Throw the book at them

Peggy Noonan in the WSJ: “On the rioters: Find them, drag them out of their basements, and bring them to justice. Use all resources, whatever it takes, with focus and speed. We have pictures of half of them; they like to pose. They larked about taking selfies and smiling unashamed smiles as one strolled out with a House podium. They were so arrogant they were quoted by name in news reports. It is our good luck they are idiots. Capitalize on that luck. …

“As for the chief instigator, the president of the United States, he should be removed from office by the 25th Amendment or impeachment, whichever is faster. This, with only a week and a half to go, would be a most extraordinary action, but this has been an extraordinary time. …

“The president should be removed for reasons of justice—he urged a crowd to march on Congress, and, when it turned violent, had to be dragged into telling them, equivocally, to go home—and prudence. …

“It is not too late. Removal of the president would be the prudent move, not the wild one. Get rid of him. Now.”

The politicians who egged them on should also be made to pay a heavy price.

Christianity, white supremacy, and Trumpism intertwined

“Since 2008, the country has moved from being a majority Christian nation to one that is no longer a majority Christian nation (from 54% white and Christian to 44% white and Christian). This change took place during the tenure of our first African American president. The dysfunction and violence we are seeing is in large part an attempt to preserve a vision of white Christian America that is passing from the scene.

“The willingness among those in the crowd Wednesday to believe outlandish conspiracy theories and the unwillingness to accept the election results are born from the same source: a desperate desire by some white Christians to hang onto ownership of a diversifying country.

“As many have rightly declared, the violent disregard for the rule of law we witnessed is not the best of who we are. But if we’re going to heal our nation, we need to confess that it remains, still today, a troubling part of America’s political and religious heritage.”

(RNS) ? The attack exposed the comfortable juxtaposition of Christianity and white supremacy.

But Big Brother won’t know who he’s watching

The city of Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday banned the use of facial-recognition technology by city departments — including local police — as well as public-facing businesses such as stores, restaurants and hotels.

Not at all surprising

Trump admires the world’s autocrats.

Heavily armed, unidentifiable security agents dressed in camouflage have been snatching anti-racism protesters off the streets of Portland, Oregon, and bundling them into unmarked cars, with no clear justification. They're scenes you might expect to see in authoritarian countries, not in America.

And the moon wasn’t even full

Nicholas Kristof in the NYT: “Folks, this is insane. It’s a measure of how deluded public discourse has become, how untethered from reality, that a mob of gunmen can terrify campers apparently because of the color of their skin — and think themselves heroes who are defending their communities. …

“These antifa panics are where racism and hysteria intersect, in a nation that has more guns than people. They arise when a lying president takes every opportunity not to heal our national divisions but to stoke them, when people live in a news ecosystem that provides no reality check but inflames prejudices and feeds fears.”

Fox News is culturally illiterate

Who would have guessed?

It looks like Fox News needs to brush up on its movie knowledge.During a story about the Seattle protests that aired live Friday night, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum reported on a Reddit post she said was evidence of infighting among activists involved in the city?s so-called ?Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.? There was just one problem: The post was clearly a joke referencing one of the most famous scenes from the 1975 comedy classic ?Monty Python and the Holy Grail.?The post, added to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone subreddit by user ?Kasplorge,? says ?I didn?t vote for Raz. I thought we were an autonomous collective? An anachro-syndicalist commune at the least. We should take turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.??But of course all the decisions of that officer would have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of internal affairs, or a 2/3 majority in the case of more major issues,? the post continued. ?Raz can?t simply expect to wield supreme executive power just because someone threw a sword at him.?Also Read: John Cleese Pressures BBC to Restore 'Fawlty Towers' Episode Removed for Problematic Language to StreamingThe post paraphrases a scene mid-way through ?Holy Grail,? in which Graham Chapman?s King Arthur happens upon two peasants played by Terry Jones and Michael Palin, and discovers they?re actually members of ?an autonomous collective.??We?re an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week,? Palin?s character says as an exasperated King Arthur starts demanding he shut up. ?But all the decision of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting. By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major issues.?Later in the scene, when the peasants ask why he gets to be king, Arthur tells them that the Lady of the Lake gave him the sword Excalibur. ?Well you can?t expect to wield supreme executive power just ?cause some watery tart threw a sword at you,? Palin?s character says in part.Also Read: White Woman Questions San Francisco Man Writing 'Black Lives Matter' on His Own Property (Video)As for Seattle and that Reddit post, ?Raz? refers to Rapper Raz Simone, who has declared himself to be the sheriff of the ?autonomous zone,? also called ?CHAZ,? and has apparently deputized other activists to search any unfamiliar people as they enter. It?s true that he?s been criticized by other members of the movement for these actions ? but as far as TheWrap knows, not by anachronistically leftist peasants from the time of King Arthur.Meanwhile, Kasplorg has been banned from the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone subreddit for the (very funny) joke.Fox News? Daily Caller Twitter page posted the segment June 12 and users were quick to point out the allusion to ?Monty Python.??She does know that the lines that she read comes directly from Monty Python ? search for the holy grail? Did Fox just get punked?,? one user asked.Also Read: White Woman Questions San Francisco Man Writing 'Black Lives Matter' on His Own Property (Video)?Fox News quotes a post from Reddit, quoting Monty Python, then the Daily Caller tweets the Fox video. My goodness these people are stupid. Go look for it. Come to see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I?m being oppressed!,? said another. Hundreds of similar replies followed.See the Reddit joke read on Fox News, the original scene from ?Monty Python and the Holy Grail,? and some of the bemused reactions from Twitter users below.WATCH: Our own @shelbytalcott appeared on @marthamaccallum to talk about her experience reporting from Seattle's autonomous zone. pic.twitter.com/Yg9g0a1acT? Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 13, 2020Help! I?m being repressed! pic.twitter.com/l6H0ZBpvZK? JoAnne Space Cadet (@rebellegrrl) June 13, 2020Fox News fell for a Monty Python joke on Reddit lmao pic.twitter.com/Yo34yuQvlD? Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) June 13, 2020Fox News quotes a post from Reddit, quoting Monty Python, then the Daily Caller tweets the Fox video. My goodness these people are stupid. Go look for it. Come to see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I?m being oppressed!? Skip Gienapp ???????? (@skipgienapp) June 13, 2020Simply fantastic. Watch Fox News get played by a Monty Python gag. https://t.co/eAoU39mJFk? Erik Childress (@EriktheMovieman) June 13, 2020Guys ? this is hilarious. Fox News got punked w/ a quote from Monty Python's the Holy Grail. This may be the best thing I've seen today. https://t.co/JfqrWQJfmY? ??l ? s? ??? ??? ???? (@TypingLiterally) June 13, 2020Read original story Fox News Mocked After Mistaking Monty Python Joke for Seattle Protest Infighting (Video) At TheWrap