From Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson:
Wisconsin’s state motto may be “Forward,” but leftist protesters in Madison are more interested in destruction than progress. The statue in front of the state Capitol representing “Forward” was brought down by leftist vandals Tuesday night.
A statue of Hans Christian Heg was also destroyed by the rioters who then threw the statue into Lake Monona. Heg was a Norwegian immigrant, an abolitionist leader, a journalist, a prison reformer, and a soldier in the Union Army in the Civil War. He died at the Battle of Chickamauga.
There were other violent attacks on bystanders as well, including an attack on state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee). “I don’t know what happened … all I did was stop and take a picture,” Carpenter told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter. “… and the next thing I’m getting five-six punches, getting kicked in the head.”
That sure is a lot of clutching of pearls and gnashing of teeth for some inanimate objects. I’m sure Mr. Widgerson saved some of that outrage over police brutality and the deaths of living human people that sparked the protests and riots all throughout our great country.
Yes, “conservatives”, let’s focus on some statues, windows, and buildings rather than the systemic problems that have forced the simmering pot to erupt into a roiling boil. They rather complain about the water damaging the cabinets and floor than to work on moving the pot off the burner.
That’s not really how most of them see it, though. To them, these incidents of police brutality are reflective merely of “a few bad apples” (if that), not systemic problems. Rioting is therefore a misguided, harmful overreaction. It makes sense for them to focus their anger on large groups of people who are (1) publicly committing senseless destruction of private and public property, (2) not consistently being held accountable, and (3) not consistently being vilified.
But we’re talking about people who can watch footage of the police using excessive force against someone and say, “That wouldn’t have happened if he had just done what they told him in the first place.” When police are always blameless because they are “just doing their jobs” or “doing things by the book,” there is no need for de-escalation or mutual respect or valuing life. In fact, to hear some conservatives tell it, we tie their hands too much already, just like with the military.
Death is an acceptable outcome of trying to flee from a marijuana bust, resisting arrest, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why? Because criminals and suspected criminals (except perhaps the white-collar type, especially of our own political persuasion) are “bad” and “other” and the police are the thin blue line — and everything that either group does is filtered through those lenses from the start. It’s villains vs. heroes and some believe you can tell the difference just by their colors.
With that said, I wouldn’t lump the destruction of private property and violence against people in with the symbolic destruction of some symbolic statues. Dismissing such concerns certainly doesn’t advance the cause in question.