American Peoples Convoy Protest

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Foggy]

That's what I always thought. When I had a Jeep in the late '70s, I had a CB radio and would listen, and sometimes talk to, the truckers as I was driving back and forth from Bathysphere, MD to Burlington, VT. It's difficult to think of those guys as bad guys, because they weren't. These guys are just deluded, and they're deluded by Fox News and the other right-wing "news" operations.

But any of these guys see a car wreck happen in front of them and have a chance to help? They'd pull over and help. Well, except Ted Cruz, but Ted Cruz can go fuck himself.

The sad thing is, these guys are so deluded there's no communicating with them any more. We just have to pour resources into children's education, that's the ultimate solution.

[Suranis]

The sad thing is, these guys are so deluded there's no communicating with them any more. We just have to pour resources into children's education, that's the ultimate solution.

No. The solution is to shut down Fox and right wing Radio. You can educate these people all you want, but once poison starts into their minds, their minds are going to get sick. Any solution that does not involve shutting down the poison flowing into their heads every single day is going to fail.

And if you were exposed to the crap they are exposed to your mind would get sick too. Ya, you can say its their choice to listen to this crap, but millions of dollars in advertising and psychological research is used to both make this poison as attractive as possible and to push them to start listening. "Choice" does not come into it.

[AndyinPA]

I remember traveling from Pittsburgh to the Ann Arbor or Detroit area in the 70s. We always tried to drive near the truckers as they were the best drivers on the road. Today, we keep as far away from them as possible.

[raison de arizona]

I keep trying to tell myself that these knobs represent a VERY small percentage of all truckers.

Anyway, freaking BABIES!

There is a lot of chatter over the CB radio today about Beltway drivers flipping truckers off. "He put his fingers up and pulled that type of crap," a trucker complained during their Beltway loops, while another trucker insisted that he considers such a "terroristic threat."

Flip off a trucker today!

"WE'RE GOING TO SHUT DOWN THE BELTWAY! WE ARE GOING TO SHUT DOWN D.C.!"
*gets flipped the bird*
"TERRORISTIC THREAT! I'M CALLING 911!"

[pipistrelle]

Most of this convoy isn’t truckers.

[raison de arizona]

Most of this convoy isn’t truckers.

True dat.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Puh-puh-puh-Pansy Power!!!

[Gregg]

"WE'RE GOING TO SHUT DOWN THE BELTWAY! WE ARE GOING TO SHUT DOWN D.C.!"
*gets flipped the bird*
"TERRORISTIC THREAT! I'M CALLING 911!"

Bitch please...






One of these things is not like the other...

[northland10]

The hero truckers are still out there. They are on the road transporting the goods we need to keep going and help support their families. They are helping America, unlike these knobs.

[sugar magnolia]

But did they ever return,
No, they never returned,
And their fate is still unlearned.
They may drive forever 'round the DC Beltway,
They're the fools who never returned.

Poor ole' Charlie.

(What a great earworm!)

[RTH10260]

Where is Sterngards avatar when one needs it on the bellway

[bill_g]

If they want to be considered heros, greeted by cheering crowds, and given high fives in traffic, they should return to the towns they passed through on their way to DC where they got all that.

Immabettin those same people would do an about face if the truckers loaded up the equivalent highway loop around those cities.

[Kriselda Gray]

That first truck had radioed ahead to organize it in, like, three minutes.

Heroes.

Damn, that was very cool of all of them! I'm glad they were there to help you!

[Kriselda Gray]

Ya, you can say its their choice to listen to this crap, but millions of dollars in advertising and psychological research is used to both make this poison as attractive as possible and to push them to start listening. "Choice" does not come into it.

From my point of view, choice is very much a part of it. I've been exposed to the same advertising and promotions and have never been tempted to watch or listen to that filth. Some might say that I've been better educated or that my own beliefs are strong enough to overcome their attempts to push me to their side of things, but I hear all the time about people who had been strong liberals, started watching FOX or listening to right-wing radio - for whatever reason - and wound up becoming diehard MAGAts. The difference between me and them isn't that I'm smarter or stronger or whatever, it's that I made the choice to NOT check out what those resources had to offer, while they made the choice TO check it out.

[RTH10260]

If they want to be considered heros, greeted by cheering crowds, and given high fives in traffic, they should return to the towns they passed through on their way to DC where they got all that.

Immabettin those same people would do an about face if the truckers loaded up the equivalent highway loop around those cities.

Like what another Repulican once promised

Rumsfeld: Iraqis will greet American soldiers with roses....

[noblepa]

Ya, you can say its their choice to listen to this crap, but millions of dollars in advertising and psychological research is used to both make this poison as attractive as possible and to push them to start listening. "Choice" does not come into it.

From my point of view, choice is very much a part of it. I've been exposed to the same advertising and promotions and have never been tempted to watch or listen to that filth. Some might say that I've been better educated or that my own beliefs are strong enough to overcome their attempts to push me to their side of things, but I hear all the time about people who had been strong liberals, started watching FOX or listening to right-wing radio - for whatever reason - and wound up becoming diehard MAGAts. The difference between me and them isn't that I'm smarter or stronger or whatever, it's that I made the choice to NOT check out what those resources had to offer, while they made the choice TO check it out.

I believe that the incredible political divisiveness in our society is due, in large part, to two things: 24 hour news channels and primary elections.

The 24 hour news channels, and I include both the right wing and the liberal channels, such as MSNBC, have to fill 24 hours of air time, whether or not there is anything to report. So, they fill it with endless repetition and opinionated bloviating. Back in the days of Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley, news programs were not rated by Nielson or Arbitron. They did not have to compete for ratings, the way they do today. I read somewhere that Wm. Paley, chairman of CBS once said that the news division didn't make a profit, but he considered it a public service.

A couple of generations ago, we weren't so dependent on primaries. Now, republicans must run to the extreme right and democrats must run to the left, just to get their party's nomination. Then, in the general election, it is difficult to return to the center, where reasonable government can be done. The primaries also weed out the reasonable candidates who are capable of compromise, in favor of the radicals, like MTG and Boebert. I honestly believe that we got better candidates and better government from smoke filled rooms than we do today. The reliance on primaries has also caused money to be a much bigger factor than it ever was.

[bill_g]

None of this happened until we lost the Fairness Doctrine that required opposing views be presented, and that news had to be accurate as possible.

Once the Republicans squashed the FCC's authority to rule every aspect of the spectrum, they opened the flood gates for disinformation.

We sometimes chuckle at the pedantics laws Germans apply to what is and is not beer, but there's a reason for that: People like to pass off one thing for another of a lesser value for their own profit.

A lie always benefits someone.

When the internet became a public place, the FCC was specifically denied the ability to control it. In fact, no central authority was assigned on purpose. Innovators claimed it needed to be entirely open. Having managed to survive the Age of Bulletin Boards, I disagreed with an open playground. I thought Internet users should be registered, verified, and clearly identified from the beginning. That just like the public roads, access was a privilege, not a right. But, Internet access was limited to private highways, not public, and the private highways owners declared there would be no regulations they didn't set themselves.

So, here we are.

[Ben-Prime]

But did they ever return,
No, they never returned,
And their fate is still unlearned.
They may drive forever 'round the DC Beltway,
They're the fools who never returned.

While having a discussion about US vs UK/EU mass transit systems with a colleague at work last week, I actually began singing the original song, since it was a Scouting favorite. Once he got the joke, he kept snickering like a fiend over it the whole day. I thought "Yeah, my work here is done." I'll have to share this one with him on Monday over lunch.

[LM K]

[PaulG]

But did they ever return,
No, they never returned,
And their fate is still unlearned.
They may drive forever 'round the DC Beltway,
They're the fools who never returned.

Poor ole' Charlie.

(What a great earworm!)

I'd throw a nickel to make them go away.

[poplove]

Probably not our favorite poot blower, but most of the replies are pretty funny.

PatriotTakes
@patriottakes
A protester holding up a shofar they were blowing at the freedom convoy rally outside DC.

[LM K]

They'll lose everything for a cause that was ending before they got to the protest. There is no agenda, no message, and no solid purpose.

This gets sadder everyday.

FYI, and I do want to express my concern about the health and safety of people who remain in Hagerstown. I'm still paying attention, and apparently a woman isn't doing well in this cold weather. They are trying to collect donations for her to get a hotel room.

It’s so sad. Some ppl have their families there, in cars and/or tents. I’ve also heard many truckers talking about losing a signif amount of money personally to be there. One person claims that some truckers will be facing repossession and financial ruin. (source: live streams)

[Slim Cognito]

I feel bad about the kids, but the rest can Darwin themselves.

[LM K]

About 20 people from Philadelphia and its suburbs gathered Friday afternoon in front of the Fox 29 offices on Market Street in Old City to demand more media coverage of a small but ongoing trucker protest taking place outside Washington.


“This isn’t really against Fox at all,” said Lynn Landes, an organizer with Philly Freedom Coalition. “It’s more just to draw attention that this story needs to be covered more fully, and don’t give up on this story.”


The “People’s Convoy,” however, didn’t draw the thousands some had hoped. Still, hundreds of vehicles remained in Hagerstown, Md, this week with leaders scoring a meeting with Republican U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Ted Cruz of Texas.

"I got two respectful members of the Senate here,” said People’s Convoy leader Brian Brase to the Washington Post. “And I got all the media to come in this room and start covering it. That’s a win for me. That’s a win for the People’s Convoy.”

Other national outlets, including the New York Times, have reported on the convoy. But Delaware County resident Diane Coughlan, who helped organize Friday’s rally in Philadelphia, said that’s not enough.

“The local news networks don’t even seem to care,” said Coughlan. “The only thing that you hear about right now is Ukraine. This is happening in our country. And they actually spent more time reporting about Canada’s convoy than the U.S. convoy.”

Well, the Canadian convoy blocked international free trade, disrupting the Canadian and American economies,
and international travel.

That's worth reporting.