but never mind

by Rain Trueax

We are told to be peaceful. We are told that nothing is going on and that the demonstrations are peaceful. Those who stick to mainstream cable news probably believe it. If they get all their news from the left and that includes public radio and television, they probably believe it. If they go for more diverse sources, local news, online magazines, and personal accounts, they know it's not that simple. Yes, the entire country is not on fire. Not all of Portland, Oregon has riots. But where they will be, nobody knows except maybe the ones coordinating, that which is not supposed to be organized.

Again, I am giving a break before I go onto cultural issues, which I know some don't want-- besides, not all who read here come from the US. So if it's not of interest, come back another day. 

 

Why does anyone want the riots that have been randomly happening across our country-- in big cities and small? There are videos. Not faked photos but actual videos. It is happening and someone believes they gain something from it beyond the petty burglarizing when a store is looted, which in some cases can lead to it going out of business.

The justification is these people have been suppressed for so long and now it's right that they destroy things to get justice-- whatever justice is. And don't forget, in the photos, the majority of the rioters are not black. In the first video here, the mob was trying to harass Portland's mayor up in NW Portland, the Pearl district, for those who don't know the city well as I do.

They tried to set his condo on fire. This is the mayor who has helped protect them from any consequences, kept the police away from them, allowed homelessness to spread randomly around the city, given speeches blaming, not them, but Trump for all the violence. But never mind, he's a target because he won't resign-- not sure who they wanted in his place. When they couldn't burn his condo, they set a dentist's office on fire... a black dentist, but never mind he's probably an Uncle Tom because like so many successful blacks, they must have sold out to get ahead.

Antifa torches Portland mayor's apartment

The videos tell the story for those who want to know. There are others that show how randomly these attacks can come and not all for celebrities but some are. Of course, the famous ones who want to take money from the police often have private security. Does that mean it's hypocrisy or blindness? When a Chicago mayor wants to reduce the numbers of  police on the street but demands a large number of them protect her home what does that make her?  

I have heard kind and gentle liberals make excuses for this lawlessness. Some blame it all on Trump as after all, isn't everything his fault? Tell me whose fault is this:

Man attempts to get fuel for his pickup

Videos don't lie but how many who are defending the harassments are watching them? Head in the sand until it's their home or they're trying to fill up their tank.

Or what about what happened to Senator Paul, his wife and those who were leaving a GOP event? If it can be done to one political party, why not the other? At that point you have a political system run by intimidation and fear. 

Rand Paul discusses what happened.

Yes, I know it was on Fox but the videos of the harassment are on all kinds of places-- for those who want to see.

At Facebook, I read where Kelly Paul told her experience that night. I copied it to paste here. Remember when Representative Maxine Waters told her followers to harass people from the right wherever you saw them. Is this what she was inciting?

Update from Rand Paul's Wife About Last Night's Attack
Thursday night felt like being in a terrifying dystopian novel. The mob swarmed me and my husband, Sen. Rand Paul, in a tight circle, screaming expletives, threats, and shouting, "Say her name." We rushed up to two police officers, and I believe that is the only thing that kept us from being knocked to the ground. Even pressed against the officers, we were greatly outnumbered.

 As the mob grew and became more threatening, we literally could not move, and neither could the two officers for several minutes. The rioters were inches from us, screaming in our faces.

 That was the worst part. At first, I attempted to meet the eyes of one of the protesters and tried to explain that Rand authored the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, but it seemed to just infuriate them more, as they called me a "bitch" and "racist wh---" alongside an endless torrent of "f--- yous."

Mobs are terrifying. They looked at us with no humanity — just a vicious and righteous zeal. After that, I just kept my eyes down and prayed. All I could think of was the driver who was pulled from his car, viciously kicked in the head and left lying in his own blood in Portland, Oregon, last week.
Now the Associated Press is reporting that Rand used the word “attack” to describe our ordeal “without evidence.” This is disgusting and utter proof of their bias.

When you are surrounded by throngs of people screaming in your face and preventing you from getting away, that is an attack.

After several harrowing minutes, additional officers arrived with bikes and surrounded us to create a moving barricade to escort us to safety. The video showing us walking is after the additional police had arrived. Before that, we were pinned in the center of a swirling maelstrom of hatred and threats. Those in the media and in government who have downplayed the last three months of burning, shootings, murder, looting, and destruction have fomented this horrific violence.

Since his election in 2010, Rand has made criminal justice reform a priority and has sponsored dozens of bills to address civil asset forfeiture, overcriminalization of nonviolent drug offenses, and the racial disparities in sentencing caused by the 1994 crime bill. I serve on the board of a bipartisan criminal justice reform group and worked hard to lobby for passage of the First Step Act. I have appeared with Alice Marie Johnson and Matthew Charles at events and on various TV programs to advocate for more reforms.

The mob screaming in our faces seemed ignorant of the fact that Rand had authored the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, calling for a ban on no-knock raids. Either that or they just didn’t care because their hatred of President Trump makes them feel righteous and justified as they terrorize people and burn cities.

Several of our friends were also attacked trying to make it to their hotels last night, including one who had his glasses slapped off his face, another who was pepper-sprayed by a rioter, and a woman who was punched in the back.

In the last three years, my husband was shot at by the Bernie Sanders supporter who nearly killed Rep. Steve Scalise, had six ribs broken and his lung damaged by a vocal internet hater of President Trump, and endured numerous death threats against him and our family. An MSNBC reporter literally said on air, laughing, that Rand’s assault was her favorite news story of the week. She was hardly criticized or made to apologize, let alone fired.

People such as Bette Midler and Nancy Pelosi’s daughter regularly tweet out encouragement of the man who nearly killed Rand, which is amplified by thousands of their followers.
My message to all of them is this: You have become exactly what you say you hate — violent, close-minded, authoritarian, and utterly lacking in empathy.

You might not care when it's someone else or someone not of your political persuasion, but there is no guarantee it will continue to be someone else. Shouldn't we, those of us who desire a civilized world in which to live, shouldn't we care anyway what is being allowed to happen in our country. Do people understand that the riots distract from making real change to the police where they are held accountable and given training enough to handle disturbances without guns.

Demonstrations have a  proud human history. They should be allowed when they are peaceful. That night when the Pauls were attacked, what if the mayor had ordered no demonstrations where the people who had attended the event would be exiting. Once those so excited and angry were allowed to be there, the rest was more or less inevitable in the current atmosphere.

In the future, I will write more about this. I know it's not what many come here to see. I recognize that many who do come here share a different political perspective than I do, but this is beyond partisanship to cultural. In what kind of society do we want to live? One where going to a political rally can lead to a threatening time, maybe even life threatening. To simply be somewhere and be speaking out for what someone considers to be justice does not have to escalate into fires, throwing missiles or attacks. Recently, it has been. 

If the police had shut down the demonstration in Kenosha at a curfew, say 10 pm. If, they had enforced it. Two young men would still be alive and a third not in jail possibly for the rest of his life. Most of what is going wrong is when it's dark. Let people speak and march without blocking freeways. Let them make their case. Don't let the event be turned into intimidation rather than ideas.