction.

It also seems like a petty tyranny, which is why I asked about it. What conceivable safety benefit is there to scanning the bodies of every member?

Sounds to me like a lot of republican politicians as well as posters on this forum have never held a real job before. Any American who works at a large plant, factory, shipping or sorting facility, warehouse, etc has to go through a metal detector, among other measures. I got through a metal detector and I'm scanned for a temperature check automatically as I scan my ID badge every day. I do realize that these are the kinds of working/middle class jobs that most republican politicians would never come into contact with at any point in their privileged, coddled lives, so I guess it's understandable.

Members of Congress are not employees. They are the reason the Capitol buildings, and Capitol security, exist. It is a ridiculous waste of time, and pure petulance by Pelosi, to demand members go through a metal detector. Why not strip search them? A plastic explosive wouldn't set off a metal detector...

I keep seeing you make this....uh.....let's call it a 'claim', and it's gotten no less ridiculous/incorrect no matter how many times you repeat it.

They are paid by the federal government. They receive a pension from the federal government. They receive health insurance from the federal government. The fact that they are elected does not mean they are not employees. They work for their constituents; they are paid by their constituents' taxes. On the "employment history" section of their resumes when they leave Congress I bet you they list their time as lawmakers. If you do "work", and you are "paid by someone else", you're an employee. Yours is an asinine line of argument, and repeating it incessantly does not make it true.

[Person Man]

We now have literal QAnon wackos in congress. With people as lunatic as that, there’s no telling what they might do. We are not talking about regular rational people here.

Why bother having Congress at all, with that attitude? Let's just dispense with the performance and let the security bureaucracy run the country without pretending that there are any real checks on it.

Why refuse to acknowledge the damage one percenters can do?  you act as if a metal detector is unreasonable tyranny.

Takes me back to the ten minutes of explaining to LAX security that the underwire in my bra was setting off the metal detectors.  

Was a nice distraction from the suitcase of exotic lizards, though.  

So you're good on flying without TSA?

Oh of course not, that was just one particularly aggravating experience -- lead TSA guy was on a power trip. 

They once drove my girlfriend to tears over her moisturizing cream at Sky Harbor. Threatened to write my congressman about it but he is an idiot.

[Хahar 🤔]

I didn't realize a harmless extra layer of security was such an infringement of one's freedom.

This is the excuse for all security theater.

[Crumpets]

If I could try to tightrope walk my not-fully-formed opinion on this, if we are asked to go through TSA to get on planes and we are asking school students to go through metal detectors to get into school, it's only reasonable we also ask this of congresspeople going to work in a known high-risk location. We already let them drive without traffic, pay them generously with exceptional benefits, and pay for their own safety in a building that we also pay for. If congress doesn't have any of the inconveniences that most Americans have, how can we trust them to actually understand what we need them to do?

[Хahar 🤔]

If I could try to tightrope walk my not-fully-formed opinion on this, if we are asked to go through TSA to get on planes and we are asking school students to go through metal detectors to get into school, it's only reasonable we also ask this of congresspeople going to work in a known high-risk location. We already let them drive without traffic, pay them generously with exceptional benefits, and pay for their own safety in a building that we also pay for. If congress doesn't have any of the inconveniences that most Americans have, how can we trust them to actually understand what we need them to do?

The obvious response is that none of that is reasonable, and I don't think that resigned acceptance of the security state is justification for actively forcing more of it.