Re: State of the Union - pre/post election & whatever...
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:12 pmJJ is just not a fun person.
VOX
https://www.vox.com/2017/8/25/16189064/antifa-charlottesville-activism-mark-bray-interview and https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/29/16216346/antifa-violence“They have no allegiance to liberal democracy”
CNNhttp://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/us/unmasking-antifa-anti-fascists-hard-left/index.html
"There are people who were energized by Bernie (Sanders) that now are anarchists," said an organizer of the website It's Going Down, a newsblog for Antifa. "People are freaked out by a Trump regime, freaked out by the far-right. A lot of people saw neo-Nazi symbols. There's a reason why people are becoming polarized. It's real-life stuff that's happening."
Sanders, for his part, has disavowed violence and is not connected with Antifa efforts. A self-described democratic socialist, Sanders has come out against "hard-left" violence
SLATE https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/08/daryle-jenkins-has-stepped-up-to-explain-the-shadowy-groups-violent-tactics-to-the-world.html
Liberals, in general, don’t like antifa much more. They see their tactics as counterproductive at best, and worry that they’re ceding the moral high ground to the right. In “The Rise of the Violent Left,” a recent Atlantic piece, Peter Beinart wrote about how antifa threatened to disrupt an annual parade in Portland, Oregon, if it included a contingent of Trump supporters; the parade ended up being canceled. “The people preventing Republicans from safely assembling on the streets of Portland may consider themselves fierce opponents of the authoritarianism growing on the American right,” wrote Beinart. “In truth, however, they are its unlikeliest allies.”
LA Times http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-far-left-violence-20170829-story.html
'Antifa' violence in Berkeley spurs soul-searching within leftist activist community
NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/who-antifa-meet-radical-neo-nazi-fighting-militia-n793241
Are they violent?
Antifa protesters often use a tactic called "black bloc," a style of protesting popularized by anti-government demonstrators in Europe. They typically wear all black clothing and hide their faces to avoid being identified by police, to avoid being pepper sprayed and also to cast an intimidating presence. In both the U.S. and Europe, the "black bloc" tactics generally include rioting, vandalism and protesting without a permit.
Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/28/black-clad-antifa-attack-right-wing-demonstrators-in-berkeley/?utm_term=.5bc31b6161bd
Black-clad antifa members attack peaceful right-wing demonstrators in Berkeley
NPR http://www.npr.org/2017/08/17/544108578/some-left-wing-protesters-were-ready-to-trade-blows-in-charlottesville
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
CHARLIE HALES: We also had some anarchists who hijacked that event and did terrible damage to our neighbors and friends.
MANN: Portland, Oregon's former mayor, Charlie Hales, a Democrat, spoke at a press conference about street protests that turned violent shortly after Trump's inauguration. Hales put much of the blame for the clashes in Portland on the far-left.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
HALES: And they spread violence and fear and detracted from the legitimate exercise of that First Amendment right.
MANN: Critics on the mainstream left have argued these tactics help the far-right. Street clashes draw media attention that raises the profile of neo-Nazi and Klan groups.
