Alabama man arrested for slashing baby Trump Balloon .

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Reading unimpaired? OK, try this:

I do not debate with idiots. They only drag me down to their level and beat me with experience.

Therefore, I will not debate with you. Comprehend that.

Have. A. Nice. Day.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

Is that your way of saying you misread the map and that the athletics department is no where near the intersection?

I mean, I get that I'm an idiot, I even made a 4,000 page thread about it. But I can read a map and I can also admit when I'm wrong. It seems you can do neither.

a reply to: Grimpachi

That is a silly point to make, but out of stubborn curiosity I pulled up a map and used the scale to measure. Just under a mile as the crow flies for accuracies sake

I didn't have a scale on Google Maps (when did they stop that anyway?) so I won't debate that point. I have been to Tuscaloosa, though, and remember it as not being very far.

You have been shown that it was a legal protest almost a mile away not on school property and that the balloon was not even flying.

Your argument has been whittled down to "it is a ballon so they must plan to fly it."

You are free to consider it silly if you want. I consider it silly to think that someone paid a large sum of money to rent something for a cause they didn't plan on fully using.

TheRedneck

a reply to: Liquesence

Poking is physical. Assault/violation of personal space. A balloon or a protest is anything but, and is protected.

Prove it wouldn't have become physical. I haven't seen many of these protests with the balloon that didn't.

But if protests trigger a person enough to physically act, again, that's a personal issue within themselves.

We will have to agree to disagree on that.

Too much is simply too much, and everyone has a limit.

TheRedneck

originally posted by: TheRedneck
a reply to: Liquesence

So you agree with what Hoyt did?

Had I been there and saw it flying, I would likely have been the one to shoot it down.

Clear enough?

TheRedneck

That you would act like an anti constitutional idiot. Yeah, I am clear on that.

It is sad that people would commit crimes and not give a crap about the constitutional rights of others. I guess you are not immune to falling into the same mentality as those trying to destroy the 2nd amendment. To be triggered that hard over a football game makes it even worse.

a reply to: Grimpachi

That you would act like an anti constitutional idiot. Yeah, I am clear on that.

Sometimes one has to fight fire with fire. Other times, one must fight fire with advanced thermo-nuclear weaponry.

I'll admit that's the best argument the left has right now: taunt, tease, test the limits, then whenever someone has enough point and say "See? See?" It can be very convincing. However, it won't work forever and is already outliving its lifespan. It will backfire. Heaven help you all when it does, because there's no stopping a bomb after it detonates.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

You sound just like Antifa.

a reply to: TheRedneck

Prove it wouldn't have become physical. I haven't seen many of these protests with the balloon that didn't.

Prove flying a balloon is a physical provocation.

Too much is simply too much, and everyone has a limit.

That's the point. One might feel a peaceful protest (flying a balloon) is "too much" if they are triggered, but one doesn't have the right to respond physically, either through destruction of property, force, or assault, or anything else. And why if one does respond as such, it speaks more to their own personal issues than anything else.

a reply to: TheRedneck

I'll admit that's the best argument the left has right now: taunt, tease, test the limits, then whenever someone has enough point and say "See? See?"

People on both sides do that. I've watched and laughed at videos of people going to Cali and riling them up with opinions.

It's the self serving cycle... Most people don't get triggered by simple speach, but those who can't handle different opinions and act out provide fodder to those willing to use the worst (minority) examples to paint all of their opponents with.

originally posted by: TheRedneck
Too much is simply too much, and everyone has a limit.

The problem is... this "poke the dog" mentality is basically the same justification used by loons like AntiFa, and hoping that U of A turns into a bastion of intolerance like Berkeley is just going further down the spiral.

originally posted by: TheRedneck
why continue the spiral?

a reply to: CriticalStinker

People on both sides do that.

Oh, of course they do! The left has just taken it to extremes lately. If it were the right doing that, I would be calling them out. I probably will be before all is said and done.

But that's then; this is now.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

The left has just taken it to extremes lately. If it were the right doing that, I would be calling them out.

Kinda like destruction of property because triggered?

Oh, but "they poked the dog, they deserved to get bit" or something, right?

originally posted by: TheRedneck
a reply to: CriticalStinker

People on both sides do that.

Oh, of course they do! The left has just taken it to extremes lately. If it were the right doing that, I would be calling them out. I probably will be before all is said and done.

But that's then; this is now.

TheRedneck

This is nothing new for either side.





We've all seen toilette paper with presidents faces on it... There have been range targets, you name it, it's existed.

A baby isn't as bad as being compared to Hitler (they've done the same signs with Trump).

But he dishes it out just as much. His campaign was all about insulting anyone critical of him. So why can't people dish it back?

I voted for him, but frankly, I see the same thing happening with the right as the left when Obama was in office. A sense of arrogance, righteousness, entitlement, and worse of all a feeling that "how dare someone criticize him or us".

It's a turn off for a moderate when people get that kind of mentality.

originally posted by: TheRedneck
The left has just taken it to extremes lately.

I get it, but most of it is just internet echo chamber nonsense.

Don't get me wrong. If you're heading to the game, and fools like AntiFa show up tossing milkshakes filled with concrete, or swinging bike locks, then whip out that shotgun and defend you and yours, but do you really need that shotgun to protect yourself from the horror of possibly seeing a balloon?

a reply to: redmage

I'll agree with you, and Antifa's previous actions without consequence is one big reason why there's so much anger. Berkeley is another. I would be pretty darn vocal, though, if the University of Alabama started denying speakers the ability to speak safely... more vocal than I have been with Berkeley, because it's in my state.

I have also been vocal about anyone becoming violent during a protest, regardless of political position. Even in this case, I have stated numerous times that the arrest was proper; Hoyt Hutchinson broke the law. I do not condone his actions, nor do I even defend them. The only thing I am debating is why he broke the law... what drove him to do that? The answer, as far as I can see, is obvious: he was upset because the biggest game to hit the campus in years, in a state that takes football very seriously, was under attack in his mind.

That's the understandable part. It doesn't excuse his actions, but it does go to the heart of why he did what he did. And, were I in a similar situation, I would likely have done worse... that's honesty talking. I am certainly not alone; I know many people who would likely have done far worse. It's also, or at least should be, a wake-up call to those who protest at every possible opportunity.

So while I don't defend Hutchinson, I also understand him, and his actions tell me that we are edging ever closer to the abyss before us. I haven't carried a gun in years, just because I saw no need; now I am seriously considering packing again. The level of absolute hatred I have seen from certain posters in this thread is just convincing me more to take that route for my own protection. There seems to be no limit to who they will hurt if they can get in one last stab at the man they hate.

I fear for society, but I cannot stop what society has decided will be.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

When we reach the point where both the left and right are at "BAMN", then we've reached a threshold of anarchy.

I know we live in a Banana Republic now, but I swore an oath to two things.

My wife (32 years ago) and the Constitution (38 years ago).

I've kept both oaths.

a reply to: Liquesence

Kinda like equal treatment for equal actions.

TheRedneck

a reply to: Liquesence

The president of the Unites States was at the game.

People have the right to protest the president.

I should have qualified my remark by quoting this...

This isn't just about this idiocy with the balloon. This is a question of where do your rights end, and mine begin??

Today, or last Saturday, it was a balloon, tomorrow, or next Saturday, it might be something else.

I'm not defending the actions of this guy, don't misunderstand me, but I am curious as to where people think the right to protest begins and ends, as regards my ability to live my own life and mind my own affairs.

I'm sure we all remember the riots in Seattle a few years back, well I just happened to have been downtown when that all broke out... I was less than impressed when I, an innocent caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, got a dose of CS Gas.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

We've all seen toilette paper with presidents faces on it... There have been range targets, you name it, it's existed.

To be honest, I have never seen a President I would allow that close to me, lol. Including Trump! If you want me to use toilet paper with a face on it, it would have to be... nah, nevermind.

I do agree though... it is not limited to the left, and there is a strong possibility that the right will become the same way as they gain more power. I have been warning about that since 2016. I actually want the Democratic party to survive this, but to do so as the older more reasonable Democratic party. I might actually vote for them if they would do that. I hold no party affiliation. I vote for the policies I want to see implemented.

I really don't mind when someone takes a stab at Trump after he takes a stab at them. Time about is fair play. I only get upset when it gets over the top and starts affecting everyday Americans who don't want to be in the middle of a political knife fight. That's what the protest movement has done, starting with Antifa and progressing to other groups. There has to be somewhere left for people to go where politics is not the end-all, be-all. You can call that a "safe space" if you want, but it's something everyone needs if we want any chance of peace.

For me, that's college ball, wrasslin', and scifi movies (I have to even be cautious with them sometimes). It used to be the NFL as well, but Kaepernick spoiled that. As my options for politics-free entertainment dwindle, I become more and more protective of those which are left. I think most people think that way.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

Extremely fair response 👍

I try and watch old movies, documentaries, comedy, and series from years and decades last from time to time. Whenever I do, I start to realize things are how they have been. I think the ultra fast communication can exacerbate that... But it can also provide us a window to the past for context.