"Here's a reality I perceive as a native Virginian with the power of hindsight. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe played the demagogue and deliberately politicized and manipulated the situation in Charlottesville, withdrawing the police presence in order to precipitate a predictable outbreak of violence for political reasons so he could in turn virtue signal to the press, and blame not simply radicals on the Right, but the mainstream right including the GOP / President Trump. The Washington Post are writing op-eds blaming the police, but why don't they just blame the Governor? McAuliffe had operational command and gave the directives to Virginia State Police and Virginia National Guard. It's res ipsa loquitur!
"State authorities were on the scene long before hostilities broke out, and they expressly said: "We'll not intervene until given command to do so." Who tied their hands and ordered them to stand down? The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe. State authorities were there very early on and could have preempted the hostile parties from attacking and engaging one another. Normally police take a stand between two conflicting groups; this is a common police procedure in crowd control known kettling or corralling, and such “containment” tactics are commonplace to cordon two hostile civilian groups from one another, that is unless you want to see a brawl rather than prevent it.
"The police don't have an institutional interest in seeing a conflict per se. The governor does have a political interest though! With the past as prologue to the future, given his jeremiads and spats with Trump, one can connect the dots with inductive reasoning and see foul play. California state and local officials have acted in similar manner beforehand. It's a morally heinous tactic of unleashing chaos for exploitative political gain.
"In the end, people are dead, including two Virginia State Troopers who for all we know were disoriented amid chaotic police radio chatter and orders pulling them in multiple directions, and McAuliffe's demagoguery may very well have played a role in unleashing a chain of events that precipitated their untimely deaths in a tragic helicopter crash.
"I think the Virginia General Assembly should have ethics hearings on the Governors' conduct and consider removing McAuliffe from office for dereliction of duty.
"I think the Virginia General Assembly should have ethics hearings on the Governors' conduct and consider removing McAuliffe from office for dereliction of duty.
ReplyDeleteI think that not only the Governor's actions and words, but also the Mayor, Councilmen/women, and Chief of Police should be subjected to critical legal analysis. If such orders were given it would constitute an illegal/unlawful order which should have been rescinded by someone in the chain of command (Checks and Balances). The Governor is obviously influenced by his masters through bribery or threat. He has been compromised, and should not remain in a position of authority. These elected officials are not all-powerful, they are not the masters, or the overlords, free to act as they wish. They are held by laws just like everyone else. They serve the people, their #1 job is to Protect and to Serve, enforce the laws equally, NOT to choose who they want to protect. They are to serve ALL the people, ALL the time, not just some of the people, some of the time. Have the Lt. Governor, the Head of the State Senate, the damn State Attorney General, whoever order the State Police to apprehend, and arrest him. If this doesn't happen call the Federal Dept. of Justice, the FBI. This obvious Dereliction of Duty cannot stand.
Agree 100%.
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