Antifa Hiring Spree Drives Unemployment Numbers Lower
What? That made-up headline is no more ridiculous than the White House calling a press conference to celebrate 13.3% unemployment. Really.
This week, for the Trump administration and its defenders, has been a master lesson in spin and an attempt to validate the maxim that a lie shouted often enough becomes truth.
Since my search history is now flush with the topic, I’ll start with Antifa, followed by a bit of news from around the country.
Were it not for the violence and threats aimed at unsuspecting innocents, I’d be praising the propaganda power of several hundred --maybe a thousand or two nationwide-- mostly unaffiliated people dressed in black and wearing combat boots.
There is no Antifa. No Antifa headquarters. No Antifa training camps. And definitely no Antifa run bus lines.
The word (ANTIFAcist) represents a school of thought. Some young people in college towns mostly started using the concept as they took the bait from Alt-Right wannabe warriors to fight in the streets.
While there are people who identify as Antifa, there is no organization. The “organization” is a right wing scam to keep people scared.
The latest version of the “boogeyman is coming” propaganda consists of a video made by James O’Keefe’s widely discredited right wing attack group Project Veritas, which has a long history of incredibly fake stories.
Fox News, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Matt Gaetz have all boosted the video, giving it over a million views on YouTube.
If there really was an Antifa organization, their publicists would be in high demand. Money can’t buy that kind of publicity.
https://twitter.com/RepBJNikkel/status/1267488459217874945?s=20
Our Department of Justice has yet to find an Antifa related individual accused of a crime, even though the Attorney General and his boss are saying the group is responsible for violence related to ongoing protests saying Black Lives Matter.
The nation’s top prosecutor has called for the group to be listed as a domestic terrorist organization even though the law only allows for foreign groups to get this designation.
From the Washington Post:
What’s particularly telling about Barr’s comments May 31 is that an FBI document obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein indicates that the bureau had “no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence” at the protests in Washington that day. The bureau did, however, identify calls, possibly online, for “far-right provocateurs” to attack federal agents.
One group of far-right provocateurs identified as being at the fringes of the protest violence are members of the “boogaloo” movement. Taking its name from the cult movie “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,” the right-wing group seeks to hasten a second Civil War, with some members seeing the anti-police anger that is part of the protests as a mechanism for spurring that conflict.
And there can be no higher compliment for Antifa than having Fox News’ Laura Ingram blame former President Obama for its existence.
In towns and cities around the country, really scared white people who watch Fox News are having meltdowns over rumors the Black-Clad freedom fighters are coming to town.
Chances are good that these rumors were related to a fake social media posting (eventually taken down by Facebook) from the White Supremacist Identity Evropa group.
Chicago Police actually shut down highways and sent a helicopter to the Indiana border after social media reports of 3000 Antifa fighters headed their way from Indiana. That number was down from the 6000 Antifa who were supposed to be occupying Notre Dame earlier in the day.
Variations on the story had keyboard warriors wetting their pants in Tallahassee (FL), Casper (WYO), Huntsville (AL), Dickenson (ND), Petal (MS), and especially Coquille, Oregon.
Nearly 200 locals, some armed, waited outside Coos County Courthouse ready to meet buses of purported rioters.
As of 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, those buses never arrived.
The Coos County Sheriff's Office said it was inundated with reports that three buses holding Antifa would arrive at the courthouse at 8 p.m., an “anti-fascist” political protest movement currently being blamed for the violence across the nation.
https://twitter.com/jvplive/status/1268744586773422080?s=20
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While I’m reporting on right-wing goofiness, a story about children’s toys from the Hill Reporter needs to be shared:
Early on Thursday, a report surfaced that the Danish company LEGO, was removing Police and White House toy sets from stores. While the story was false, Trump Campaign Manager Brad Parscale and the website, Breitbart both ran with the story.
Parscale took to Twitter early Thursday morning, writing, “This is nuts. LEGO is removing playsets featuring police, firefighters & emergency vehicles. Even ditching an adult White House kit. We ought to stress the good in law enforcement for kids. What does Joe Biden think about LEGO erasing cops?”
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Protest News from the Twitterverse:
Congratulations to the organizers of the Thursday night march from downtown to North Park. From all reports it was both peaceful and spirited. (I heard the helicopters while hunkered down at Words & Deeds headquarters.)
https://twitter.com/ToniD_SD/status/1268732870853398529?s=20
Washington DC is getting ready for up to a million demonstrators this weekend, and the Mayor wants them to know they are welcomed.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) formally renamed the street outside the White House after ordering city crews to paint "Black Lives Matter" in giant yellow letters along 16th Street NW. It’s a pointed message in support of demonstrators and against the president, who ordered an escalation of federal military and law enforcement presence on the streets of Washington in response to sporadic looting and unrest earlier in the week.
https://twitter.com/MurielBowser/status/1268916115809488896?s=20
What if somebody held a demonstration and the cops stayed out of sight? They found out in Oakland last night.
https://twitter.com/egrtravels/status/1268435192978407424?s=20
Yes, President Trump bragging about the economy really is that dense:
https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1268920437515390982?s=20
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