Political reputations burn in LA riots

This weekend’s immigration protests in LA showed every element in American politics at its absolute worst. The right was rabidly xenophobic, President Trump belligerent and authoritarian. Democratic leadership clueless, unfocused, weak and in denial – and the left manipulative and deliberately violent. Anyone with a whit of sense stayed as far away from the proceedings as possible.

The right does no one any favors when they discuss America’s immigration problems as a war for the future of civilization. Maybe in the case of the Egyptian national who torched elderly Jewish people in Boulder last weekend, they have a point, but not when it comes to the quotidian ICE operation that just went down in LA.

But opposing that operation isn’t exactly something on which the left should hang its balaclava either. Judging from the vociferous weekend-long passion play we saw unfold, you’d think that ICE had loaded the residents of an orphanage or a nunnery into a van, gouged out their eyes, and sent them to a windowless dungeon. Instead, they rounded up a few dozen illegal immigrants, some of them with extensive and dangerous criminal records. The Bat Signal went out among LA’s well-funded, well-organized protest networks. Soon enough, rocks flew and the revolution cosplayed, setting a car on fire and giving Republicans fodder for the next election cycle’s TV ads.

Should President Trump have activated the National Guard? California Governor Gavin Newsom claims that local and state law enforcement had the situation under control, even though they obviously didn’t. And Newsom didn’t bother to point out that maybe the streets shouldn’t be erupting in melodramatic rage over a low-level raid like ones that la migra has been conducting for decades, under every President. It is politically convenient for him to saber-rattle against Trump-As-Dictator, a vibe that Trump is happy to exude when he’s feeling froggy.

The fact is that the LA protests bear more than a vague resemblance to the George Floyd riots. Los Angeles was a nightmare during those weeks, with terrifying mass lootings and a BLM graffiti takeover of the Farmer’s Market in Mid-City. During those protests, Trump basically sat back, did nothing, and watched America burn. He’s not going to let that happen this time. People are sick of the violence. They don’t want it, and they won’t tolerate it for long.

There are thousands of Americans who are clearly willing to go to the rack to stop ICE deportations, and there are millions who want to believe that they are minor characters in a real-life re-enactment of Andor, bravely cheering on a rebellion against an evil empire ascendant. But in reality, this is a classic 80-20 issue, with hard-line Democrats wringing their hands while a moronic left rebellion destroys their chances of ever holding political office again.

Even yesterday, with National Guard troops deployed despite Gavin Newsom calling for their recall, protesters adopted the tactic of calling driverless driverless Waymo taxis, and then torching them while marching and taunting among the flames and smoke. Three good cars lost their lives, and for what? Stephen Miller is still on Twitter demonizing people, LA Mayor Karen Bass is still the most useless public official in a crisis of her generation, Gavin Newsom continues to try to triangulate his way out of another mess he helped create, President Trump is still stirring the pot, and annoying, destructive masked anarchists are still out there, daring the cops to shoot and setting stuff on fire.

It’s just such ludicrous protest kabuki. All we can do is pray that if things escalate throughout the week, that no one dies.