Gift link, with URL shortener so that Lemmy doesn’t remove the gift token
Additional reporting from Bring Me The News. They have removed the following text from their coverage:
Federal agents briefly detained our reporter at the scene, who says he was tackled to the ground and had a gun put in his face.
That’s how you lose.
That’s what they want.
Right now two white people getting killed by ICE in broad daylight with dozens of cameras on them is slowly but surely destroying the GOP. There’s nothing that shifts public opinion more than a clear narrative of “good guys” and “bad guys”. When one side is armed and the other side is unarmed, and the armed people are killing unarmed people, there are clear good guys and bad guys. The white house is doing everything they can to spin the Minneapolis victims as “terrorists”, but when they’re unarmed it’s a matter of seconds to disprove what they’re saying.
As soon as the anti-ICE protesters start getting armed and start shooting back, the story gets complicated again. It becomes much easier to claim the protesters are violent if they’re shooting back. It’s dead easy to claim an ICE goon feared for his life if someone shot at him.
“They’re shooting at ICE” gives Trump the excuse he needs to send in the military and start having guys in APCs start shooting heavy weapons into a crowd. It’s also much more likely the soldiers are going to obey if they’re getting shot at. If they’re sent in against unarmed protesters and ordered to mow them down, it’s very likely they’ll refuse that order. And, refusing that order would be a big step in the end of the Trump regime.
Not shooting back is the main thing that the Minneapolis protesters have done right so far. It’s also the most difficult thing to do.
But hey, it’s America. America thinks guns solve problems. So, go solve that problem Americanely, while the rest of the world just watches the US tear itself apart and shakes their heads.
What the fuck are you talking about?
People are currently not shooting back, and people are currently being murdered in the streets. Clearly it’s a plan that is working well so far /s.
You talk about a “good guy/bad guy” narrative, and then admit that the current government is painting the victims as terrorists. So why do you think your narrative is any stronger than the one that the president and many popular news media outlets are complicit in? Especially when you personally are telling people not to watch the objective footage.
The world is watching the US right now, and we are seeing innocent people die in the street, while people comment about how bad this will be for Trump in the next election and people need to get out there and vote while the Slavecatchers pull families from their homes. I’m feel like I’m losing my mind!
A small enough number that they can all be listed by name. You’re correct, it’s a plan that is working incredibly well. A handful of people have died, and those handful of deaths have resulted in protests by millions of people. The reason that those millions of people are willing to protest is that the people being killed are clearly blameless.
If someone died in a shootout with ICE, it’s much less likely that millions of people would turn out to protest their death. Thousands maybe, but not millions. For millions to show up you need a clear example of “good guys” and “bad guys”.
Yes, the government is trying to create its own “good guys” and “bad guys” narrative because, as I said, it works. But, they are utterly failing in the attempt to paint these people as bad guys because they’re being killed while unarmed and not fighting back.
Because “my” narrative is clearly supported by all the video evidence that is being collected by hundreds of people with their phones out. If people weren’t there with their phones out documenting things, then the Trump admin’s narrative would probably win. But, instead of guns, people are using cameras, and it’s working.
I’m telling people that they don’t need to traumatize themselves by watching footage that literally millions, if not possibly billions of other people have already watched. Their additional eyeballs on that footage isn’t going to do anything.
Yes, and the world has sympathy with the protesters because the protesters are unarmed while the ICE goons are armed. If the protesters started shooting, the world would quickly lose sympathy with the protesters. Instead they’d just sigh and think “great, the Americans are trying to solve everything with guns again”.
It might be good for you to unplug and stop subjecting yourself to the constant news cycle then. Don’t watch all these videos, just take care of your own mental health.
Some of you may die, but that is a risk that I am willing to take.
We have evidence of wrongdoing and crimes by the governments that spans years. If evidence was enough to topple this regime, we wouldn’t be here.
Kindly go fuck yourself you patronising git. I am mature enough to look after my mental health, and I choose not to turn away from the events that are unfolding. I do not need to be hooked into the 24h news cycle to see that things are dire, and ignoring them or telling others to ignore them is the kind of shit that lets dictators steal more power.
“Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice that I am willing to make.”
Get your quotes right.
You could also have gone with Thomas Jefferson: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
But, if you wanted to quote about the futility of using violence you could have gone with Gandhi:
“I object to violence because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent.”
Or Joan Baez:
“Nonviolence is a flop. The only bigger flop is violence.”
Or MLK Jr:
“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon . . . which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals”
Maybe you’re so gun-brained you think that MLK and Gandhi were wrong, and that they would have achieved better results if they’d shot back. Maybe you’ve never heard of the velvet revolution, or the 1919 Egyptian revolution, or what led to the Berlin Wall coming down.
Of course evidence isn’t enough. The question is what comes after evidence. Is it violence or not? Non-violence clearly motivates people. Only 2 people have been killed and it has resulted in millions of people protesting. Would just as many people be coming out to support Minnesota if the score were 2 ICE agents dead and 2 protesters dead? I don’t think so.
Do you honestly think you can take on the US government including the entire US military with a violent revolution? And, if you did manage to win that violent revolution, would it be worth the cost? If you’re going for the violent win, that’s what you have to aim for. If you go for the non-violent option, the path is instead that more and more people defect to your side and refuse to use violence against non-violent protesters. That has a much better chance of winning IMO.
You say you feel like you’re losing your mind, and you attack someone who suggests maybe you should take a step back. You clearly have fragile mental health. Just unplug for a few days.