POTUS Donald Trump

[nicksaviking]

 

More smoke?

 

Yes, I think we all need some right about now, do share.

[drjim]

And so it begins.

[Doomtints]

The trains were running late in Chicago this morning, so this whole fascism thing is already not working out.  

[Vanimal46]

Protestors throwing chunks of concrete, rocks, bricks, and bottle at police officers. Sad, really...

[Pardon My Dinger]

So, what are we protesting again? Democracy? It's Democracy, isn't it?

[nicksaviking]

 

Protestors throwing chunks of concrete, rocks, bricks, and bottle at police officers. Sad, really...

 

Ugh, not helping.

 

Shouldn't they at least ask the police officers how they voted first?

[TheLeviathan]

 

Protestors throwing chunks of concrete, rocks, bricks, and bottle at police officers. Sad, really...

 

Neither side admits there own, but there is plenty of nastiness and stupidity to go around.

[drjim]

Protestors throwing chunks of concrete, rocks, bricks, and bottle at police officers. Sad, really...

Reminds me of the I94 protest from last year. Just missing the fireworks.

 

Police officers who stand in the face of that and don't overreact are truly courageous.

[PseudoSABR]

I'm not sure what was more obviously going to happen: that tons of people were going to protest Trump, that some of those protesters would destroy property and attack the police, or that some people would complain about the protests on the day a hooligan like Trump becomes POTUS.  

 

Given the scale of the protests, that only two officers were hurt (not okay) and a hundred people arrested, protester violence is among the least news-worthy items of the day.    Let's not normalize Trump on his first freaking day by focusing on the worst of those who oppose and away from the man we elected, his actions and his words.  

 

 

[TheLeviathan]

 

I'm not sure what was more obviously going to happen: that tons of people were going to protest Trump, that some of those protesters would destroy property and attack the police, or that some people would complain about the protests on the day a hooligan like Trump becomes POTUS.  

 

Given the scale of the protests, that only two officers were hurt (not okay) and a hundred people arrested, protester violence is among the least news-worthy items of the day.    Let's not normalize Trump on his first freaking day by focusing on the worst of those who oppose and away from the man we elected, his actions and his words.  

 

I don't think anyone here is going to back down one bit from criticizing Trump every step of the way when he does something awful.  We certainly haven't so far.  It doesn't preclude us from condemning the stupidity of rioting either.  Not just because people are being hurt, but because it's counter-productive at best.

 

I tend to think we could reverse a lot of the political polarization and nonsense if we embraced a little more bravery to hold our like-minded selves to a higher standard than we have of late.  And that means braving the confrontation of criticizing those you may agree with most.

 

I mean, I hope to god some Republican Senators and members of Congress are going to be wiling to do that.  

[drjim]

I am strongly in favor of civil disobedience and protest, and will probably become more so over the next four years. I just wish they wouldn't throw things at police officers. I greatly admire the courage of police officers who stand in the line of fire and don't overreact. It is an unbelievable gift for our country.

[Badsmerf]

I'm also ok with the protests, not ok with harming people or property. We can show displeasure while still following the law.

[Bark's Lounge]

Since the election, I have tuned out. I feel dirty and no matter how many showers I take, I can't seem to cleanse myself of it. I have resigned myself to the fact that this is how I will live until it runs its course.

 

I understand the fury of people and why they are angered by the filth and divisiveness that has come out of that guy's mouth. But it really does no good to break store front windows and car windows of people you don't know or have any clue about. That speaks the same to throwing rocks at cops and others.

 

Violence begets violence. Hate begets hate, etc., etc...

 

There certainly is a way to combat Trump and have people with good intentions voices heard, I don't know what that is right now. But I am confident that there is a way.

 

Where my doubts take root, is that a majority of the citizens in this country have an undeveloped intellect, are very under educated or are too deeply entrenched in traditions that are many, many generations old and obsolete in modern times. These things I have mentioned are the breeding ground for extremism in most forms.

 

Televison is a problem. It makes ridiculous people celebrities, who in turn, run for president, and win. Voted in by the same people I mentioned in the last paragraph.

 

I have no confidence in the Republicans or Democrats. They are not worth the dog **** on the bottom of my shoe. Without compromise, enterprises will fail. Without empathy, social structures will fail, and saying that - Money lust is an uncontrollable addiction our representation has.

 

Great societies will fall if they are not maintenanced right. The trends in the last two decades are not encouraging. I hope for the best.

[PseudoSABR]

 

I am strongly in favor of civil disobedience and protest, and will probably become more so over the next four years. I just wish they wouldn't throw things at police officers. I greatly admire the courage of police officers who stand in the line of fire and don't overreact. It is an unbelievable gift for our country.

I wholeheartedly agree with this, but I also think we have to realize that protest, by its nature, is confrontational (even at its most peaceful) and public (its membership can't be controlled).  I don't think there's any amount of training or good-intentions that will keep protest from slipping, though infrequently, into angry, isolated mobs.   If we let the actions of an inevitable few color our conception of protest, we've equated their cause with such action, and essentially silenced their collective voice.   

[TheLeviathan]

Maybe it's ok for us not to give a rip about people protesting.  I think I'm well to that point.  There's a protest group for everything.  People are protesting "A Dog's Purpose" for god's sake.  I'm sure out there somewhere people are protesting Lego Batman or some other nonsense.

 

If anything has silenced the collective voices of protesters it's their overuse of the strategy.  A strategy that was once important, influential, and commendable.

 

Now?  Raise your voice in a reasonable way, there are plenty of free, wide spread avenues to do so.  Protesting?  Meh. I'm over it, I've tuned you out long before you were hucking bricks.

[PseudoSABR]

I think you've hit upon why I'm avoiding engaging with you on this issue. 

[Craig Arko]

I guess I'm pretty happy these folks didn't give up the fight.

 

[DaveW]

I'm much more concerned about what trump could do to this country then a couple cops who were slightly injured and now will get a nice 6 month pod vacation.

 

By and large cops have brought this vitriol upon themselves by they refusal to budge from this thin blue line bull**** every time one of them murders and yes I said murders an innocent miniority.

 

Are all cops bad? Of course not, the majority 98% are not the problem. The problem is those 98%refuse to address the 2%that are a problem, who are actively breaking the law and at the very very least shouldn't be cops, because of their stupid thin blue line nonsense the unions shove down their throats.

 

If cops want relations to change between them and everyone else, maybe they should start holding the "rotten apples" responsible.

[DaveW]

Maybe it's ok for us not to give a rip about people protesting. I think I'm well to that point. There's a protest group for everything. People are protesting "A Dog's Purpose" for god's sake. I'm sure out there somewhere people are protesting Lego Batman or some other nonsense.

 

I think protesting animal cruelty is one of the more noble things a person can do. Animals have no voice of their own, it's not like the dogs in that film are getting a piece of the box office, hopefully that movie tanks and studios think long and hard about how they treat animals in movies in the future.

[TheLeviathan]

I think part of the problem is the idea that today's version of standing around protesting is "fighting".  

 

There are far more effective ways to fight if you want to volunteer your time.  Go find someone who shares your views and join their outreach team.  Help build a voting base, a scheme that might actually be effective at changing government and policy in the future.  Or just organize protests that actually work.  The NRA (much to my chagrin) are ridiculously good at pressuring politicians not just with money, but with an onslaught of pressure, phone calls, etc.  Some are doing this (BLM comes to mind) to their credit, but not nearly enough.

 

Most of today's protests strike me as more self-indulgent than any real effort to change things.  

[TheLeviathan]

 

If cops want relations to change between them and everyone else, maybe they should start holding the "rotten apples" responsible.

 

I agree.....wouldn't the same logic apply then to protest groups?

 

Sometimes that's easier said than done.

[DaveW]

Listen I agree that a lot of "protesters" are doing to to just share on social media and such, however there are also a lot who do a lot of volunteer work like you mentioned, who donate to various causes and put in effort weekly, daily, hourly to make the world a better place.

 

Yes there are some tag alongs who just want to feel important for a day, or to get laid, but it's not fair to paint them all with the same brush.

 

Also some of those tag alongs will ultimately get more and more involved, it has to start somewhere.

[TheLeviathan]

Yeah, I agree, it does have to start somewhere.  And for some movements I totally understand the act of protesting (though sometimes the tactics are just plain dumb).  I think some of the protests today were good too, the guys in the Russian hats were hilarious.

 

At the same time, not everything you don't like is reason to go protest.  It sort of dilutes the impact when it's your first resort for anything and everything.

[Bark's Lounge]

Back in the late 1980's, I remember seeing the start of the animal rights movement. As an early teenager, that seemed compassionate, but I was caught up in a world of chaos and disfunction.

 

No one made mention of the the suffering of children or abused spouses at that time - a situation, I was definitely apart of.

 

I feel a bit bitter about that. Why is an enclosed chicken or a wrongly killed cow better than my life?

I was treated as such.

 

I understand there is a moralistic way to go about things, but at that time, those things took president to my lowly and neglected life.

 

I am good with animal rights and all that it entails.

 

Humans are something we should care about. Right?

[TheLeviathan]

I wish people would care half as much about kids growing up in terrible homes as they did about animals in shelters.  So I'm with you Bark.

[DaveW]

Just because one cares about how animals are treated doesn't preclude them from

caring about humans as well. Besides I was responding to the animal one bc it was directly brought up. All you need to do is read my thoughts on AP to see how seriously I take the issue of kids being abused or in terrible situations.

 

A lot of people sadly don't care about kids growing up in shelters OR animals in shelters, it's just a very selfish culture in general.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Just because one cares about how animals are treated doesn't preclude them from
caring about humans as well. Besides I was responding to the animal one bc it was directly brought up. All you need to do is read my thoughts on AP to see how seriously I take the issue of kids being abused or in terrible situations.

A lot of people sadly don't care about kids growing up in shelters OR animals in shelters, it's just a very selfish culture in general.

 

Absolutely, I wish people would prioritize people first, but by all means take care of animals too.

[DaveW]

Absolutely, I wish people would prioritize people first, but by all means take care of animals too.

I think most people do prioritize people first...this idea that people don't seems to not have a lot of strong evidence.

 

Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Adoption non profits, Heart Association, Susan B Kolmer, Wounded warriors etc all get significantly more in donations then PETA etc

[TheLeviathan]

 

I think most people do prioritize people first...this idea that people don't seems to not have a lot of strong evidence.

Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Adoption non profits, Heart Association, Susan B Kolmer, Wounded warriors etc all get significantly more in donations then PETA etc

 

Good point.  Though I did read something about how much more effective suffering animals are for clicks than suffering humans, but either way you're right, people don't speak that way with their check book.

[Pardon My Dinger]

In my opinion, there absolutely is a problem with this protest. And that is that there is no end game. I can't stand the guy, but he was elected to office. He's going to be president. Not a lot can be done about that. In fact, nothing can be done about that. So, making a big scene over his inauguration is nothing but a bunch of bitter, if not predictable noise.