The View From My Beer
Today’s view is American Beer. Light beer to be exact. Just as Coors Light is light on flavor, and light on alcohol, American society is becoming increasingly light on facts when it comes to important developments that will have a major impact down the road.
The Calm Before The Storm
I have just returned to Southern California for a few days before heading off to explore Northern Europe. It was going to be interesting few days as I got the chance to witness America’s downward descent into fascism up close. As it turned out I had the perfect chance to see first hand the lies and deception that are used as a way of justifying actions designed to serve the needs of one man. A man determined to use every tool available to eliminate any opposition to his transformation of a once great country from a democracy that serves the needs of the free world to a fascist state that serves the needs of one man.
Friday June 6: UCLA
On Friday, Michelle and I drove through downtown LA on our way to UCLA to participate in a presentation Ashley and her classmates were giving on their recent project into the environmental effects of certain local plants (weeds) on the environment. For me it was a normal sunny day in Southern California. That was until I turned on the “news” that evening to hear Dementia Don and his mafia stooges talking about how Los Angeles was under attack from ANTIFA and the radical left. Apparently ICE agent (aka the Gestapo) had started raids in Los Angeles looking to round up anyone who looked like they might be an illegal resident (i.e. having brown skin). Demonstrations broke out. They were largely peaceful, but there were a few isolated events as trouble makers looked to take advantage of the situation. Nothing out of the ordinary for Los Angeles.
Saturday June 7: Santa Barbara
The next day Michelle and I headed off to Santa Barbara for the day. Again it was a nice relaxing day. We took the 101 Freeway through LA on the way up and again on the way back. As we were heading home our GPS suggested routing us away from central LA as the 101 Freeway was apparently closed. That seemed odd. Before we got to LA the GPS suggested the freeway was open again so we drove through downtown LA. We did not notice anything unusual driving through LA, not even a police car. This is the same stretch of road shown in the above photo and featured on news reports that evening. Again Dementia Don was suggesting LA was burning to the ground and declaring he needed to send in the National Guard to quell the uprising. What uprising I thought? I decided to check the facts and found out there had been more protests. These were largely local to Gestapo Offices and local courts/jails where immigrants were being processed/detained. Yes, a large crowd had marched and encroached on the 101 freeway, but it didn’t last long and by the time we drove through there was no evidence of any trouble. If these had been riots there would have been debris everywhere and a large police presence. There was NOTHING!
Sunday June 8: Carbon Canyon
On Sunday Michelle and I went for a drive to Carbon Canyon. It was not near downtown LA. It was enjoyable day as people from Southern California gathered to do normal family stuff like having a picnic by the lake or taking a walk with their family. It was surreal in a way when you compare how people were living normal lives in Southern California at the same time as Dementia Don and his cronnies were trying to portray the area as being under attack from the radical left.
A Learning Experience
Over the past few days I have had family and friends who know I am in Southern California contact me to see if I am OK. I can assure everyone I am more than fine. I have no concerns about my personal safety. I might feel differently if I were not white and didn’t have US citizenship. But these past few days have been a learning experience for me as I try to understand the disconnect between what I am hearing and what I am seeing.
How Demonstrations Become Riots
There are a few things about demonstrations and riots I have needed to learn. The right to demonstrate is a cornerstone of any strong democracy. Everyone is entitled to a different opinion. It is rare that everyone agrees on any given topic. If we did, then we would all be St Kilda supporters!
It is clear to me that that given the chance, Dementia Don would stamp out all demonstrations against himself. And there are those looking to stay in his good graces that will go along with anything he asks to make this a reality. This is no different than the way Hitler sought to use the Gestapo to eliminate dissent within Germany that ultimately lead to World War II and the atrocities against the Jewish people.
While most people exercising their first amendment rights to protest do so peacefully, there is always some subset of the protesters who want to take things to the next level. Just because some level of violence breaks out as part of a demonstration doesn’t mean we should ignore the underlying message of the protests. We also need to recognize that there is also a criminal element to many protests. People who have no interest at all in the issue at hand, but just want to use the demonstrations as a cover for them to commit crimes such as looting, arson, or violence against others. There is also an anarchist element in our society, people who don’t believe there is a place for government and will seek to inflame any civil unrest as a way of promoting their view that government is failing.
Becoming a Fascist State
As I said in my introduction, we are witnessing the fall of America from being. democracy to a fascist state. The US remains largely divided evenly on ideological lines. The difference is now that one side has put itself in a position where it can seek to take control in the belief that their view is correct and others are just the enemy and un-American! It is the rich billionaire class that is seeking to further seize control of the country so that the economy is rigged in their favor, permanently. The frog (poor white folk) is being boiled slowly and they know that at some stage the water is going to get too hot and the frog will try and jump out. That is why it is important to suppress dissent using the National Guard and the Army, as needed. What we have just witnessed is the first attempts by Dementia Don to use military force to suppress the voices of the people. It really wasn’t needed in this case as the extent of the demonstrations were wildly exaggerated. The purpose of the exercise was to establish a beach front. Having used the military once to quell a “riot” it will become easier and easier to do it again in other states. Before long it will be accepted as a normal part of everyday life.
Due Process
Buried underneath this week’s events is a fundamental right that most of us take for granted. Something we should fear being taken away – the fundamental right to due process. Something that modern society in many countries has taken for granted after the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Specifically, clause 39 which states that no free man can be punished except through the “lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land”. This is at the heart of many of the protests. What has upset so many people is the fact that masked agents without warrants are able to kidnap people off the streets of LA because they look like they might be in the country illegally. They are often being placed in concentration camps where they are treated poorly and have no rights to legal representation to plead there case. They are often moved to other states to reduce the chances of getting help. In many cases they are simply deported to any country that will take them. In some cases, they end up in prison camps in a country like El Salvador where they are treated like animals. And I repeat, this is being done without that person having any rights to a lawful judgement by his peers.
I keep thinking to myself, how would I feel if it was me. If I am in the wrong place at the wrong time or I say or do something that a Gestapo agent finds offensive, what is stopping me from ending up in a prison camp in El Salvador? There would be no way out. Without legal representation and the chance to have my day in court I am trapped. This is how I perceive life to be like in Russia, Iran, and North Korea. There is no way I would ever remain in the US and have this cloud hang over me. I am lucky that I am a white male with US citizenship, but that doesn’t guarantee me immunity.
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