Over a dozen arrested at anti-ICE protests in Chicago suburb
This isn’t good for America.
President Trump is directing federal law enforcement and national guards to take a hard line in defending ICE agents and facilities.
Yes, it is authoritarian and is what Trump supporters voted for.
For a decade, the Occupy movement, Antifa, BLM and other organized and funded instigators have disrupted the lives of normal people and attacked law enforcement while facing few consequences. Progressive governors, mayors, district attorneys and college deans approved and encouraged the criminal behavior.
Watching rioters attempt to goad law enforcement into an interaction has been happening for years. What is new is seeing a law enforcement officer respond to a provocation by punching a rioter in the face or discharging pepper spray from 3 feet away.
After a rioter spits or shoves an officer, the secondary response is a dog pile of officers resulting in the offender being dragged off to be handcuffed and arrested.
The law enforcement officers will over-react or make mistakes. It’s not likely that the officer will face any discipline. That can lead to an authoritarian society.
These are not protestors outside ICE offices. Some number of participants are paid provocateurs. Some are people who just want to be in on the action. Any action. Some are more or less peaceful people who think they are attending a protest. They deserve the level of violence that addresses the chaos.
ICE officials are attempting to discharge their primary duties. They have been shot, sabotaged, doxxed and sued. They are showing impressive response, but if this persists, their success and support may encourage them to respond too harshly.
Eventually, governors, mayors and judges will need to be confronted. They are actively rejecting federal jurisdiction, so engaging in an insurrection. President Trump has shown restraint by not openly disobeying judicial orders. Currently, Trump has more popular support and firepower than the governors, mayors or judges do.
If Trump starts to disobey judges or use means that aren’t legal and conventional, he may retain popular support, but moves us closer to the authoritarian state that the Progressives fantasize about.
If America has a choice between an authoritarian state with strict adherence to law and order, or an authoritarian state where mayors or governors use their law enforcement as thugs protecting anarchist rioters, we will choose Trump’s authoritarian state.
Progressives are quite authoritarian. Antifa is not anti-fascist. They do not show a live-and-let-live ethos. The Covid shut down was most strictly enforced in Progressive states. Cancel Culture was an authoritarian Progressive phenomena. USAID was funding authoritarian Progressive NGO’s. PBS and NPR are government media that often function as Progressive propaganda.
We do not have anarchy. In big cities, mayors allow Progressive riots, while law enforcement keeps anyone from pushing back against Antifa. Drivers know that when a street is blocked by a criminal protest, driving through the barricade or getting out to confront the criminals will result in harsh punishment.
Mayors and governors have disregarded the civil rights of their citizens and federal law. Trump is not willing to surrender those cities or states. Trump has three more years to reverse decades of concerted attacks on American society. We will wait to see how this works out.
Hi Rick,
You make a lot of sweeping claims here, but you don’t really back them up with evidence. For example, you talk about “paid provocateurs” and governors “engaging in insurrection” — those are serious accusations, but you don’t cite any proof. Without evidence, these are speculations. You also keep lumping movements like Occupy, BLM, and Antifa together as if they’re all the same thing. That’s misleading. Antifa isn’t even an organization — it’s an ideology, a loose label for people who oppose fascism. There’s no headquarters, no leader, no master plan. Treating it like some centrally organized threat just doesn’t hold up.
The same goes for your claim that USAID funds “authoritarian Progressive NGOs” — in reality, USAID supports a wide range of development and democracy programs overseas under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Labeling all of that “Progressive authoritarian” doesn’t reflect how the agency actually operates. And PBS and NPR aren’t “government media” in the sense of state-run propaganda outlets. They’re independent nonprofits with some public funding (not anymore, which should make you happy!)—most of their budgets come from donations and member stations. No one is forced to donate to NPR. Besides, they’ve aired criticism of both Republican and Democratic administrations, which doesn’t fit the idea of them being propaganda arms.
There’s also a central contradiction in your logic. You admit Trump’s approach is authoritarian, but then you excuse it by saying “Progressives are authoritarian too.” That’s not a defense — it’s just a tu quoque fallacy. Basically, “they do it too, so it’s okay.” Framing it as though America has to choose between Trump’s authoritarianism and Progressive authoritarianism is a false choice. We don’t have to choose authoritarianism at all!
Finally, your standard for violence is inconsistent. When protestors shove or spit, you label it as rioting. But when officers overreact, punch someone, or pile on a protestor, you describe it as an understandable response. If violence is wrong, it has to be wrong no matter who does it.
Can we agree that no matter which “side” it comes from, normalizing authoritarianism chips away at democratic institutions and civil liberties? Once you accept the idea that “authoritarianism is okay as long as it’s my side doing it,” you’ve already undermined the principles of democracy.
Turn off the news and go spend some time in Nature—I promise it will help.
You’re right, I cite no proof. Getting into the weeds on each little detail misses the overall point.
Progressives are provoking Trump into a reaction. He will react, and possibly over-react. I’m not excusing authoritarianism, and started the post with, “This isn’t good for America.”
The choice seems to be Progressives pulling down statues and blocking roads, or ICE agents unloading pepper spray into a protestor who is yelling to much. At some point, Trump will openly disregard an order for a district judge, and that will be really bad.
I am not excusing authoritarianism, but predicting it. My preference would be for people to not interfere with government agencies doing their job, and government agencies doing those jobs in a professional and courteous manner. I don’t think I will get what I want.