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There's this quiz on the web where you're given a dozen names and have to guess if they are the names of My Little Ponies or porn stars. In that vein, here's an

by js2 6y ago

There's this quiz on the web where you're given a dozen names and have to guess if they are the names of My Little Ponies or porn stars. In that vein, here's another quiz: Story 1: In the late evening hours, the sound of sporadic gunfire was heard all over the city. There were many white vans driving around the streets searching for people. During one incident, plainclothes police jumped out of a sliding door, grabbed a civilian and then sped off. Story 2: They had barely made it half a block when an unmarked minivan pulled up in front of them. "I see guys in camo. Four or five of them pop out, open the door and it was just like, 'Oh s*. I don't know who you are or what you want with us.'" Law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around and detain protesters since at least Tuesday. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation about why they are being arrested, and driving off. Now here's the quiz part: which of these describes Tiananmen Square and which describes Portland, OR? 1. http://www.jeffwidener.com/index.php?/stories/2016/09/tankman/ http://www.jeffwidener.com/index.php?/stories/2016/09/tankma... 2. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892277592/federal-officers-use-unmarked-vehicles-to-grab-protesters-in-portland https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892277592/federal-officers-us...

koheripbal 6y ago
Tiananmen Square is the one where they massacred civilians with machine gun fire. That's the difference.
- js2 6y ago
  Authoritarianism doesn’t happen all at once. Trump continues to test his limits. The DHS is currently being run by someone who was never approved by Congress and in violation of the law for how long an acting director is allowed to be in place. The DHS officers are now pushing our several blocks away from the Federal buildings. Compare Trump’s response to how the government responded to the Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge where a federal building was occupied for 40 days and cost the Federal government millions of dollars. But the Feds didn’t escalate the situation like Trump and the DHS are attempting to do. This is a three block area of Portland. The city is not overrun. The protests are largely peaceful. I don’t condone the graffiti or anyone trying to damage the building but the Federal response is over the top and unjustified. Trump would like nothing more than a huge escalation in events. That there’s any similarity between the events in Tiananmen and in Portland by the authorities is not okay.
  - koheripbal 6y ago
    > Authoritarianism doesn’t happen all at once. I don't think protecting the Courthouse is authoritarianism AT ALL. It's protecting a Federal building. > The protests are largely peaceful The anarchists are not protesters. They aren't at all the same people. The vast numbers of peaceful protesters don't change the need for police to contain the ~200 anarchists trying to destroy the Federal Courthouse. > Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge This is an insane comparison. A major west coast Federal Courthouse, home to the US 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals as well as a number of Federal offices, is absolutely NOTHING like occupying a small park Welcome center: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/MalheurNWRHeadquarters.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/MalheurN... . Was that even a serious comment? > I don’t condone the graffiti or anyone trying to damage the building but the Federal response is over the top and unjustified. The Federal response doesn't go far enough. The people attacking the building need to be arrested and sentenced to prison for attempted arson of a Federal Courthouse - ideally by the judges who's courthouse they are trying to burn down. > Trump would like nothing more than a huge escalation in events. I agree. So they should stop trying to burn down the Federal Courthouse. > That there’s any similarity between the events in Tiananmen and in Portland by the authorities is not okay. There isn't of any significance. You can always claim "similarities" when your bar for such is so low. Hitler and Trump both breathed oxygen - did you know that? Obviously he's a Nazi leader reincarnate.

by js2 6y ago

koheripbal 6y ago

Tiananmen Square is the one where they massacred civilians with machine gun fire. That's the difference.

js2 6y ago
Authoritarianism doesn’t happen all at once. Trump continues to test his limits. The DHS is currently being run by someone who was never approved by Congress and in violation of the law for how long an acting director is allowed to be in place. The DHS officers are now pushing our several blocks away from the Federal buildings. Compare Trump’s response to how the government responded to the Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge where a federal building was occupied for 40 days and cost the Federal government millions of dollars. But the Feds didn’t escalate the situation like Trump and the DHS are attempting to do. This is a three block area of Portland. The city is not overrun. The protests are largely peaceful. I don’t condone the graffiti or anyone trying to damage the building but the Federal response is over the top and unjustified. Trump would like nothing more than a huge escalation in events. That there’s any similarity between the events in Tiananmen and in Portland by the authorities is not okay.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  > Authoritarianism doesn’t happen all at once. I don't think protecting the Courthouse is authoritarianism AT ALL. It's protecting a Federal building. > The protests are largely peaceful The anarchists are not protesters. They aren't at all the same people. The vast numbers of peaceful protesters don't change the need for police to contain the ~200 anarchists trying to destroy the Federal Courthouse. > Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge This is an insane comparison. A major west coast Federal Courthouse, home to the US 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals as well as a number of Federal offices, is absolutely NOTHING like occupying a small park Welcome center: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/MalheurNWRHeadquarters.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/MalheurN... . Was that even a serious comment? > I don’t condone the graffiti or anyone trying to damage the building but the Federal response is over the top and unjustified. The Federal response doesn't go far enough. The people attacking the building need to be arrested and sentenced to prison for attempted arson of a Federal Courthouse - ideally by the judges who's courthouse they are trying to burn down. > Trump would like nothing more than a huge escalation in events. I agree. So they should stop trying to burn down the Federal Courthouse. > That there’s any similarity between the events in Tiananmen and in Portland by the authorities is not okay. There isn't of any significance. You can always claim "similarities" when your bar for such is so low. Hitler and Trump both breathed oxygen - did you know that? Obviously he's a Nazi leader reincarnate.