John Guandolo, a disgraced former FBI agent, right-wing conspiracy theorist, and anti-Islam activist, doubled down on his defense of right-wing activists who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the election for President-elect Joe Biden.
Guandolo is a radical right-wing activist who leads an organization called Understanding The Threat, through which he trainslaw enforcement agenciesaround the country to identify seemingly anyone with dark skin and a beard as an Islamic terrorist. Last Thursday, he praised the MAGA activists and members of militia organizations and far-right hate groups who carried out the insurrection for supposedly showing incredible ârestraintâ by not rounding up members of Congress and summarily executing them. (...)
There's a great live-streaming Twitter feed watching this yesterday, but here's the video.
The crowd thinks that there is a Chinese person in there, controlling things. And the cops are fascists. And the cops are communists. And tanks show up. And they're willing to die for freedom (which you can feel in the air). Some want to burn the Blue Line flag. Some say they're on our side. "Elections don't work - not any more!" Etc.
Imagine if this group had all been Muslim, or Black, or Hispanic.
Interesting the megaphone guy is wearing a Union Ironworkers Building America hoodie.
There's a great live-streaming Twitter feed watching this yesterday, but here's the video.
The crowd thinks that there is a Chinese person in there, controlling things. And the cops are fascists. And the cops are communists. And tanks show up. And they're willing to die for freedom (which you can feel in the air). Some want to burn the Blue Line flag. Some say they're on our side. "Elections don't work - not any more!" Etc.
Imagine if this group had all been Muslim, or Black, or Hispanic.
On the conference call, the analysts agreed that the leftist fringe also is hardening and promoting its own conspiracies. But they said there's simply no equivalency with the right in terms of the volume of disinformation and conspiracy, or in its connections to violent acts.
"There is a monetization of outrage on both sides," Neumann said, "but in particular the conservative infotainment sector makes money off of that outrage."
It seems there is no conspiracy theory too outlandish to believe when it suits your narrative. Lefties are not immune to thisâthink back to the last two Bush administrations, for instance, when Jeb Bush stole the 2000 election for W, and then the entire 9/11 Truther movement. Many of you reading this were enthusiastic participants.
Think back four short years: Russia stole the election, we needed endless recounts, there was no way the polls were that wrong, and Congress needed to endlessly re-litigate the election and (eventually) impeach. Back then all that wasn't Attacking Democracy Itself, it was Heroically Defending Our System of Government.
It was partisan rah-rah then, it's partisan rah-rah now, and the next time you lose you'll do it all over. And feel just as self-righteous as the Republicans do now.
"The line between mainstream and the fringe is vanishing" - absolutely. We saw this also from the left during the violent protests over the summer, and many democrats unable to appropriately respond.
Location: Perched on the precipice of the cauldron of truth
Posted:
Dec 15, 2020 - 11:44am
RICHMOND â State Sen. Amanda Chase, a brash Republican gubernatorial contender who bills herself as âTrump in heels,â called on Trump on Tuesday to declare martial law to prevent his removal from office.
One day after the electoral college formally confirmed Bidenâs victory over Trump, Chase (R-Chesterfield) doubled down on baseless allegations of election fraud in a morning Facebook post.
âNot my President and never will be,â she wrote, referring to Biden. âThe American people arenât fools. We know you cheated to win and weâll never accept these results. Fair elections we can accept but cheating to win; never. Itâs not over yet. So thankful President Trump has a backbone and refuses to concede. President Trump should declare martial law as recommended by General Flynn.â
