Comments by "Scott Charney" (@scottcharney1091) on "'I Have A Video I'd Like To Have You Watch': Grassley Plays Compilation Of Riots Preceding Jan. 6" video.

@Abyssdiver I have been to Portland. The US has seen a disturbing uptick in violence in the past 18 months or so, but overall crime has actually decreased. Yes, the civil unrest did in fact occur in my metaphorical backyard, on the other side of the country.
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@samuraiwarrior87 That's actually spelling, not grammar. Which post of mine are you challenging? I'm not sure which one it is.
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@MA-mh1vs Regarding your first paragraph, you've seen what's come out (and what was never hidden) since the arrest of Stewart Rhodes, right? Now, regarding your second- Speaking of hating democracy, this attack on the Capitol was an attempt to overturn the results of an election. It was part of a bevy of efforts (starting with things like Trump's phone call to the GA Secretary of State, asking for some votes to be "found") to prevent the democratic process from continuing. A peaceful transfer of power, following a completely fair election, is a definitive part of that process. Please tell me that you saw the recent news about Republicans in several states sending fraudulent lists of electors to the National Archives. By the way, these anti-democratic efforts continue to the present day, with attempts to take over election commissions, outrageous gerrymandering, voter suppression, etc. Meanwhile, there is nobody with this "socialist mentality" you describe in a position of power in the US. I wish! You're projecting quite badly; the economy is damaged due to over 40 years of neoliberal capitalism. Yes, the legal system is worse than useless; it's malicious, classist, racist, etc., and it's getting worse. Your enemies aren't the ones promoting racism, they're fighting against it, so I don't know where you get that idea. Finally, rights are most definitely under attack, like voting rights, women's reproductive rights, workers' rights, and much more. What rights are you so worried about losing? If you're referring to gun rights, don't blame socialists, they/we have always known the importance of being armed. Karl Marx was very explicit on this point, as were his rivals elsewhere on the left, especially the anarchists. You're seeing the world in mirror image. Speaking of "the socialist country of their choice," do you know about the American leftists who have been going to Rojava as part of the YPG International (and sometimes the International Freedom Battalions) to defend the revolution in battle against ISIS & the fascist Turkish regime? Some of those flights have indeed been one way, as some of these volunteers have died there.
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Don't exaggerate.
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@samuraiwarrior87 *you're
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Heavy melee combat in an effort to overturn an election is much worse than wandering. They came within a short distance of lynching lawmakers and causing a constitutional crisis. Watch "Day of Rage," among other things.
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@MamaMC4950 They set up a gallows outside, and besides, lynching does not have to mean hanging! They wanted to hang Mike Pence, Congressmembers trapped in the gallery were taking off their pins to avoid being recognized, staffers were hiding under tables as attackers tried to break into offices, people were sending possible final texts to loved ones, and so on.
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@MamaMC4950 They set up a gallows outside, and besides, lynching does not have to mean hanging! They wanted to hang Mike Pence, Congressmembers trapped in the gallery were taking off their pins to avoid being recognized, staffers were hiding under tables as attackers tried to break into offices, people were sending possible final texts to loved ones, and so on.
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@Gitn2it No one got hurt? There were scores of injuries among the cops, including traumatic brain injuries, loss of an eye, loss of digits, at least one heart attack, and don't forget that the coroner/M.E. said that Sicknick's injuries played a role in the fatal strokes he subsequently suffered. On top of that, the psychological damage was intense; four of the officers have subsequently killed themselves, and many more have been unable to return to work. As for the White House, nobody came close to entering the building, nor was there any effort to do so. It's another false equivalency.
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@Gitn2it No one got hurt? There were scores of injuries among the cops, including traumatic brain injuries, loss of an eye, loss of digits, at least one heart attack, and don't forget that the coroner/M.E. said that Sicknick's injuries played a role in the fatal strokes he subsequently suffered. On top of that, the psychological damage was intense; four of the officers have subsequently killed themselves, and many more have been unable to return to work. As for the White House, nobody came close to entering the building, nor was there any effort to do so. It's another false equivalency.
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@bradchristy8429 I have, as a matter of fact, in person. Have you watched "Day of Rage," or any of the other intense video? Have you watched/listened to the testimony from the police who spoke to the panel?
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@bradchristy8429 The denialism here is appalling. Most of the police fought bravely (and the avalanche of video footage available is not a leftist hit piece; I'm not sure what piece you're referring to), while some collaborated with the attackers. If anything, I thought that there would be more collaborators. There is absolutely no evidence for "Antifa agitators" involved on that day. As for the riots you mention, there's a big difference between civil unrest and a coup attempt. The amount of damage was spread all over the country across many months, and note that it was still much smaller than, say, 1967-1968, when the US had a much smaller population and much less stuff to destroy. Besides, I don't play "good protestor/bad protestor;" in a world where property is more valuable than people are, property destruction is a valid tactic. The Sons of Liberty disguised their identities & destroyed corporate property, and we call them heroes. I would like to see a similar video about the riots as well, but that would be a little awkward for a major capitalist news entity, inasmuch as it ought to be clear that most of the death toll happened at the hands of the police, vigilantes (all those car attacks, and some shootings) and apolitical lumpen. There surely are videos about that sort of thing, but of course they don't have the same audience.
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@snoopygirl7741 What are you calling bullshit, and what "leftist controlled news" are you referring to?
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@snoopygirl7741 Facts are demonstrated by empirical evidence, not experiences. Anyway, what doctored bullshit videos are you talking about? I need to know how to respond.
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@Finraen No, I don't endorse the sort of thing you mention in your first sentence. Far from it. However, they did much worse than what you describe. They were hunting for legislators and others; it's on very clear and obvious video footage from multiple sources- the attackers themselves, legislators & staff, security cameras, bodycams, etc. Plus, in the past couple of months we've seen more and more details emerge of the plans of the organized groups, and their communications with one another and some high-level contacts in the Trump administration. Some of that was obvious from the start, but it's unambiguous now. Yes, it was a coup attempt (or more specifically, a self-coup/auto-coup, as we've seen in some countries). That's much worse than civil unrest; the rioting you refer to was nothing compared to, for example, 1967-1968, and it had no possibility of making the country ungovernable, or anything like that. No, there is absolutely no evidence for the conspiracy theories. None at all.
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@Finraen Yes, I do believe it. It's plausible on its own, and it's reinforced by the other damage suffered by the personnel of both departments, especially Capitol PD (they are in charge of Capitol Hill; they got backup from the Metropolitan Police, aka "Metro PD," who are city-wide. They're not to be confused with the transit police who are responsible for the transit system, called "the Metro"). Morale collapsed, many officers resigned, others cannot return to work due to trauma, and one famously turned in her weapon because she was afraid of what she would do with it. This was much worse than anything that they had suffered in a long time. I've been looking at DC clashes going back decades, and I can't find anything comparable. The only thing "fishy" is the degree/extent of connection between the people on the ground and those in positions of power.
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@bakerboat4572 That's beside the point! They were roaming through the halls, trying to enter offices, trying to enter the House gallery (where Congressmembers & staff were trapped), and they knew who they were looking for. That's not in dispute.
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@bakerboat4572 What partisan-made video? There's untold thousands of hours of footage, mostly shot by the attackers themselves! Again, what partisan? The scores of injuries, some of them permanently maiming, speak for themselves. This isn't ambiguous.
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@Finraen Except it's not a conspiracy theory; have you not seen the evidence uncovered in the past couple of months regarding the Oath Keepers, for example? Regarding Russia, it wasn't frivolous, as the Senate Report (Republican-led!) made clear. You shouldn't have missed any of this.
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I wish.
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@ServantOfTheSouth *you're
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Civil unrest is nothing compared to a coup attempt. Also, taking the streets is crucial. It's not a time for business as usual.
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@mybad8805 Protect the rioters? What the hell? The cops inflicted a lot of the deaths and injuries!
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@randominc.2251 No weapons? Several were arrested with concealed guns, some of the Oath Keepers had rifles stashed in a nearby hotel room for a "Quick Reaction Force," we're finding out now that they were hoping for an armed second wave, one guy had lots of guns and explosives in his nearby truck, and of course the attackers had thousands of melee weapons, with which they inflicted some very serious injuries (lots of TBIs, loss of an eye, loss of digits, etc.). Quite a few of the attackers are charged with (or have pleaded guilty to) Assault With a Dangerous Weapon. As for being "let in," there are countless hours of video footage of the heavy fighting at various entrances, footage of the forced entrances to the building via broken windows, and so on. Most of the police fought bravely, but some collaborated with the attackers. If anything, I'm surprised that there weren't more collaborators.
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@MA-mh1vs They wanted to (and this is becoming clearer and clearer with all the communications the investigators are discovering in recent months) prevent certification of the election, provoke a Constitutional crisis, and enable Trump to remain in office. He was still in office at the time, and thus was Commander-in-Chief. There's a phrase that's been used in Latin America and elsewhere: "auto-coup" or "self-coup." I don't remember offhand if I've seen any statements regarding how far in the future the planners both in the streets and in "high places" were thinking, but (and this is revealing) I don't think that they were afraid of the military members actually honoring their oath to the Constitution, as opposed to honoring the decree of the sitting President. Do those officials who allegedly hate this country include both Pelosi and Pence?
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There's a gap between civil unrest and a coup attempt.
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@pgroove163 That's true, though maybe not in the same way that you think.
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Don't exaggerate. No cities were ruined; most of the death toll was the work of cops, vigilantes, and apolitical lumpen; and lots of people are in trouble now.
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There's a difference between civil unrest and a coup attempt.
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There's a difference between civil unrest and a coup attempt.
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@mybad8805 Unarmed? Several of the arrestees were caught with concealed handguns, several others had rifles in a hotel room a short distance away in VA, another had explosives in his truck, and don't forget the pipe bombs! Besides all of that, they obviously had a huge amount of melee weapons, which did a lot of damage. Plus, see the communications that have been released to the committee in the last month or so.
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@SkithTickler If you're referring to J20 (Trump's inauguration), not all of those things happened, but yes, that is generally civil unrest. One of the defense attorneys memorably put it like this (I'm paraphrasing): "The prosecution is describing this as Godzilla destroying Tokyo. It was just some broken windows." Notice that while there were a few early guilty pleas, the state didn't get a single conviction from hundreds of J20 arrestees, despite around 18 months of work and a lot of money spent on the process (which, by the way, is very trying on the defendants, and violates their right to a speedy trial). Nobody, not even those who took pleas, cooperated with the prosecution. Everybody showed solidarity while people were facing decades in prison for minor offenses.
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Fighting for justice is enough to make one proud, yes. Also, it's important to not get caught.
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Stop shouting. Also, observe the difference between civil unrest and a coup attempt.
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