[Editor’s note: I had outpatient back surgery Friday and didn’t get to post any quotables so I’m making up for it today.]
“Louisiana lawmakers remotely VOTED BY MAIL to roll back an expansion of VOTE BY MAIL by voters.”
—Tweet by Jennifer Walsath Harris. [No double standard there. Can you say irony?]
“At what point can we call the armed, non-PPE-wearing ‘protesters’ that stormed the Michigan Capitol terrorists?”
—Tweet by Michael Brazell.
“Signs and banners are banned from the building to prevent potential damage to the architecture, but guns are allowed in the Michigan statehouse. And that, my friends, is the lunacy of America’s gun laws in a nutshell.”
—Tweet by Shannon Watts.
“How have we gotten to this? The majority of Americans want better background checks, gun safety. But we are allowing these kind(s) of weapons into our legislative chambers?”
—Tweet by former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.
“I remember when unarmed, peaceful demonstrators in Wisconsin were arrested for singing. Not to mention Jane Fonda being arrested every Friday. But aggressive white men armed to the teeth, forcing their way into the capitol and threatening the governor, no problem.”
—Tweet by Gary Andover. [The mere mention of Jane Fonda here is certain to bring out the vitriol but the accuracy of this tweet stands.]
“Just wondering how this would have played out if a group of Muslim protesters armed with guns had stormed into a US legislature.”
—Tweet by Anton Enus. [Again, the word Muslim will serve as a dog whistle for the fringe wingnuts.]
“If these a**holes with weapons in Michigan want to prove how tough they are. Put down you damn toys, gear up, and go to the hospitals to help people. That’s bravery. These are chicken s**ts with guns.”
—Tweet by American Veteran. [Now that’s the true American spirit—words worth remembering.]
“Imagine a mob of black men with guns storming Michigan’s state capitol or BLOCKING THE ENTRANCE, as happened this week.”
—Susie Madrak, political writer.
“Now, do you think African Americans, Latinos or anyone who had a deep spray-on tan could have made it this far inside alive while armed like this?”
—Tweet by Rootwoman.
“The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people.”
—Donald Trump tweet, May 1, 2020. [Yep. And those white nationalists down at Charlottesville in 2017 were also “very fine people,” remember?]
Louisiana Voice 
The mail-in vote against the mail-in vote is hilarious.
The last one says it all. What has happened to us, indeed.
Yes, Stephen, what has happened to us? Armed protesters, a pastor who almost hits someone with his bus, and a man shoots a mail carrier because the mail carrier doesn’t have his stimulus check.
Isn’t that similar to what he said after the Neo nazis, the kluxers, and others of that ilk had their march in Charlottesville VA?
Sad to say, taken in toto, these tweets illustrate pretty clearly the worst in our lives in this country today. But I am working to remind myself that the “fringe wingnuts” are a minority and that the majority of Americans do not support their views nor care for the sound of Trump’s “dog whistles.” The fringe elements, the thirty three per cent or less of the populace, do not represent America. They are getting attention only for two reasons: their cheerleader in the White House and the vast money support of the Koch brothers who threaten traditionally conservative politicians in the primaries with extremist opposition candidates (which at the same time gives support to the Koch’s interests in preserving fossil fuel industries).
We have eight more months of seeming insanity before the majority retakes control of our government and it’s institutions. It will likely get worse as the cheerleader’s pol numbers continue to decline. We must take heart and have hope that the day will come when we can restore America to the greatness it once was just a few years ago (which feels like a lifetime to so many of us). To be certain, IT WILL HAPPEN.
The one from the veteran…right on target…what these folks are doing shows lack of respect for all hospital based personnel, social workers, families that have lost relatives to COVID 19, nursing home residents and workers, researchers who are working on vaccines and therapies to combat the pandemic, EMS workers, and the rest of us who are following the rules. A vociferous, intimidating minority that resorts to name calling and odious messages encouraged by the president (sorry, no capital P here; he does not deserve it), who refuses to wear a mask and continues to deny and lie. This mob is his baby and he owns it.
SPOT ON.
Tom hope your back is mending well.
Armed people storming anywhere, making demands that are counter to common sense and public safety are simply not good people.
Those who are losing their sh*t over being confined to the sanctuary of their own homes might want to assess why their homes are such terrible places to be. And while they have some downtime, do something to make their (physical and social) environment nicer.
Reconnect with friends and family, those quarantined with you, and those you can contact by text, Zoom Skype, Facetime, phone, email, social media, or, gasp! snail mailed cards and letters. Try some new recipes and share food with others.
Check this out:
https://www.fairfieldcitizenonline.com/news/coronavirus/article/Viral-video-paints-renewed-future-post-coronavirus-15242238.php
Tom – hope you are on the mend and wishing you a speedy recovery.
Tom, wishing you a speedy recovery and so glad they your surgery was scheduled. Stay well and safe….and, that goes for all of you that appreciate and post on Tom’s space!
Tom, thank you for what you do. I pray you make a full recovery.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
You may not agree but those people have a right to speak their mind and right to assemble.. As for display of arms, whether or not I approve is protected by the 2nd amendment.
No where is it in the law that these RIGHTS may be temporarily suspended. That is what a right is.
Zoe, at least you read the U.S. Constitution. However, why do they have to bear arms at a “peaceful assembly”? That is far from an assertion of their right to bear arms.
Now Ms. Zoe, really! No one is raising the issue of the right to assemble. and as far as guns were concerned, the founding fathers were afraid of a professional standing army that could be used against it’s citizens, who, unless they were able to bear arms could not defend themselves. The authors of the Bill of Rights were not concerned with an “individual” or “personal” right to bear arms. In fact, it was not until 2008 in the landmark Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller, courts had ruled that the right of individual citizens to bear arms existed only within the context of participation in the militia. In Heller, the Supreme Court overturned that precedent.
So, this notion that anyone, anywhere can carry guns, including military automatic rifles is ludicrous to a civilized society. If you think that I think that those “crazies” in Michigan were right to stand there looking like Nazi retards, intimidating people with their guns, no one knowing which one might go off half cocked and shoot someone, than you folks need to go live on an island somewhere by yourselves. The Supreme Court has “made” law. Not interpreted it. But then, that’s what Scalia and others did and do. They interpret laws according to their own personal beliefs.
“Louisiana lawmakers remotely VOTED BY MAIL to roll back an expansion of VOTE BY MAIL by voters.”
—Tweet by Jennifer Walsath Harris. [No double standard there. Can you say irony?]
I tried to find support for this and didn’t. Was it an actual vote by mail or was it by Zoom, phone or something else?
Any idea?
pc
G. Pearson Cross, PhD
Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts
Associate Professor, POLS
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Griffin Hall, Room 101
141 Rex Street
Lafayette, LA 70504
337.482.6162 (office)
liberalarts.louisiana.edu
pearson@louisiana.edu
_______________________________
Université des Acadiens
________________________________
CJG, you are correct. These days, we hear candidates talk about appointing judges who agree with their agenda. Where I live, we have a candidate for judge touting his anti-abortion, pro-gun beliefs when the proper thing for him to do would be to say, “I will base all my judgments on the rule of law, not on my personal beliefs.”
Zoe, take a look at those idiots. Those were assault weapons in the state capitol! That is no place for armed zealots. The firing range, yes. Hunting, yes (but why hunt with an assault weapon? If you can’t bring down Bambi in one or two shots, you are not a hunter. There is no sport in spraying the trees with bullets to make sure you get your squirrel. Where’s the sport in that?)
Second Amendment or not, there are some places where it is inappropriate – and illegal – to carry a weapon just as it is inappropriate to stand up and relieve yourself in the middle of a city council meeting or to have sex in a church or school. Zoe, you need to step back and reassess your comments. They’re getting weirder and weirder as you try vainly to stretch your position completely out of shape in order to conform to your narcissist-in-chief’s inane utterances.
You’re becoming a laughingstock.
“The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Such language has created considerable debate regarding the Amendment’s intended scope.” Thank you Ben and CJG. Zoe, I commended you on your reading of the 2nd Amendment, however, some people forget to read the first phrase.