More on the FBI and Antifa on January 6th

From Joseph Billings:

“On the day of, many people kept shouting “That person is Antifa! Stop! They are not with us!” Of course, we now know those people were FBI or FBI adjuncts. But if you are a Patriotic Republican who sees the FBI as the good guys, I can see why that odd behavior of breaking windows etc. was attributed to Antifa.”

The problem with the above observation is that it overlooks the possibility that ANTIFA may have a complex relationship with the FBI.  That is to say, ANTIFA (or at least some member operatives) might be considered “FBI adjuncts” on the January 6th scene in fair accordance with the subscriber’s observation.  Also, as far as I can tell, a substantial number of rank and file Republicans have indeed grown quite distrustful of the FBI.  

However, I would say that the subscriber’s opinion about Republican attitudes towards the FBI might be more accurately directed toward their attitudes about local police.   It is indeed true that many Republicans still fail to appreciate that the police are frequently on the wrong side of justice.  Some truly confused patriots seem blind to the fact that the police who showed-up to arrest anti-war protesters (patriots whom they despised) are the same police who will show-up today in order to intimidate anyone who protests, e.g., what he perceives as a stolen presidential election or other infringements upon liberty (e.g. mandatory vaccinations or the right to bear arms).   Some patriots do not seem to grasp that “law and order” is the insidious mantra of totalitarianism (Sydney Powell, e.g., who is otherwise doing important work).  

Meanwhile, it is also very important that we remove our own blind spots and do not overlook a quite promising opportunity in an unusual development among (at least some) police officers themselves.  It is exciting that some local sheriff’s departments (“constitutional sheriffs”) have organized to refuse to enforce laws, which in their view violate the Constitution.   Of course they were rare birds indeed during the first free speech movement.  Still, it seems to me that these sheriffs have presented us with an unusual two-pronged opportunity to advance the cause of liberty.  

First, the fascist take-over that we are experiencing now cannot succeed without the police.  Hence, we have in the emergence of “constitutional sheriffs” what appears to be a historically unique opportunity to join them and help them to build a formidable wall of police resistance to totalitarianism.   The fact that this idea sounds so incredibly strange is a sure sign that it is a very huge opportunity that we must not waste.  

Secondly, we also have an opportunity to discuss with our Republican brothers and sisters how wrong it was to cheer unconstitutional police throughout the anti-war movement.   Republican (and many absent Democrat patriots, too) should have stood for liberty (despite their different views about the Vietnam war) when the police came for us.   Still, we must stand behind the January 6th protesters today (despite our understanding that Donald Trump is a fraud) now that the police have come for them.   Donald Trump surely abandoned these patriots (along with Julian Assange), and I see no reason to let Mr. Trump establish our standards of justice. 

Regards,
 Joe