Why NOT to vote Republican

[JaneV2.0]

So since they were done practicing and January 6 is in the rearview mirror it's all hunky dory there? No one moving away because of the rampant crime caused by legions of homeless people out of their skulls on meth?

LDAHL seemed to be referencing the BLM protests (usually paired with references to the terrorist* group Antifa.)

*Note: Antifa is not in any way a terrorist organization. I don't think it's even an organization. Maybe they have it confused with the anarchists.

I can't argue with you about the homeless problem--the scourge of the West Coast, not just Portland.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Homeless yes, but them being a cause of rampant crime, where does that even come from?

[JaneV2.0]

Homeless yes, but them being a cause of rampant crime, where does that even come from?

I'm not sure about Seattle, but the meth heads are heavily involved with chop shops, car thefts, and petty crime almost non-stop in Portland. My friends have had several car break ins and a couple of cars stolen. The last one didn't get far because the perps couldn't get The Club off the steering wheel.

[bae]

I think I get the point you’re trying to make. Trump made a ridiculous failed attempt to stay in office. Some idiots believed him, and behaved like they were in Portland. But it wasn’t the good kind of political violence, so Republicans should wear sackcloth and ashes and be crushed at the polls.

I think there's quite a bit of difference between some demented folks causing trouble in Portland by occupying a few blocks while the (perhaps misguided) police tried to deal with the situation peacefully, and an (inept) plot to seize the Capitol, hang elected officials, and throw a coup, endangering our entire nation and system of government.

People who equate the two cases, well... hmmm....

(I mean, *I'd* equate them in a way - in both cases, I would have preferred such an incredible and overwhelming armed police response that it would be remembered for generations, to discourage other idiots in the future....)

[LDAHL]

Portland would have nothing to apologize for, if it weren't for the Proud Boys (sic) who regularly showed up to cause trouble--practicing for January 6, apparently.

First those crafty miscreants set up an “autonomous zone”, and then they set fire to a federal courthouse. All to mislead the public into blaming peaceful souls for their sins.

[LDAHL]

I think there's quite a bit of difference between some demented folks causing trouble in Portland by occupying a few blocks while the (perhaps misguided) police tried to deal with the situation peacefully, and an (inept) plot to seize the Capitol, hang elected officials, and throw a coup, endangering our entire nation and system of government.

People who equate the two cases, well... hmmm....

(I mean, *I'd* equate them in a way - in both cases, I would have preferred such an incredible and overwhelming armed police response that it would be remembered for generations, to discourage other idiots in the future....)

Was our constitutional order really endangered by this buffoonery? Of course Trump was spouting BS. Maybe even criminally so. But doesn’t it take a similar level of hysteria to insist that we were a hair’s breadth away from buffalo-hatted fascism?

Or are certain parties desperate for a distraction from issues in the real world?

[ApatheticNoMore]

Just because a coup attempt doesn't succeed doesn't mean it wasn't a coup attempt.

[Alan]

I think there's a bunch of idiots on both extremes of the political spectrum and then there's the rest of us either shaking our heads at their antics or trying to blame whichever political party they hate the most. This thread is a perfect example of the latter.

[JaneV2.0]

The First Amendment still stands. We still have the right to protest. And, IMO, BLM had a valid grievance.

[JaneV2.0]

...

(I mean, *I'd* equate them in a way - in both cases, I would have preferred such an incredible and overwhelming armed police response that it would be remembered for generations, to discourage other idiots in the future....)

I hear that's how they deal with dissenters in Putin's Russia. Shame on you.