For Three Hours, I Was Terribly, Terribly Wrong

 "-- You probably won't see conservatives burning down government buildings, looting pharmacies, and assaulting police officers."

...okay, so here is my response. Obviously, most of the things I listed in November as to what you probably won't see conservatives do after a Biden victory did not take place on January 6, but one, assaulting police officers, certainly did happen, amid the contemptible rioting at the U.S. Capitol Building.

One could argue that these weren't true conservatives, but that's a little too close to the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. One could also contend that the people invading the Capitol Building were not merely acting like Antifa, but actually were Antifa. I'm willing to believe that some of them were, but also willing to believe that most of them were actual Trump supporters.

Is Trump responsible for what happened? As I've written before, much of what he says and tweets is reckless. However, the fact that he told his supporters that they should "peacefully and patriotically" make their voices heard. The media who keep airing clips of his use of the word "fight" -- a word used in a non-physical context by maybe every human being ever involved in politics -- but not airing those key words are part of the problem.  

Last year, Michelle Obama et al were quick to regurgitate the statistic that "93%" of the protesting for BLM was peaceful. 

(A few words about this. The March for Life to end the legalization of abortion takes place every January, and in non-pandemic years brings several tens of thousands of activists to march on Pennsylvania Avenue. Let's say there's a lean year, and "only" 10,000 people attend, and exactly 93% of them keep it peaceful, meaning 700 of the pro-lifers are smashing windows, throwing Molotov cocktails, burning down buildings, and physically attacking police officers and other people. Raise your hand if you think the media would focus on the 9,300 of the activists who were peaceful, rather than the 700 who were not...)

Anyway, if "only" 7% of BLM protesters riot, then maybe people should ask themselves if around 7,500,000 people who voted Republican in the fall election should be held accountable for the actions of a couple of thousand.

Finally, if you were one of the people who watched rioting took place not for three hours but rather for a few months, not in one city, but in 140 cities, and not five but rather 35 people were killed, and you either looked the other way, made excuses, or said that it should continue, then I don't want to hear a word from you right now. Those of us who criticized that rioting are qualified to criticize this rioting. The rest of you can sit down.