GOP Pretty Sure We Should Cave To Truck Babies' Demands, That'll Teach Us A Lesson
We can’t say we’re surprised.
Right-wing pundits and elected Republican politicians are lusting over the prospect of a so-called “freedom convoy” coming to the US. Canadian truckers opposing COVID-19 regulations and mandates have caused clear economic damage. A days-long blockade on the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is expected to have a lasting impact on the supply chain. Last week, General Motors, Ford, and Toyota cut production at several plants in the US and Canada due to a lack of parts.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to invoke the never-before-used Emergencies Acts in response to this mess, and no, Bill Maher, Trudeau doesn’t sound like Hitler because he’s had his fill with unvaccinated brats.
The Emergencies Act, which replaced the War Measures Act in the 1980s, defines a national emergency as a temporary "urgent and critical situation" that "seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it."
REMEMBER?: White Nationalists Planning Nuremberg Truck Rally Across America, Hooray!
What’s happening in Canada isn’t a protest. It’s not even a riot where random people burn down a CVS. This chaos is coordinated. Instead, Republicans have declared the blockades legitimate political discourse.
During an interview last week, GOP Senator Rand Paul was asked about a potential convoy protest in US during the Super Bowl. Paul welcomed the blockade that failed to materialize . Alas, the Super Bowl’s sexual anarchy remained unchecked.
Rand Paul calls on truckers to blockade the Super Bowl and DC: “I’m all for it. Civil disobedience .. is a time-honored tradition in our country from slavery to civil rights to you name it. Peaceful protest, clog things up, make people think about the mandates.”pic.twitter.com/zvCBTe9wkg
— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1644626445
PAUL: I’m all for it. Civil disobedience .. is a time-honored tradition in our country from slavery to civil rights to you name it. Peaceful protest, clog things up, make people think about the mandates.
Actual civil disobedience during the Civil Rights Movement involved Black people sitting down at segregated lunch counters and politely ordering food like free citizens. They were then told “no burger and shake for you, [n-word]!” and beaten up. This demonstrated how unjust and cruel the law was. Civil rights activists didn’t threaten to burn down a segregated Woolworth’s or, more to the point, they didn’t stand outside and block white customers from receiving service.
REMEMBER? Sean Hannity Casually Suggests Truckers May Start Killing If They Don't Get Their Way
We could just laugh off Rand Paul’s comments like we do everything else that comes out of his stupid face, but he’s not the only Republican who’s embraced lawless coercion dressed up as political protest. GOP Rep. Lance Gooden gave the thumbs up this weekend for a freedom clusterfuck in the US. While gleefully noting that President Joe Biden will “pay in the polls” for inflation, the Texas congressman told Fox News, "I would absolutely welcome a similar pronouncement of protest in our nation’s capitol by truckers and anyone who wants their freedoms back.”
Anchor Anita Vogel reminded Gooden that the truckers’ “protests” were "only adding now to the supply chain issues which affect inflation,” but Gooden still delivered a pro-blockade message. He also tweeted Saturday, "Fines of $79,000. Jail time of up to a year. Suspension of commercial licenses. The way Canada is threatening Freedom Convoy truckers should serve as a warning for Americans.”
How leftists can end the Freedom Truck Convoy: End the mandates.
— Lance Gooden (@Lance Gooden) 1644586314
He also said that “leftists” — implying that conservatives aren’t bothered by blockades — can easily end the “freedom truck convoy” by rolling over and giving in to the truckers’ demands. That’s the “law and order” party for you. Republicans have condemned peaceful protests over police violence while openly supporting often violent protests over COVID-19 mandates. GOP Senator Ted Cruz has called the anti-vax truckers “heroes,” as if he learned nothing from the stochastic terrorism he helped promote after the presidential election.
The Canadian trucker “uprising” is unpopular, but so was January 6 when it happened. Now more Republicans are on board with doing whatever it takes to get what they want. That’s not “protest” and it’s definitely not democracy.
Follow Stephen Robinson on Twitter.
Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons .
Yr Wonkette is 100 percent ad-free and entirely supported by reader donations. That's you! Please click the clickie, if you are able.
Reagan: we not only negotiate with terrorists, we promise them lots of things if they'll just hold those hostages a little longer for us, and then I will give some word garbage about how we so don't do that sort of thing, even though I totally do
What amazes me isn't so much that Republicans are so craven and amoral, but that Democrats cannot seem to take this massive political liability and smash them over the head with it.
Republicans were able to smear Democrats as soft on terror for the slightest deviation from their war plans and budgets. Here, we literally have Republicans siding with lawless thugs who are causing real economic pain to everyone, for a cause that is unpopular. Why are they not being dragged in ads right now? Dems don't even need to air them, just circulate them on social media until GOP outrage pushes it into the regular media.