zlacker

>>laurex+(OP)
I had been heartened by the right's recent upswing in fierce support for the first amendment, but unfortunately I've seen little of that support during the protests as freedom of assembly and freedom of the press have been attacked. For example Rand Paul has not tweeted in a week. Sadly, as always, these kind of principled arguments, on both sides, are a sham to advance whatever the partisan battle of the week is.

>>bosswi+V7
Because rioting isn’t free speech. All conservatives support peaceable assembly and protest. They also fiercely believe in property rights as inherently tied to the concept of liberty. It is right in the Declaration of Independence. No conservative worth his or her salt will defend theft, property destruction, etc.

>>rpiguy+QG
I hate to break it to you, but the Boston Tea Party that conservatives were so fond of hijacking for their own partisan purposes destroyed over a million US dollars (in today's money) in other people's property. YOU are comfortable sitting there and "defending property" because it props up a system that benefits you.

>>Mister+9M
And after the revolution the government immediately cracked down on similar tax protests like the Whiskey Rebellion. So what?

On its own I agree the Tea Party is wonton vandalism. The patriots knew that too. They wanted to start a war. They also knew it was lawless and it was debated afterwords until it set of a wave of similar vandalism.

No one outside of a very small group looks back on the race riots of 1968 with pride, or the burning of LA, or Camden.

Are the rioters trying to start a revolutionary war? I hope not. There will be a lot of death everywhere.

The rioters don’t even have a plan or goal for if they “win.” They aren’t making demands. “Fix the police“ and “end systemic racism” isn’t something that can just happen. The rioters don’t have Federalist Papers or any plan for what’s next (unless you count the Communist Manefesto).

Personally I’d like these things to happen too. The police shouldn’t be terrifying. When I was growing up they were likable Andy Griffith types. Everyone knew them. Now they are shaven headed paramilitary. I have no idea who my local cops are. Wtf?