Does anyone think the amount of force on display in DC and state capitals is overdone? [View all]

[dutch777]

Maybe it is my rose colored glasses or my fond memories of simpler times, but I am wondering how many right wing or other wingnuts there really are that want to come out and go toe to toe with a, now, educated and energized and properly equipped and prepared police presence. I have no doubt that hundreds of thousands on the internet spout off about MAGA and taking back America and whatever else and promise to show up with guns and grit to make it happen. And that even more folks are sadly ignorant of the reality of elections and true meaning of democracy and tolerate the discussion. (Hint: Sometimes your side loses even when YOU don't want that!) But how many really have the guts and wherewithal to do more than type?

But I also wonder, by putting this many National Guard and others on the street, do the wingnuts not still think they won just because they elicited this level of reaction, even if they never show up? And by that, just give them more fuel to perpetuate their evil fire? I am not saying don't push the perimeter out and not secure it with proper fencing and guard it. But something in me says this would be better if the Guard and other reinforcements were not in full view. If they are staged in parking garages and buildings proximate and can react quickly to a threat but not make it look like we are an armed camp, might that not be better? I am glad we reacted and learned, but I always worry about overreactions whether it is an international incident or a domestic one. And I really want to see this evil fire die either for lack of fuel or because we snuff it out. Curious what DUers think.