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Comment by Ovah | Hacker News Reader

I respectfully disagree that the siege of a national symbol, at the heart of a nation, is a harmless act. This was a substantial threat to democracy as we know it. That a Senate in session is forced to seek refuge due to safety concerns is nothing but dangerous and harmful to the very fabric of societ. If just a few of those 'protestors' had had slightly more nefarious intent the outcome could have been very different.

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You wouldn't be saying this if it was BLM protestors doing the exact same thing.

A lot of issues are partisan. What happened yesterday is not. Yesterday both Republicans and Democrats came out and denounced the insurrection in the stronges of terms.

> This was a substantial threat to democracy as we know it.

The US democracy is not threatened by violence against any single building or even most sets of people.

Had they burned the building to the ground and somehow caused the deaths of everyone inside, the US democracy would continue. They did not achieve anything remotely close to that.

There is no basis for calling some angry rioters smashing windows and smoking pot "a substantial threat to democracy". None.

Exactly.

Protests that turn destructive are bad, no doubt about it. But the hyperbole is painful.

The protests/riots aren't that bad IMO, this kind of stuff happens. What is bad is the root cause - an elected official fighting tooth and nail to retain power after being voted out, and finding real support among a large fraction of the population.

A sieged Senate just doesn't fall into 'stuff happens'. The last it happened was by the hands and torches of British troops during wartime.

See eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_L%C3%B3pez_Rivera (off the top of my head, there are probably others).

If you extend to the states, it's not that exceptional:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-panthers-california-196...

What the Panthers did in California is not comparable at all. I encourage you to listen to the account of the day in their own words.

They came armed (nominal, as they went armed everywhere) to a peaceful prearranged meeting at the statehouse. The media turned it into a crazy narrative because black men carrying long arms were photographed inside the statehouse.

There are other countries on the planet. Rioters breaking into parliaments is not exactly common, but it's not particularly shocking either

Anything that grinds ongoing Senate election proceedings to a halt by force is a threat to democracy. Regardless of the insurgents political agenda. There are no ifs or buts here. There can still be violence even if nobody gets hurt. Yesterday the violence of a few (temporarily) silenced the voices of all voting Americans.

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