33 votes

Cato Institute - The US Government unconstitutionally labels Immigration and Customs Enforcement observers as domestic terrorists

12 comments

  1. [10]
    DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    In the voice of Ted Danson: "The Cato Institute figured it out? The Cato Institute?!" I'm being facetious, but also... DUH. Yes. Precisely. The whole "antifa" being the number one domestic...

    In the voice of Ted Danson: "The Cato Institute figured it out? The Cato Institute?!"

    I'm being facetious, but also... DUH. Yes. Precisely. The whole "antifa" being the number one domestic terrorist "organization* is absolutely ridiculous. I watched a shorter version of this clip where Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson deflates the whole argument. There's no HQ, no membership, etc. and the literal operations director of the FBI's National Security Branch looks like a fool.

    "Sir you wouldn't come to this committee and say something you couldn't prove..."

    31 votes
    1. [5]
      balooga
      Link Parent
      It still astonishes me that it hasn’t backfired on them spectacularly. “Antifa” is literally an abbreviation of “anti-fascist.” It’s right there in the name. Antifa opposes fascism. If you are...

      It still astonishes me that it hasn’t backfired on them spectacularly. “Antifa” is literally an abbreviation of “anti-fascist.” It’s right there in the name. Antifa opposes fascism. If you are anti-antifa you are pro-fascism. And sooooo many people are okay with that. You can’t make this shit up.

      21 votes
      1. [3]
        DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        The conservative claim is really pretty simple. The left is lying. The left claims that the org isn't real despite countless violent incidents. The group "pitches itself" as antifacist. Most of...

        The conservative claim is really pretty simple. The left is lying.

        The left claims that the org isn't real despite countless violent incidents. The group "pitches itself" as antifacist.

        Most of them would still be anti-fascism in the sense of being anti-Third Reich. But if they don't consider their team to be fascist and antifa is protesting attacking "them" then clearly antifa is not antifacist.

        An example

        Trump designates Antifa terrorists as critics dispute if group exists | Fox News

        18 votes
        1. [2]
          balooga
          Link Parent
          Truly, they have a dizzying intellect.

          Truly, they have a dizzying intellect.

          9 votes
      2. smiles134
        Link Parent
        What has emerged to me most in the last 10 years is that the average person spends very little time or energy on critical thinking. It's far easier to just consume headlines to know what to think...

        What has emerged to me most in the last 10 years is that the average person spends very little time or energy on critical thinking. It's far easier to just consume headlines to know what to think or how to feel, and as long as you don't press too hard on any subject, then you won't realize the web of contradictions and outright falsehoods that lay underneath.

        This is what Trump and everyone who uses Trump's abject lack of conscience discovered. They can say literally whatever the fuck they want and face very little consequences. Doesn't matter if it's true or even sounds true. Just send it out into the universe and go on doing your thing. I mean for Christ's sake, this man went on national television and said immigrant communities were eating people's pets and he got elected AGAIN.

        Reality doesn't matter. If you have no morals, you can do anything you want.

        13 votes
    2. [4]
      chocobean
      Link Parent
      For those not familiar with US stuff, why is Cato the Jason Florida Man of think tanks? Brief Wikipedia look says they're Koch funded libertarian, is it the Koch part that's surprising ?

      For those not familiar with US stuff, why is Cato the Jason Florida Man of think tanks? Brief Wikipedia look says they're Koch funded libertarian, is it the Koch part that's surprising ?

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        If I bring the joke to reality, it's less that they're Jason Mendoza in terms of intellect. It's that the conservative* think tank is actually saying the thing and not toeing the line on the...

        If I bring the joke to reality, it's less that they're Jason Mendoza in terms of intellect. It's that the conservative* think tank is actually saying the thing and not toeing the line on the right. They are libertarian so no it's not that surprising. It's just not coming from the ACLU.

        Broken clocks are right twice a day and all.

        But mostly it was a joke not a deep analogy.

        *They don't like the label, I think it's accurate even if they're on the libertarian side of the right. My own bias is that libertarians assume they'll be the winners in the unregulated future they seek and wouldn't die of cholera and I prefer disabled people not dying from their advocated policies.

        9 votes
        1. [2]
          Carrow
          Link Parent
          Stopped clocks. A fast or slow clock could be right more or fewer than 2 times. 🤓

          Broken clocks are right twice a day and all.

          Stopped clocks. A fast or slow clock could be right more or fewer than 2 times. 🤓

          2 votes
          1. DefinitelyNotAFae
            Link Parent
            To me those clocks are fast or slow, the timing is off but they're not "broken" but I played with a lot of broken clocks as a kid. (◠‿◕) I take your meaning though

            To me those clocks are fast or slow, the timing is off but they're not "broken" but I played with a lot of broken clocks as a kid. (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠)

            I take your meaning though

            2 votes
  2. boxer_dogs_dance
    Link

    Causing Car Crashes

    A woman from North Carolina asks an agent why Border Patrol would slam on its brakes at 35 miles per hour, attempting to cause an accident with the ICE observer. He does not deny it. Instead, he says they did it to stop the observers.

    In October, Border Patrol agents managed to cause an accident with ICE observers in Chicago by slamming on their brakes before pulling them out of the car, brutally beating them, and arresting them for “impeding.”

    In October, a DHS agent in Oxnard, California, intentionally slammed into the side door of a pickup truck of someone recording their activities. DHS accused him of “recording and verbal harassment of the officers.”

    In November, a district court judge in Illinois found an instance in which the video “suggests that the agent drove erratically and brake-checked other motorists in an attempt to force accidents that agents could then use as justifications for deploying force.”

    These incidents generally do not include the numerous cases of agents damaging home security cameras, throwing phones, or attacking people who follow, record, or protest by foot without threatening to arrest them.

    12 votes
  3. boxer_dogs_dance
    Link

    On December 4, the Department of Justice (DOJ) disseminated a memorandum to all federal prosecutors creating a strategy for arresting and charging individuals supposedly aligned with “Antifa.” The memo requires DOJ to investigate and identify the “most serious, most readily provable” crimes committed by potential targets, including those with “extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders.”

    Specifically, the document defines domestic terrorism broadly to include “doxing” and “impeding” immigration and other law enforcement. Doxing is not specifically defined, but the memo references calls to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to give their names and operate unmasked. Individuals who donate to organizations that “impede” or “dox” will be investigated and deemed to have supported “domestic terrorism.”

    Therefore, it is crucial to understand that ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) consider people who follow DHS and ICE agents to observe, record, or protest their operations as engaging in “impeding.”

    6 votes