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> If the protesters can't regulate their own bad apples then how can they judge police for not being able to? Police are hired by a system, trained on constitu

> If the protesters can't regulate their own bad apples then how can they judge police for not being able to? Police are hired by a system, trained on constitutional law, trained in law enforcement technique, take an oath to enforce the law (including the constitution and the public trust), are paid money for their on duty actions, and have a system of discipline and internal review. What the protestors have in common right now is that people showed up at a place and at a time. Protestors have a right to assemble, they inherently have little right to inhibit an anarchist from protesting at the same location without breaking laws or even a holier than thou ethics. That the press have captured intentional subversion by white supremacists, boogaloos, and even police furthers this false dichotomy.

anticonformist 6y ago
It's not a false dichotomy. It's an ethical double standard. If you don't live by your own ethics, how can you judge someone else for not living up to them as well? Police are just people. Protesters are just people. Every one of them has to decide what they will and will not abide. It's not a matter of protesters not being able to stop the extremists among them. They're not even trying. They don't even want to. The problem is that most people (including here in these comments) are rationalizing the actions of these extremists, hence the misapplied MLK Jr. quote. This is an implicit endorsement. A black police officer was killed by extremists. There is serious violence and burning by extremists. These acts are being implicitly endorsed. In the same way Trump implicitly endorses the behavior of his movement's extremists, by not vehemently denouncing it and distancing himself from it. It doesn't require training or an oath to condemn extremists and seek to exclude them from your movement. It just requires principle.

anticonformist 6y ago

It's not a false dichotomy. It's an ethical double standard. If you don't live by your own ethics, how can you judge someone else for not living up to them as well? Police are just people. Protesters are just people. Every one of them has to decide what they will and will not abide. It's not a matter of protesters not being able to stop the extremists among them. They're not even trying. They don't even want to. The problem is that most people (including here in these comments) are rationalizing the actions of these extremists, hence the misapplied MLK Jr. quote. This is an implicit endorsement. A black police officer was killed by extremists. There is serious violence and burning by extremists. These acts are being implicitly endorsed. In the same way Trump implicitly endorses the behavior of his movement's extremists, by not vehemently denouncing it and distancing himself from it. It doesn't require training or an oath to condemn extremists and seek to exclude them from your movement. It just requires principle.