Is it really that difficult to see the difference between black and white? Today’s most telegenic event was a perfect demonstration of that difference. With all of the hours of constant coverage of the mob, did I miss all of the reporting of how different the insurrection was handled?
I’m looking at the scene an hour and a half after a 6:00 p.m. curfew was announced. The dicta was that anyone found on the streets after that hour would be arrested. I do see many of the rioters milling around. I see the time. I’m not seeing any arrests. At this time, I am not seeing any violent confrontations. This must be a civil rights demonstration.
That’s it. That’s the difference. This crowd is lily white.
Yes, Virginia, there were broken windows. Yes, there has been looting of the offices of the members of Congress. Random destruction? Sure.
Was law enforcement unavailable? No. There were around 6 to 8 thousand District Police, supplemented by the FBI and, presumably, other federal agencies. For a long time, it was difficult for them to maintain order, It seems they were not at the scene. The Capitol Police is not intended to handled what occurred today. It is lacking in both numbers and resources. The Capitol Police did acquit themselves well. Presumably, there was leadership that failed to see the obvious.
The president spent 2 hours rabblerousing. Those remarks continued even after the rioting had commenced. They might have missed that message, since he almost hid it among the more extensive fantasizing about the conspiracy to deny his delusional victory. He had to be begged by his staff to appear on television. Later, he devoted a small fraction of that time saying how they shouldn’t do what he told them to do. I’m still trying to connect the dots to understand how a former Venezuelan president fixed the election victory for Biden, seven years after he died.
The flames were fanned by Senator Josh Hawley and his fellows who miscalculated that supporting Trump would be advantageous to their personal political careers. Josh even held a fundraiser during the rioting.
The excuse of law enforcement was that they did not want it to appear to be a military operation. ??? A more likely reason would be that they did not want to be attacking a white mob. Just think how that would confuse so many people’s prejudices.
Law enforcement finally did their job but their initial failure to maintain control allowed the worst to happen. While the initial friendly interaction was due to the leadership misapprehending the situation and not the fault of those on the line. There should have been more discipline from the beginning. There was no dearth of information as to the potential for violence. The leadership failed.
Some black criminals take advantage of a peaceful demonstration, break some windows and steal some fancy sneakers. All hell breaks loose. The world would come to its end if the local police failed to deploy all of those military vehicles and dress up in their Robocop costumes.
When they finally showed up, you might have gotten the impression that it was a class reunion. The interaction between police nd some members of the mob could hardly be described as a confrontation.
Those new to this blog may accuse me of being biased against the police. Think again. One of my grandfathers was sheriff in the town where I was born. The other was chief of police and a former revenuer. A cousin was U.S Marshall. While I was serving as Commissioner of Fire and Police, our police department was voted best in the State of Georgia by that state’s Fraternal Order of Police. I want the police to behave competently and fairly. That didn’t happen in the District today. Also, I have some familiarity with the Capitol. I attended graduate school in Washington.
We seriously need a national quietude and something to be proud of. Lord knows, we’ve been deprived of those niceties for far too long. It would be nice if equal treatment was included. I guess that’s too much to ask.
“If you found this educational, edifying, interesting or otherwise worth your time, this geezer would appreciate a little supplement to those Social Security checks, They forgot to factor in the cost of publishing a blog. I would like to continue being able to afford my daily cup of coffee and pound of caviar.”
Many thanks,
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