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Yes!
Tag: Capitol protest
bookmark_borderFour years ago today
Four years ago today, after spending months lauding, worshipping, and deifying the perpetrators of riots in which the people I love were murdered, society decided to erupt in an orgy of vicious condemnation of a group of people like me who had the audacity to actually hold a protest expressing our views.
For the entire late spring and summer of 2020, in nearly every city and state, intolerant bullies held violent and hateful demonstrations during which they demanded that members of the majority never again have to encounter a person who is different from the norm, that people like me be obliterated from existence, that the only perspective acknowledged be their own, that all voices other than theirs be silenced. My “friends” responded to this by unanimously flooding social media with mindless expressions of solidarity with the bullies. Politicians responded by effusively praising the bullies, groveling at their feet, and falling all over each other in their eagerness to fulfill the bullies’ demands. Our country’s public art, public spaces, place names, and calendars were redone to ensure that people like me could no longer feel included, to erase every possible trace of non-majority perspectives, stories, and viewpoints.
On January 6, 2021, people like me protested. We were hurt and angry at the way that we had been treated, as anyone with even half a brain would be in our situation. After being subjected to months of the cruelest and most appalling treatment imaginable, finally we fought back. Our hurt and anger were 100% justified, as were all of our actions. My “friends” responded to this by expressing their disgust and complaining that it made them sick to their stomachs to see people like me standing up for ourselves and expressing our views. The pro-bullying activists who up until that point had been masquerading as the news media responded by viciously attacking and condemning us in the harshest terms imaginable. Live on air, the disgraceful excuses for human beings who called themselves political commentators called us idiots, morons, “traitors,” white supremacists, and worse.
Four years ago today, one of the people like me who participated in the protest, Ashli Babbitt, was murdered. And society responded not by criticizing the person who murdered her, but by condemning and ridiculing her for having participated in the protest in the first place. Society reacted by blaming her for her own murder.
Today, Donald Trump will be certified as president. Nothing can bring Ashli Babbitt back, but this day gives me a small bit of satisfaction. Nothing can truly undo the atrocity that was perpetrated against people like me four years ago, but this day does undo it a little bit. This day gives me, and all people like me, a victory. Because what the participants in the protest were trying to achieve four years ago, has actually happened. Donald Trump is going to be president. Today, people like me have won. And the mindless and intolerant society that decided to sadistically attack, condemn, shame, insult, and murder us, merely for expressing views that are different from those of the majority, lost.
To say that it serves them right, would be an understatement.
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Rest in peace, Air Force Veteran Ashli Babbitt.
Say Her Name.
bookmark_borderTrump to pardon unjustly convicted Capitol protesters
According to Yahoo News, president-elect Trump is planning to pardon people who were unjustly charged and convicted for the crime of participating in a protest whose message the establishment disagrees with. This is fantastic news, as it is appalling that these people were charged with crimes in the first place (or criticized in any way, for that matter). And even better, Trump plans to jail members of the committee that decided to treat a protest that they disagree with, as somehow meriting investigation.
Yahoo’s headline is a bit confusing, as there is no such thing as “Capitol rioters.”
The headline, of course, ought to read “Trump vows to pardon Capitol protesters and jail Jan. 6 committee members.”
Notwithstanding Yahoo’s defamatory and inaccurate headline, this is good news indeed.
bookmark_borderIf you tell people they can’t speak…
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This is 100% true and resonates with me deeply. It applies not only to the Capitol protest on January 6 but to the Charlottesville rally in 2017 as well. When you tell people that their views are unacceptable and that they are not allowed to express them, when you call people shameful, bad, and wrong, when you mock and ridicule and condemn them, when you inflict pain on people and insist that they are the ones who should apologize to you, when you fail to address people’s complaints, objections, and concerns and instead tell them that they need to stop having those complaints, objections, and concerns… people are going to feel that violent revolution is the only option. And when violence happens, it’s not on them, it’s on you.
bookmark_borderThe news media’s bias re: Capitol protest
This headline from a few weeks ago on Yahoo News is a bit puzzling. I am not sure what it is referring to, because no Capitol riot took place three years ago. There was, however, a protest that took place at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Perhaps that’s what Yahoo News was thinking of?
This headline should read: “Capitol protest, 3 years later: Hundreds of convictions, yet 1 big mystery is unsolved.
Hundreds of people have been convicted in the massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, protest in the three years since the U.S. Capitol protest.
Dozens of protesters still on the lam.”
This, of course, raises the question of why any people, let alone hundreds of them, would be prosecuted, let alone convicted, for participating in a protest in support of a politically unpopular cause. The answer to this question, of course, is that the United States has become a totalitarian dictatorship. For a person to be charged, prosecuted, or convicted of a crime for expressing unpopular beliefs is abhorrent, immoral, disturbing, and completely incompatible with a free society.
This is a point that, unfortunately, seems to be lost not only on the employees of Yahoo News but on far too many people in the general public.
And yes, as Yahoo ominously reminds us, dozens of people are still on the lam for the “crime” of having expressed unpopular beliefs. Why the expression of unpopular beliefs would be considered something that a person would need to go on the lam for… that is a question whose answer is the same as above: the United States has become a totalitarian dictatorship.
The absurdity of people being on the lam for having participated in a protest is also largely lost on both Yahoo News and the general public.
It’s also interesting that a couple of years ago, when I posted on Twitter to express my outrage that hundreds of people had been arrested for participating in the Capitol protest, a bully responded by calling me a “drama queen” and alleging that only 70 or so people had been arrested. This Yahoo News headline, as biased as it may be, confirms that hundreds of people were not only arrested, but actually convicted of crimes, for participating in the protest. Contrary to the bully’s assertion, I was not exaggerating the numbers; I was correct.
bookmark_borderThe United States is a totalitarian dictatorship
I haven’t yet posted about the horrendous state of affairs involving Donald Trump being arrested and charged with crimes for expressing unpopular views and challenging the results of an election.
Please do not mistake my lack of posts on this topic as apathy about the topic, or worse, tacit approval of the events that have happened.
Rather, I have been so upset, angered, and physically sick to my stomach about what has happened that I have been unable to put my thoughts into coherent words and sentences.
In this blog post, I will attempt to do just that, because it is important to make it clear that I am not even remotely okay with what has happened, and continues to happen, in this country.
To put it bluntly, but in my opinion 100% correctly, the United States is a totalitarian dictatorship.
Over the past three and a half years, I have witnessed:
- The election of a president of the United States who believes that he has the right to require people to undergo medical procedures
- A nationwide campaign of obliteration of all public art that represents minority cultural and ideological groups and that allows members of such groups to feel accepted and included
- Mass arrests of dozens of people for the “crime” of holding a protest that advocated for an unpopular cause
- The arrest of a former president for the “crimes” of expressing unpopular views and challenging the results of an election
I state unequivocally that the things that are happening in the United States today, and that have been happening in the United States over the past three and a half years, are completely unacceptable, and I condemn them fully and completely.
What is happening in the United States is nothing less than a war on dissent. A war on unpopular minorities. A war on human diversity. A war on individualism, on individual rights, on liberty, on freedom. A war on the entire concept of being different, of being a rebel, of resisting authority, of thinking for oneself.
And the worst thing about this war is that the people who are most fiercely waging it are portraying themselves as fighting for diversity and inclusion, and their opponents as intolerant, discriminatory, and racist. Those who have most ardently advocated against respect for fundamental rights are portraying themselves as fighting for liberty, freedom, and bodily autonomy, and their opponents as authoritarians, Nazis, and fascists.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The people who advocate for the removal of Confederate statues and the replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day are the people who are truly intolerant, who are truly genocidal, who are truly discriminatory, who are truly racist.
The people who demand the violation of the fundamental right to decline medical intervention, who demand that all people’s bodies be forcibly penetrated against their will – and make no mistake, that is exactly what proponents of vaccine mandates have been demanding – are the people who are truly authoritarians, who are truly fascists.
The United States today is run, dominated, controlled by people with no moral compass and no logical consistency, people who practice a form of hypocrisy so blatant, so appalling, and so profound that it is shocking to witness.
The very same people who demanded that everyone’s bodily autonomy be taken away, and condemned those who dared to stand up to them as morons, idiots, racists, white supremacists, and fascists, did an about face to immediately commence pontificating about the importance of bodily autonomy, and accusing their opponents of taking away liberties and freedoms, when the Supreme Court made a decision that jeopardized unfettered access to abortion.
The very same people who praised and fetishized “resistance” when it came in the form of destroying public art that represented minority cultural and ideological groups (making these acts of destruction the exact opposite of resistance), viciously insulted as “insurrectionists” and “rioters” those who engaged in actual resistance to authority.
And when it comes to historical figures who engaged in actual resistance to authority centuries ago, the very same people described above condemn those historical figures as “insurrectionists” and “traitors,” and therefore unworthy of honoring or celebrating.
The hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty are appalling. The people who run, dominate, and control the United States are using words to mean the exact opposite of what the words actually mean, and acting as if this is perfectly normal and the people who dare to question them are the problem.
People are ridiculed for using the word “tyranny” to characterize the things that have been happening in the United States… but it is 100% correct to characterize these events as tyranny.
I would argue that it is ridiculous for someone to claim that the things happening in the United States do not constitute tyranny.
The condition of the United States since 2020 has been one of authoritarianism, of tyranny, of totalitarianism, of complete intolerance for both human freedom and human diversity.
In the United States today, we live in a society that values conformity and compliance above all else, a society that is not only indifferent towards, but actively hostile towards, liberty and individual rights. Society demands that everyone be the same, that everyone follow the same norms, that everyone undergo the same medical procedures, that everyone live in the same way and think in the same way. It is treated as self-evident that everyone must undergo the procedures recommended by the medical establishment, everyone must follow the advice given by experts, and everyone must live under the policies that scientists decide will make people safest. What matters is that people follow norms, trust experts, and obey authority. What matters is that people silence their own feelings and perspectives and instead grovel at the feet of those deemed less “privileged” than themselves. No one is allowed to dissent, to rebel, to defy, to resist, to question authority, to think for oneself, to live in a way that deviates from the norm, or to be different from the majority in any way. These actions and attributes, which in my opinion are synonymous with being honorable and good, are instead equated with moral badness by a society that values nothing but conformity and compliance.
That is what I see happening in the United States today.
It is not acceptable. It is not even remotely close to being acceptable, and never will be. And I don’t want anyone to interpret a lack of writing on this topic, or the presence of writings on other topics, as acceptance. Because acceptance is the antithesis of how I feel about what is happening in the United States today.
bookmark_borderPositive things for once
Due to the horrible things that have happened in the world, the content of this blog is so often negative. So here is some positive news for a change. Below are a few things I’ve seen around the internet lately that made me smile:
1.Candlelight service at Stonewall Jackson’s gravesite. This weekend marks Lee-Jackson Day for those of us who value Confederate history. In Lexington, Virginia, celebrations took place to honor the two legendary generals, Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Photographer Judy Smith captured this beautiful image. You can see more of Judy’s work on her Facebook page and Instagram page.
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2. Lemon for Stonewall. Continuing with the theme of Lee-Jackson Day, the Virginia Museum of the Civil War at New Market Battlefield shared that their Stonewall Jackson statue received the gift of a lemon! There is debate about whether lemons were actually Stonewall’s favorite fruit, or whether it was actually peaches or some other fruit, but regardless, I found it touching that an anonymous visitor left this token for the general.
3. R.I.P. Ashli Babbitt. A Facebook friend shared this image. With all the self-righteous pontificating about “our democracy,” our society has completely lost sight of the fact that a young woman was killed by the Capitol police for participating in a protest. The image below encapsulates how January 6th should truly be remembered.
4. Happy January 6th. Also on the topic of the Capitol protest, radio host and social media personality Blake Kresses hit the nail on the head with this post.
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5. Who are the real traitors? Possibly the most infuriating thing on earth is when people make the argument that people who fought for the Confederacy were “traitors.” This Instagram post debunks this argument better than I ever could.
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bookmark_borderMy message to those who are “traumatized” by January 6
Over the past year, numerous people have stated that they are “traumatized” by the protest that took place in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. Social media posts like the below (via @BeingLibertarian) abound. I find it to be incomprehensible, unreasonable, and unjustifiable for anyone to react this way to a futile protest against the installation of an authoritarian government.
In reality, the installation of Biden’s authoritarian government, not the protest against it, is a true reason to be in shock, crying, throwing up, and traumatized.
The people who claim to be “traumatized” by the January 6 protest are people who have gotten their way on essentially everything over the past two years. They have nothing to be traumatized about, nothing to be shocked about, nothing to be in tears about, nothing to throw up about, and nothing to be upset about.
Here is my message to anyone who is upset about the January 6 protest:
Every name, every flag, and every holiday that you dislike has been removed, and every statue that you dislike has been destroyed. The Constitution has been shredded and fundamental rights trampled in order to fulfill your demand for complete safety from a virus. Also due to your demands for safety, the electoral system was changed in a way that favored your preferred candidate. Because of those changes, the totalitarian dictator that you support became the winner of the presidential election.
After all this, you are in shock, crying, and throwing up because some protesters entered the Capitol building? You are traumatized and to this day haven’t recovered? Really?
To those traumatized by the events of January 6, I ask you to attempt an exercise in perspective-taking. I ask you, how the heck do you think people on the other side of the political spectrum feel? How do you think we have felt over the past two years, as your side has gotten its way on essentially every policy issue and we have gotten our way on nothing? How do you think we felt learning that Biden was declared the winner of the election, and seeing an endless stream of your nauseating posts taunting and insulting us and crowing with vicious joy about the narrow victory? How do you think we feel about the all-out war that the Biden administration has relentlessly waged against our fundamental rights?
Turning to an issue that is very personal to me… how do you think I feel about the fact that every statue, place name, flag, and holiday that represents my identity and my values has been obliterated? How do you think I feel given that my interest in history is the most important thing in my life? How do you think I feel knowing that I now have no choice but to live the rest of my days in a society in which everything I love has been erased? How do you think I have felt over the past two years as I have watched everything that makes my life worth living be destroyed?
I was shocked and traumatized when I found out that the Christopher Columbus statue that I used to walk past every day had been brutally beheaded. I have cried and felt sick to my stomach more times than I can count seeing image after image of statues representing my values and my identity being smashed to pieces, set on fire, cruelly hacked with sledgehammers, and lynched from streetlights.
These are the things that are truly traumatic. Along with those who share my views, I am a person who can truly say, after nearly two years of being ridiculed and insulted, having my rights violated, and watching the people I love and admire being smashed to pieces in statue form, that I have not recovered.
You have gotten your way on essentially 100% of policy issues, violating people’s rights and destroying what makes their lives worth living in the process. The few people who had the audacity to protest against all this were immediately and ceaselessly condemned, attacked, and arrested by the hundreds for the crime of expressing political dissent. But apparently that still isn’t enough for you. You seem to believe that you have the right to a world in which every single person shares your viewpoint, a world in which everyone willingly sacrifices their rights and freedoms for safety, a world in which everyone is content to see irreplaceable works of art viciously destroyed. The mere existence of people with dissenting views causes you to be in shock, crying, and throwing up. The fact that people actually had the guts to stand up to you for once is enough to make you feel traumatized and like you will never recover.
To say that this is a ridiculous reaction is an understatement. Anyone who claims to be traumatized by the January 6 protest is an intolerant bully with no sense of fairness, logic, or justice and no regard for the rights or perspectives of other people.
bookmark_borderJanuary 6, 2021
One year ago, Ashli Babbitt was killed by a police officer while protesting against the installation of a totalitarian government.
Starting immediately, and continuing without pause up till the present moment, Babbitt and her fellow protesters were attacked and personally insulted – with a brutality, viciousness, and utter unprofessionalism that was nothing short of breathtaking and sickening – by those whose job is to be neutral.
Worse, hundreds of Babbitt’s fellow protesters were arrested and jailed for the crime of engaging in political dissent.
The way that the January 6th protest was handled and reacted to by the media establishment and the political establishment represented an all-time low for both establishments.
I use the term “January 6th protest” deliberately.
The events of January 6, 2021 were not a riot. They were not an insurrection. They were not an attack. They were not a coup attempt. They were not an act of domestic terrorism. They were a protest.
Even if the events of January 6 were an insurrection, the fact that someone would use this as an insult is proof of that person’s authoritarianism, moral bankruptcy, and cowardice. The United States is a nation founded upon the idea of rebelling against authority. Whatever word you use – whether it be rebellion, revolution, uprising, treason, sedition, or insurrection – fighting back against authority is something that Americans should value and celebrate, not use as an insult. Anyone who contemptuously pontificates about the “assault on our democracy” by “traitors” or “insurrectionists” is a mindless, morally bankrupt coward who values compliance with authority more than liberty, individual rights, human decency, or justice.
The actions of the Biden administration over the past year have proven that Babbitt and her fellow protesters were 100% correct and 100% justified.
From today onwards, I will think of January 6th as the day that Ashli Babbitt was unjustly killed. I will remember Ashli as a veteran, a patriot, and a brave person who put herself in harm’s way to stand up for what she believed in.
January 6th is Ashli Babbitt Day.
bookmark_borderOcasio-Cortez has it backwards: government is the real abuser
“The reason I’m getting emotional in this moment is because these folks who tell us to move on, that it’s not a big deal, that we should forget what’s happened, or even telling us to apologize, these are the same tactics of abusers… These are the tactics of abusers, this is not about a difference of political opinion, this is about basic humanity.”
These are the words of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about the protest that took place at the Capitol building on January 6. AOC is comparing the group of pro-Trump protesters who entered the Capitol building, and politicians who either minimize or defend the actions of the protesters, to abusers. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The government, of which AOC is a part, is trampling on the rights of the people. This has been the case for decades and has gotten worse and worse. When a government tramples on people’s rights, the people have a right to overthrow it. That is exactly what the protesters on January 6 were doing. And they were completely justified in doing so.
As Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence (emphasis mine):
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
After a completely justified, yet futile, attempt to overthrow a tyrannical, authoritarian, and oppressive government, a member of that oppressive government had the indecency to compare the rebels to “abusers.” In reality, Ocasio-Cortez and her colleagues are the abusers. The American people are the victims, and the protesters at the Capitol were those victims who, after decades of being abused, had the courage to finally fight back. AOC is in the wrong, she is the one lacking basic humanity, and she is the one who needs to apologize.