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With BLM there’s an argument to be made that public policy backed by Republicans (and Democrats) created an environment where blacks are disproportionately targeted and harmed by police without consequence, resulting in the inevitable death of yet another unarmed black man.
With the capital riots, all Democrats did was win an election and every single resulting court case.
Plus the riots during the early days of BLM were stoked by the videotaped suffocation of a black man. No one was fanning the flames. The videotape itself did that.
With the capital riots you have Trump and his “team” manufacturing anger with lies. If Trump put country over ego and conceded, none of this would be happening.
You don’t think Democrats were pissed off when the FL recount was ordered to stop and Gore lost by 537 votes? Gore could have easily seized that moment to create anger and perpetuate violence, but that’s not the kind of country we want to live in.
Plus, it’s not like these bans are coming preemptively. Companies are sensitive now because people have died and political leaders have been targeted.
If after the Young Turks comments you had targeted political attacks on Republicans, then I can see your point. But for me the capital riots are far worse because they’re being actively exacerbated with the intent of threatening our democracy.
Are you asserting that Republicans controlled the cities and police forces in which "blacks are disproportionately targeted and harmed by police without consequence"?
* defunding schools in minority areas via how school funding is created * war on drugs and mandatory minimum sentencing * selling military grade equipment to local police forces * supporting private prison infrastructure * preventing open discussion of criminal justice reform despite having the largest prison population in the developed world * sending drugs into minority communities via the CIA * supporting police unequivocally despite evidence of wrongdoing going unpunished
... are all public policies and social policies that can lead to that outcome.
It’s not like cities “control their police departments”. Police are all autonomous with their own cultures and political beliefs influenced by a lot of rhetoric and policy and experience.
All the things you listed (except for perhaps the selling of military equipment) is part of the policing responsibility of the states and local government. Those authorities have the authority and responsibility to "control their police departments"
No, not all cities, but certainly _some_ cities. Wether that is by design or by pure luck is incidental to the point that the Young Turks can blame the BLM protests on Republicans with at least some shred of plausibility and evidence. Sure, maybe it’s a cheap generalization that lets Democrats off the hook, but in some areas of the country the blatant segregationist racism of the 60s never died, and in some of those areas Republicans (and Democrats) have made direct or indirect attempts to continue that suppression:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-civil-rights-ex...
So wether you agree or not, there’s a logical path that can be drawn from oppressor to oppressed.
But claiming the 2020 election was rigged or stolen or had massive fraud to a degree that would have changed the election outcome was never demonstrated in any plausible way in any public venue. There are no dots connecting the oppressor and the oppressed. The “kraken” was never released. It’s simply a lie started by Trump that’s led to violent consequences and unnecessary death.
If the Young Turks don’t blame BLM on the Republicans, the riots still happen. If Trump conceded he lost a fair election, no one dies. That’s the difference.
The purpose of this site is intellectual curiosity, which is not compatible with political battle. Some political overlap is fine and inevitable, but when accounts go way beyond "some overlap", we ban them. We have to or else the site will be wrecked for its main mandate. More explanation here: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme....
If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. But please don't create accounts to break the rules with.
For many Trump’s breaking of norms was funny, admirable or simply inept.
But when you play with fire (like telling people a fair election was in fact stolen) and people die, it’s not funny anymore.