2021 American Political Scene

[Parihaka]

Actually, Pari, I am well aware of the assault

And by the way, it wasn't an assault, it was a rape. Perhaps you meant sexual assault, but it wasn't, it was rape.
Or did you mean Smith assault of police?

[zraver]

You are a statist who supports the Left, ergo you are a Leftist. It's why you have probably 5k posts stalking anything right of center and 0 left of center. Your only complaint against Biden is he did not go statist hard enough against land lords. Oh BTW, now 60 days post withdrawal and there are still hundreds of Americans stranded in Afghanistan that's in part due to you voting for him

[Parihaka]

That's not what I asked.

So his violence against that woman was justified in your opinion, do I have that correct?

Violence against which woman. I've seen a shouting match following her statement that she didn't believe his daughter, but the only physical action by Smith seems to be pushing away the arm of the arresting officer?

To be entirely clear: which woman are you claiming Smith was violent against?

[Albany Rifles]

His daughter being raped seemed a rather large elephant in the room to ignore, when it made it a real world issue of girls rights not to be raped rather than characterized as "student transgender rights."

Not ignoring that at all. It is a separate issue. The school boards hands were tied by the Supreme Court & the Commonwealth's Legislature.

[Albany Rifles]

And by the way, it wasn't an assault, it was a rape. Perhaps you meant sexual assault, but it wasn't, it was rape.
Or did you mean Smith assault of police?

Oh FFS....I wasn't making light of it. Yes, it was sexual assault...specifically forcible sodomy. I am not underplaying that. The father had a very real reason to be upset.

But I am, again, trying to figure out how any of this involves politics? No where that I saw has anyone's political party or beliefs have been brought up. Haven't seen it in our local newspaper or on the local news.

So I am still trying to figure out how this is a political issue.

[TopHatter]

To be entirely clear: which woman are you claiming Smith was violent against?

My question was: To be clear, violence occurs when physical contact occurs, is that correct?

[Parihaka]

Not ignoring that at all. It is a separate issue. The school boards hands were tied by the Supreme Court & the Commonwealth's Legislature.

Oh FFS....I wasn't making light of it. Yes, it was sexual assault...specifically forcible sodomy. I am not underplaying that. The father had a very real reason to be upset.

But I am, again, trying to figure out how any of this involves politics? No where that I saw has anyone's political party or beliefs have been brought up. Haven't seen it in our local newspaper or on the local news.

So I am still trying to figure out how this is a political issue.

Because

1: The way your views are informed

2:Those parents, including and specifically naming Scott Smith, who object to the policies of the School Board, Supreme Court and Commonwealths Legislature are politically branded as Domestic Terrorists by your politicians and federal forces, and treated as such.

[Parihaka]

Cruz questioning AG Garland apropos Scott Smith and the politics involved.

[Albany Rifles]

Because

1: The way your views are informed

Yeah....I read that 2 weeks ago and disagreed with it then. Plus, it doesn't even come close to covering how I get my news.

2:Those parents, including and specifically naming Scott Smith, who object to the policies of the School Board, Supreme Court and Commonwealths Legislature are politically branded as Domestic Terrorists by your politicians and federal forces, and treated as such.

While I can more than understand the anger and frustration of Mr. Smith, threatening school board members is not justified. Again, the School Board's hands were tied...per the laws of the Commonwealth of where I live they have to follow state law...a law that came about because of matters which occurred in this state and made its way to the Supreme Court and was decided.

As for the widespread attacks in this country...well, if you threaten violence against elected schoolboard officials, which has happened numerous times across the land, then the Justice Department should step in and investigate, especially in states where they state government refuses to provide for the safety of those boards.

[Albany Rifles]

And to be sure...the term Domestic Terrorists did not come from the DOJ and the targets are not protesters but people who threaten violence towards schoolboard officials.

Posts mischaracterize school board organization’s letter to Biden


By TERRENCE FRASER

October 5, 2021

CLAIM: The National School Boards Association is asking the Biden administration to label parents who protest school policies domestic terrorists.


AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The organization — the NSBA, for short — is not asking Biden to label parents who protest at school board meetings as terrorists. The NSBA asked the administration to do an interagency investigation of threats of violence against school board members and said the threats “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” Biden has yet to publicly comment on the issue, and there’s no indication he or the Department of Justice has called protesting parents “domestic terrorists,” despite false claims to that effect by social media users.

THE FACTS: Local school boards around the country have become political battlegrounds over issues such as COVID-19 mask rules, the treatment of transgender students and how to teach the history of racism and slavery in America, The Associated Press has reported.

The National School Boards Association, a non-profit representing U.S. school boards, said these disputes were also leading to harassment and threats of violence against school board members. On Sept. 29, the NSBA sent a letter to President Joe Biden, asking his administration to investigate these threats.

According to AP reporting, the NSBA’s letter documents more than 20 instances of threats, harassment, disruption and acts of intimidation in California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio and other states. It cites the September arrest of an Illinois man for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct for allegedly striking a school official at a meeting.

But on Sept. 30, social media users took to Instagram to spread misinformation about the letter.

A popular Instagram post circulated widely last week, showing a screenshot of a tweet by Chris Rufo, an anti-critical race theory activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “The National School Boards Association asked the feds to crack down on anti-critical race theory protests as ‘domestic terrorism,’” Rufo said in the screenshot image.

Another Instagram post shared a screenshot of a tweet by an account called Fight for Schools, which advocates for the full reopening of public schools and against the teaching of critical race theory.

“The National School Boards Association is asking the Biden administration to label parents who protest school policies as domestic terrorists,” the tweet said. An article from EdWeek is also shared as part of the tweet. “The White House should aid education leaders facing disruption and harassment over COVID-19 rules, a national group says,” the linked article says.

Rufo, in a comment emailed Thursday to The Associated Press, said the Biden administration is “using the FBI to suppress parents and criminalize dissent.”

In fact, the request for a law enforcement review did not come from the Biden administration. It came from the National School Boards Association, which, in its letter, requested that federal agencies conduct a review to “examine appropriate enforceable actions” in cases of “crimes and acts of violence.”

The NSBA says comments made by Rufo and Fight for Schools aren’t accurate because violence and threats are the issue, not protests from parents.

“This is absolutely false. NSBA and school board members don’t want to stop parents from expressing their First Amendment rights or label them as terrorists,” NSBA CEO Chip Slaven said in a statement emailed to the AP. “Our letter to President Biden was about stopping dangerous and threatening acts that school board members and other education leaders are receiving,” Slaven added.

NSBA’s letter to the Biden administration does state that threats against school board members “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes”that could be prosecuted under anti-terrorism and anti-hate crime statutes. But the NSBA has not asked Biden to label parents in any particular way. Rather, NSBA asked the federal government to assist local law enforcement in investigating the level of risk posed by threats.

“NSBA believes immediate assistance is required to protect our students, school board members, and educators who are susceptible to acts of violence affecting interstate commerce because of threats to their districts, families, and personal safety,” the NSBA letter said.

The letter goes on to request that federal agencies coordinate with local law enforcement and provide them with training. The letter also asks the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to intervene against threatening letters and cyberbullying attacks sent to teachers, students, school board members and district administrators.

“We want to stop the death threats, threats to family members, and other harassment and acts of intimidation,” Slaven said.

___

This story has been updated to add comment from Chris Rufo.

And the response by the DOJ clearly is targeted at violence and threats of violence and not speech and/or protests.

DOJ to Investigate Threats Against School Board Members


The FBI will look into a spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members across the country based on coronavirus policy, critical race theory and more.

By Lauren Camera
|
Oct. 4, 2021, at 9:13 p.m.

DOJ Takes on Threats Against School Boards

The Department of Justice will mobilize the FBI in response to a spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members across the country.

In a memorandum released Monday evening, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI and U.S. attorneys' offices to meet in the next 30 days with federal, state and local law enforcement leaders to outline strategies for addressing the incidents, which have become more frequent and more volatile in recent months.


"Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation's core values," Garland wrote in a memorandum released Monday evening. "Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety."

The announcement comes just days after the group representing the country's school boards wrote to President Joe Biden to plead for federal assistance in responding to mounting threats and violence that they likened to domestic terrorism against school board members related to their decisions on COVID-19 school safety policies, critical race theory and more.

"In recent months, there has been a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation's public schools," Garland wrote. "While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views."

According to the memorandum, the Justice Department will launch a series of efforts in the coming days "designed to address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel."

A task force, which is set to include representatives from the Justice Department's Criminal Division, National Security Division, Civil Rights Division, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the FBI and more, will determine how federal enforcement tools can be used to prosecute the threats and crimes, and ways to assist state and local law enforcement where threats of violence may not constitute federal crimes.

The memo also tasks the Justice Department with creating specialized training and guidance for local school boards and school administrators to help them understand the types of behaviors that constitute threats, how to report threatening conduct and to whom, and how to capture and preserve evidence of threatening conduct to aid in the investigation and prosecution process.

"Over the last few weeks, school board members and other education leaders have received death threats and have been subjected to threats and harassment, both online and in person," Chip Slaven, the interim executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association, said in a statement Monday evening.

Slaven said Garland's swift action is "a strong message to individuals with violent intent who are focused on causing chaos, disrupting our public schools, and driving wedges between school boards and the parents, students, and communities they serve."

[DOR]

What is Wrong With These People ?

Almost one in three of Republicans say violence may be necessary to ‘save’ US

The Guardian, Nov 1, 2021

Almost a third of Republicans believe violence may be necessary to “save” the US, according to a new poll.

Researchers at the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, found that 30% of Republicans agreed with the statement “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country”.

Among Americans who believe the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump, which it was not, 39% believe violence may be required. The troubling statistics show the post-election rancour that led to the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January is still very much in place.

Republicans are most likely to believe “true American patriots may have to resort to violence”, PRRI found, with just 11% of Democrats and 17% of independents agreeing with the statement. Among all Americans, 18% agreed.

PRRI said 2,508 adults, living in all 50 states, were interviewed for the survey between 16 and 29 September.

“It is an alarming finding,” Robert Jones, chief executive and founder of PRRI, told Yahoo News. “I’ve been doing this a while, for decades, and it’s not the kind of finding that as a sociologist, a public opinion pollster, that you’re used to seeing.”

Jones said the responses illustrate the “significant and rapidly increasing polarisation in the United States”.

“As we’ve gotten some distance [from the 6 January], one might hope cooler heads would prevail, but we really haven’t seen that,” Jones said. “If anything, it looks like people are doubling down and views are getting kind of locked in.”

The PRRI poll is not the first to discover an apparent readiness for violence among Republican voters.

The White House documents related to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol whose publication Donald Trump seeks to block include records from his top aides and memos to his press secretary, according to a court document published on October 30, 2021.

In February a survey by the American Enterprise Institute found that 39% of Republicans thought that “if elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions”.

Among all Americans, 29% agreed with that statement. Some 31% of independent voters and 17% of Democrats thought violent action might be required.

More than 650 people have been criminally charged for their role in the Capitol attack, in which five people died.

Trump is resisting attempts to investigate from a House select committee, most recently suing the national archives to stop the release of White House documents.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...e-save-us-poll

[tbm3fan]

Republicans are most likely to believe “true American patriots may have to resort to violence”, PRRI found, with just 11% of Democrats and 17% of independents agreeing with the statement. Among all Americans, 18% agreed.

or what I call the American Nazi which is pretty much what it is...

[zraver]

Today VA goes to the polls. If Youngkin wins, cue the claims its white rage despite VA voters picking Obama twice, Hillary and Biden. If they don't vote Dem suddenly they will be labeled racists, just like the saps in Iowa were...

[Albany Rifles]

Today VA goes to the polls. If Youngkin wins, cue the claims its white rage despite VA voters picking Obama twice, Hillary and Biden. If they don't vote Dem suddenly they will be labeled racists, just like the saps in Iowa were...

Or...it could be the Democrats picked a poor candidate (which the party did) and GOP folks are more energized as the Dems were in 17, 18 & 20.

The keys are NOVA suburbs, Richmond and its suburbs and Tidewater. Low turn out there spells bad news for the DEMs.

[zraver]

Or...it could be the Democrats picked a poor candidate (which the party did) and GOP folks are more energized as the Dems were in 17, 18 & 20.

The keys are NOVA suburbs, Richmond and its suburbs and Tidewater. Low turn out there spells bad news for the DEMs.

I think you are closer to the truth. I think I am closer to what will be the media narrative.