Invasion of the proudies
It turns out the Proud Boys like violence. Who knew?
Thousands of maskless rallygoers who refuse to accept the results of the election turned downtown Washington into a falsehood-filled spectacle Saturday, two days before the electoral college will make the president’s loss official.
The Post sounds a bit fed-up. I don’t blame it.
In smaller numbers than their gathering last month, they roamed from the Capitol to the Mall and back again, seeking inspiration from speakers who railed against the Supreme Court, Fox News and President-elect Joe Biden. The crowds cheered for recently pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn, marched with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and stood in awe of a flyover from what appeared to be Marine One.
In short, hooray for violence and lies, hooray for lies enforced by violence and for violence justified by lies, hooray hooray hooray.
Four people were stabbed near a Proud Boys hangout bar (it’s not clear whether it’s a regular hangout or just where they collected yesterday). The victims are in hospitals; it’s not known which team they were rooting for.
At first, officers in riot gear successfully kept the two sides apart, even as the groups splintered and roamed. In helmets and bulletproof vests, Proud Boys marched through downtown in militarylike rows, shouting “move out” and “1776!” They became increasingly angry as they wove through streets and alleys, only to find police continuously blocking their course with lines of bikes.
But the police couldn’t cover every inch of ground so fights broke out because hooray violence.
As the Proud Boys appeared at rallies earlier in the day Saturday, Trump cheered on all of the supporters who showed up to falsely claim that the election was stolen from him, tweeting “Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal. Didn’t know about this, but I’ll be seeing them! #MAGA.”
The king of violence and lies himself.
The speakers painted a picture of a country in a battle between good and evil, in which God himself would ultimately ensure Trump remained in power. Sebastian Gorka, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump, said that when he heard the Supreme Court had dismissed an election case from Texas on Friday night, he told himself to “stop, take a deep breath, count to 10, read the Bible and pray.”
“We, thanks to our lord and savior, have already won,” Gorka claimed.
Sadly there’s a lot of truth to the good v evil picture, but they have the sides reversed. Not that I think the Democratic party stands for Pure Goodness, it’s just that I do think Trump stands for Nearly Pure Evil and drags his fans into that stance too.
I was speaking recently to one of the few (only?) Trump supporters I’m on friendly terms with. He was very very agitated about Antifa — it was a big part of why he supports Trump and hates Biden.
I don’t have much use for Antifa myself; I think they’re a bunch of dumb young thugs looking for excuses to punch people but feel self-righteous about it, who are in fact doing more harm than good to the cause they claim to support. But I think they’re a pretty minor problem, and I see no reason to blame Biden or the Democratic Party for their shenanigans.
The Proud Boys are comparable to Antifa in many ways — I think they have the same “let’s get in fights with people but pretend it’s virtuous instead of dumb male aggression” mentality, and they’re deplorable but not a huge social problem in the grand scheme of things. But here you have Trump actively cheering them on, and it’s barely news. If Biden were to tweet praise of Antifa, Fox News would be screaming about it 24/7, and even most Democrats would ask WTF he was doing.
This, to me, is the key distinction. There are, always have been, and always will be, nutjobs and thugs representing both ends of the political spectrum. The problem is that the GOP has embraced their nutjobs and thugs, while the Dems disavow theirs. (To be clear, disavowing is the right approach — I’m not suggesting the Dems copy the GOP policy here!)
Harry’s Bar, where they’re gathering, is in downtown DC, a few blocks from the White House (and just a block north of Trump’s emolument hotel). Mostly it’s an area of federal offices and assorted hangers on, along with tourists and protesters. It’s not likely to be a normal hangout for the PBs; probably just where they’re gathering for their exciting adventure.
Further to my comment: DC and the immediate surrounding suburbs are fairly liberal. Most of the PBs come from outside the area, and probably avoid the city as much as possible.
it’s just that I do think Trump stands for Nearly Pure Evil and drags his fans into that stance too.
He doesn’t have to drag them.