ONE LAW FOR THEM, AND ANOTHER LAW FOR US
I’ll try to avoid repeating things I’ve posted, but I have a couple of additional observations on the protest/riot dilemma I’d like to offer.
The cream of the jest is that Donald Trump has promised to end the violence – but only if he’s re-elected, and then not until January 20, 2021. That prompted Joe Biden to ask a reasonable question: does Trump know he’s president right now?
What makes Trump’s “I’ll save you later” angle even stranger is that he said virtually the same thing on the campaign trail in 2016: “The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th, 2017, safety will be restored.” And Mexico will pay for the wall!
It is true that some of the current hot spots are in cities and states with Democratic mayors and governors. Some of them are obviously in over their heads. How will that change by January 20 of next year? What does Trump expect to do in January that he can’t do now?
Right now, Trump enjoys the support of a spineless Republican Senate. Current polling suggests that after the election, Democrats are more likely than not to increase their majority in the House and possibly even take the Senate. If Trump has a trick up his sleeve, it seems like this would be the best time to give it a shot. But of course, he’s bluffing. He’s clueless now, and he’ll be clueless next January.
And so Joe Biden asked another reasonable question: “Does anyone believe that there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is re-elected?” Egads! The MAGA crowd clutched its pearls and claimed that Biden was threatening violence if he loses. Projection is a helluva drug.
MAGA types claim that the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Bois, and other right-wing militias are independent actors, on the scene simply as good 2A citizens to protect life and property. They also insist that protestors, be they BLM, Antifa, or just concerned citizens, take their orders from Joe Biden.
Funny thing, but I’ve seen a lot of footage from Seattle, Portland, Kenosha, and other hot spots. I see a lot of the right-wing fighters with MAGA hats and Trump banners. I have yet to see a single Biden banner, sign, or other Democratic Party signifier from the progressives in the fray. There probably aren’t a thousand members of Antifa in the entire world, but I’m pretty sure than none of them are Biden stans.
And here’s why. This is what Joe Biden said on Monday: "I want to be very clear about all of this: Rioting is not protesting, looting is not protesting, setting fires is not protesting…It’s lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted."
I will now offer a personal story that bears on the situation, so return with me now to those thrilling days of the 20th century. It was thirty years ago, give or take, and I was a youngish librarian at the University of Arizona. On the first day of a new semester, I arrived that morning to find a bunch of teenage boys lying on, and under, every study table in the room. They were wearing dress slacks, long sleeve shirts, ties, and blazers, and apparently they’d been there all night. I asked them to move, at least into the chairs, but they refused, and not politely.
As you may have guessed, they were freshman fraternity pledges, and this was part of some hazing process. Since they were interfering with my ability to do my job, I called the campus police. A UAPD officer arrived quickly, and ushered all of us outside, where he listened to the story they made up and sent them on their way.
I was outraged. Those frat boys were rude to me, and he didn’t even bother to take their names. Lock ‘em up, dammit, or at least report them to the Dean of Students. Then the policeman turned to me and said, “I know what was going on. I know they were lying. I know you’re annoyed. But my job is to keep the peace.” I was still outraged.
But thirty years later, I get it. Occasionally you have to take one for the team. Turn the other cheek, as someone once put it.
My sense is that the governors and mayors in current hot spots were trying to do what that UAPD officer did – avoid escalating the situation and hope that cooler heads eventually prevail. But as long as there are people spoiling for a fight – and especially as long as Donald Trump supports the fighters – cooler heads will be shouted down or trampled underfoot.
It was arguably worth a try, but it’s a failed strategy. Time to try something else.
What might that be? The options aren’t great, first because there’s still a pandemic looming over everything, and also because one side welcomes the violence. As Kellyanne Conway said last week, “The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best on public safety and law and order.”
Donald Trump wants riots. Without them, the entire premise of his campaign – Joe Biden’s America is a crime-ridden hellhole – stops making sense. He and his surrogates will do their best to make bad situations worse, hoping to scare enough voters to make a difference in November.
That being the case, it’s up to the people who want to get rid of Trump to exercise some self-discipline. And look, I know that the vast majority of them are doing that already. As Joe Biden said, protests and riots are two different things. I’d be interested to see what it would look like if the protestors – the folks who are legitimately outraged about police brutality – took a week off.
It would be fun to see MAGA militias and their friends on the police force milling around in the dark, looking for someone to fight. Maybe a few dozen Antifa types would still show up, but there’d be a lot fewer of them, and less likelihood that mob psychology might infect otherwise peaceful demonstrators.
In an earlier post, I suggested that people who are outraged when protests turn violent have an obligation to suggest alternative strategies. I myself have one modest proposal, and one arrogant proposal. See if you can tell which is which.
All the cities and towns where protests have turned violent have football fields – from an NFL stadium in Seattle, to at least a high school field in Kenosha. How about the mayors invite their local MAGA militias and their local Left provocateurs – Antifa or whoever – to a trial by combat? Sell the TV rights. Both sides pick their 20 best fighters and have a good old fashioned melee. No firearms, but no other rules. Kill each other if you want. But when it’s over, it’s over. Let that be an end to it.
OK, so that won’t happen. How about this? Joe Biden convenes a summit of the governors and mayors where trouble is occurring, along with Barack Obama, LeBron James, Kamala Harris, and anyone else who has stature in the eyes of legitimate protestors. Let them brainstorm both long-term and short-term strategies to encourage protests and stop the violence.
Long-term, the only viable strategy involves a radical reform of law enforcement, probably including some transfer of some police responsibilities to other government units. Since nothing like that will happen as long as Donald Trump is president, electing Biden is a necessary first step.
As I’ve said repeatedly, Joe Biden wasn’t my first (or 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th) choice among Democratic presidential candidates, but I’ve come to believe that he’s the ideal candidate for this particular race. Republicans built a straw man Joe Biden. He was Sleepy Joe the Socialist Menace, in thrall to AOC and the Squad. They know how to attack that guy. But unfortunately for them, that version of Joe Biden exists only in their imagination.
Biden – quite sensibly – played rope-a-dope with Republicans from the onset of the pandemic through the Republican convention. Lay low, stay safe, and never interrupt your enemy when he’s in the process of making a mistake. Donald Trump makes a lot of mistakes.
Now Biden is on the attack, and from my perspective he’s saying and doing all the right things. I’m happy with his VP choice. His convention was impressive. And he’s talking sense about the difference between protests and riots.
I’ll say it again. Joe Biden is poised to win a fair election. Trump’s only hope is to create so much chaos that casting a vote will be difficult, and counting all the votes may be impossible. That, along with a little help from his pal Vladimir Putin, may be enough to steal it for him. Our job over the next two months is to make sure that doesn’t happen.