By The Signal Editorial Board
Being a news organization, we of course believe strongly in the First Amendment, and we believe it is our duty to provide a public forum for opinions on a wide spectrum of political beliefs. We are a virtual town square and we publish diverse views on these opinion pages. We disagree with many of them, but nevertheless we publish them to encourage discussion.
We also believe in peaceful demonstrations, as they are also protected under the First Amendment. It is a tenet of our society.
But to quote Attorney General William Barr, “Since when is it OK to try to burn down a federal court?”
When did it become OK to riot, destroy property, attack law enforcement officials and innocent civilians, and pretend it’s a peaceful protest?
If you are not aware of what’s going on in Portland, Oregon, this is what has been happening.
For more than 65 nights “protesters” have rioted in Portland. Portland Mayor Fred Wheeler refuses to do anything. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown until this week refused to do anything to stop these “mostly peaceful protesters” from attacking the federal courthouse, trying to burn it down and injuring more than 60 federal law enforcement officers. They have thrown rocks, frozen water bottles, bricks and fireworks, and used laser pointers and other weapons such as rifles, explosives, knives, saws, sledgehammers, tasers and slingshots to injure officers who were brought in to protect federal property (yours and ours).
The mayor and the governor did nothing to stop the mayhem for more than 60 days.
Democrats accuse Barr of inciting violence by sending federal officers to protect the buildings, and of using federal officers as a political prop for President Donald Trump’s reelection.
Democrats in power say these are peaceful protesters and they deny all the violence, despite all the video evidence to the contrary.
Democrats in power say the government is sending in “stormtroopers” and unidentified police, which is not true, as the federal officers were wearing uniforms that clearly identified which agency they were from. They accuse law enforcement of starting the violence even though it had been going on for six weeks before they arrived. The government has been accused of randomly rounding up protesters for no reason, which is also untrue, as those arrested were suspected of federal crimes.
They try to say this is a practice run for after the election when the federal government will send troops to every American city and declare martial law.
These are not just protests. This is an attempt to destroy our democracy. To inhibit free speech. To keep people from expressing their views.
The Portland demonstration and others like it around the country now are not peaceful protests against racism. It’s not about George Floyd, and it’s not even about police violence, as we have heard no one say what happened to George Floyd was acceptable.
Not one person. If there’s one thing the vast majority of people seem to agree on — and sometimes it seems like it may be the only thing — it’s that the killing of George Floyd was a heinous act by a police officer who should be prosecuted for murder.
This is not a fight for any of the stated causes. It’s a fight against civilization, a fight between those who want to destroy society and those who want to preserve it.
A battle between anarchy and civilization itself.
The violent protesters hate this country. They hate our society, our way of life, and they are trying to tear it down. Democrats are denying this is happening, and letting it happen — but not because they agree with it. We submit that it’s entirely a matter of convenient politics.
Chaos hurts Trump’s chances of reelection. People don’t vote for an incumbent when there is strife and unrest in the country.
Therefore, for Democrats trying to achieve a political goal, chaos is good. Until November.
This week, former President Barack Obama even denied the violence in order to politicize it in favor of Democrats, saying, “George Wallace may be gone, but we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators.”
Other Democrats echo the denial of the violence. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, says the violence and Antifa are myths.
This must stop. Democrats and Republicans must come together to restore order. The quest for power at all costs must stop.
The violent demonstrators are not anti-racist — they are anti-America. Democrats in power aren’t anti-American themselves. But they are remaining silent to take advantage of it because it will help topple Trump in November. They are willing to turn a blind eye to the chaos because it serves their political goals.
And destroying Trump is what matters most to them — regardless of the collateral damage.
