QOTD -- Thuggery

 

"A few hundred Canadian truckers, irate over their country’s strict pandemic restrictions, have used their tractor-trailers to paralyze the center of the capital, Ottawa; to threaten the auto industry by blocking traffic at three major border crossings with the United States; and now to demand the resignation of the recently reelected prime minister, Justin Trudeau. In their self-righteous embrace of an upside-down idea of “liberty,” they have spawned copycats planning convoys to incapacitate cities elsewhere, including in the United States, and prompted an outpouring of right-wing support and funding on both sides of the border and beyond.  [snip]

"The irony is that Canada’s tough pandemic restrictions have contributed to a covid-19 death rate that is among the lowest in the developed world, roughly a third of that in the United States. The truckers are sick of restrictions — fine; who isn’t? But by crippling a major capital, subverting commerce and jobs, and advocating the overthrow of a fairly elected government, they have surged beyond legitimate protest into the realm of thuggery." -- The Washington Post editorial board this morning.  Should this thuggery cross the border to the U.S., as is apparently planned, it needs to be shut down quickly.  The DHS and state and local law enforcement have had time to study the tactics and will need to act forcefully once any "protest" becomes thuggery here.

BONUS:  Daniel Dale has a fact check on the Freedumb Convoy here.

BONUS II:  This --

The convoy in Canada is funded by wealthy donors who are relentlessly attacking democracy. It isn’t a naturally occurring phenomenon, and its actions aren’t just randomly disrupting a capital and shipping routes.

I can’t believe there are people who still don’t get this.

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) February 10, 2022