Governator Guts Trump

JANUARY 12, 2021
Kuttner on TAP

Lefties: Stay Away From This Weekend’s Disruptions

The left got very lucky when the far right laid siege to the U.S. Capitol. The whole thing unfolded so fast that there was no time to organize counterprotests.

We should be thankful for that. There was no muddling of what occurred. Trump and his right-wing marauders reaped the blame.

This was a neofascist attempted coup, pure and simple. It was not left-wingers street-fighting with right-wingers. Even the brief attempt by some on far-right media to blame antifa (if antifa even exists) fell flat.

Next weekend, there will be violent, disruptive actions at state capitols. Law enforcement, massively embarrassed by the security failure at the U.S. Capitol, will be out in force.

The spectacle, and the story, will be right-wing thugs versus the police, getting busted. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

And we should keep it that way.

The last thing we need is left protesters challenging the right, or trying to help law enforcement, or just showing up to make a point—and becoming a target when armed thugs are kept away from government buildings.

This can degenerate all too quickly into a mutual riot, with culpability diffused and confused. The story is simple, and needs to stay that way—right-wing militias mounting more failed insurrections.

A few far-left groups will relish the moment to heighten the contradictions, bash the right, or provoke the cops. Please, no.

Napoleon put it well: "Never interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake."

There are times to insist on our right to "take back the streets." This is not one of those times.

So stay home, follow it on TV or social media, and watch the far right overreach, get arrested, and take all the blame.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER

(from my inbox)

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Yep. I'm not against punching Nazis. Hell, I'm not against doing worse to 'em... but the best thing to do in this case is just let them create their own PR nightmare. They're turning public sentiment strongly against 'em, and that's the best way to get rid of them. There are very, very few people in this country who are going to be happy about seeing armed people trying to menace elected officials. That kind of shit is anathema to the people who are just trying to live and be left alone, but these Trump cultists don't realize that because they've been living in a delusional bubble they built for themselves, where they think they'll be "greeted as liberators."

Give 'em room to tase themselves in the balls and die, and that's what they'll do. A hell of a lot of law enforcement and National Guard should be there to meet them, but no political opposition. If the goal is to just get rid of the psychotics and not just fight in the streets, then, in this case, staying out of it is the best way to do it.

And while I'm hesitant to hand them any martyrs, if they actually try to break into buildings and hurt people, I wouldn't spare the live rounds. If they want to just wave signs and chant or whatever, then they have a perfect right to do that, even if it is backed up by ridiculous delusional conspiracy theories. But if they try to do what they did at the Capitol again, give 'em some mourning mamas who'll spend the rest of their lives wishing they'd done a better job raising 'em.