It's easy for conservatives to play "whataboutism" and smear genuine liberal protests and activities because while Conservative movements have a single focus, a single, lockstep authoritarian core that their fellow-travelers are required to accept if they're going to get support, Liberal movements will encourage a wide range of coalition issues that fall within the tenants of "progressivism" and "liberalism".
Liberals are the "big tent" - a we're all in it together attitude. People who "don't fit" in the status quo tend to be initially accepted unconditionally, which makes it especially difficult when the occasional hard-headed true believer or socially damaged borderline personality feels that the big tent is less constrictive than what the Conservatives are offering, and piggyback their pet ideologies onto generally Progressive public activities.
Antifa as a group, similar to BLM and many of the women's groups, has a Progressive goal, but each local group has control over the way their organizations are run - if the local environment is such they will need to be prepared to physically protect themselves and their families both at the event and afterwards (because of the Nazis and Trumpeteer groups in their areas), they're going to be wearing those black masks and carrying protection. But they're not breaking store windows and burning cars, because that's not what those organizations are about.
This big tent approach is the primary reason there's so much f'ing infighting amongst Liberals (not to mention Democrats), and why Anarchists and the disaffected "anti-current hierarchy" protesters will often latch onto legitimate Liberal movements - IWW/Socialists, various forms civil/social rights - and hijack an otherwise peaceful gatherings and protests with outbursts of rage because they're not being listened to the way they want to be heard.
However, the history of various Liberal Organizations expose the following conundrum: if Liberal Organizations try to play hierarchal games and micromanage their members as the Conservative Organizations do, 3/4 of the membership would leave and form their own splinter groups, and there would be no Coalition that will be strong enough stand up the development of an organized Fascist or Despotic regime. Democracy will slip, and fail.
Progressivism requires a Coalition to win, but that Coalition is both our weakness and our strength. We have to navigate between wants and needs of each of the participants, and shape the road forward in a way that everyone will be willing to use it, whether it's "perfect" or just functional to them.
Haele
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