Maybe the people that hate the protests would like to tell us just what would be acceptable and

[brewens]

effective? What would they be okay with that would get everyone's attention and lead to the changes that should have been accomplished the easy way decades if not centuries ago?

[still_one]

1. I am not against the protests, but the most effective thing in my view that can be done is getting

people registered to vote and getting out the vote by encouraging people to vote early, and if possible vote by mail


That does not preclude doing both things, including registering people at the protestd

[JI7]

2. The protests are being infiltrated by opportunists

[CentralMass]

3. Are ok with the violent tactics? Do you approve of them ?

[abqtommy]

4. Well, the American Revolution was based on violent tactics, after attempts to correct abuses

by peaceful means failed.

[Ferrets are Cool]

7. While I agree with you because the fact cannot be disputed...

AND, you can probably find something that is 180 degrees opposed to this quote, but I give you this.

The Quest for Peace and Justice Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Lecture -- December 11, 1964

“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all.

[abqtommy]

11. Peace is a wonderful thing. The father of peaceful protest, Mahatma Ghandhi,

Last edited Wed Sep 2, 2020, 03:15 AM - Edit history (2)

was assassinated on 30 January, 1948. I was born 13 months later.

In my lifetime I've seen the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr.,
John Lennon* and the attempted assassination of Ronald Regan here in the U.S.

I agree with the Martin Luther King quote you provide but it's obvious that violence is a feature for
the human race. With change coming one heart and one mind at a time we're in for a long wait.
In fact, I've taken much encouragement in my life from the words of the Kennedys, Dr. King and
John Lennon.

I'm not looking for an argument. The facts and our opinions are seldom as we wish.

*add Malcolm X to this list. This was a failure of memory and not calculated since I also value his
written and spoken words.

[Ferrets are Cool]

17. +1

[CentralMass]

8. I take that as yes.

There were 13 colonies but the events thst lead to the revolutionary war took place for the most part in one, not all 13.

I'll stick to my home city of the last 5 years of Portland. When tRump won back in 2016 there were riots and vandalism in downtown Portland that resulted in $ millions in damage to business, personal property etc. Did blue Portland who voted for Hillary by a large margin deserve that violence ? What did it achieve. ?
The current wave of violence in Portland has been going on for 3 months now. It includes a number of incidents where fires were set in Federal or Police building with personel inside. In some cases it appeared that a crude attempt to block the doors from opening from the inside was made before a fire was set. That's attempted murder.
Why is this going on In Portland. The people responsible for it are spray painting and chanting things like abolish/defund the police. Do you think their tactics are going to help them obtain their goal ?
They set a fire in Mayor Ted Wheeler's condo last night and damaged some business before it was put out. Frankly. Ted Wheeler had bent over backwards to give this violent group a wide berth. So has the cities DA. Yet they are going after him now.

Personally after witnessing this zoo in Portland, it make me no less of a Democrat and dies nothing to diminish my disdain for the Orange Anus or the republican party but I am solidly against defunding or abolishing the police. Events in the city have proven the need for the opposite. We need more funding with an emphasis on training and from the looks of it more police officers.

[abqtommy]

9. I offer for your enlightenment the following List of American Revolutionary War battles*

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Revolutionary_War_battles

This is a topic I've studied in my lifetime and I present the facts.

I approve of peaceful means but the majority of the human race isn't on board with that at this time.
Of course, that is my opinion.

[CentralMass]

12. I'll read that at length when I have time but the links appears to be about events after war

Last edited Wed Sep 2, 2020, 07:28 AM - Edit history (1)

Was declared. If my New England history isn't too weak I recall that the Boston Massacre was possibly the pivotal event that lead to the Revolutionary war.. however leading up to this event.
https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2012/05/28/christopher-seider-the-boston-massacre-and-the-usas-first-martyrs

Tempers over taxation had erupted and in February of 1770 colonists , if I recall correctly, tried to tar and feather Ebenezer Richardson, a British customs officer. As the crowd pelted him with things and chased him to his house he made it insired and and fired a type of scatter gun out his window and an 11 year old boy in crowd was wounded and eventually died.
This enraged a lot of the colonists. Another issue was that British soldiers were under paid and were competing for and taking the limited number of available jobs to supplement their incomes . There were also few women and they were competing against the male colonists for them too.
The tensions lead to the Boston Massacre that arguably was a drunken protest turn provocation of a small number, 6 or 7 of British soldiers who were on duty that night that were overwhelmed by a large crowd of drunken patriots that had just left the taverns after closing.
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-massacre
Despite orders not to shoot one of the soldiers fired his rifle followed by several other soldiers firing theirs and a number of colonists were killed.

[bottomofthehill]

5. Do we know what the goal in Portland is at this point?

There were protests to call attention to a very important issue, the assassination of people of color. Attention was called, but what next ?

[DBoon]

6. I've found that people hate protests because they hate disorder and crowds

They would probably prefer that folks sit quietly at home and maybe write letters to the newspaper.

Disorder means change. People who hate protests don't like change much. They would prefer it doesn't happen.

People who hate protests tend to have strongly authoritarian personalities. they believe quiet acceptance is good. They associate any form of protest with disobedience and chaos, which is bad and should be punished.

I base these conclusions on many years of listening to right wingers loudly ranting in the workplace while the rest of us are trying to get our work done.

[brewens]

16. There ya go. I think the answer is they like things just fine the way they are and wish

"those people" would just learn their place and stop making trouble.

[njhoneybadger]

10. The same people who don't like protests now didn't mind the Tea Party Protests

what's up with that

[question everything]

13. The riots and destruction of property shifted the tone of the campaign

(Yes, I know, some consider the mention of property as a sign of “white privilege” so be it.)

So instead of talking about COVID-19 Trump is talking about the riots.

We will los Wisconsin, again, and probably will lose Minnesota.

Rural America is where the electoral votes are, and rural America doest no care for the riots and destruction of property. And by the way, many of the small business that were torched in Minneapolis were minority owned.

So you can talk all you want about “protests” ignoring the looting and the arson, and Trump will get four more years. And forget about flipping the Senate and increasing the majority in the House.

I am glad that Biden addressed it, hope it was not too late.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Well like Obama said...change the policies of all the

Police departments? Why can't the Dems come up with a federal law on humane treatment of all humans apprehended by police? All I know is that it will end and nothing concrete will happen, sadly. It's all playing into Trump's tiny hands. And he's vying for law and order candidate.

[EndlessWire]

15. You have to be smart about it.

As soon as people understood that Trump was going to use the protests as fodder for his campaign, they should have faded quietly back and waited. Self control is important. It doesn't mean that the objective is given up; it just means that control of the situation isn't going to be conceded to Trump.

If we do not win in November, all protesters will be involved in a fight that will be prolonged, bitter, and ugly. Trump probably will not leave on his own. I think that his arrogance will not allow him to recognize anything less than he "won." I think his mental pathology is aided and abetted by the GOP, and we are fighting every last one of them.

This may not sit well with a lot of people, but we aren't fighting for just Black rights here. We are fighting for our democracy, against a fascist dictator. Nothing else matters. If we do not oust Trump's regime, we will lose it all. You can see, can you not, that he is setting up to put the screws to everyone who opposed him. Passing laws that screw protesters out of their benefits, making laws about where you can protest, gassing people in crowds...he's working his nerve up to go all the way.

We had the military telling us that they will not help. That leaves it to us to be smart and play our hand when we need to do so. After we know what is going to happen in November all the way through January, then we will be able to formulate a plan of how to keep our country.

If you are not allowed to vote when you know you are registered and in the right spot, then channel that anger and let it be seen. Right now we should be like wolves in a fog...watching, silently helping everyone get to the polls one way or another, quietly but efficiently defying Trump's objective of dividing us, fading away out of their reach only to return to irritate the shit out of them. Make them nervous, and then when the election is over, Trump is gone, then we are going to fix our broken parts, and the possibility exists that street protests may still be needed.

I highly favor nonviolent means; perhaps those that have been in the streets before can begin teaching the newer people how to peacefully protest, how to react to cops, how to dress, just how to do it in general. Back in the day, churches took the time to prepare the day's protesters how best to do it. Run it like a military operation, only nonviolent. It won't be easy.

I read that some people who were feeding protesters got arrested; we have to know about that. And, we have to study what is happening in Belarus, Venezuela, Hong Kong...we need bail funds, attorneys dedicated to helping pro bono...but, sadly, in the end it will be knocking heads against the oppressor's which will tell the tale.

Never in my life did I ever, ever think that someone like Trump could come along in this manner and take our democracy away from us. We are in real danger. If we don't figure it out now, we will not get a chance later.