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Posts Tagged ‘Robert Reich’

Left’s Post-Election Agenda: More Riots, ‘Truth Commissions,’ Other Punishment For Their Foes — That Means You – Issues & Insights

Posted by M. C. on October 30, 2020

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, now working a gig in — where else? — far-left academia, proposes a re-education program if Biden is elected.

“When this nightmare is over, we need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It would erase Trump’s lies, comfort those who have been harmed by his hatefulness, and name every official, politician, executive, and media mogul whose greed and cowardice enabled this catastrophe,” Reich tweeted on Oct. 17.

Understand: Such panels have been used around the world in at least 42 countries, mostly by leftist regimes, to humiliate and devalue the political opposition by accusing them of “crimes” and forcing them to admit their “offenses” publicly.

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/10/27/lefts-post-election-agenda-more-riots-truth-commissions-other-punishment-for-their-foes-that-means-you/

By I & I Editorial Board

You hear it every day. Someone says, “I just want the election to be over,” hoping out loud that things will somehow “return to normal” once the 2020 vote ends. But it won’t. The left already has plans to ensure that.

By “return to normal,” of course, we refer to an America not so riven by politics that families and neighbors no longer talk to each other because of the deep political divide. An America where people again become friendly and human, politics recede in importance, the economy and schools reopen, and suspicion of others’ political motives fade into the deep background.

Sounds great, the fabled tolerant America of yore. But, sorry, whether Donald Trump wins or loses, the left has other plans.

And “normal” isn’t part of them. In fact, even if Trump wins in a landslide and Republicans win both chambers of Congress on his coattails, the left already has plans for “Trump II: The Disruption.”

No, this isn’t some dystopic fantasy. After four years of non-stop interference with Trump’s presidency by the Democrats, we know it’s a hard reality.

Here’s more evidence: A group called “Shutdown DC” vows street action, regardless of the outcome:

We can’t anticipate exactly how Trump and his enablers will try to attack democracy (although we have been gaming out a number of different scenarios), but we know that the stakes are too high to sit on the sidelines and wait. That’s why we’re making plans to be in the streets before the polls even close, ready to adapt and respond to whatever comes our way.

Get that? “In the streets before the polls even close,” means mass intimidation and instilling public fear. The left’s imagined bogeyman? A Trump “coup,” which, of course, in their fevered imaginations means any Trump victory at all.

“Trump has shown that he will stop at nothing to maintain his grip on power. Trump will not leave office without mass mobilization and direct action,” the group says. Expect riots.

The plans are very specific, sketching out activities even by date. Using online organization tools, the idea is to forge loose “affinity groups” that will be free to take more “high risk action.”

As the Federalist’s Joy Pullmann, who dug up all this, noted: “What kinds of actions these might be are stated in a ‘Strategic framework for action following the 2020 election’ that sketches out their plans for rioting and attacking American institutions and life until Joe Biden is installed as president. It claims if Trump declares victory that will mark ‘the start of the coup.’ “

In other words, a Trump victory will be a “coup.” So much for your right to vote.

William L. Gensert in the American Thinker gives a colorful, but sadly accurate, preview of the chaos to come:

After the polls close, they will conduct a mass mobilization in the streets to prevent Trump from declaring victory and to prosecute ‘will of the people’ riots as a supposed organic reaction to Trump having stolen the election under the auspices of Vladimir Putin and white supremacists.  Their ululations of ‘COUP’ will be shrill and frequent — projection lives loudly within the left.

Their deployment will be open-ended as Twitter and Facebook shut down all opposition on their platforms and Google tweaks algorithms to give only results approved by the rebellion.

Riots. No matter what.

Lest you think this is will happen at the fringes, think again. Even the supposed “mainstream” Democrats have plans to make Republicans miserable, especially if the GOP wins.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, now working a gig in — where else? — far-left academia, proposes a re-education program if Biden is elected.

“When this nightmare is over, we need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It would erase Trump’s lies, comfort those who have been harmed by his hatefulness, and name every official, politician, executive, and media mogul whose greed and cowardice enabled this catastrophe,” Reich tweeted on Oct. 17.

Understand: Such panels have been used around the world in at least 42 countries, mostly by leftist regimes, to humiliate and devalue the political opposition by accusing them of “crimes” and forcing them to admit their “offenses” publicly.

“You may recall that after Barack Obama became president, some Democrats wanted prosecutions of his predecessor and Bush administration officials for alleged ‘war crimes,’ the CIA’s rendition programs, etc.,” noted Jim Geraghty, writing in the National Review.

And Reich’s not alone in his hunger for political retribution. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes actually beat him to the punch, suggesting a “truth and reconciliation” commission earlier this month.

“The most humane and reasonable way to deal with all these people, if we survive this, is some kind of truth and reconciliation commission,” commissar Hayes tweeted.

Once a few high-level politicians admit to sinning, such as opposing the New Green Deal or Medicare for All, how many average people will choose to just shut up and accept what’s shoved down their throats? That would mark the de facto end of free speech, free religion and any number of other sacred American rights.

Of course, if you were to suggest doing the same thing to Democrats and their deep-state allies, who clearly have been lying volubly and profiting off their “public service,” you’d be called a “fascist,” “Nazi” or worse. It shows just how far left that party and its media allies have drifted.

All this is what the left has in store for you, America. Witch hunts and judicial revenge against political foes. Dissent becomes a crime.

Regardless, it’s clear the left’s plans don’t include peace of mind for America’s voters on Nov. 4, the day after the election. Or “bringing the country together.” Rather, they see unending turmoil, political anger and rage, street protests, riots, litigation, and, if they win, retribution for those who dare to disagree.

The Claremont Institute and Texas Public Policy Foundation recently gamed the various outcomes for the election and concluded two big things: One, we’ll not know the outcome “due to millions of uncounted mail-in ballots in six battleground states.”

Two, we’ll likely see “intense court fights” and litigation all the way up to Jan. 6. It might even end up in the Supreme Court, amid a backdrop of riots and violent threats.

What’s at stake? Our friends at the Wall Street Journal put it this way:

If Democrats win up and down the ballot, progressives will control the commanding heights of nearly every American elite institution: Congress, the administrative state, Hollywood and the arts, the universities, nonprofits, Silicon Valley and nearly all of the media.

Is that a healthy republic? By any reasonable measure, the answer is no.

If you’re now among the “undecided,” you might want to rethink that. In this election more than perhaps any other in history, your rights as a free American are at stake.

— Written by the I&I Editorial Board

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What Robert Reich Failed to Say about Marijuana Legalization – The Future of Freedom Foundation

Posted by M. C. on June 22, 2019

https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/what-robert-reich-failed-to-say-about-marijuana-legalization/

by

…But even though Reich is a liberal in every sense of the word, conservatives should be paying attention to what he says about marijuana legalization. And so should liberals, since, after all, drug freedom is not a tenet of liberalism.

A recent post on Reich’s blog titled “Why We Must Legalize Marijuana” also appeared at Salon. He begins,

The federal prohibition on marijuana has been a disaster. For decades, millions of Americans have been locked up and billions of dollars have been wasted. It’s also deepened racial and economic inequality.

We must end this nonsensical prohibition.

The facts are staggering. In 2017, more Americans were arrested for marijuana possession than for murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery combined. That’s one marijuana arrest every minute.

The costs associated with enforcing this ban — including arrests, court costs, and incarceration — reach nearly $14 billion a year.

Prohibition also hurts the economy in terms of lost wages. And Americans with criminal records have a harder time finding a job and getting the education they need.

That marijuana prohibition is a colossal waste of money with costs that greatly exceed any of its supposed benefits is reason enough to legalize marijuana. But Reich doesn’t stop there. He also maintains that “legalizing, taxing, and regulating” marijuana “is good for the economy and creates jobs.” He believes that marijuana should be taxed by state and local governments the way cigarettes and alcohol are. Reich points to states such as Colorado and Washington that tax and regulate marijuana and generate “millions of dollars for health care, education, and other public investments.” As a libertarian, I certainly oppose taxes and regulations on marijuana, just as I oppose taxes and regulations on cigarettes and alcohol. But, like it or not, the fact remains that every state that has legalized marijuana has also taxed and regulated it — and reaped a windfall.

But Reich isn’t finished yet. Marijuana legalization is “more than an economic issue” because “it’s also a matter of racial justice and equality.” Reich recounts the racist origins of the federal prohibition on marijuana and asserts that “black and brown Americans are still much more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white Americans, despite using marijuana at similar rates.” He also points out that “more states are taking action to reform their laws and move toward legalization” and “support for marijuana legalization has surged in recent years, with two-thirds of Americans now in favor of it,” although I take issue with his statement that “even a majority of Republicans are in support.” “It’s time to legalize marijuana,” concludes Reich…

So Reich is certainly correct: It’s time to legalize marijuana.

Yet, there are some extremely important things that Robert Reich failed to say about marijuana legalization. And they are, in fact, much more important than anything he says in his article.

Reich has a law degree. He should know that the Constitution says absolutely nothing about marijuana or any other drug. He should know that the Constitution gives no authority to the federal government to have a Controlled Substances Act, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a drug czar, an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), or a Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program. He should know that the federal government has not only no authority under the Constitution to prohibit marijuana possession, but also that it has no authority whatsoever to have anything to do with marijuana.

So why didn’t Reich say so? They are things that any liberal, progressive, socialist, or Democrat could say. And they are also things that any conservative or Republican could say, and especially those who claim to revere the Constitution and say that the Constitution should be followed.

But that’s not all that Reich failed to say about marijuana legalization.

He failed to say that it is not the proper role of government to be concerned with the medical or recreational habits of Americans.

He failed to say that it is not the business of government bureaucrats to interfere with what Americans want to put in their mouths, noses, veins, or lungs.

He failed to say that it is an illegitimate purpose of government to regulate what Americans desire to eat, drink, smoke, inhale, or inject.

He failed to say that people should be able to do anything that’s peaceful as long as they don’t infringe the personal or property rights of others and are responsible for the consequences of their actions.

He failed to say that every crime should have a tangible and identifiable victim who has suffered measurable harm to his person or measurable damages to his property.

He failed to say that no American should ever be arrested, fined, or imprisoned for possessing a plant his government doesn’t approve of.

He failed to say that the government’s war on marijuana is a war on personal freedom, private property, personal responsibility, individual liberty, personal and financial privacy, and the free market.

But at least he said what he did about marijuana legalization. That is more than most conservatives would ever say.

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Despite Liberalizing Marijuana Laws, the War on Drugs ...

 

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