A recently released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) document titled “Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide”* links common protest symbols to “terrorism” — another marker in a common theme of conflating militant protest for social justice with deadly terrorist violence within the United States. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Brennan Center have raised warnings about such documents, citing inadequate protections for people’s constitutional rights.
What do you think was more optically advantageous for the left, a bunch of patriot front idiots getting arrested just for marching, or antifa and the proud boys brawling?
We’re not at the point of civil war. Optics are still more important than punching them.
Actually, portraying your enemy as both strong and weak is crucial to fascism. To nazis, the jews were simultaneously subhuman and also in control of the world. To the alt right, the left is simultaneously soy boy beta cucks and nazi punching radicals. If you remove yourself from their narrative, it fails apart. And instead of brave defenders of western culture under attack from crazy leftist extremists, they simply become weird motherfuckers waving nazi flags in (current year).
I’m not gonna say don’t punch nazis, but don’t do it in an organized fashion at a rally where they hope to provoke a reaction.
Showing the fascists - and their spineless “centrist” allies - that they will face real opposition in the streets. When the fash start marching, that is the only optics that matter.
Arrested by whom? Their KKK and neo-nazi allies you optimistically call “police”?
You don’t have to believe me, Clyde… you can hear it straight from a neo-nazi, too.
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/11/1104405804/patriot-front-white-supremacist-arrested-near-idaho-pride
Yes.
Sooo… you’re just going to conveniently ignore this.
And this.
And this.
And this.
And this.
And this.
And, surprise, surprise, this.
At this point I have to ask… are you sure you’re not a bit sympathetic to fascism yourself?
Yes, I know, that’s my point. In a clash between fash and antifa, we know what police are going to do. If nobody engages with them and their behavior becomes such that the police themselves actually have to arrest them, that’s amazing.
We’ll continue this conversation when you come back to the real world, okay?