sorry to post low hanging fruit, but this kinda shook me a little. imo, a much clearer sign of the decay of the bourgeois state than Trump's comments about not committing to peaceful transfer of power. (which have received significant national media attention.) Trump is a buffoon, one guy who is at risk of being assassinated if he refuses to accept the election results.

but this breakdown in the states is organic, something going with its own inertia. it's the first really frightening sign for me, that our liberal democracy, rickety as it may be, is actually at risk of coming apart. even if Trump loses and goes peacefully, I don't see a Biden admin using federal power to do anything at all about this, and neither will the 6-3 supreme court.

https://twitter.com/carterforva/status/1309354062853406720

  • Oso_Rojo [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    It seems like a lot of mayors are held hostage by their police forces. Even tepid reform suggestions are met with cops threatening the city by removing police protections, not answering calls, doxxing their families, etc. Do you think this is much different than that or do you think the arrests are a unique escalation?

    • joshieecs [he/him,any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      i think arrest and felony prosecution is an escalation. it's moving from threats, on to actual violence. even if DA dismisses the charges.

    • hogposting [he/him,comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Even tepid reform suggestions are met with cops threatening the city by removing police protections

      Note that part of why cops are so powerful is because they will go on strike.

        • kilternkafuffle [any]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Except cops can and will then change clothes and do crimes, or alert criminal organizations that serve as their informants/have business relations with the police that the city is now fair game. Cue a bank getting robbed or some random people getting shot, cue the media decrying the anarchy in the streets, cue right-wing politicians calling for fascist crackdowns, cue liberals caving.

          I'm 95% positive that's what they did to CHOP in Portland. Unknown shooter kills random civilian/gangs settle scores - "OMG we need the cops back now!"

          • Runcible [none/use name]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Yeah, I get that they are bad & this happens. I just think it's worth distinguishing between "their power comes from striking" & "their power comes from acts of terrorism"

        • hogposting [he/him,comrade/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Ordinarily, yes, but armed agents of the state with little oversight are unlike any other type of worker. Their special position and their demonstrated ability to turn into a rogue element mean they shouldn't be given the protection normally afforded to worker organizations (at least not in the capitalist hellscape we inhabit now).