I was innocently browsing the internet yesterday when I came across the first sensible column describing recent events.
Over the past few months, the internet has become unreadable. My Twitter newsfeed is a nonstop freakout, as if costumed Trump clowns were really going to seize control of the government. And somehow even ice cream brands are weighing in? It feels like everyone’s on an acid trip and I wasn’t invited.
And finally a voice of reason. I scrolled up to find the author of the piece — To my shock and horror, it was a neo-Nazi. My web browser had unwittingly strayed to a white supremacist website (why doesn’t Google Chrome block hate sites by default??). I immediately deleted my browser history, sprayed my eyes with Lysol, and donated all my money to the ADL as penance.
But wait a minute. Assuming I haven’t completely lost my mind — is the Daily Stormer seriously the only sane thing left on the internet?
I’m not going to link to it, but here are some excerpts:
I think we can all agree it was catharsis {sic} to watch these people rush the Capitol. And according to polls, 45% of Republicans said they supported the rush.
…
There is nothing in that building, anymore, that deserves our respect. It is a joke, but it is also a monument to, and the center of, terror and oppression.
…
These people were invited into the Capitol, most of them had no idea what the legal ramifications of this would be. They were angry and they were in a frenzy. It was total mob psychology, something that we understand well. None of them had bad intentions – which we know, because there wasn’t even any vandalism, let alone violence against people.
…
Now, they’ve fully demonized Trump supporters as basically a terrorist, insurrectionist force that needs to be dealt with using any means necessary. They are now justifying an absolute crackdown, and a total transformation of law enforcement in America.
…
The takeaway that everyone can agree on is this: America is no longer governable.The only way that the Democrats are going to be able to lead is through brutal tyranny. They are convinced that this will work.
“…violence against people.” Not counting the cop they beat to death, it seems.
Apparently that never even happened. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-false-and-exaggerated-claims
This is exactly what I mean about the internet being unreadable. It’s all gaslighting, all the time.
It feels like evil people are intentionally setting left and right against each other.
It’s not Left v Right. Trump supporters have more in common with Bernie Bros than the Republican senators who “represent” them.
Hunter S. Thompson had some thoughts on riotous behavior in the US of A.
“They were invited into the Capitol”? By Trump? The guards at all the doors were not waiving them in. The DS fails to mention the deaths, damage, and plenty of injuries. Nor does it mention people caught with weapons, a truck that had bombs, or the pipebombs left at both DNC & RNC offices.
If they won’t remove a President for inflaming a mob and sending them to storm the Capital in order to ‘support’ the Senators and Congresspeople trying to redo an election Trump lost then what will they impeach for? Recall many of the same Republicans who think Trump hasn’t reached the level of high crimes and misdemeanors impeached Bill Clinton for lying about a blow job.
I have great repect for you Elaine, but this is far from your best post.
Yes, by Trump. DS is quite explicit that Trump should and will be going to prison.
And here is a video of cops waving people into the building. Whom should I believe — you, or my lying eyes?
Thanks for your response and for the video.
I had not seen that one. It looks like the police are bringing in a tour group.
I had seen a video that some claimed showed police letting protesters through barriers but that was debunked by a reporter who had been there when it happened.
Over the past year I have seen far more statements that “Something Has Been Debunked” than I have actual debunkings.
“I immediately deleted my browser history, sprayed my eyes with Lysol, and donated all my money to the ADL as penance.”
we accept your apology, but you must keep apologizing.
I thought Glenn Greenwald had something decent to say. Wait, is he a Nazi now?
Oh yeah! I hadn’t really been following Greenwald’s work since he went behind a paywall. But yeah, this is good. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/violence-in-the-capitol-dangers-in-67f
Michael Tracey’s response was excellent too:
https://mtracey.medium.com/only-in-your-imagination-was-that-an-attempted-coup-8bb8cc9fb39b
I’m finding the Tracey/Greenwald/Taibbi axis is an increasingly necessary one for the kind of sane commentary that used to be relatively normal before everybody had to pick an imbecilic extreme :/
Elaine, Greg Greenwald is well worth the price of admission.
oh, i totally agree. It’s not about the money though… my inbox is already full of unread substack newsletters, and I have this thing where I can’t delete anything I haven’t read, especially if I paid for it. Stupid, I know.
Elaine, can I assume that you’d have the exact same response if black BLM activists had bumrushed the police and forced themselves in to the Capitol, disrupting it, forced Congress members in to hiding, beaten to death a police officer, and planted pipebombs?
Or are you too cowardly to respond to this question?
Yes, my response would have been exactly the same. In fact I was a staunch supporter of CHAZ.
Even after they shot those two black guys in a jeep?
(Here’s the link: https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2020/06/night-of-gunfire-at-capitol-hill-protest-zone-sends-at-least-two-to-hospital/ ).
(Here’s another from those right-wing racist fascists at the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53224445).
The media doesn’t make a peep when black ppl murder each other, so unsurprisingly I had no idea that happened.
Either way, I think the only way this country can survive is if certain factions set up self-policing autonomous regions. BLM activists can set up cop-free mini-Wakandas, and “white supremacists” can have their second amendment sancuaries.
See also: The Final Solution to the Baltimore Question
“…. if black BLM activists had bumrushed the police and forced themselves in to the Capitol…..”
There is evidence that this is exactly what happened.
BTW, to show how dumb your logic is:
I assume that you would be OK with Speaker Pelosi inviting an armed mob to invade the White House and also be OK with said mob rampaging through the White House, breaking stuff, planting pipebombs, chanting “hang Donald Trump!” (since the mob that invaded the Capitol was chanting “hang Mike Pence”) and in general terrorizing the Trumps and everyone else in the White House if a few members of the Secret Service let them in.
You must be fine with an armed mob like that terrorizing the campus of the various companies you worked at when you worked there as well.
Right? Surely you’re not a hypocrite. You’re probably too cowardly to respond to this as well, but I’m curious: are you amoral, autistic, or a nihilist? All three?
“I don’t know why there aren’t uprisings all over the country. Maybe there will be.” —Nancy Pelosi, 2016
I’m not sure if Pelosi has any authority over the White House, but if protesters want to go tromp around in there, sure.