I’ve said for a long time what is echoed in part 2 of today’s Triad:
“The rule of law is only as good as the guys with guns willing to enforce it.”
I’ll go darker and say that’s exactly what Trump understood when he said in 2019 that:
”I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad,”
These guys know what exactly they’re doing when they tell you that all the people with guns are on their side. They *know* that the rule of law really just comes down to the people/institutions with guns being willing to enforce the laws fairly. At the end of the day, the rule of law just comes from a social contract where we say that a system of rules backed by a monopoly on use of force by the state should exist, but if the people/institutes with the guns who enforce the rules one day decide that the social contract was violated and they are no longer beholden to a corrupted system, then all bets are off. That’s what people like Trump want to happen. They want the system to unravel by convincing enough people that the social contract has been violated and therefore the system should go away.
Yep. Like what happened this weekend with border patrol v. Texas national guard. This is playing out in this season of “Fargo”-can’t wait for the finale tonight!
Lindsey Graham to the Capitol Police on Jan. 6: “What are you doing? Take back the Senate! You’ve got guns, use them”. Imagine the bloodbath if they had, especially when you consider the reaction to just the death of Ashley Babbitt. We could’ve had the Proud Boys’ civil war right then and there that day.
Not just “good guys with guns.” Most important, good guys with guns AND intelligence. I looked up this clip that impressed the hell out of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyWuw205um0
Exactly. I'm convinced the organizers and leaders of the January 6th putsch were 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 one, possibly more, of their dupes would be killed. They're surely aware of how valuable it would be to have their own Horst Wessel and just sick enough to aim for it.
I am generally pretty middle ground on guns. Have never fired one but really think they can do good as a protection in the home when living in high crime areas and used by responsible owners.
However, I have never been a fan of guns in public because they are such force multipliers. The statement “The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” only works when you can distinguish who is who.
I think the most significant gun law in our country’s history turned out to be the ban on concealed carry in Washington DC. I ask my pro-gun friends, can you imagine what January 6th would’ve been like with 5000+ guns as opposed to a handful in the crowd?
And as far as JVL your great points on Trump voters, I like to tell people it wasn’t the Capitol rioters that are the problem. It’s the much larger number of Trump voters traveling to DC to “protest”. I surmise at least 60% of those that showed up knew Biden beat Trump fairly but still thought Trump should be President anyway.
I’ve said for a long time what is echoed in part 2 of today’s Triad:
“The rule of law is only as good as the guys with guns willing to enforce it.”
I’ll go darker and say that’s exactly what Trump understood when he said in 2019 that:
”I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad,”
These guys know what exactly they’re doing when they tell you that all the people with guns are on their side. They *know* that the rule of law really just comes down to the people/institutions with guns being willing to enforce the laws fairly. At the end of the day, the rule of law just comes from a social contract where we say that a system of rules backed by a monopoly on use of force by the state should exist, but if the people/institutes with the guns who enforce the rules one day decide that the social contract was violated and they are no longer beholden to a corrupted system, then all bets are off. That’s what people like Trump want to happen. They want the system to unravel by convincing enough people that the social contract has been violated and therefore the system should go away.
100% yes. And in many parts of the country, Trump is right. "Constitutional sheriffs" and plenty of police would take his side if called to it.
It's only as you go up the ladder of professionalization that you get people with guns who would resist Trump's command. Like the Capitol Police.
Yep. Like what happened this weekend with border patrol v. Texas national guard. This is playing out in this season of “Fargo”-can’t wait for the finale tonight!
Lindsey Graham to the Capitol Police on Jan. 6: “What are you doing? Take back the Senate! You’ve got guns, use them”. Imagine the bloodbath if they had, especially when you consider the reaction to just the death of Ashley Babbitt. We could’ve had the Proud Boys’ civil war right then and there that day.
Not just “good guys with guns.” Most important, good guys with guns AND intelligence. I looked up this clip that impressed the hell out of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyWuw205um0
Exactly. I'm convinced the organizers and leaders of the January 6th putsch were 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 one, possibly more, of their dupes would be killed. They're surely aware of how valuable it would be to have their own Horst Wessel and just sick enough to aim for it.
I am generally pretty middle ground on guns. Have never fired one but really think they can do good as a protection in the home when living in high crime areas and used by responsible owners.
However, I have never been a fan of guns in public because they are such force multipliers. The statement “The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” only works when you can distinguish who is who.
I think the most significant gun law in our country’s history turned out to be the ban on concealed carry in Washington DC. I ask my pro-gun friends, can you imagine what January 6th would’ve been like with 5000+ guns as opposed to a handful in the crowd?
And as far as JVL your great points on Trump voters, I like to tell people it wasn’t the Capitol rioters that are the problem. It’s the much larger number of Trump voters traveling to DC to “protest”. I surmise at least 60% of those that showed up knew Biden beat Trump fairly but still thought Trump should be President anyway.