Stop Calling Them Militias ...

[ItsjustMe]

[Kittycow]

1. Ok, will do. I was calling them sleeper cells, but mostly militias.

[Joelteply]

12. We can call them creeper cells

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Yup, that's the 'Merica we live in.

And they get police protection to display their terrorism.

[2naSalit]

3. Yup...

Been calling them that for years.

[IronLionZion]

4. White guys never have a political agenda

[Evolve Dammit]

5. White racist domestic terrorists. That's what they are. Treat them accordingly.

[spooky3]

6. The "proud boys" were "looking for a fight" in DC. If they were black

They likely would have been arrested or shot. Instead, the police worked to keep them separated from others, sometimes unsuccessfully.

And the media would have used very different words to describe their actions.

[Nitram]

7. They should be referred to a "a gang of terrorists masquerading as a militia."

Or perhaps, "Guys who wanted to be war heroes but couldn't make it in the military so they became home-grown right wing terrorists instead."

[rickyhall]

8. Whatever happened to that "War on Terror"? Or was it terriers, I forget.

[wnylib]

9. Paramilitary groups usually are called

militias. That's what Hitler's thugs were called, too. In the early days of chaos at the end of the first World War, there were several roaming bands of ex soldiers who formed "law and order" militias. They followed their own agendas, but the German people accepted them as a form of order in chaos.

Once order returned to Germany under the Weimar Republic, most of the militias disbanded, but a few remained as beligerent RWers terrorizing people.

Yes, these RW extremists in the US today are racist thugs. The US is not in chaos like Germany was, but today's RW thugs are sowing chaos. They are also "law and order" paramilitaries so they are militias - racist militias.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

14. Makes sense. Though, they are also terrorists.

I wonder what definition of 'militia' is being used by those saying ProudBois, etc, aren't. Can't we call them white supremacist, terrorist militias. WSTMs, for short?

[wnylib]

15. I'd call them racist terrorist militias - RTMs

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

16. Well, whatever we decide, the media will go on failing to honestly portray them,

by name or by story, as the horrible groups they truly are.

[wnylib]

17. Some media, yes. NPR has surprised me

lately in dropping most of its impartial, both siderism reporting to label Trump's current behavior as a coup attempt that is dangerously fostering violence.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

18. I gave up listening to NPR ages ago because it seemed the influence of Koch and other big money

donors was causing that decline in impartiality and the rise of that both-sides crap. I wonder what changed.

[wnylib]

19. Maybe even NPR's financial supporters

are concerned about the possibility of a Trump coup and the damage that violence can cause for the business communities.

There are a few NPR programs that I still like to listen too, like Terri Gross' Fresh Air and Ira Glass' This American Life. Their 1A program lately is pretty good in covering events and getting good guests for interviews.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

20. I do listen to chosen episodes of Fresh Air as podcasts. I like the interview style

of Terry Gross.

But, I download so many podcasts that I'm way behind. I have about 100 episodes to be listened to! I guess that's another reason I don't listen to the rest of NPR. Not to mention, when I used to listen to NPR more, it was almost always when driving. Since COVID came along, I rarely go anywhere!

[wnylib]

21. I'm retired and spend all my time

at home now due to covid, except when I need to go out for a medical appointment or to pick up necessities. I can listen to the radio while doing things around home, like cooking, cleaning, reading and posting at DU, etc. Much easier to listen to the radio while doing other things than to follow TV or videos. I am thinking of ordering audio books for the convenience of listening while doing other things.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

22. I've been a member of Audible.com for at least ten years. I love audiobooks!

I can also get audiobooks for free from my local library system. How ever you get them, I highly recommend audiobooks to everyone.

Certain books don't translate well to audiobook, at least for me. But I guess everyone will have their own opinion about that.

Since you already know how great it is to listen to things besides music (and nothing against that either, of course!), while getting other things done, I hope you'll try audiobooks!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

10. The Republican party is a party of extremists, including domestic terrorists.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dufor2020runoff

[Initech]

11. Been saying this for a while!

When you destroy property or burn the flag of people you disagree with, or start painting Nazi signs everywhere, you've crossed the line from being a militia into being a full blown terrorist organization.

[BusyBeingBest]

13. Yep. They're terror cells.