Hey Peaceful Protesters — — Would You Please Just Stop Already?
Yes, Portland, Rochester and Louisville, I’m talking to you.
Our lawless and corrupt President, who has now re-branded himself as the “Law and Order” President is rejoicing each night when he sees conflicts, fires or shootings in cities around the country. As a wanna-be dictator, he knows that the only thing that can result in him being re-elected is fear. And the best kind of fear is the fear of violence and chaos. Only “He” can protect you from the hoards and masses of violent leftist liberal commies. He celebrates every new police incident, and every outraged response. Trump and his dedicated followers are happy to fan the flames of violence and incite riots as Trump watches the polls. Trump and his team want to create scenes of lawlessness, and peaceful protesters are making this game easy.
His supporters at Fox News, OAN and throughout the echo chamber, including social media and the dark web are having a field day re-playing photos and videos of fires, tear gas, violence and other frightening scenes. The scenes do not always even have to be current, or from the US. There is no reason to let facts get in the way of a great narrative — — they are on a roll. Right wing media also looks for right wing “heroes” and “martyrs” who can emerge from the terrifying videos so they can perpetuate the “we are protectors, they are frightening” mentality.
We now have a situation where every legitimate, peaceful demonstration becomes a golden opportunity for armed right-wing extremists and terrorists like the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Bois or the Patriot Prayer to intervene and start fights, ignite fires, break windows or open fire. In fairness, I should also say that these altercations provide actual criminals with cover to loot or commit other crimes of opportunity. And of course there are no doubt a few troublemakers on the left who are also looking to start a fight with the police or right wing militias. Basically, in the current environment it is likely that nothing positive will result from a demonstration that begins with good intentions.
At this point, we get it. Everyone is upset to the point of going insane about the criminal justice system, police brutality, Covid-19, unemployment, Trump and everything he stands for, and on and on. Black Lives Matter. But every new protest and counter-protest moves us closer to four more years of Trump and his corrupt henchmen. Please, stay home and read a book.
My point is that regardless of how upset you are, you must stop protesting. Stop opening the door to the authoritarian tendencies of Trump, his government and all of the followers who have dreamed of cracking leftist skulls and have waited for this moment.
Democrats are the party of peace, calm, working together, following the rule of law, and building a community and a society through cooperation. We cannot let Trump perversely re-brand Democrats as violent and lawless. So please just stop it and focus on getting everyone you know to register to vote and to actually vote on election day.
Only one thing has any hope of getting the USA out of this complete mess — — voting Republicans out of every office in the land. This will require unprecedented numbers of people to vote, and we know that the Republicans are working overtime to implement voter suppression tactics. So don’t protest. Simply vote.
