The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

In The Mailbox: 06.03.20

Posted on | June 3, 2020 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Finished Jerry Pournelle’s last novel, Mamelukes, last night. Didn’t suck. Longer review this weekend.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Pagan Vigil: Protests Vs. Riots & Looting
Ninety Miles From Tyranny: The 90 Miles Mystery Box, Episode #1006
Red Pilled Jew: Wednesday Whittle
357 Magnum: Defending Your Business From Looters In Chicago
EBL: Losers – Antisemite Valerie Plame In New Mexico, Steve King In Iowa
Twitchy: NBC News Declines To Comment On Its Camera Crew Being Accosted By Mostly Peaceful Protesters In DC
Louder With Crowder: Idiots show Support To Rioters With Thumbs Up, Rioters Break Their Windows
Vox Popoli: Extricate Yourself, also, The Whole Thing Is Fake

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Our Greatest Enemy, also, Black Out Tuesday? Goodbye
American Conservative: Trump’s Finger On The Martial Law Trigger
American Greatness: George W. Bush Celebrates Protests, Accuses America Of Systemic Racism
American Thinker: Was It Ever Really About The Virus? also, Democrats Using Antifa To Foment Revolution
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News (with bionic boobs)
Babalu Blog: Leftist Rioters In DC Vandalize Memorial To Victims Of Communism
BattleSwarm: Scenes From The Antifa/Black Lives Matter Riots
Cafe Hayek: Be Careful With This Exception
CDR Salamander: Beware The Ides Of June
Da Tech Guy: Thank CNN, The Democrats, & The Left For The Looting & Riots
Don Surber: Media Domination Backfires On Democrats, also, Trump Moves GOP Convention Out Of NC
First Street Journal: The Left Told Us That The Armed Lockdown Protesters Were “Terrorists”, But The George Floyd Riots Have Been “Mostly Peaceful”
The Geller Report: All NYC Looters Released Without Bail, also, Park Police Find Baseball Bats & Poles Hidden Along Street Near White House
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, Places I Avoid
Hollywood In Toto: These Thugs Should Never Have Messed With Becky, also, Stars Bail Out Protesters, Silent On Helping Victims
Legal Insurrection: Retired St. Louis Police Captain Shot & Killed By Looters While Defending Pawn Shop, also, Soros-Backed St. Louis Prosecutor Ensures All Protesters & Rioters Released From Jail
Michelle Malkin: Get Up Off Your Knees
The PanAm Post: The Conundrum Of Political Ignorance
Power Line: The Numbers Don’t Support BLM Claims About The Police, also, How Crazy Are The Democrats? This Crazy
Shark Tank: West Palm Beach Mayor Bans Sale Of Guns & Ammo
Shot In The Dark: Dear Virtue-Signaling Political Demagogues & White “Progressives”
This Ain’t Hell: Flag Burning & Stolen Valor, also, Nothing To See Here – Move Along
Victory Girls: Lancet Study Blasting Hydroxychloroquine Based On Scam Data
Volokh Conspiracy: What Happened To The Public Health Emergency?
Weasel Zippers: DC Bishop Under Fire For “Partisan Attack” On Trump’s Visit To John Paul II Shrine, also, Former Obama Intel Official Helps Arsonist Lawyer Make Bail
Megan McArdle: Cities Will Make A Comeback After The Coronavirus – They Almost Always Do
Mark Steyn: Corona-Friendly Rioting

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Category: Linkagery

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes

Posted on | June 3, 2020 | 1 Comment

 

Matthew Lee Rupert is not exactly a criminal mastermind. His career of felonious stupidity began as a teenager, when he stole a van in his hometown of Galesburg, Illinois, and drove it into a ditch:

The van was found in a ditch just outside of Galesburg. Police found Rupert walking in the area where the van was located.
Police discovered footprints in the snow where the van had been parked and, after taking a picture of the bottom of Rupert’s shoes, found the tread to be a match.

That was 2009. Two years ago, Rupert was again facing felony charges:

A Galesburg man pleaded not guilty to charges of having stolen firearms.
Matthew L. Rupert, 24, entered that plea following his preliminary hearing Monday afternoon before Circuit Judge Raymond Cavanaugh. The judge had found probable cause during the evidentiary hearing and the case will progress to a pretrial hearing May 7.
Rupert is charged with felony counts of aggravated possession of stolen firearms, delivery of a stolen firearm, two counts of possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a firearm with defaced serial identification markings and theft.
Those same offenses, except charged under the accountability theory, have been filed against Amanda J. Cutler, 27, Bailey Avenue, as well.
While Rupert is out of custody after posting $7,500 bond, Cutler remains in jail. She went before Circuit Judge Scott Shipplett about two weeks ago for a bail reduction hearing that was ultimately denied.

You might think that charges as serious as these would have been enough to put Rupert behind bars for a long time, but this happened in Illinois, a state controlled by Democrats, which means that criminals are more or less allowed to roam free because . . . “social justice” or whatever.

Let’s pause, for a moment, to discuss #BlackLivesMatter and the consequences thereof. Everyone is against racism and police brutality, but this is not what #BlackLivesMatter is actually about. The real agenda is to help elect Democrats by demonizing police and inciting anti-white hatred, thus to “energize” black voters. This, in turn, is connected to promises of “criminal justice reform” which, in practical terms, means that criminals seldom face serious prison time. While this agenda is intended to pander to the black community, it results in a relaxation of law enforcement that also sets free many white felons, including dangerously stupid criminals like Matthew Lee Rupert:

A man from downstate Galesburg who allegedly appears on video rioting, looting and urging attacks against the police has been hit with what appears to be the first federal criminal charge related to the violence this weekend in Chicago.
Matthew Lee Rupert, 28, has been charged in an eight-page criminal complaint in federal court in Minnesota with civil disorder, carrying on a riot and possession of unregistered destructive devices. The complaint alleges Rupert participated in looting and rioting in Minneapolis in response to the police killing of George Floyd before moving on to Chicago.
In a removal hearing held by telephone Monday before U.S. District Chief Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in Chicago, Rupert maintained his innocence through his attorney but didn’t challenge being taken in custody back to Minnesota. . . .
Allegations in the criminal complaint against Rupert largely revolve around a Facebook account for “El Ricco Rupert.” Rupert allegedly used that page to announce Thursday night that, “I’m going to Minneapolis tomorrow who coming only goons I’m renting hotel rooms.”
The next day, Rupert allegedly posted video to his Facebook account suggesting he was in Minneapolis. The video appeared to be filmed by Rupert while he was holding his cell phone, according to an FBI special agent’s affidavit. The video was marked “live” and lasted roughly two hours, records show. Authorities allege he passed out explosives, encouraged others to throw explosives at police and appeared to light a building on fire.
At one point, Rupert allegedly said, “There are SWAT trucks up there. They got SWAT trucks up there . . . I’ve got some bombs if some of you all want to throw them back . . . bomb them back . . . here I got some more . . . light it and throw it.” As he made the comments, Rupert allegedly handed out an item with brown casing and a green wick to others.
Rupert allegedly went on to break into a boarded-up liquor store, claimed to set a fire to a Sprint store and then took videos of himself taking items from an Office Depot.
The next day, Rupert allegedly suggested on Facebook he might head next to Chicago and he allegedly posted multiple videos early Sunday indicating he had arrived. He is allegedly seen with others near Van Buren and Dearborn wearing an American flag bandana and a white baseball cap. In one video, Rupert allegedly said he was at “South Plymouth and Ida B. Wells” waiting for his brother.
Rupert is allegedly heard on the video saying something to the effect of “let’s start a riot” and “I’m going to start doing some damage.” The feds say Rupert went into a merchant store but found the cash register empty, so he moved on to a convenience store. He allegedly is seen on video putting items in his backpack, and he references having boxes of tobacco products in his backpack.
Chicago police arrested Rupert and others at 2:21 a.m. Sunday for violating Chicago’s emergency curfew, according to the complaint. When police searched his vehicle, they found “several destructive devices” similar to what he had been using in Minneapolis, it states. He also had a hammer, a flashlight and cash.

Stupidity is not a federal crime, otherwise more Democrats would be in prison, but Rupert’s extreme stupidity — posting evidence of his terrorist spree on Facebook — is worthy of special consideration.


 

Category: Crime, Illinois, Minnesota

In The Mailbox: 06.02.20 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | June 2, 2020 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 06.02.20 (Evening Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: God Bless Sheriff Grady Judd
EBL: Minneapolis Morning
Twitchy: Writer Who Warned Of Georgia’s Impending Human Sacrifice By Reopening Says NYC 8 PM Curfew Is “Absolutely Insane”
Louder With Crowder: Grieving Young Woman Berates Rioters Who Killed Her Sister
Vox Popoli: Ahead Of The Curve, also, Antifa – The Movie

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Divide & Conquer
American Conservative: Assaulted & Vilified, The Cops Save The Cities
American Greatness: Who Is Funding & Organizing The Antifa Insurrection?
American Power: Women In Personal Protective Equipment
American Thinker: America’s New State-Run Church
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Insurrection News
Babalu Blog: Castro Regime Warns Cubans Food Will Become Even More Scarce
BattleSwarm: America Burning Redux – Why? also, Sky News Australia “Of Course Antifa Is Behind The Violence!
Cafe Hayek: The (Il)Logic Of Retaliatory Industrial Policy And Protectionism
Camp of the Saints: On Grievance-Mongering Identity Politics And Agents Provocateurs
CDR Salamander: In The End, It Always Comes Down To Leadership
Da Tech Guy: The Media/Left Goal For These Riots – A Dead Useful Idiot, also, Frenzy
Don Surber: Go Ahead, W, Publicly Back Biden
First Street Journal: The “Mostly Peaceful Protesters” Shoot Four Policemen In St. Louis
The Geller Report: DeBlasio Refused Assistance From National Guard To Stop Rioting & Looting, also, Rudy Giuliani Calls DeBlasio “Incompetent”, Says He Should Step Down
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, Water In A Habitable Zone
Hollywood In Toto: The Best TV Shows Of 2020 (So Far), also, You Don’t Nomi Rushes To Defend Showgirls
JustOneMinute: Is Minnesota Burning?
Legal Insurrection: I Watched Antifa Grow. Let Me Tell You About These Terrorists, also, Biden Lies About Calling For National Coronavirus Lockdown In January
The PanAm Post: How George Floyd’s Death Killed Off Coronavirus In The United States
Power Line: Soros-Funded Leftists Dominate Facebook Censorship Board, also, You Can’t Loot Us, We’re Progressives!
Shark Tank: Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried Disingenuously Accuses Rep. Sabatini Of Promoting “Armed Violence”
Shot In The Dark: The Fifth Killer
STUMP: The California Rule Court Case
The Political Hat: Fighting Fascism Means Fighting Those Who Have Fought Against Fascism?
This Ain’t Hell: Riot Recap, also, Retired SEAL Chief Sues SecNav & NYT
Victory Girls: Antifa Better Know The Suburbs Are Armed
Volokh Conspiracy: Are People Allowed To Use Deadly Force To Defend Property?
Weasel Zippers: Pallets Of Bricks Showing Up At Protests/Riots Across The Country, also, Democrats & Hillary Share WH Photo To Prove Trump “Cowered In The Dark”, But It’s A Picture From 2015
Mark Steyn: Tweet Of Glory, also, Bureaucrats, Menstruators, & Rioters

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Category: Linkagery

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes

Posted on | June 2, 2020 | 4 Comments

 

“Social justice” activists have been busy in Philadelphia:

Police are searching for the persons responsible for vandalizing at least 10 ATMs across Philadelphia overnight.
Officials said in many of the cases neighborhood convenience stores and mini markets were targeted.
Police said the thieves typically run into the store, set off an explosive device and then make off with the cash from the machine.

 

At least one young activist wasn’t hard to locate:

A man died while trying to blow up an ATM in North Philadelphia early Tuesday as thieves blew up or stole cash machines across the city overnight in what authorities believe was an “organized” and “coordinated” effort, police said.
The 24-year-old, whose name has not been released, suffered trauma to his upper body after placing explosive in a sidewalk-facing ATM outside a sports bar along North 2nd Street near Susquehanna Avenue around 6:15 a.m., Philadelphia police said.
Medics rushed the man to a nearby hospital where he died a couple hours later.

It was a “mostly peaceful” protest, until he exploded himself.


 

Category: Crime, Pennsylvania

In The Mailbox: 06.02.20 (Morning Edition)

Posted on | June 2, 2020 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Thanks to everyone who bought stuff through my Amazon links this month.
Thought I was going to be able to get this done after driving up to Tonopah and back yesterday, but I thought wrong.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Bacon Time: Roll With The Changes
Red Pilled Jew: Random Thoughts
357 Magnum: Central Park Karen Is A Liberal
EBL: Louis Vuitton “Influencer” Promotion Backfires During Protest Looting
Twitchy: Law Prof Jonathan Turley Looks At The Likely Case Against Two Lawyers Arrested For Firebombing NYPD Van
Louder With Crowder: Rioters Block & Attack Truck Towing Horse Trailer, Driver Runs Them Over
Monster Hunter Nation: Uncle Hugo’s Fundraiser Is Back On!
Vox Popoli: Goodbye, Uncle Hugo, also, Enjoy The Inevitable

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Friday Hawt Chicks & Links – The Butthurt Edition
American Conservative: Cops Kill Because We Gave Them The Legal Framework To Do It
American Greatness: Jake Tapper’s Attempt To Blame “Far Right Groups” Hor Protest Violence Goes Nowhere With Trump’s NSA, also, Antifa Rioters In DC Deface Lincoln & WW2 Memorials
American Power: Terrifying Collapse Of The Rule Of Law Across America
American Thinker: The Economic Fallout From COVID-19 & Riots Will Not Diminish Trump Support, also, The Fog Is Lifted
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Che Guevara, The Racist, Brutal Co-Founder Of Cuba’s Police State, Is Idolized During Riots (Allegedly) Against Racism & Police Brutality
Baldilocks: Sunday “Law” Breaking
BattleSwarm: America Burning, also, BidenWatch For June 1
Cafe Hayek: This Line About Political Party Platforms Appears In An Op-Ed
CDR Salamander: AI, Autonomous Systems, Emerging Tech & The Future Of War – On Midrats
Da Tech Guy: Five Riotous Thoughts Under The Fedora, also, The Desecration of The Cook County Forest Preserves
Don Surber: Meet Your Oppressed Molotov Cocktail Tossers, also, President Allen West
First Street Journal: Schadenfreude! Will The Left Ever Learn That The Mob Are Not Their Friends?
Fred On Everything: America On Video
The Geller Report: Soros Warns Trump Of Economic Doom Before Election, also, Ilhan Omar Whines That Minneapolis Rioters Were “Terrorized” By National Guard & Police
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of The Day, also, I Regret That I Can Type This
Hollywood In Toto: Twitter Yawns As Celebrities Promote Hate & Violence, also, Netflix’s Space Force Is Woke, Progresive, & Pointless
JustOneMinute: Minnesota Burning
Legal Insurrection: UK’s Boris Johnson Seeks U.S.-Led 5G Alliance To Counter Red Chinese Dominance, also, Chris “Fredo” Cuomo’s CNN Ratings Plunge 50% Since April
The PanAm Post: Shortages & More Controls As Maduro Announces Gasoline Price Hike
Power Line: Who Is Rioting In The Twin Cities? also, In Search Of The Elusive White Nationalist
Shark Tank: Disgraced Former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel Receives $50,000 From Strip Club
Shot In The Dark: This Is My Town, Sparky
STUMP: Bankruptcy Followup – On Stockton, Public Pensions, & The Prisoner’s Dilemma
The Political Hat: News Of The Week
This Ain’t Hell: Outrage At Nazi Swastikas In Veterans Cemeteries, also, KY Man Dead After Police & Guard Return Fire On Rioters Who Fired First
Victory Girls: Riots Across America Are No Longer About George Floyd
Volokh Conspiracy: Police Unions & The Problem Of Police Misconduct
Weasel Zippers: DC Protesters Snatch Up Anarchist Vandal, Turn Him Over To Police, also, Woman Hits Cop In The Head Twice, Doesn’t Expect The Response
Mark Steyn: The New Normal & The Old Normal

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Category: Linkagery

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes

Posted on | June 2, 2020 | 2 Comments

 

First, there was the rioter in St. Louis who decided he could win a contest against a FedEx truck, and lost. This morning, we had the story of the young Philadephians who decided that robbing a gun store was a good idea, to their eternal regret. Now we have the tale of a young “social justice” activist in Omaha, Nebraska, who chose poorly:

A handful of grainy and graphic videos led Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine to conclude that a white bar owner acted in self-defense when he shot and killed a 22-year-old black Omaha man Saturday night.
As a result, Jake Gardner, owner of the side-by-side Gatsby and Hive bars downtown, will not face charges in the death of James Scurlock.
A surveillance video from Gardner’s bars, played Monday at a press conference, shows a group of young people, including Scurlock, approaching Gardner.
Walking backward, Gardner lifts his shirt to show a handgun, then pulls it to his side and continues backing up. Two people from Scurlock’s group — a man and a woman — tackle Gardner, who ends up on his back in a puddle in the street.
He fires twice into the air — he characterized them as warning shots in an interview with Omaha police. The two people run away from him.
Four seconds after that, Scurlock rushes from the sidewalk and dives on Gardner. Kleine said Scurlock was on Gardner’s back and had his arm around the bar owner’s neck. Gardner could be heard on another bystander’s video hollering, “Get off me, get off me.”
His right arm pinned, Kleine said, Gardner switched the gun to his left hand and fired over his shoulder. The bullet hit Scurlock in the shoulder-neck area, killing him.
Under Nebraska law, a person can be justified in killing another if he has a reasonable belief that deadly force is needed to protect himself or others. People are not allowed to use deadly force to protect property.
Kleine said he and Chief Deputy Brenda Beadle spent Sunday breaking down videos and witness statements “with all of the homicide detectives.”
“There was a consensus that the actions of the shooter were justified,” he said. “We certainly wish that none of this would have happened. It’s a senseless death.”

Here’s the report from Omaha’s KMTV:

 

 

That television report doesn’t make clear the context of what happened. James Scurlock was part of a group of criminals who were vandalizing businesses in the Old Market district. Scurlock was seen on surveillance video with an accomplice at 10:15 p.m. smashing up an architecture firm on Harney Street half a block from Gardner’s bar. Forty minutes later, the rioters smashed the glass in Gardner’s bar. The owner and his father were inside, protecting their business, and when the owners came out on the sidewalk, Scurlock’s accomplice attacked Gardner’s father, shoving him to the ground. This led to the fatal altercation.

In the video, the person who first jumped Gardner was a 19-year-old woman named Alayna Melendez. It is not clear whether she herself was part of the gang of vandals smashing up Harney Street, but she was obviously (a) in the vicinity, and (b) sympthetic to the rioters:

One of the protesters who tackled Gardner told KETV Newswatch 7’s Michelle Bandur, she had to act when she heard someone had a gun.
“I knew it was not going to end well,” Alayna Melendez said.
Melendez, 19, said she had been at the protests Friday and Saturday at 72nd and Dodge and moved downtown closer to home.
“Silence is violence,” she said.
Melendez said as a person of color, she had to jump in to help.
“I grabbed him from behind and pulled him to the ground and as soon as I pulled him to the ground, people gathered around us and he had his hand positioned in a way and just shot,” she said.
Melendez said Gardner fired two warning shots.
“The very last shot, that got him (Scurlock) and that killed him,” she said.
Melendez gave a statement to police hoping it would help bring charges against Gardner.
She also says she would do it again.
“I was not scared to lose my life that night. I was fully indebted to losing my life and fully aware I could have lost my life that night,” Melendez said.

Why hasn’t Alayna Melendez been charged with assault? By the way, there is another video of this incident that went viral:

“It’s not worth it!”

They didn’t listen. James Scurlock could not be reached for comment.


 

Category: Crime, Nebraska

‘Young Philadelphians’

Posted on | June 2, 2020 | Comments Off on ‘Young Philadelphians’

 

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes:

Police said one person is dead following a shooting during a burglary attempt inside a South Philadelphia gun store early Tuesday.
It happened around 4:20 a.m. on the 1500 block of South Front Street in the Pennsport section of the city.
Police were called to the Firing Line Gun Range and Gun Store.
Officers said when they arrived at the store they found a man on the second floor with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said the gun shop owner told them he was staking out his store following an earlier burglary attempt. He said he watched the security screen show three or four men use wire cutters to break through the gate and enter the store.
The owner said he pointed his gun at the man inside the store and fired, striking him in the head. The two to three other people ran from the scene.
Officials said another person arrived at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with a gunshot wound to his shoulder. Police are unsure if this shooting is connected to the incident at this time.
Police said the owner of the gun store is cooperating with the investigation.

 

Police told Fox News there will be no charges against the store owner, as this is the very definition of justifiable homicide. Meanwhile . . .

Most Looters Are Young Philadelphians
Not Associated With the Protests, DA Says

That’s the headline from Philadephia’s WCAU-TV, which quotes the Soros-supported Democrat district attorney Larry Krasner:

“I think it would be fair to describe most of these as looting cases,” Krasner said in an interview with NBC10 Monday. “They are often situations in which people are caught inside of a store… within Macy’s or at some other location.”
For the looting and burglary, Krasner said it’s mostly been 18- to 24-year-olds from Philadelphia in what he called crimes of opportunity. Many of them, he said, were first time offenders.
Among the protesters, police found a few people with guns, Krasner said. So his office has charged three people with illegal gun possession charges. . . .
So far, he said, the looting videos have shown different crowds from those protesting.
“They don’t seem to be carrying signs, talking about political issues or talking about police accountability, they don’t seem to have t-shirts on that are political in nature,” he said. “They seem to be committing opportunistic crimes and they seem to be doing it within the context of peaceful protest.”

Why does this distinction between protesters and looters matter so much to Krasner? Is it not obvious to everyone with two eyes and a brain that the people who organize the “peaceful protests” are doing so with the intent of causing riots? And that the people committing “crimes of opportunity” understand this as well as the political organizers do? Of course, the protest organizers are funded by Soros, the same man who spent nearly $2 million to elect Krasner. Democrats are the party of criminals. Someone should write a book about that.

Oh, wait . . .


 

Category: Crime, George Soros, Pennsylvania

Rioter vs. FedEx Truck: Guess Who Won?

Posted on | June 1, 2020 | 3 Comments

 

Here’s a helpful hint for young “social justice” activists — truck drivers have no obligation to surrender to armed hijackers:

Authorities said a man was hit and killed by a FedEx truck during protests over George Floyd’s death in St. Louis.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of a FedEx double tractor-trailer was rerouted because protesters shut down certain areas near downtown St. Louis.
St. Louis Police said the driver stopped due to a large gathering of protesters. While he was stopped, several people gained access to the first trailer and started to remove items.
Two men, “while standing on the passenger side footboard of the truck cab, displayed guns to the driver. The driver, fearing for his safety, sounded the airhorn and drove off until he was stopped by police,” Sgt. Keith Barrett said in a statement.
The driver didn’t realize that a person was stuck on the converter dolly between the two trailers, police said. The man had been caught by the trailer tire, pulled under and was eventually run over by the tire.
Authorities are now investigating the incident but they believe the man who died appeared to be one of the protesters.

I’ve seen two different videos of the incident. The graphic nature required the local Fox affiliate to censor some images, but you get the idea:

 

The thing that struck me about this entire nightmare — here’s a good roundup of Sunday night’s anarchy — is how stupid and senseless it all is. Police in Minneapolis killed a guy who was caught trying to pass a counterfeit $20. Why does this require people to riot all over the country?

What purpose were the protest marches intended to accomplish? To express disapproval of racism? Yet if practically everybody is against racism — and it is quite difficult to find self-avowed racists in 21st-century America — who are the protesters marching against? Consider the case of Minneapolis, in particular. The city has long had a reputation as a bastion of liberalism. Hubert Humphrey, an outspoken champion of racial equality, was mayor of Minneapolis before winning three terms in the U.S. Senate and becoming vice president during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. Minnesota is such a stronghold of the Democratic Party that not even Ronald Reagan’s historic 1984 landslide could tip the state into the GOP column. So if Minneapolis is now run by a secret cabal of racist officials determined to oppress the city’s black residents, these oppressors must be Democrats. Surely such an accusation cannot be what inspired the protest marches that followed the death of George Floyd, can it?
Whatever wrongdoing might have been committed by the police implicated in Floyd’s death, no one could plausibly assert that officials in Minneapolis endorsed it. . . .

Read the rest of my latest column at The American Spectator.


 

Category: Crime, Missouri, Racism
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