Ahh, the joy of breaking glass and spraying graffiti on a pretty spring evening. Even better when you can point to an event as an excuse to pretend your adrenaline rushes are justified.

@4: Peasants. Hardly. They have iPhones and 401Ks.

Count me among those radical weirdos who are against both (A) police violence against unarmed civilians and (B) vandalism. If we want to know why Trump came within 44,000 votes of getting reelected and the Republicans did shockingly well in both the House and Senate despite Trump's disastrous reign, you can look directly toward how last summer's BLM protests got overtaken by the forces of chaos and destruction.

Of course, the SJW commentariat will say that there are no studies to support this statement and that the studies that are there say just the opposite. And when anyone shoots holes through their own studies, they will claim that all this is speculative and that the minds of voters are ultimately unknowable, like the question of whether there's a God. (There's an interesting Democratic pollster who has done this very research. Been featured in New York Mag. I want to say his name is Kahn.)

Anyway, I really wanted to comment about that pig and to express my appreciation for the decent people who rescued it and have been nursing it back to health. Hopefully, it will find a home somewhere like Pigs Peace Sanctuary. I'm confused about the circumstances of how it got where it was. The original story doesn't explain. Well, all's well that ends well.

P.S. Also want to express my disappointment at the comments being disabled on regular news stories. I really wanted to comment on the one Mudede story about that ridiculous Vegas Loop.

@2
It's not an official protest until at least one Starbucks window is smashed.

Why do you think you know where your fish is from?

@7: Well, I looked it up and didn't see your "whoosh" angle. Guess I need more coffee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Murderous,ThievingHordes_of_Peasants

Tim Eyman's also from Mukilteo. They must be so proud.

@14: Your commentary stands by itself without starting with a ridiculous generalization.

Of course @2 included a ridiculous generalization, so who am I to speak.

@14, thanks for the measured and thoughtful response. I think you've laid out a compelling and workable vision for how the Democrats can 1) learn the lessons from doing worse than expected in 2020, and 2) reverse the trend of the party in power losing seats in the first midterm after the election of a new president.

@ 15,

If I were making ridiculous yet totally accurate generalizations, I'd add that all Republinazis are soulless, lying, psychotic, mass-murdering possessed demons from the deepest level of Hell.

They can’t prove that they’re not, and they can’t disprove they are.

blip @19, as always, you're right about everything. And I'm just thankful that Warnock and Ossoff were able to tap into your winning message in Georgia.

Just, as I stated @6: "Count me among those radical weirdos who are against both (A) police violence against unarmed civilians and (B) vandalism." And--I know this may be a shocking thing for me to say--but I'm actually more concerned about (A) than I am about (B).

Yes, broken glass should be taken as a sign of pride by shop owners in the fight agents of state killing people in the street. What's a few broken chards anyway? Bill it to the corporate office as the cost of doing business.

Some really important police reform measures have occurred recently that include New Mexico ending qualified immunity and Maryland doing away with their horrible "police bill of rights." So far away from where we need to be, but these are major steps and the types of actions Inslee should be taking. Another thing never discussed is just ENDING POLICE UNIONS. Police unions signal their usefulness to police by defending the WORST ACTORS. They also continually lobby against any and all reform measures. I actually dont think we will ever get very far with police reform until we end the police union. Seriously its the biggest block to reform but Dems won't touch it because unions are great, or something.

Making everything about race distracts everyone from real police reform. It creates more opposition to reform on the right, and the left will push silly stuff like white fragility training or something. Stick with the race stuff and everyone will stay divided and we will continue to avoid real change on the street level and this shit just repeats.

@9, @26 - TheStranger turning off comments? Not a problem, I just turn off donations.

@21 - You're capable of decoupling violence and/or property damage from the broader peaceful protests, but the mass of fence-sitters/fence-sitter adjacents out there probably are not. The mushy middle of actual voters are voters who don't pay all that much attention to the details of current events. If they did, they would almost certainly not be fence-sitters or wannabe fence-sitters.

Such people/voters are moved by sensational imagery, though, which is what rioting consists of and what the media loves playing over and over...and over. They're also moved by scary terminology, like "defund the police," as it means something entirely different to them than it means to you. To them, it's a dystopian hellscape straight out of Mad Max.

Anyway, I'm sure both those issues had something to do with our less than hoped for performance, but was it a little or a lot to do with it? At the very least, we need a new catchy term or phrase to replace the "defund" one. It needs to be something that evokes rainbows and unicorns and not your loved ones being sold into a life of sex slavery for zombies.

This is a pretty quick read with some graphics that break the myths that police are only killing people in violent incidents, that they're killing whites just as much as blacks, and that things are getting better as a result of BLM protests:

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/we-need-to-bust-some-myths-about

@31:

If The Stranger ever does implement comment moderation or blocking I for one will be more than happy to make a financial contribution, because it would be worth a few dollars to not have to continue to expose my eyeballs to the fetid hog lagoon of unabashed racism, willful ignorance, mendacity, hypocrisy, and downright idiocy the comments section has devolved into over the past few years.

@38 Here is the voice of reason everyone is looking for.

I'd rather put myself in Daunte Wright's shoes. He was stopped for having an air freshener and the so-called warrant out on him was an outdated warrant for which he had already plead guilty (and it was a marijuana charge, in a city and a state that publicly proclaimed it was not longer criminalizing the use of marijuana) in a location mere miles from where George Floyd was murdered and also miles Philando Castile was murdered (for another bogus traffic stop, when he was fully complying with the cops, because racist white people love to pretend that compliance prevents cops from murdering Black people).

When do Black people have the right to be afraid of being murdered by cops?

That stupid white bitch racist shit bag of cop who claimed she didn't know the difference between a taser and a gun was on the force for 26 years. She is a lying, murdering, psychopath who gets to quit her job and walk away AFTER MURDERING SOMEONE IN COLD BLOOD. Cops are supposedly trained. If the cops outnumber the person they have subdued and they DO NOT SEE A WEAPON, they don't get to murder someone. And why are cop shootings always fatal (except for Jacob Blake who managed to survive being shot at point blank range in the back seven times, but he wasn't supposed to survive that now was he)? incapable of incapacitating someone with a gun shot? Funny how many other cops worldwide are able to do that. Funny how many cops worldwide don't murder people the way American cops do EVERY FUCKING DAY.

Cops who cannot subdue people without murdering them are nothing but murderers. They have no right walking around with weapons and no right being given any power. Stop defending them. Every single time you defend them you are screaming to the world that you are a fucking racist, someone who not only approves of white supremacist terrorism but fully supports all of the harassment, violence, and murder that goes along with it. If white people were being murdered by cops to the tune of every 40 seconds like Black people, this country would have been burned to the ground already.

@35:

I'm sure the irony of decrying acts of violence against property committed by citizens in response to acts of violence committed against citizens by the authorities is completely lost on these yahoos.

@38 - "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" is not just a RW nutjob aphorism. Most of my liberal friends are applying it to the Jan 6th insurrectionists (who we hope are about to win the really BIG stupid prizes.

Somehow Q being in the Music Man makes all the sense in the world.

White Couple Pulled Over, No Trailer Lights, No Insurance Card - Not Shot. True Story.

If you know someone who doesn't believe White Privilege is real, tell them this story, and ask them why we walked away scott free, if White Privilege doesn't exist. And then ask them what they think would have happened, had we not been white...

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/4/13/2025641/-White-Couple-Pulled-Over-No-Trailer-Lights-No-Insurance-Card-Not-Shot-True-Story

@37,

To be fair, I have posted some drunken rants on occasion that I'm not too proud of.

They got the National Guard to Brooklyn Center faster than they got the National Guard to the U.S. Capitol during an act of domestic terrorism and attempted murder of senators and the Vice President. This is AmeriKKKa.

52 - I think it's fine to be emphatic about your opinions. But why the anger?

@54,

I watched it.

He's no boy scout? He did some dumbshit stuff? I don't care if he's the reincarnation of Hitler himself. I didn't see him do anything on that video that warranted shooting him.

54 - Why not just let him get away and track him down later? He was not a felony fugitive or a known harm to others.

At some point you need to acknowledge that taking someone into custody for a misdemeanor is impractical and counter productive.

@50:

What part of "private business gets to dictate the rules of conduct on its own website" is unclear to you? Or are you one of those RWNJ CINO's (Capitalist In Name Only) who are all "companies have the right to do whatever the fuck they want EXCEPT if it inconveniences or makes me feel even mildly uncomfortable in any way"? And hey, if you REALLY are interested in voicing "valid comments around here" you would have EXACTLY THE SAME OPPORTUNITY to do so as anyone else, by putting your money where your virtual mouth is, or at least being accountable for what you say.

Or are you one of those closet Socialmalismists who think you have some sort of God-given, inalienable right to shitpost on a website without being held responsible for the shit you post? Because that's what moderation or a subscription model would entail.

No wonder you're whining like a little baby...

michaeljacksoneatingpopcornimjustheretoreadthecomments.gif

35 - I wasn't intending to critique the means of protesting; I was simply saying that such imagery will resonate with a lot of people in a way that can harm our interests, and probably has to some degree. In other words, I was making an observation, not a proscription.

Otherwise, I agree with you.

sure give me an
Edit*/Delete button
and I'm In. a buck a
week sounds Good to me.

*with Full history

how
'bout
Threads
(tangents)?

@36 - You've obviously never been a cop, because if you had ever been a cop, you would know this sort of resisting/flight takes place every day. It's commonplace. Even this exact form, lunging for the car to try to drive away is common. That's why the cop intended to draw her taser rather than her gun, because that would have been the appropriate response.

Yes, you actually do have to wait until you actually perceive an actual threat (gun) and further perceive that the threat intends to cause you or another death or serious bodily injury. Cops don't get paid to get killed, but they do get paid to shoulder a level of calculated risk significantly greater than you or any other member of the public would. That's what I used to tell my rookies anyway.

63 - Editing would make comments dreadfully boring, if you think about it.

Re Jasmyne's post - the Biden portrait looks far more amiable than the now gone Trump portrait.
3 1/2 years of walking by the Trump portrait in the Federal building was enough to make anyone lose their lunch!

@41 "When do Black people have the right to (not) be afraid of being murdered by the cops?"
I used to have a sense of optimism- that our society can get better, and we can wean ourselves away for racism.
But that is fading away with the weekly assault of news stories - imagine you are a Lieutenant with a new SUV, with a paper temporary registration- and the Virginia cop stops you, and shouts at you, that you should be afraid, son.
Yikes! Has the 1950's Southern sheriff really reincarnated in f**king 2021?

@67:

"I'm not whiny, I just don't like it when petulant gasbags suck oxygen out of the room" whines one of the most petulant, oxygen-sucking gasbags around these here parts...

@74:

Do you know any Black people? If so, ask them about "the talk": what you describe in point #2 is literally the essence of the conversation every Black parent has with their children. And you know what? Ultimately, doesn't mean squat because no matter how diligent a POC is about scrupulously being on their Best Behavior when confronted by Authority - THEY STILL FUCKING DIE. And THEN they get blamed for their own deaths, because the default assumption among white people is: "well, they must have done something to deserve it." Whereas there are literally countless examples of white people doing the same thing or FAR WORSE and yet, miraculously they nearly always survive their encounter to be privileged enough to exercise their due process rights.

@74 - Retired from Dallas PD as a Sergeant (promoted in 1992) in late 2011 after 28 years. I usually supervised 20-25 officers, but was appointed acting Lieutenant (and paid as such) for 2 separate 1-year terms (1998 and 2005) during which I was a Patrol Watch Commander and supervised 7-9 Sergeants and roughly 125-150 Corporals and Officers. Worked mostly in Patrol but did brief stints in Communications, Records and Detention Services (Jail Sergeant). Most Patrol time was on the street (20 years of it) except for a couple years as Station Sergeant. Was involved in 1 shooting that involved a suspect actively shooting at us with a Baretta 92.

So, either I know what I'm talking about, or I've actually spent my life in my mommy's basement. You'll just have to discern which, I guess.

@68 -- apologies!
fell asleep half
way thru.

@29: "It is irrelevant if any one if is for or against protest vandalism.

"The simple fact is it is natural by product of suppressed rage and is going to happen."

In the immortal words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

"Smash that shit up! BURN BABY BURN!!"

(Quoted in "A Professor_Hiztory Version of The United States", p. 666)

@6, @9: The Stranger has the absolute right to allow, or to disallow, any number of comments on any headline post, or any number of headline posts. I have myself nominated comments for deletion -- specifically, and only! -- the spam comments which urge criminal activities.

I have read The Stranger since the first print edition, in Sept. 1991. I had a paid subscription to The Stranger for years in the early 1990s. I will not read The Stranger without comments. Prime example, just today (https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/04/13/56534177/election-news-whos-raised-the-most-money-in-the-2021-election-so-far):

"Both groups have only posted financial disclosure reports from March 30, contributions from before the WSSC certified the recall. As it stands now, the Recall Sawant campaign has raised $336,256 and the Kshama Solidarity campaign has raised $425,816. Around 11.7% of Recall Sawant's contributions are coming from District 3—Sawant's district and the only district that will vote in the recall if it makes it on the ballot. Meanwhile, 22.9% of Kshama Solidarity's contributions are from District 3."

Here's SCC Insight, describing that exact same data (https://sccinsight.com/2021/04/01/state-supreme-court-allows-sawant-recall-to-move-forward/):

'Her “Kshama Solidarity” campaign has been aggressively fundraising to fight both the gathering of signatures and any potential recall election. As of two days ago, they had raised $426,000 to the recall campaign’s $294,000.

'However, only 16% of that campaign war chest was raised from District 3 residents; nearly two thirds comes from outside the city entirely. The financial reports suggest that she has been running fundraising events in several cities where Socialist Alternative has a significant presence, including Philadelphia and Minneapolis.'

I will not subject myself to The Stranger's disinformation without an opportunity to correct it.

tS oughtta Require
posters an avatar making
them Unique* & one's scrolling
experience enhanced exponentially.

*consider them PSAs