Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Their reaction is always to double down. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Here it doesn't seem to be working.
A question I have is, if not for the video of Pettibone (I think that was his name) getting grabbed and thrown into a minivan, would people have reacted so strongly to the federal presence? It seems like that video made thinks real and aroused a backlash, much mores than newspaper stories about what was going on. The aggressive response might have worked if the story was, "federal police suppress looters and rioters that Portland was too soft to do anything about." But when the story is "anonymous men in riot gear kidnapping people and tear-gassing moms," not so much. Was the second narrative inevitable? Maybe, maybe not.
Also, don't forget that the White House generally is operating within an epistemic bubble. Their sources are ideologically right. It often surely makes them think things will play better than they do.
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The right around here is actually defending the kidnapping as a "common tactic" to more safely arrest protesters when they aren't surrounded by a mob (and protesters have been fighting back/interfering with arrests when they are in the crowd).
I think just as problematic are 1) shooting a kid in the head as he stood with a boom box above his head; and 2) wailing on and gassing a 50-ish year old navy vet. Gassing the moms is the cherry on top.
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