The liberal obsession with optics serves the right and persuades no one. There is literally an active ethnic cleansing happening in the US right now, and the only thing that matters is making that as hard as possible to carry out.

Anarchists destroying intelligence assets saves lives. Every escooter thrown at a cop car is one less escort for a goon too afraid to kidnap random brown people without being flanked by a branch full of bad apples. Spray paint is not violence. Vandalism is not violence. Community self defense in all forms is legitimate.

Make no mistake, these raids are about changing demographics. Demographic trends have been shifting blue for a long time, and the right has, for a long time, been blaming "white replacement." Conspiracy theory aside, Democrats have also been relying on the growth of black and brown voters as a block. The nuances of whiteness as an identity are lost on the current administration and their supporters. They see that "white people will be a minority by 2050" and equate that with the "end of Western Civilization."

The only way to "save Western Civilization" is to change those demographics. Forced birth and forced removal are two sides of the same white nationalist objective. Of course they can't have due process, because they need to be able to kidnap anyone who they see as a threat to their demographic future.

They don't care about optics. The plan is to murder away any threat and flood everyone else with propaganda. There is no mythical middle. There's no one unconvinced. They know this, but they win when democrats buy that myth and save the police the work of policing the protests.

If your protest is 90% "peaceful," they'll take pictures of the 10% that isn't. If it's 99% peaceful, they'll shoot rubber bullets and teargas until someone throws a brick and take 100 pictures from a dozen angles. If its 100% "peaceful" and no one can be provoked, they'll generate pictures with AI or photoshop like they did during the George Floyd uprising and the pictures from the CHOP/CHAZ. Do you have literally no memory?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/13/media/seattle-fox-news-autonomous-zone-protest

You can't win on optics... And you don't have to. People trapped in Fox news will not be swayed by anything. They aren't necessary. There are more than enough people to stop this, if you stop policing each other and feeding people to the police in order to "keep it peaceful." A tiny amount of direct action is more than enough to completely collapse the ethnic cleansing machine.

There is not, and has never been, an unconvinced group. This is a myth the right uses to control you.

I'm not saying, "go loot 7/11." There are plenty of things that shouldn't be on the table. But I am saying that if someone is trying to flip an ICE van or police escort and y'all sit down so the cops can grab that person, you are murdering as many people as ICE can kidnap if those assets aren't destroyed. If you go tell the cops about someone burning a Waymo, you are helping ICE intelligence kidnap and rendition people to foreign death camps.

And you are doing it for nothing. None of your collaboration with the police will stop them. Look at Newsom. No matter how much you collaborate, you will always be the enemy. Just be the enemy and don't be afraid of it. Do what needs to be done to save lives, to save families, to save your neighbors. That's literally all that matters.

Genocide must be stopped by any means necessary and all means available. Anything less than that is collaboration with the perpetrators.

#USPol #FiftyFiftyOne #50501movenent #resistance #NoKingsDay #NoKingsDayOfAction

Fox News publishes digitally altered and misleading images of Seattle demonstrations

Fox News published digitally altered and misleading images on its website’s homepage Friday that made a demonstration in Seattle, in which a group of largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters have occupied six city blocks, appear violent and dangerous.

CNN

I'm not saying any new shit:
"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."

- Letter from a Birmingham Jail, MLK

I'm pretty sure all the white folks (and anyone else who didn't learn the underlying lessons first hand) were assigned to learn about Red Summer, the Chinese Exclusion Acts, Wilmington 1898, and more than a few other things that came up in cultural conversation during the last Trump presidency. This is all on the test, and you're taking it now.

But in case anyone missed the assignment, I'll give you the TL;DR: ethnic cleansing has been central to American politics basically forever, which shouldn't be surprising given it's a nation founded on genocide and the belief in the right to commit it without constraint.

If you haven't done the math yet, I'll help you out. The "Haitian Immigrants" lets them grab black folks, they've been grabbing folks from Mexico south and lumping in indigenous Americans (just so they don't skip out on the oldest American genocide), and the Muslim ban/Hamas rhetoric lets them grab anyone who else they see fit.

The lack of due process lets them grab anyone and they don't have to prove anything. They're talking about deporting "one million" and possibly"millions" of people. So how do they get those numbers?

There are already reports that they're just grabbing random brown folks, trying to take 3k people per day. They fly to blue cities and grab as many black and brown people as they can, then send them to death camps in foreign countries and pretend they have no way to get them back. That's it. That's the game.

This isn't new. The big difference now is that the cops aren't hiding their uniforms under white hoods this time. Do you get it yet?

And just to be 100% clear, #LosAngeles is nailing it. Massive peaceful protests are great. That's absolutely unequivocally a good thing. So are burning cop cars. Diversity of tactics is critical.

Escalating radically at a protest with kids and grandmas is a shit thing to do. Don't do that unless it's absolutely necessary. Having kids and grandmas out protesting is important. Having them peacefully block vehicles with their bodies or occupy ICE facilitates *is* a strong thing. That is real. That's not virtue signaling, it does something... And sometimes that isn't enough. Sometimes things *need* to escalate to save people.

Diversity is good. Don't break the diversity of tactics *either way*. #LA seems to be doing a pretty good job right now or holding that balance. I hope to see more of that in every city.

@Hex I agree.

The liberals need to realize that if they don't fight "to avoid giving Trump an excuse" that just means he takes all he wants without even having to fight for it.

Sand in the gears folks, hit them every way you can!

@Hex “Do you have literally no memory” is what I feel like screaming six or seven times a day

@Hex

Get down & dirty, they are counting on you to be placid, and that is why they simply walk all over you, they aren't scared, show them why they should be.

Go old school, grease combo B, when they have no scruples, why should you?

(that's just an example, not saying do that, but like if you boobytrap their gears, setup things for them to fall victim to, they'll start wondering what is going to happen - to them, and that's the key - psychological warfare, guerilla warfare, this is how it is done, you have to make them fearful for their life, 2nd guessing themselves, do I turn this on boom, or oh no I'm on fire, stuff like that is hugely demoralizing)

@Hex

And if you do it well enough, they will spend most of their time checking their gear, which also means they can't actually do, what they intend to do.

@Hex

Engine propelled shaft hitting target in the stomach, won't kill you probably, but wound, maim, sure, scare the crap out of you 100%. (like when you start vehicle, stomach is open)

@Hex Yes. Playing a fair game against an opponent that cheats and thinking you can win just because you didn’t is quite a fool’s errand.

They are hitting the weak spot they know: A respect for truth, with a strength that they have: No care for truth.

You should be hitting their weak spot too: No tolerance for ridicule, humiliation, etc..

@gimulnautti @Hex I really wonder where that idea comes from that fascists are intolerant of ridicule, and that's why ridicule is some kind of weapon against them, if I understand you correctly, instead of making propaganda for fascists and strengthening the cult feelings of their supporters?

@Heidentweet @gimulnautti it's similar to fragile masculinity, where the fash must continually perform "strength" to maintain their identity. Every time they perform "strength," they are gambling some of their existing perception for more.

Ridicule makes them lose that gamble, forcing them to escalate and double down. Escalation alienates moderates and serves to radicalize those on the margins. Laughing at them is the best possible response, strategically.

@Heidentweet @Hex Yes they are. If you study the history of strongman regimes — and they always fall — ridicule has been a very efficient tactic against most of them.

The narrative of invincibility is a key factor in both the path to achieving totalitarianism, and in maintaining it.

Absolute loyalty at all times; another key pillar all authorian regimes must maintain to survive.

Ridicule hits at these two critical underpinnings simultaneously.

@gimulnautti @Hex
Ah, thank you both for the explanations. I was thinking about this example: here in NL people made stickers with Wilders portret with only a small red circle with red cross bar over it, and that's not ridicule, but sharing a fascist face. Same with sharing Musk's Nazi salute, that's not ridicule either.

I have to say my bar is high, I'm also not impressed with ridicule using ableism and agism, if we even could call that ridicule. Trump is a fascist, not a baby. Especially not when I look at the so-called politicians deemed "adults" in comparison, who paved the way for people like him (e.g. Rutte and Kaag here in NL) and get good publicity by the comparison. In short, I think it's not an easy thing to make good satire and ridicule.

@Heidentweet @gimulnautti I think stickers of Wilders as a clown are pretty good, and I'm not against making his bumbling incompetence. Honestly, I think his silly hair is fair game too.

@Hex @Heidentweet @gimulnautti

Tim Walz calling them "weird" was literal jiu-jitsu. The Harris campaign shutting it down is the biggest piece of evidence for me that they didn't *want* to win, or knew the thing was rigged but didn't want to make trouble "for the good of the nation". Or, I guess, more likely they're just incompetents of the highest order.

@johnzajac @gimulnautti @Heidentweet Yeah, he actually totally nailed it. It really took a lot of fucking up to give it back to Trump.

@Hex @gimulnautti @Heidentweet

They thought loudly supporting a genocide and courting torturers was gonna read better with the Maga base.

🤷‍♂️

@Hex
@johnzajac @gimulnautti

The "weird," (I'm talking about how that word alone was picked up) and the hair (which Trevor Noah did in 2016 or 17 using Trump and Wilders) were and are completely useless, because they didn't ridicule the fascism.

This is polical satire: https://newsie.social/@royaards/114674798474991909

And this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IKICKcMU3MU

E.g. Wilders has threatened to sue a few satirists, which just gave him media attention. That's also the function of the buffoonery, lies (not hypocrisy but fascist reality-making) and the sabotage (the "incompetence").

So unless I was an Eli Levy or a John Oliver, I wouldn't put my energy in not-giving-a-punch-in-the-stomach-too ridicule to give fascists attention. Fascists don't care until they're in power and the killing starts.

But each to their own. Diversity of tactics and so on and on.

Tjeerd Royaards (@royaards@newsie.social)

Attached: 1 image You Won't Believe It's Not Fascism! The traditional flavor of oppression with an aroma of deportations and more than a hint of racism. Cartoon for Trouw. #Trump #USA #LAprotests #fascism

Newsie

@Heidentweet @johnzajac @gimulnautti I mean the problem here is that the media was afraid to actually say the real thing because of Pim Fortuyn.

When forced to make a choice between risking the life of a politician by accurately describing him, or risking the lives of vulnerable people by helping him hide his intentions, liberal media will always sacrifice the vulnerable.

@Hex @johnzajac @gimulnautti I wasn't talking about the Dutch racist media, but with people here who advised using ridicule as an antifascist tool.

IMNSHO, everybody throws vulnerable people under the bus when they focus on ridiculing Wilders hair, or calling Trump weird or a baby. Wilders has moved this country exactly where he wants it, with a lot of help from "adult" politicians, during the last 19 years, so by making him into a clown or an incompetent (which is the tactic of choice of the completely useless political center/-left here) does nothing to slowdown the fascist creep or protect vulnerable groups. That's the point I'm addressing.

@Heidentweet @johnzajac @gimulnautti that's fair. There's a whole set of things that have to happen to actually do something about fascism, just as there are a set of things that push towards fascism.

Liberalism is especially vulnerable to fascism, liberal politicians will basically always fall for their traps, and liberal media will basically always pave the way for fascists.

Ridicule alone isn't enough (see Trump). We need viable alternatives also. His visible explosion seems to be helping his popularity decline (unless I'm reading it wrong), but there's definitely some missing pieces. Anarchists are definitely filling in a lot, but it seems like there needs to be another Provo movement or something that combines anarchist tendencies with political power.

But that's my naive read of things, I'm still very much learning the political landscape here.

@Hex @Heidentweet @gimulnautti

I think it's important to distinguish between fascism rising and fascism that has seized power.

Ridicule is an good tactic to slow fascism's advance, but it won't do anything to actually stop it from taking power.

The only thing that actually stops it from taking power is leftist policies implemented in good faith.

Once it's taken power, the entire playbook changes.

Ridiculing Maga right now is useless.

@johnzajac @Hex @Heidentweet Yes. But you are trying to make it into a binary.

If we look at successfull protests, they have succeeded because they contained both activist and pacifist elements.

Everyone must be able to attend, and the protestors must not turn against each other or criticise each other’s methods.

Ridicule is one the best methods of protest non-activist protestors can wield. But they also provide the mass.

Protests fail when people divide.

@Hex His explosions are for his voters who love this. And they make his accomplices in other parties look like reasonable alternatives.

As the coming campaign will be again about "migration," Wilders' party will very likely grow in parliamentary seats. I really wonder why campaign strategists on the left don't use any political research on these subjects, but🤷‍♀️ (it's likely the racism).

@johnzajac @gimulnautti

@johnzajac @Hex @Heidentweet Yes. That could’ve been a key to defeating Trump. It was on the right track.

Because scare-mongering doesn’t really work: They’re the ones doing it about you anyway.

They’re the good guys, too. So that doesn’t help either. Their religious narratives top yours in epic scale easily.

But quick wit & outmanouvering. That’s what gets them. Because they’re also the winners.

@gimulnautti @Heidentweet @Hex This is why cartoonists in fascist countries are so often among the first victims.
@gimulnautti I think it was Lennon who said that there is no defence against ridicule, and that's why authoritarians hate it so much -- will even kill people over it.

@Hex

Also, this reminds me of this meme:

@Hex

There is not, and has never been, an unconvinced group. This is a myth the right uses to control you.

Don't underestimate the number of people who do a thing because they believe it is the majority opinion. They don't need convincing that something is right, they need convincing that something is popular. Large protests move that needle.

@david_chisnall I agree with this, but the level of reaction is important too. If we're saying it's fascism, we're seeing a genocide in progress, and folks are protesting peacefully then the message doesn't match the response.

So, yeah, 100% yes and...

@Hex this is incredible. I can't share it enough.

@Hex
The only optics that will be left if the fascists take over will be the party line/propaganda. To keep catering to that now simply tells a person that they were either complicit with, or simply found it safer and more convenient to side with the fascists.

The fact is, complicit media will lie openly about what is happening anyway. Why not go protect your rights? How are you saving face if the other side will just claim it was mayhem regardless?