Day: January 7, 2021

Who ARE those people anyway?

I realize that I should make a distinction. Americans do have the right to protest..stand outside of a government building, hold up signs, chant, etc.

So one might draw the distinction between those protesting and those “storming the Capitol” ..though….I am not sure that everyone understood what goes with “storming” a government building…

https://youtu.be/yqIdnYxm_WM

So, who ARE these people (on the grounds anyway)? Some appear to think that this was some backwoods, uneducated mob. Well, not exactly:

Yes, some are currently holding seats in state legislative bodies:

He wasn’t the only one:



Many were veterans with a great deal of service:

And some are who we would think they were:

Yes, this rot goes very deep and is not limited to undereducated enclaves.

Example: we have a newly elected US Rep. from Illinois APPROVINGLY quoting Adolph Hitler:

And those those who want to argue with me: Yes, you might find a quote from Hitler that says “sports are good” or “I love dogs” or whatever. You might even agree with such a sentiment. But you can find a better person to quote; the use of Hitler has to be intentional.

This is not the same thing as, say, accurately quoting the work of a Nazi mathematician or scientist…yes, some were good at math and science while being failures as human beings.

But I digressed a bit.

My larger point: this rot runs deep; it probably was always there..and it is not limited to those of limited educational attainment or limited economic means.

And, because we live in a tribal, “either you are 100 percent with us or 100 percent against us” type of society, let me add:

if you are mainstream conservative, I am NOT talking about you. Ok? Good people can have disagreements on public policy. People can accurately digest the same set of facts and come to different conclusions via an honest, good faith analysis of the data.

Why the truth matters..on many levels

I still remember reading the book Words that Hurt, Words that Heal; how to choose your words wisely and well by Rabbi Telushkin

In the book he discusses the Holocaust and gives one reason so many dismissed the early reports of it: in World War I, many atrocities were falsely attributed to the Germans. So, when reports of more came out, there was “well, such lies are repeated in war”…but this time, the reports were true.

It was the old “Cry Wolf” situation in action.

And so we might be seeing a version of that in action right now.

Yes, Trump incited violence, pure and simple; this time. I fully support holding him accountable (e. g. snap Impeachment)., but that is unlikely to happen.

But, as bad as Trump genuinely is, there are some charges that I felt were false: example: it was claimed that he mocked a disabled reporter because of his disability.

And mock he did, but his mocking motion was his “flustered person” mock; one he had used with others. As my link says, he could well have been an “equal opportunity mocker”; still unpleasant and unpresidential but not mocking him because of his disability.

Needless to say, my opinion was not welcomed by my Democratic leaning friends, but I still stand by it.

I think that Trump has done something egregious, I want to be able to say it and for what I say to mean something ..(albeit not much as my influence is all but non-existent)

The other thing: we have to accept unpleasant truths…e. g. we have had some painful political losses (2016 and 2004 come to mind).

The other thing: I cannot support “mob rule” be it the more serious case of these insurrectionists today:

And I don’t support it on college campuses either…yes, not comparable in scope, but the principle is the same.

And then there is the very reason for the attack: these people *probably* truly believe the election was stolen. Yes, similar things were said in 2016 and in 2004, though I note, in each case, the losing candidate conceded..and that is a major, major difference.

My point: truth matters even if it is unpleasant.

And telling it as you see it will often not be well received. Examples: the “defund the police” demand probably hurt Democrats, that the BLM protests during a pandemic were a bad idea and opened liberals to a legitimate claim that liberals were sanctimonious hypocrites (and many remain so).