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Title: Reflecting the Authoritarian Climate, Washington Will Remain Militarized Until At Least March
Source: [None]
URL Source: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/re ... ting-the-authoritarian-climate
Published: Jan 27, 2021
Author: Glenn Greenwald
Post Date: 2021-01-27 06:48:05 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 102
Comments: 7

The idea of troops in U.S. streets for an extended period of time -- an extreme measure even when temporary -- has now become close to a sacred consensus.

National Guard soldiers assemble near the U.S Capitol two days after the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, on January 22, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Washington, DC has been continuously militarized beginning the week leading up to Joe Biden’s inauguration, when 20,000 National Guard troops were deployed onto the streets of the nation’s capital. The original justification was that this show of massive force was necessary to secure the inauguration in light of the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

But with the inauguration over and done, those troops remain and are not going anywhere any time soon. Working with federal law enforcement agencies, the National Guard Bureau announced on Monday that between 5,000 and 7,000 troops will remain in Washington until at least mid- March.

Type your email… Subscribe The rationale for this extraordinary, sustained domestic military presence has shifted several times, typically from anonymous U.S. law enforcement officials. The original justification — the need to secure the inaugural festivities — is obviously no longer operative.

So the new claim became that the impeachment trial of former President Trump that will take place in the Senate in February necessitated military reinforcements. On Sunday, Politico quoted “four people familiar with the matter” to claim that “Trump’s upcoming Senate impeachment trial poses a security concern that federal law enforcement officials told lawmakers last week requires as many as 5,000 National Guard troops to remain in Washington through mid- March.”

The next day, AP, citing “a U.S. official,” said the ongoing troop deployment was needed due to “ominous chatter about killing legislators or attacking them outside of the U.S. Capitol.” But the anonymous official acknowledged that “the threats that law enforcement agents are tracking vary in specificity and credibility.” Even National Guard troops complained that they “have so far been given no official justifications, threat reports or any explanation for the extended mission — nor have they seen any violence thus far.”

It is hard to overstate what an extreme state of affairs it is to have a sustained military presence in American streets. Prior deployments have been rare, and usually were approved for a limited period and/or in order to quell a very specific, ongoing uprising — to ensure the peaceful segregation of public schools in the South, to respond to the unrest in Detroit and Chicago in the 1960s, or to quell the 1991 Los Angeles riots that erupted after the Rodney King trial.

Deploying National Guard or military troops for domestic law enforcement purposes is so dangerous that laws in place from the country’s founding strictly limit its use. It is meant only as a last resort, when concrete, specific threats are so overwhelming that they cannot be quelled by regular law enforcement absent military reinforcements. Deploying active military troops is an even graver step than putting National Guard soldiers on the streets, but they both present dangers. As Trump’s Defense Secretary said in response to calls from some over the summer to deploy troops in response to the Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests: “The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations."

Are we even remotely at such an extreme state where ordinary law enforcement is insufficient? The January 6 riot at the Capitol would have been easily repelled with just a couple hundred more police officers. The U.S. is the most militarized country in the world, and has the most para-militarized police force on the planet. Earlier today, the Acting Chief of the Capitol Police acknowledged that they had advanced knowledge of what was planned but failed to take necessary steps to police it.

Future violent acts in the name of right-wing extremism, as well as other causes, is highly likely if not inevitable. But the idea that the country faces some sort of existential armed insurrection that only the military can suppress is laughable on its face.

Recall that ABC News, on January 11, citing “an internal FBI bulletin obtained by ABC News,” claimed that “starting this week and running through at least Inauguration Day, armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols and at the U.S. Capitol.” The news outlet added in highly dramatic and alarming tones:

The FBI has also received information in recent days on a group calling for “storming” state, local and federal government courthouses and administrative buildings in the event President Donald Trump is removed from office prior to Inauguration Day. The group is also planning to “storm” government offices in every state the day President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated, regardless of whether the states certified electoral votes for Biden or Trump.

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#1. To: Ada (#0)

"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡

"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." -- Thomas Jefferson

ghostdogtxn  posted on  2021-01-27   18:07:25 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Ada (#0)

A curtain descends on our constitutional Republic - we now live in a military dictatorship.

FUCK Joe Biden and that sleazy whore he rode in on.

“With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group."
-Alex Kurtagic

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X-15  posted on  2021-01-27   18:24:47 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: X-15 (#2) (Edited)

that sleazy whore he rode in on.

When we worked Alan Jackson, he had in big lettering behind him the words, "YEE HAW". ROTFLOL

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke

BTP Holdings  posted on  2021-01-27   18:38:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: X-15, 4um (#2)

A curtain descends on our constitutional Republic - we now live in a military dictatorship.

And so it goes...

FUCK Joe Biden and that sleazy whore he rode in on.

Would that be the "doctor" or Willie Brown's ex-sidepiece or both?

The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. - Dr. Eldon Tyrell

Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)

Esso  posted on  2021-01-27   18:55:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Esso (#4)

Willie Brown

Oh, he was the crack smoking Mayor of D.C. wasn't he? ;)

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke

BTP Holdings  posted on  2021-01-27   19:10:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: BTP Holdings, 4um (#5)

Oh, he was the crack smoking Mayor of D.C. wasn't he?

No.

The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. - Dr. Eldon Tyrell

Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)

Esso  posted on  2021-01-27   19:18:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Ada (#0)

Washington Will Remain Militarized

On the plus side, for at least a while there might be fewer far flung heroes killing the children of Israel's middle-eastern enemies.

StraitGate  posted on  2021-01-27   21:13:10 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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