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    “People need to quit demonstrating”: Republican opposition to dissent intensifies
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    “People need to quit demonstrating”: Republican opposition to dissent intensifies

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    42 Comments

    1. msnownews on

      **From Steve Benen, editor of MaddowBlog and producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show”:** 

      After an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, a great many Republican officials scrambled to defend the shooter and blame the victim. Some in the party, however, went much further — and took aim at dissent itself.

      Republican Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, for example, appeared on NewsNation just two days after Good’s death and told viewers, “People need to quit demonstrating, quit yelling at law enforcement, challenging law enforcement, and begin to get civil. And until we do that, I guess we’re going to have it this way. And the people that are staying in their homes or doing the right thing need to be protected.”

      Read more: [https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/minneapolis-ice-shooting-protests-demonstrations-republicans](https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/minneapolis-ice-shooting-protests-demonstrations-republicans)

    2. TintedApostle on

      “The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.”

      – Robert H. Jackson – Associate SCOTUS judge

    3. windwatcher01 on

      “DON’T TREAD ON…… Nah, treading on people Newsmax and Fox tell us to hate is totally cool!”

    13. thistimelineisweird on

      Republicans want to be giant pieces of shit to everyone else then cry like spoiled children when someone tells them to fuck off.

      Demonstrate louder.

    15. GreenTrees797 on

      I’m loving how the anti-vaxxer/anti-maskers are telling everyone to just be compliant for the government now and specifically the government’s new military police force. 

    16. TintedApostle on

      During the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership in Weatherford, Texas, received a loan of between $1 million and $2 million as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP); the loan was later forgiven

      OCE found that “there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Williams’ personal financial interest in his auto dealership may be perceived as having influenced his performance of official duties—namely, his decision to offer an amendment to the surface transportation legislation

      In December 2020, Williams was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump

      In September 2021, nonprofit group Campaign Legal Center filed an ethics complaint against Williams with the Office of Congressional Ethics, claiming that Williams appeared to have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012

      This guy is a crime machine.

    17. Impractically_Dead on

      Stop people from peacefully demonstrating, and they’ll stop being peaceful. How many guns are there in this country?

    18. Potential_Clue_676 on

      Republicans are trash. They have enabled this horror because they are feckless cowards.

    19. PuddingPhi on

      When leaders say this, they admit they do not want accountability. Peaceful dissent is how regular people get heard when power ignores them. Silencing protest never signals strength. It signals fear.

    20. Creative-Package6213 on

      Protesting is a peaceful alternative to air grievances against the government. I really don’t think they want the alternative to that…

    21. Glad_Extension_3879 on

      Oh, you mean something that’s Americans’ right? Oh wait, they don’t care about others’ rights, just their own.

    22. Bishopjones2112 on

      Absolutely not. More protests. More people. More shut downs of the cities. No violence because that gives them the “justification” to send in more “troops” and more people will die. Do not give in and let this all happen.

    23. Cruyelo on

      Americans need to increase and escalate their protests. If Republicans want their citizens to stop protesting, they need to *listen* and *deliver* to what people are requesting. That’s how it’s meant to work. Protest until you get what you want.

    26. c4upinhisbhole on

      Well, fuck Roger Williams. He can blow it out his ass. But this guy:

      > “A fellow Texan, GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt, also told Newsmax last week, “The bottom line is this: When a federal officer gives you instructions, you abide by them and **then you get to keep your life**.”

      He deserves ass cancer. “You get to keep your life”? Get the fuck out of here you authoritarian hack. I hope you step in dogshit every fucking day until we meet.

    27. Titfortat101 on

      Whenever they say “Just comply” remember that the Jewish people in Germany “Just complied”.

      They complied when told to carry special papers.

      They complied when they were told to wear stars.

      They complied when they were told to sign over businesses.

      And they complied when they were told to get on those trains.

      Do Not Forget.

    29. Vapur9 on

      >Kevin Roberts said the revolution will be bloodless “if the left allows it to be.”

      This is the problem. They’re the ones spilling the blood and losing the narrative.

    31. ZombiePartyBoyLives on

      Since we’re throwing out ideas, here’s one: Maybe the members and supporters of the racist, pedophile party should go play hide-n-go-fuck-themselves.

    33. Moist-Matter-2037 on

      How about republicans go and fuck themselves. I was at a protest on Saturday and I’ll do it again. 

    35. udlose on

      Welcome to America. Criticism of our government is not only our inherent right as human beings, it is our national pastime.

      Buckle up, Republicans.

    36. digiartist21 on

      “People need to quit demonstrating, quit yelling at law enforcement, challenging law enforcement, and begin to get civil.” Fuck you, you soulless toadie.

    38. Beneficial_Soup3699 on

      “stop exercising your constitutional rights or we won’t stop taking your rights away from you” isn’t really the flex they think it is. Fuckin’ Nazis.

    39. Iamaleafinthewind on

      “We won’t hurt you as much if you don’t fight back.”

      — GOP Leadership, sounding more rapey than usual, today.

    40. SithLordJediMaster on

      Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

      – 1st Amendment