Elle Purnell of the Federalist is no fan of continual protests from left-of-center activists.
Another week has passed, which means the street theater geeks have found another foreign flag to parade through the streets of American cities. After the Trump administration authorized a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, demonstrators waved the Iranian flag. Less than two weeks prior, rioters waved Mexican flags in Los Angeles while burning vehicles under the auspices of protesting against the enforcement of immigration laws.
The outrage du jour changes, but street theater is the M.O. of the anti-Trump resistance. Sometimes the cause is hatred of law enforcement, from local police departments to ICE. Sometimes it involves foreign disputes in the protesters’ home countries, from Palestine to Iran. Two weeks ago, Democrats staged a nationwide day of protest to voice their displeasure with Trump.
Protest theater has also become a favorite pastime of elected Democrats desperate for relevance. …
… Protest has historically been a powerful tool employed by citizens to register dissent when their government has left them no other recourse. But in a country like America, where we have the freedom to actually participate in self-governing, waving signs in the street is a pretty impotent alternative. The protesters themselves might claim the Trump administration is a fascist, authoritarian dictatorship, but they and their friends just voted for a literal communist in New York City, so do with those accusations what you will.
Most of the “protests” taking place today demand something from the government, whether the demand is to stop enforcing immigration law or to give out more taxpayer-funded freebies. The operating assumption is that the preeminent solution is action from the government, and if the government won’t take the appropriate action on its own, it must be pressured to do so by civil unrest.
Sometimes the people fanning the flames sincerely believe the government can and should solve what they perceive as urgent problems; other times protest is simply a way for privileged liberals to cosplay as freedom fighters and earn back-pats for sticking it to the man.
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Author: Mitch Kokai
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