How January 6 Is Being Used to Crush Dissent on the Left

[Judi Lynn]

Rather than grapple with the political forces behind the Capitol siege, lawmakers have instead pushed a spate of anti-protests laws across the country.

BRANKO MARCETIC JANUARY 6, 2022

On January 6 of last year, convinced that Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race was the result of a rigged election, hundreds of his supporters breached the United States Capitol to interrupt the certification of the election results in Congress?—?to ​“stop the steal,” as they put it. They had been egged on by a constellation of right-wing corporate media outlets, Republican officials and, of course, Trump himself.

A nation and world looked on aghast as a motley band of protesters?—?from realtors who arrived in a private jet and moms and dads who drove in from far-off suburbs to bizarrely dressed QAnon believers, militia members and full-on white supremacists?—?stalked the Capitol halls, taking selfies, looting congressional offices and searching for elected officials, all in an attempt to overturn a democratic election.

The Capitol riot has frequently been compared to the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, by media commenters, government officials and even former President George W. Bush. On the one hand, the comparison is absurd. While nearly 3,000 people were killed by terrorists 21 years ago, only five died in last year’s Capitol siege, four of them the rioters themselves?—?the ​“attackers,” in the analogy?—?and one officer, who died of a stroke after the event.

However, the two events do have some stark parallels. Each was an avoidable security failure, received a mountain of fear-inducing media coverage, and has since been used to justify further centralization of repressive government powers.

More:
https://inthesetimes.com/article/january-6-capitol-riot-trump-anti-protest-left

[Budi]

1. BRANKO MARCETIC is a staff writer at Jacobin.

Jacobin wouldn't publish a positive thing about Democratic Leaders nor President Joe Biden no more than Joe Rogan nor Fox News would.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Had never seen his name before a short time ago. Thanks for the information.

I've never been aware Jacobin is an evil publication. Just plain uninformed, apparently.

[Budi]

3. If Jacobin were any further on the Left extremist scale they'd meet the extremist Right.

Not much space between the two to differentiate.

They despise the Democratic Party as much, as well.

[TheRealNorth]

4. Not 100% off-base on the premise though

Dennis Prager was comparing the 2011 Protests in Madison to 1/6. Never mind that the protestors never beat the cops nor brought baseball bats, chemical irritants, or other weapons. Furthermore, I believe a judge ruled that it was illegal for Snotty and the Republicans to lock the protestors out (there may have been some sort of state law prohibiting limiting access to the Capitol building as I recall).

[Budi]

5. Which lawmakers aren't" grappling with the political forces behind the Capitol siege,..".

[Beastly Boy]

7. Will you take 90% off base?

While the author blames centrist Democrats for enacting laws that may, in his opinion, disproportionately impact the left-leaning protestors, he does nothing to examine the implications of these same laws not being passed for the majority of the population, or even on the stability of representative democracy itself.

A typical anarchist point of view.

[Budi]

6. Apparantly 'ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS' are to blame for enacting the need for further...

...surveillance measures, which will not only follow the moves of White Supremacist cells as they organized against the Capitol on Jan6, 2021, BUT THE same surveillance measures will repress Left Wing protests, so in that case the writer blames the Biden admin for repressing Left Wing protests.

Unless the writer is ok with growing & organizing of Supremacist cells to insure another attack on our Capitol & areas within the US, I'd like to know what he'd suggest Biden admin should do?
Allow the White Supremacist terrorist cell's growth to continue unchecked so as not to piss off the "left' wing protestors?

The right to peaceful protest isn't what's being threatened. That is still law.

So what is the point of this article other than lay an exaggerated twist of blame at Biden's feet when that isn't even happening.
Would the writer prefer to allow the White Supremacist Terrorist cells continue to organize, unchecked?

Do you realize what countries allows that?

[Hortensis]

8. Those who aren't afraid of what November 8 could bring aren't only on the right.

The best explanation I've been able to find for the lack of fear of a Republican takeover, pervasive among some on the left even with the specter of a tRump dictatorship, is that LW authoritarians are drawn to the strong leadership of an authoritarian state, and that it's democracy's freedoms and responsibilities for self and country that frighten more.

Liberals are humanity's anti-authoritarians, and the Democratic Party is America's liberal party.

As we've been seeing all along, a party's ability to meet emotional needs can be more important than ideological goals. Progressive advances are desirable, but under the bus when a choice has to be made. LW authoritarians being wooed for all they're worth in this desperate battle for the future of our nation (a lot electorally!) explains what's happening.

People with extreme political views that favor authoritarianism — whether they are on the far left or the far right — have surprisingly similar behaviors and psychological characteristics, a new study finds. ...

It’s a mistake to think of authoritarianism as a right-wing concept, as some researchers have in the past. We found that ideology becomes secondary. Psychologically speaking, you’re an authoritarian first, and an ideologue only as it serves the power structure that you support.” ...

In addition to the striking similarities between the two political extremes, the research also highlighted a key difference between the two: Left-wing authoritarians were more likely to perceive the world as a dangerous place and experience intense emotions and a sense of uncontrollability in response to stress. Right-wing authoritarians were more cognitively rigid, less open to new experiences, and less likely to believe in science.

https://news.emory.edu/stories/2021/09/esc_left_wing_authoritarians_psychology/campus.html