from The Gray Area:
2/11/22:
The continuing truckers protest & convoy in Canada is inspiring and frustrating many. The left is calling for the use of force to remove the Canadians truckers from Ottawa streets and US border crossings. The right is cheering the protestors to continue their fight against government overreach and tyranny associated with COVID mandates. Meanwhile, the idea of COVID vaccine mandate protests is spreading throughout the world.
The hypocrisy in this situation screams out in every direction. It can be seen clearly in this Babylon Bee post; Trudeau Demands Protesters Stop Shutting Down City So That He Can Shut Down City. It can also be seen in this statement by Canadian officials; “threatening” and “illegal” behavior after monuments including the National War Memorial were defaced and demonstrators displayed “illegal” and “intimidating” behavior to police and others, including staff at a soup kitchen for homeless people. Sound like the summer of 2020 riots in the US. and ongoing siege in Portland. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau further stated, these protest hurt “regular Canadians whether it’s grocery store prices, whether it’s jobs lost or suspended, whether it’s supply chains disrupted...”. Like his lockdowns don't.
But, that hypocrisy is lost on the Canadian government and leftists around the world.
What to do?
If you were on the side of George Floyd rioters in 2020, you let the violence and illegal acts continue. Now, if you agree with the trucker's complaints, as a statement of fairness, you want these protests to continue.
If you wanted the George Floyd protest to be stopped, because of the damage and violence, but you want these to continue, there is a question. If you wanted the George Floyd riots to continue and these to stop, there is the same question.
Why one and not the other?
The answer is the same for both. Because one floats your political boat and the other doesn't. Once you accept that, the answer is clear what to do.
But, that hypocrisy is also lost on the right & the left who support their favorite protest.
Both protests, when they become violent, endanger people and business, stop commerce, and or create a pubic nuisance, must be stopped. They are no longer protests, they are riots. The George Flood, BLM, anti-Fa summer of 2020 protests were obviously riots, the media's political narrative refused to say that, but they were and are. The trucker protest is just a protest. Nothing like the violence of 2020 is happening in Canada, but business is being purposely blocked and that needs to stop.
If the trucker protest is halted where the 2020 riots were not, as much as I hate to admit it, the media will win the messaging battle. They will say the truckers were so bad they had to be stopped. But, the 2020 riots were not stopped, so they were okay. Not true at all, but still the preferred political narrative of the media and it will be replayed ad nauseum. But, that message will not win the day, because the truth eventually wins out. And, like the 2020 riots, this truth is obvious.
We have to stop this protest now to send a message forward to future protestors; protest yes, riot no!
Stop & go home! By the way, this is what stopped the Capitol riot January 6th, 2021. The rioters were told to stop & go home, and they did. All over in hours, not weeks, not months.
What if a trucker rally is started in the US? Good. Have your rally, protest whatever you are protesting, drive across America and after you get to DC, make your demands, then go home.
The US Constitution allows us to bring our grievances to the government, but not to riot or otherwise disrupt business, property and people. That ideal should be universally applied, even though we are not doing a good job of it here in the US. Therefore, using the example of Martin Luther King, protest, do not riot, and then go home. After you get home, continue your protest by pushing your message through the proper political channels.
Otherwise, nothing good will come of this.