My hot take on the action in DC is that it was unfortunate and wrong, but also not as bad as Antifa, and will illuminate the hypocrisy of those that soft pedaled the long wave of Antifa violence.
Antifa attacked the Portland courthouse for over a month and rioted every day over the summer. They have seized territory several times, set up a government, and most recently seized a foreclosed house and hotel rooms. Objectively, that is worse than a violent and destructive riot from a few people even though the Antifa and BLM violence was called “mostly peaceful” the entire summer.
When these protesters riot for 90 straight days, seize and hold territory, then proclaim their own republic, we can say it’s worse. Letting your partisan bias cloud your analysis and using emotionally charged words like coup or terrorism is part of the problem. Though it is related to the election outcome, it is more a protest gone violent, turned against people, places, and things. Unlike Antifa, it is not designed for a new CHAZ republic. It is far from terrorism. It is not using the threat of violence and death against civilians. It is a violent protest. So far it seemed like a riot that was objectively more benign than rioting I saw in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and LA, and which I failed to see any condemn over the last 6 months.
People need to be heard. I condemn all violence, (and it’s nice for leftists to finally jump in as well when it’s not Antifa), but they are sick of media/Hollywood/Washington elites talking down to them, sick of big tech censoring them unfairly, sick of the double standard when they see prosecutors from LA to Portland refuse to prosecute Antifa and BLM looting, sick of credible accusations of election fraud being ignored, sick of having their livelihoods destroyed by lockdowns that politicians don’t even follow, sick of some people being mostly peaceful and others being a danger to democracy, and the dam finally burst.
When Nancy Pelosi shows off her thousand-dollar freezer and Governor Newsom ignores his own lockdowns at a 500 dollar a plate French restaurant, we shouldn’t be surprised when people treat them like Marie Antoinette.
