It was in 2020 that CNN made itself a laughingstock by running the chyron, “Fiery But Mostly Peaceful Protests….” Now CNN, and the rest of the corporate media, is at it again, this time trivializing Los Angeles-riot violence. They have once more sunk to comical depths, too.
The rioting began Friday in the wake of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in the city. Apparently, the protesters are upset that interlopers who’ve invaded our country may suffer the indignity of having to return home.
As to the rioting, an estimated 1,000 miscreants caused mayhem the evening of June 6. This prompted President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard to L.A. on Saturday. If you listened to the corporate media, however, you might not be able to imagine why he’d do such a thing. (Unlike ex-Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, he didn’t, as she put it in 2015, give “those who wished to destroy, space to do that.”)
Is This News — or Saturday Night Live?
A viral video (below), with approximately 21 million views now, illustrates the media obfuscation amusingly. It juxtaposes left-wing media figures and politicians playing down the violence with actual video of the violence.
As to what was said, CNN’s Dana Bash kicked it off, essentially claiming that the current events are JV riots. Now, the 1992 L.A. violence was different — “That was a real riot,” she proclaimed.
What follows is a further sampling of media lowlights, courtesy of journalist Tom Elliott, who provided the above video. (All quotations are his):
“‘The agents are the problem.’” — Representative Joaquin Castro
“In a twist straight from the Upside Down, Castro blamed federal agents for ‘provoking’ protests and staging fake aggression. The protesters? Merely victims of an elaborate cosplay conspiracy involving badges and body armor.”
“‘He just doesn’t like the scenes.’” — Representative Nanette Barragán
“Apparently, sending the National Guard to quell violence isn’t about public safety — it’s about Trump’s personal aesthetic preferences. The implication? If he could just tolerate a few more Molotov cocktails, maybe we could all get back to brunch.”
“‘Most people are having a normal day.’” — CNN’s Brian Stelter
This warrants some elaboration — because it’s true. It’s also true that on 9/11/2001, I and virtually all other New Yorkers were having a “normal day.” During the Pearl Harbor attack, most all Americans were having a normal day. And when the gas chambers were running in the Nazi death camps, most Germans were likely having a normal day. This may bring you little solace, however, when you’re one of those affected by an abnormal and very violent event.
MANA: Making America Normal Again — for All
This rationalization is related to the claim that most all the protests are peaceful. This also may be true.
It’s the violent one percent that kills you, though.
Yet the 99-percent assertion is prevalent, with many X respondents claiming (example follows) that Elliott’s video presents cherry-picked footage.
But fear not. For this is why the Trump administration is making sure to use only proportionate force, as the headline below relates.
Of course, this tolerance for violence — that’s not affecting you — is nothing new. In 2020, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “People will do what they do” in reference to mobs destroying statues. This certainly wasn’t her attitude, though, when her husband was attacked by a hammer-wielding home invader two years later.
Then there was former ESPN reporter Chris Palmer. He tweeted a picture of a burning building during the 2020 riots and wrote, “Burn that s*** down. Burn it all down.” But he changed his tune when violent leftist rioters visited his streets mere days later. “Get these animals TF out of my neighborhood,” he then hissed. “Go back to where you live.”
The point is that “mostly peaceful” isn’t peaceful any more than mostly sober is sober (and safe on the road). A town of 10,000 that has 30 murders a year can certainly say that “most” residents aren’t killers. But “Domestic tranquility for me but not for thee” cuts no ice — it’s not the attitude of the civilized.
This is why it’s the government’s responsibility to quell riots whenever they erupt, whether they’re 50 percent of manifesting protests or one percent. Moreover, not nipping unrest in the bud — giving people “space to destroy” — allows it to spread, just as not dousing a small forest fire can invite a holocaust.
Astroturfers and Opportunists
Realize, too, that showing gratuitous restraint only enables the wicked. There are opportunists (looters and other criminals) who’ll use any cause and its demonstrations as pretext for plying their trade. Also, not all protests are organic. Rather, they’re sometimes “astroturf,” orchestrated by powerful forces behind the scenes to destabilize society.
A good example was what Democratic operative Scott Foval confessed to while on hidden video in 2016. He said the orchestrated violence was called “conflict engagement.… Conflict engagement in, in the lines at Trump rallies.” He even stated, “We have mentally ill people that we pay to do s**t, make no mistake.” And, he boldly proclaimed, “We’re starting anarchy here.”
One Democrat not on board with this, however, is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. Calling the L.A. situation “anarchy and true chaos,” he said Monday:
My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement.
That’s true. Unfortunately, though, to a party that thinks boys can legitimately identify as girls, how hard is it to identify a riot as a peaceful protest?
