The Electoral College is an integral part of the checks and balances that attempt to maintain Democracy.
And although no sane person could condone what’s happened today, neither could any sane person condone the fiery, yet mostly peaceful rioting and looting across the country for a large part of last year. Extremism is ugly, whoever’s perpetrating it.
I’m not sure I would couch it in those terms exactly… I’m not in a position to make a judgement on anyone’s sanity 
But it seems what you are saying is that it is possible to have sympathy with a cause without condoning violence?
Although it is difficult for me to understand this one. Particularly the bit where Donald Trump and other elected Republicans are contesting the election result… Didn’t all their legal challenges get thrown out?
I don’t know. So much anger and division. It’s really sad. I hope everyone can find what they need to move forward.
No comparison. This was extremism that was perpetrated by a sitting president. A sitting president that send a mob into the Capitol, the heart of American democracy. To overthrow the democratic system which has sort of worked, crazy as it is. This was a coup attempt.
That photo of that single person that made it all the way into the chamber chair and got that photo with there right arm raised… How the hell did that person get that far inside !?! It just does not add up or make sense.
These two pictures are 4 years apart. The day he was sworn in. And today 4 years later… What a way to start 2021. I was almost in tears watching this for seeing the fall of our human race and what humans are doing to each other. Its incomprehensible. So sad.
I find it so sad that black lives matter should be seen as “extreme”. Like, the moderate view, in the US, home of white supremacy, slavery and Jim Crow (as well as heroes like John Lewis), is that black lives don’t matter. If you kill a white person, you’re 9 times more likely to be executed than if you kill a Black person. Peaceful protests are not the same as seditious invasion of the government with guns in order to overturn a legitimate election, incited by the president. Only one of these is extremist. Only one is criminal.
I’m taking comfort today in the election if RaphaelWarnock, who seems like a really inspiring character.
I need to remute this thread. For a while I thought, maybe the great mix of people on here and the inherent vulnerability of a shared sobriety goal will enable political dialogue. But that was pretty naive.
Raphael Warnock’s wife seemed quite convincing when the Police interviewed her. And she is quite clearly a humanitarian from what I’ve read.
Just for clarity, what happened yesterday was outrageous but does anyone see that a large group of angry people rioting was an actual attemp to overthrow the US election? If so, what stopped it?
Also, purely out of interest, is there a verifiable, non-partisan source for the execution disparity - if so, and if only based upon skin colour, it’s seriously outrageous. This escalation must have happened over the last 4 years, as Obama and Biden would have to take possibly even more responsibility for it, having been in office for two terms?
It isnt new. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/executions-by-race-and-race-of-victim
The massive increase in incarceration in the US is relatively new, ie last twenty years. Recommend Emily Bazelons book Charged to explain how it’s largely a function of increases in prosecutorial power (and most prosecutors are white).
For broader overview, Isabel wilkerson’s Caste is a great book.
But it seems what you are saying is that it is possible to have sympathy with a cause without condoning violence?
Definitely! I think Bernie and AOC ask some great questions, but don’t agree with other things they say. The UK health service may be a bit battered, but it works and the US needs something comparable so no-one slips through the net or faces financial ruin.
Big tech and Amazon should be HAMMERED tax-wise, instead of mollycoddling these super rich ingrates. Lobbyists (to a greater degree, the creators of the swamp) should be thrown out of the Capital.
Anyone PROVEN to be working with foreign powers, for money or power should be jailed. The list goes on and on.
As Gandhi may or may not have said:
An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
The good news is I’m still sober.
Less than 2 weeks. Egads.
I honestly didn’t even know what was happening yesterday until I came on here and saw some of the hubbub.
It unfathomable that people continue to compare BLM (fighting for equality. And not to be murder by police for the color of their skin. Btw, police are not judge, or jury), Antifa (an ideaology, fighting against the fascism the Trump was trying so hard to incorporate into the american fabric), and Trumps terrorist qanon, proud boys, and Nazis.
These are not ‘the same on both sides’ . One side is literally fighting for the rights of Americans. The other side is literally fighting against women, LGBTQ+, and POC to have the same freedoms that they believe that only they deserve.
It disgusts me that people somehow still try to make those comparisons.
The real kicker is that if you were actually paying attention to the BLM protests, they were peaceful. They do not walk around fully armed, intimidating people.
The rubbish came from white folks who knew that black people would be blamed for them destroying shit and starting fires.
And many of the confrontations were started by white nationalists, proud boys, and other right wing folks who carry guns to intimidate people.
These are not the same. And a decade ago I never would have seen these truths because I was an angry Republican who wanted to blame other americans for my problems instead of shit politicians and crap legislation, and a strong history of propping up rascism.
Jfc.
And the real proof of white supremacy and the gross incompetencies of our ’ law and order’ folk come directly from all of the police interactions we have been watching for YEARS.
A black man has a tail light out? Dead
A white guy goes on killing spree? Better grab him a burger otw to jail.
A black crowd gathers peacefully? Full riot gear, beatings, tear gas.
A white crowd tries to stage a coup? With zip ties and plans to execute law makers? Cops are taking selfies and literally opened the gates to let them in.
Your false equivalencies are not only disturbing, they are dangerous , and they are a huge part of what is wrong with the US.
It amuses me that I care less than people abroad
Apathy is always an important political tool for the rise of authoritarianism.
The tensions in Germany in the 1930s were pretty important for Poland, France, Britain, the US etc. As it turned out, the world is connected. When a powerful nation gets taken over by a hateful ideology, it can end up making a big difference to a lot of people’s lives. Who knew.
I liked the book I mentioned, Caste, for the way it defamiliarizes American race relations. It’s hard to see it if it’s always been in the air you breathe. Fish don’t notice water.
Likex1,000,000,000,000,000
Because I’d for sure compare 2020/1 America to Germany in the 30s, I suppose Afghanistan/Iraq is our Great War
A more direct comparison may be the million plus Uighurs in concentration (rehabilitation) camps, prisons or detention centres in China. Now. And of course forced to work for Apple, Nike and Coca-Cola. And guess who’s lobbying against the Forced Labour bill?
Yet no-one cares, as long as we get all our cheap shit.
