quote:

Originally posted by LL:

quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
Well, my youngest is heading out to an ongoing protest in Denver.

We just want him to stay safe.

Not such a good idea.

He would disagree. This is too important a moment for him to sit on the sidelines.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
This episode started when a "law 'n' order" white police officer deliberately used an unapproved technique and killed a black man who was apparently NOT resisting arrest for suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill.

The precipitating event is not people looting and setting fire to a police station. The precipitating event was a white police officer killing an unarmed black man.

But I-1's supporters won't see that. They will see what he tells them to see.

One of the things that bugs me is the constant co-opting of the racial element in these sorts of things to something else, and I don't think it's just I-1's supporters who are guilty of this.

Kaepernick: But his disrespecting the military!
Amy Cooper: But she's strangling that dog!
George Floyd: But that looting!

Rinse, repeat.

I mean, yes, all those things are important but they're not the lead story--though they become the issue and the talking point so very quickly and easily.

Forgive me for thinking ahead but I am worried about an election that should be a referendum on Trump becoming instead a referendum on the riots.

Yes indeed. Probably won't work, but it's the evil strategic play.

Wow. The mayor of Atlanta is having NONE of this.


https://twitter.com/ClayTravis...558138339209216?s=20

P*D what was your son's experience like?

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
Forgive me for thinking ahead but I am worried about an election that should be a referendum on Trump becoming instead a referendum on the riots.

Trump will do his damndest to make the election a referendum about absolutely anything else but him. That's been his approach for his entire life and it's been remarkably effective.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
Wow. The mayor of Atlanta is having NONE of this.


https://twitter.com/ClayTravis...558138339209216?s=20

Oh wow. I can't watch this without crying.

Why do we not have this kind of leader in the White House.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
Wow. The mayor of Atlanta is having NONE of this.


https://twitter.com/ClayTravis...558138339209216?s=20

That was a couple of days ago. Her police are getting much more active in arresting people for violent behavior. I understand she's on Biden's radar. Alas, limited experience and none on foreign affairs.

P*D, what was your son's experience like in Denver?

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
P*D what was your son's experience like?

He was at the Colorado capitol with the others. I guess this gives the flavor ...

Denver Post photos

He wasn't texting us the minute by minute lowdown. I do have a few seconds of video he shot when we asked what he was up to at the moment. Reasonably tame. He wasn't interesting in inhaling gas or getting clubbed.

We watched the whole event live on a Denver TV station (NBC). I was nervous, of course, but also fascinated. Some observations. This was not Paris 1871. The protesters were determined to make a point, possibly, but not to fight to the death for the cause. They very ingeniously ransacked construction sites to set up improvised barricades, but retreated rapidly as the police approached to clear the roads.

Actually, I was quite impressed with police tactics. They allowed the crowd to mill on the grounds of the capitol, but prevented them from moving toward the downtown business district. That's where they drew the line.

Several hours of limited back and forth -- crowds massing at the police line, police releasing tear gas, pepper ball rounds, and sponge bullets, crowds retreating and throwing a few gas canisters back. Rinse, wash, and repeat. Then, at about 8:30 (30 minutes after the curfew began) police lines began slowly walking down the streets pushing the crowds back into the parks. Funny note: we actually texted him at the moment the police began move, so I guess we were complicit.

The barricades came down, and then the police line pushed people from the parks and the capitol grounds further away from the downtown business core. I'm sure the police thinking was that each street push would lead more of the protesters to call it a night, and that's exactly what happened.

I'm glad that P*D son was ok, the use of tear gas and rubber bullets etc. is pretty scary.

Just to be clear, no "rubber bullets." That's an unfortunate catch-all term. I don't think most police departments deploy that any more. These were sponge grenades/rounds. Not nearly as dense and hard as the old rubber bullets that could easily kill and maim. Sort of like paint ball instead. No fun to be hit with one, to be sure. And they can do harm if you're unlucky.

An old fashioned rubber bullet:



A sponge grenade:

All I know is this: a photojournalist got hit in the eye by a rubber bullet. She has now lost all vision in that eye, permanently. It's unclear what the cosmetic effect will be.

Luckily, it wasn't her camera eye.

Denver...

What I read from someone there,...

It was pretty bad.

WHY did son decide to go there, not someplace else?