Turns out, the government is actually pretty efficient.

Lol! You just almost made me spew coffee out of my nose.

OMG! They made Michael Landon’s character black? /s

This is going to run afoul of the Citizens United ruling.

So, does this mean this is going to be the last hurricane season? Phew! About time. Hurricanes suck. Thanks Trump!

I don’t think Hasan actually read Bernie’s post.

Imagine getting fired as a journalist for simply stating an objective fact.

Man, I would love to be as delusional as you are. It must be so much fun thinking life is like a video game.

What the people of LA are doing is so much more than optics. They are actively saving lives and guarding their friends and neighbors from police violence.

They are resisting in the most material and direct way anyone can ask.

That is true. But escalation will get those friends and neighbors killed.

Is that why they’re shooting random protesters with rubber bullets, even though there’s no justification? What are they trying to “prevent”?

I’m not opposed to protests…the LA protests in particular. I’m opposed to violent confrontations with Trump’s thugs. I’m opposed to citizens being the ones to escalate the situation. Trump already wants this. All I’m saying is don’t give him what he wants. Let them be the ones to escalate. We all know it’s coming…so why give him the satisfaction of making him look justified?

Don’t just hand him an excuse. Stare them straight in the eyes, and make them take it. That’s what protesting is all about. Your defiance is not about hitting back…it’s about taking a hit, and standing up again. Make them look like the bullies they are. Don’t legitimize their excuses. Prove that they’re hollow.

Dude…that is a massive difference.

No. The problem is, the situation will only get worse with escalation. Not better.

There is a massive difference between rubber bullets and live ammunition.

Almost everything Trump has attempted to do, has to some extent, been blocked in the courts. Sometimes temporarily…other times completely. And the temporary blocks are all still active cases, that stand a good chance of getting permanently blocked in the future.

The problem is, the media isn’t covering that enough. They like the drama…so, all they report in is the shit that gets clicks. And boring court details don’t attract a lot of interest. Especially considering that by the time anything is resolved, the news steam has long since moved on to other, more recent scandals.

I disagree. Keeping these protest peaceful, is exactly what the Trump administration doesn’t want. If they are looking for a justification to escalate the situation, then NOT giving them one, makes it that much harder for them to accomplish their objectives. Every single opportunity to prove them wrong about what they are doing, is a victory. It needs to be demonstrated at every turn.

At this point, at least they’re still using rubber bullets. But, that’s the entire plan at the moment…keep shooting non-lethal rounds until someone shoots back.

Then…the safeties come off, and a lot of people die. It all depends on how long the protesters can keep their shit together before someone changes the nature of the conflict.

Right now, most of those soldiers are not going to be ok shooting civilians. But the instant they’re getting shot at, there are no civilians anymore. Just targets.

If you’ve already decided that you want a civil war, then Trump doesn’t need to find an excuse. You’re going to force his hand. And any possibility that those soldiers might be on your side, disappears.

Only if people go into this looking for it.

If you really believe that, then you must know that attacking them isn’t going to get you there. They need to see that what they’re doing is wrong. And the only way to do that, is to make sure their orders are unjustified.