I'm not sure why you think the mere fact that I retweeted Tucker Carlson means I'm brainwashed in some way. I happen to like Tucker Carlson a lot because, on most issues (other than things like abortion and gun rights), his views are in accord with mine. He's very willing to criticize conservatives, doesn't just praise anything Trump does (the way an uncritical shill like Hannity does) and when he sees someone like Elizabeth Warren, is willing to acknowledge her many good ideas when it comes to economics coupled with her completely nutty social ideas. This is the kind of non-partisan, independent thinking I value. I think he's probably the brightest, most articulate, most independent-minded and most clear-sighted talking head you'll find on t.v. So I feel no compunction about retweeting him.
As far as your claim that there have been peaceful protests, and there have been ones that aren't, and that we should be making a distinction, I addressed that very issue in a recent article I wrote, so I won't restate all my thoughts here; you can read it if you're interested:
As far as your attempt to attribute to me this view ("the violent elements and looters obviously represent all the protestors and they must be stopped by any means necessary, including sending in military personal against United States citizens"), that's a total strawman, and I've never said anything like that. There are many protesters who are individually peaceful, and there have been a few protests that have been genuinely peaceful, but most of the protests I've seen (in person) have espoused very violent anti-cop rhetoric of the sort that easily morphs into actual violence and other disorderly behavior.
As far as this claim of yours ("I didn’t defend the violence and looting, but word on the ground from most everyone is that it really took off AFTER the cops started roughing up everyone as they are wont to do"), I don't know what "word on the ground" means, but I already responded to this in my last response, and you seem to have ignored it. As I said, what's happening, at least in NYC, is gangs of largely black teens and youths waiting for cops to LEAVE an area to then start looting/rioting. It's the exact opposite of what you're suggesting. The other reason what you're saying makes zero sense is that the cops have shown incredible restraint here. They have knelt with protesters, in some cases. They have successfully negotiated with protesters and stood down even when the protesters thought they were above the law and violated curfews (and were actually allowed to do that by cops):
https://nypost.com/2020/06/06/protester-negotiates-post-curfew-deal-with-the-nypd/ None of this is surprising. Mayor De Blasio here is absolutely HATED by police and their unions because he's rightly perceived as being anti-police. He's hamstrung the cops in dealing with the protesters and prioritized the safety of looters over the safety of small business owners and other law-abiding New Yorkers.
There have unquestionably been some instances of bad behavior by cops. I'm in no way denying that. When you're dealing with an explosive situation involving thousands of unruly people screaming things and expressing hateful messages towards police in particular, the likelihood that things get out of hand at some point somewhere is near 100%. The unfortunate thing is that in the current atmosphere, these few unrepresentative instances are going to get amplified by mainstream media voices pushing a narrative that they know they'll get people's attention with if they keep pushing. The media get no attention, on the other hand, for showing black people behaving abominably, whether towards cops or towards ordinary citizens and their businesses. If they show such images, they get branded racist. I don't know how anyone can deny that there's a very clear speech code that prevents the mainstream media from telling us the truth when it comes to these kinds of issues at this point.
Again, I am not some nutso right-winger conspiracist who thinks everything conservative media says is golden. They have tons of their own stupid biases. As I said, Hannity is an idiot and, in general, as far as Fox, Tucker Carlson is the only one I consistently like. As I already described to you, I think for myself, which is why I have a total grab-bag of views on a variety of issues and have never voted in a single presidential election because I can't find anyone I really like (plus, in New York, my vote wouldn't matter anyway). I think, however, that what is going on today with these protests based upon an absolute fiction that cops are out killing blacks is awful. It's going to end up making anti-black racism far, far worse and lead, in the long run, to Americans fracturing even more around the issue of race.
