June 17, 2020 [ABOVE IMAGE: SCREENSHOT, The Andy Griffith Show]
In my previous post, I encouraged red states to actively recruit police officers from blue states which are now campaigning to defund and dissolve their police departments. My underlying thinking to that post could be summed up by the following cliche:
Actions speak louder than words.
So far, no one has taken my advice. Instead, we got the same predictable weak sauce from Republicans. Here’s a sample from a Fox News story:
[A] number of Republican attorneys general say that cutting funding to police departments would only increase crime and not solve the issue of reforming law enforcement agencies. At least a dozen GOP AGs have spoken out against the push.
Simply stating the obvious—that crime will increase as law enforcement decreases—that’s not very effective. If you respond with words, they will respond with words. And that will give them the opportunity to walk back their absurd proposal. Which is what they are doing now. What began as a truly frightening proposal in Minneapolis to disband the police is now morphing into a harmless discussion about budget priorities and taking away police Lamborghinis:
But don’t forget: the mayor of Minneapolis was told to leave a protest because he didn’t support the complete abolition of the police department:
“I do not support the full abolition of the Minneapolis Police Department,” Frey says.
“Alright, then get the f— out of here,” the leader yells at him. “Go.”
Fox News
And it is now being reported that the Minneapolis City Council has gone through with the insane proposal and voted to dissolve their police department.
The Demoralization of Law Enforcement
In Columbus, the employees of a Mexican restaurant quit their jobs rather than wait on police officers:
Watch this police officer describe her experience at McDonald’s:
The effect of all this hatred has taken a predictable toll on police morale. This is from a letter of a police officer with 27 years of service.
After more than 27 years in the force, I’ve had enough. These protests and riots are the final straw. The nasty words we get called all the time have now turned into rocks, bottles and gunfire. It’s over, America: we are leaving.
This is the hardest thing I have written.
Lawofficer.com
The officer isn’t exaggerating. Just a couple of days ago, an officer was “ambushed” at his California station and shot in the head.
Welcome to Mayberry!
And so I repeat the invitation that I made in my last post. Why would anyone put up with constant mortal danger and disrespect? And here I speak from experience. You see, fifteen years ago, my wife and I made the decision to pack up our young family and move across the country. We left the crime infested city of Los Angeles and made a new home for ourselves in a small town outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s a town that resembles the Mayberry of The Andy Griffith Show in many ways. Every Wednesday is “Church Night”—a tradition so ingrained in the Baptist Church culture of the Carolinas that even my Catholic Church has adopted the practice.
10 Florida SWAT officers quit unit over ‘political climate’: report
Fox News
And every Fourth of July is a delight. Carnivals and parades with lots of red, white, and blue bunting. Little kids waving little American flags, eating ice cream cones, cotton candy, and watermelon, getting their faces painted, while men in straw hats and handlebar mustaches treat the crowd to wave after wave of patriotic song. And the fireworks . . .
It’s like something right out of Mayberry. It’s a life so permeated with goodness and wholesomeness that you’d think it wouldn’t have any trouble attracting boosters. But somehow an inversion is taking place in America. A life and a culture that has served as the foundation of American health and vitality is now reviled by many who regard the simple family and Christian values of Mayberry as somehow lacking. They have a word for our “deficient” culture—”deplorable,” they call it. And now we can see the alternative they offer us. It is their little portrait of urban paradise. You can call it “CHAZmania.”
Decision 2020: Who’s Deplorable Now? Mayberry? Or Chazmania?
“CHAZ” stands for “Capital Hill Autonomous Zone.” Antifa somehow managed to chase the police out of their precinct, and now Antifa provides the policing for six square blocks of Seattle. They’ve started a small farm in the middle of this anarchic Shangri-La. They’ve been hosting talks and speeches from various representatives of their school. And their supporters are swooning.
But this Utopia seems to be missing a few things that we in the free West have come to depend on.
For one thing , they kicked out the police. Project Veritas reports that it is part of official Antifa policy that police departments should be eradicated.
BREAKING: #EXPOSEANTIFA Part III: Deadly Weapons Training
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) June 9, 2020
“We believe in a complete abolition of the system itself, including police.”#EXPOSEANTIFA pic.twitter.com/r69lwn1imU
In Chazmania, Antifa keeps the peace. How’s that working? See for yourself. Antifa expert Andy Ngo shares a video demonstration of Antifa community policing. Here’s how journalists walking down the street get treated in Chazmania:
The above video was taken before the establishment of Chazmania, but it gives you a clear picture of what community policing looks like under Antifa. Journalists are receiving exactly the same harassment in Chazmania too. If you are familiar with Andy Ngo’s investigative journalism, you know that he also was put into the hospital by a mob of Antifa thugs. Citizens note well: The First Amendment doesn’t exist in Chazmania. Which is of course why law enforcement cannot exist there either—for they enforce the laws that protect our First Amendment rights to speak and demonstrate and protest.
According to reporters on the ground in Chazmania, pro-life advocates are being forcibly “deported.” Here is Ed Morrissey:
The crime in this case apparently was a combination of opposing abortion and using a cellphone to document the processes of “policing” in the CHAZ. The irony of the latter as a reaction to the homicide of George Floyd can’t be expressed strongly enough. The reason why we know about how Floyd died is because we live in a free country where everyone can whip out their cell phone and document the actions of police. The only place in the country where that’s not possible any longer is in CHAZ, which speaks volumes about the nature of this authoritarian commune.
Religious Freedom in Chazmania?
See what happens to a Christian street preacher in Chazmania:
Other video shows the street preacher in a chokehold, not the most effective way to protect religious freedom. Here’s one of the videos:
Media Responses
Of course there is nothing new about violent political movements. And they shouldn’t be anything to worry about provided that their views remain at the fringes of what is considered acceptable political discourse. But that precisely is the concern. The violence of Antifa is every bit as deserving of universal condemnation as the killing of George Floyd. But that does not appear to be what we are seeing, as the journalist in the tweet below tells us:
Despite literally miles of video evidence to the contrary, liberal media have bent over backwards to ignore or excuse the violent nature of Antifa. This article from The Nation, for example, defends Antifa because its use of violence is directed against “Nazis” and “terrorists”:
[A]ntifa consists of opposing fascist groups by any means available, including, if necessary, violence.
“How to Be an Antifascist From Your Couch”—The Nation
Antifa only uses violence when “necessary”— against “terrorists?” A complete lie, as we have seen above. They attack journalists, pro-life advocates, and Christian street preachers. In short, they use violence against anyone they disagree with politically. And, as we have seen, violence is their preferred method, their first choice in dealing with people they don’t like. In all the examples above, violence was chosen against nonviolent individuals who were outnumbered and posed no threat to anyone’s safety. In fact, it appears from the videos that Antifa resorts to violence for the sheer enjoyment they appear to derive from their cowardly thuggery. For the Chazmanian devils, violence is sport and recreation.
Political Responses
Here is a Newsweek opinion column that describes Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s response to Chazmania:
Downplaying the violence at the CHAZ, Mayor Durkan compared the takeover to a block party and told CNN that we could be in for a “summer of love” since there are no plans to break it up. While over the past few days, the vibe of the occupied space has definitely turned into a street fair, there’s still plenty of violence.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that a terrible inversion is happening in blue world. The police are treated as criminals, and the criminals are viewed as heroes.
AOC Fundraising for Antifa?
It’s not a coincidence that Democrats who support the defunding of police departments have also shown support for Antifa since the defund movement is official Antifa policy. Jeremiah Ellison, the son of Keith Ellison (Minnesota’s Attorney General and former Deputy Chair of the DNC) is a member of the Minneapolis City Council that just voted to dissolve their police force. And as I reported previously, he has openly declared his support for Antifa.
AOC has also been vocal in her support of defunding the police. And as the tweet below points out, she is also doing fundraising for Antifa:
Liberty and Justice for All? Or Just Democrats?
It’s an all too familiar pattern raising a very disturbing question. Do the Democrats want Chazmania? Is this what they have in mind to replace our police? Is this why the current Seattle Mayor has stated that there are no plans to return law enforcement to the area? Is this why a member of Seattle’s City Council has publicly stated that Chazmania is peaceful and should be permanent:
“With Liberty and Justice FOR ALL”—TAKE THE PLEDGE
All of us grew up saying the “Pledge of Allegiance” in school. Perhaps it would be helpful to recall an important phrase from that pledge:
With liberty and justice for all.
Right now, there is no liberty or justice in Chazmania for journalists or Christians or Republicans, or people who just want to think for themselves and express their own opinions. The First Amendment—and all other God-given rights and freedoms—have been taken away from anyone who disagrees with the politics of the Left. Liberal journalists and politicians need to stop lying about what is going on in Seattle right now. They need to unequivocally condemn the violent suppression of human rights that is taking place in Seattle and which was made possible by the removal of law enforcement.
If they refuse to condemn the violent persecution, we have every reason to believe that they in fact support the use of violence and the suspension of the Constitution and civil order to further their political ends. And further, we are justified in thinking that that was the whole point to getting rid of the police in the first place—to make sure that people who disagree with them have no protection. We have every reason to believe that Senator Josh Hawley is right: The Left has declared open civil war.
You Fight a War With Actions—Not Words.
All Americans of goodwill need to join together to condemn what has become an experiment in totalitarianism among leftists, including, tragically, many Democrats in the media and in politics. And so I will say it again. We need ACTION from Republicans, not mere words. Some suggestions:
- Red states should hire displaced police officers and pay moving expenses.
- Support a truckers’ boycott of areas with defunded police departments. Nearly 80% of polled truckers support such a policy.
- Identify the “citizens” of Chazmania who claim to be independent of the United States and take them seriously: revoke their American citizenship and take away their VOTING RIGHTS.
- YOUR TURN!
TheRaised Eyebrow
Kshama Sawant is a member of Socialist Alternative, an international Communist (Trotskyite) party. She’s helping establish the Seattle Antifa Republic of Trashcanistan.