DC Unrest Megathread

[Alben Barkley]

Pence was just ushered out of the Senate by Secret Service. Clearly he’s been threatened.

These terrorists need to be dealt with severely. UNACCEPTABLE how DC police could not lock this down properly. UNACCEPTABLE how they just left the small Capitol Police force seemingly to deal with it. UNACCEPTABLE how they basically just rolled over for the MAGA terrorists who assaulted them when they would have shot BLM protesters for the same thing. Embarrassing security failure that they could even get close. Heads need to roll for this. National Guard needs to get down there NOW and restore order.

Un-f—king-real that peaceful protesters get tear gassed so Trump can do a photo op but these f—kers can get near and possibly inside the Capitol with little resistance.

[Alben Barkley]

The entire DC Metropolitan Police force should have been there. What the HELL is going on??? Why aren’t they opening fire???

[Alben Barkley]

Obviously we need a firm law enforcement response here. But I urge my fellow supporters of the Republic not to fall for the trap of calling for martial law, military action, or other measures of rank authoritarianism.

“Rank Authoritarianism” is attempting to stage a violent fascist coup. Responding to that with appropriate force is totally justified.

This is like saying D-Day was “rank authoritarianism” for fighting fascism.

[Alben Barkley]

The entire DC Metropolitan Police force should have been there. What the HELL is going on??? Why aren’t they opening fire???

Now you want escalation tactics?

Well the cops sure as hell shouldn’t just let themselves be assaulted, let them jump over barricades and storm inside the building! Hard to escalate more than that! Again, if these were BLM, they already would have been shot! At the very least, tear gas and rubber bullets should be deployed. And they should have been prepared for this with riot teams and barricades. Horrendous security failure.

[Alben Barkley]

Add “inciting a riot” to the list of Trump’s crimes.

[Alben Barkley]

It's incredible seeing this after a year of nationwide protests.

We know the police can stop this, we've seen them brutalize protests with tear gas and rubber bullets for months.
They are deliberately choosing not to do their jobs.

I think it’s more that there’s not nearly enough of them to do the job. There are thousands of these terrorists and only a few dozen Capitol Police apparently. This is the real failure and it’s totally unacceptable. The whole city police department should have been down there and the National Guard needs to be sent in.

[Alben Barkley]

Every single Trump supporter:

Fuzzy Bear, Sanchez, even sensible folks like Buzz.

This is your fault.  You are to blame.

Stop

No he’s absolutely right. This is the natural result of electing a fascist strongman and allowing him to take over your party.

They were warned. They were given an explanation. Nevertheless, they persisted.

[Alben Barkley]

Governors of Maryland and Virginia need to send their National Guard in too. F—k jurisdiction. For that matter FBI, Secret Service, SWAT teams, every law enforcement agency in the vicinity needs to be down there. And this is maybe the most heavily law enforcement presence, militarized and secure city in the country, or at least supposedly it was. Was it all an illusion? Could Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda have just waltzed into the Capitol all this time if he wanted?

What the HELL is going on??? How did they even get close???

[Alben Barkley]

Is there a chance that whenever Congress reconvenes, they won’t f—king object again? Can they change the rules so Pence can refuse the objections even with a Senator, or at least eliminate the 2 hour debate period? Just note the objection and move on?

[Alben Barkley]

A Blaze reporter has broken into Pelosi's office:

https://twitter.com/ElijahSchaffer/status/1346905425543917573?s=20

Good thing they are too dumb to mess with anything

Also: wow.  Way to hide your identity. 

Dumbass is going to rot in a federal cell for a long time for this. Hopefully.

[Alben Barkley]

One of the most surreal sights I’ve ever seen, MAGA terrorists wandering the Senate floor on national TV.

[Alben Barkley]

How the f—k is it that even during the Civil War, with DC surrounded by one state in rebellion and another slave state with a large population sympathetic to the rebellion, nothing like this ever happened? They kept DC more secure during the CIVIL WAR than they can now. Unbelievable.

[Alben Barkley]

https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/1346912905929785344?s=20

Yes, because the current optics are just great. Unbelievable.

This is sending a signal to every terrorist in the world that the US government is so out of control and incompetent we can’t even secure our own Capitol.

Great “optics!” Great defense policy!

[Alben Barkley]

Northam sending in National Guard and VA State Troops.

YES.

[Alben Barkley]

This CBS reporter is just flat-out tearing into Kevin McCarthy.  

He genuinely sounds rattled.  That's quite rare in a politician -- people who build their foundations on sounding confident and always sounding like they have the answers.  

The entire GOP needs to do some serious soul-searching now. All this bluster they I’m sure stupidly thought was “harmless” political theater. Now that their own asses have been physically endangered, which is sadly often what it takes for a right-winger to realize the consequences of their actions, maybe just maybe they will finally back away from this cliff of fascism they’ve walked us to the edge of.

They could start by not f—king “objecting” again.

[Alben Barkley]

The unfortunate thing about all of this is that once the barrier has been broken down, this sort of thing becomes tacitly legitimized. In the same way Turkish coups became legitimate over the past 70 years as a means of protecting Kemalism , so too may this become a normalized thing in American society.

And its very very difficult to put the cat back into the bag once its out.

In a similar vein to my CHAZ comment this is why they need to be aggressive here. Wouldn't mind them shooting rioters at all. People won't pull stuff like this if they think they could actually die.

Shooting them only makes it worse. Trump is the root of the problem, you cant let people like him win, and well...to be honest, i'm not sure how you stop that. Both parties are probably to blame for his rise.

“BoTh sIdEs” talk has NEVER been more asinine than it is now. You sound like a complete fool.

[Alben Barkley]

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1269400770472001539?s=21

[Alben Barkley]

Anyone else see the video of this Capitol cop running away from a horde of Trump supporters with his nightstick? He would have been totally justified in opening fire.

[Alben Barkley]

I normally don’t call for banning people, but Sanchez should be banned. Anyone defending this is an enemy of American electoral democracy, and thus has no place on a site dedicated to it.

[Alben Barkley]

This is like 9/11, except coming from inside the house.

[Alben Barkley]

Sorest losers in history.

I never, EVER want to hear about the f—king screaming Hillary supporter again.

[Alben Barkley]

To those who live in reliably blue cities within red states, your state government and your police won’t protect you. Do not look to them for any help, nor expect any to be forthcoming. Instead, look to your neighbors and friends to support you. Try and form a self-defense organization. You have few options other than mutual self-defense.

Sadly, you might be right. I hope if some good comes out of this, more liberals will start to arm themselves. One side having all the guns creates the potential for an ugly situation.

[Alben Barkley]

Also, all the talking heads on CNN calling this a literal "insurrection" will get what they're asking for.  If you go too far in demonizing these protesters/rioters, then you will invariably create the very demons you're supposedly petrified by. 

Law enforcement has learned to deescalate situations for the sake of public safety (which appears to be what's going on at the moment); I only wish our news media had the same sense of civic responsibility. 

The true enemy of the people.  100%

Are you F—KING KIDDING ME???

YOU are the enemy of the people!!!

First we couldn’t call stupid people stupid or else they might just prove us right!

Now we can’t call literal insurrectionists what they are or else they might just prove us right!!

This is f—king “negotiate with terrorists” logic.

Get the HELL out of here!!!

[Alben Barkley]

I’d unignored several people after the election hoping we could all move forward but man this thread has re-filled my ignore list fast with the usual suspects.

It’s just getting increasingly hard to see how us small-d democrats can continue to share a country with people who want literal fascism by any means necessary.

[Alben Barkley]

It’s actually kinda cathartic to see the tear gas and flashbangs come out now.