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Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests

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281–290 of 1001 posts

Re: Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests

#281

[flagged]

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of democracy. In a democracy you cannot vote your self a dictator. A democracy has democratic institutions such as courts and different branches of government, or systems in place which prevent any one individual from misusing their power, or grabbing more power then they have been handed from the electorate. In a democracy people can vote for the Devil him self, and the Devil h…

History shows that to simply not the case. Individuals are bringing down democracies all the time. Especially presidential democracies are super vulnerable to this because the president has outsized power compared to the other branches of the government.

Re: Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests

#283

Politics aside, LA just can't seem to catch a break. Floods last year, fires earlier this year and now this. That said, what the current administration is doing is almost like they're following a manual other countries followed on their road to nationalistic decline and all the right people in places of power seem to know this. I wonder if they're ready for it? My observation is that the previous administration had f…

> LA just can't seem to catch a break. Floods last year, fires earlier this year and now this I'm in LA right now. If I didn't read the news I wouldn't know anything is up.

Living in LA is so great. The only thing I regret in my life is not getting here sooner.

Re: Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests

#284
post #49

This is terrifying and unconscionable. Hard to believe this is the USA today. I don’t really see this de-escalating given the ongoing rhetoric but I hope I’m wrong.

George Bush called up the National Guard and the Marines in 1992 for the Rodney King riots. At least 4000....

Re: Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests

#286
post #4

I worry that, rather than de-escalation, one of the White House’s explicit goals here is to stage manage a Kent State-like demonstration of state force against left-wing activists that spreads to other cities. I sincerely hope I’m cynically wrong here.

And the optics of Kent State worked so well for the administration. Kind of like shooting reporters with rubber bullets.

The majority of non-city dwellers I know are now so propagandized against cities that I think they would be neutral to outright supportive of a kill order.

This is a dire situation and I'm not sure how this country crawls back out of this authoritarian slide, but we've got to somehow.

Re: Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests

#288
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not american but I remember marines being mobilized for hurricane Katrina in New Orleans too. Funny that if it's so bad to deploy them, why is it OK to deploy them in other countries?

Being deployed to help in a disaster is very different from being deployed to quell protests.

They have been used in the past to quell protests (in LA), by Bush the senior in 1992. Actually he sent in more than the current number.

Re: Marines being mobilized in response to LA protests

#289
post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

By what authority can they actually use violence to guard these federal workers and buildings? Not the insurection act, and so not at all due to pose comitatus. What can they do to guard then?

Typically their presence alone is enough to stop anything new from happening. In theory they would only need to use enough violence to defend themselves. That's how we got Kent State but in general Kent State was also because the guards in that situation found themselves alone and isolated with little training. In a modern context 60 national guards standing around outside of a downtown highrise with a couple Humvees is unlikely to see any escalation.
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