Trucker Convoy Protest 2022

Might as well make a separate thread for this, since it looks like we're gonna be here for awhile.

THIS is apparently okay, while homeless shelters have been torn down by police in the past.



Meanwhile, Q-Anon assholes have joined the protest.

 
One the one hand, I believe everyone has a right to peacefully assemble and protest even when I don't believe in what they are protesting for.
On the other hand, these fuckers were likely the type bitching about indigenous people blocking roads to stop companies from polluting their land with oil pipelines.
So fuck'em.
 
Lawsuit filed against convoy organizers, seeking damages on behalf of downtown Ottawa residents

"Organizers of the Freedom Convoy that has gridlocked downtown Ottawa for the last week are facing a $9.8-million class-action lawsuit over relentless horn noise, filed on behalf of residents of the city’s downtown core."

Oh dear, that's more than the GoFundMe raised, isn't it?

 
There is literally only my sister of my family that's decried them publically along with myself. The rest have said nothing or, for the majority, outright supported them so that's fun. I live on the other side of the country of most of them and have always known they were...well...stupid, but this is some cake-taking bullshit that's making me reevaluate a lot of relationships.
 
Seriously what the fuck is going on. Why the hell are so many Canadians carrying Confederate and Let's Go Brandon flags? Why are they saying shit like "Home of the Free", ANTIFA, and calling the press the enemy of the people? MAGA hats? What.. the... Fuck..

It just feels like these people accidently went north from friggin Alabama. Like whoever was purchasing the crisis actors hired them to go to Oregon and accidently typed in Ottawa in Google maps. What the hell.
 
Seriously what the fuck is going on. Why the hell are so many Canadians carrying Confederate and Let's Go Brandon flags? Why are they saying shit like "Home of the Free", ANTIFA, and calling the press the enemy of the people? MAGA hats? What.. the... Fuck..

It just feels like these people accidently went north from friggin Alabama. Like whoever was purchasing the crisis actors hired them to go to Oregon and accidently typed in Ottawa in Google maps. What the hell.
Dude, you got NO idea. That shit is rampant in Wisconsin. What used to be a progressive state has turned into a home for stupid people. I blame entitled boomers.
 
Seriously what the fuck is going on. Why the hell are so many Canadians carrying Confederate and Let's Go Brandon flags? Why are they saying shit like "Home of the Free", ANTIFA, and calling the press the enemy of the people? MAGA hats? What.. the... Fuck..

It just feels like these people accidently went north from friggin Alabama. Like whoever was purchasing the crisis actors hired them to go to Oregon and accidently typed in Ottawa in Google maps. What the hell.
Boy, it's like having your media juggernaut bordering us is having the same effect on our right wing assholes as it did with yours. Alberta is called the Texas of Canada for a reason.
 
Jesus Fucking Christ.
This whole "protest" has pissed me off from the start, but this is a whole new level of heinous.
Livid doesn't even begin to describe my reaction to this act of attempted murder. I suppose I should be thankful that they were too stupid to manage to burn down the building successfully.
Taping the doors shut.
Fucking hell.
Monsters.
"It's about freedom" my ass.
 
More and more it's obvious that certain types of protest, hijacked by extreme right, are trying to cause political violence and instability throughout the Western world - and make no mistake, it's all being orchestrated in Russia. Once things are well and truly going they may no longer be involved, but things like the antivax protests and gilets jaunes in France, the trucker convoy, the whole damn Republican party, etc etc are not just small groups of malcontents. There's millions being poured into propaganda through Facebook and other media to influence people and it's working.
Police and politicians seem to continue with their "treat the right with kids' gloves" approach, increasing the effectiveness.

It's something people don't like to hear, but the Second Cold War really is happening, and for now the West is losing badly.
 
Are they? Because Russia is on the verge of collapse economically. Their economy is smaller than Canada's and that's...Jesus.
 
It's less "Russia's so sneaky they are directing our divide" than "Holy shit, this country is fucking broken and Russia gets to comment every so often".
 
Are they? Because Russia is on the verge of collapse economically. Their economy is smaller than Canada's and that's...Jesus.
Which is probably why Putin is posturing so much with Ukraine. Nothing helps distract from most internal problems more then the looming threat of armed conflict.

You know everyone talks about how Putin wants to destabilize the West. I think that is true, but I don't think he wants to destroy the west. He relies on Europe for their energy consumption and the money that brings in. I think he was hoping supporting Trump / Brexit would have caused a schism where once the US and UK were broken away from the rest of Europe, then the EU would feel more isolated and thus easier to exploit. He's probably upset that NATO survived.

In the end it's still going to get worse because a cornered dog is its most dangerous. If he knows that he is going to lose regardless of any other tricks he tries, then we can expect things to get really bad soon.
 
More and more it's obvious that certain types of protest, hijacked by extreme right, are trying to cause political violence and instability throughout the Western world - and make no mistake, it's all being orchestrated in Russia. Once things are well and truly going they may no longer be involved, but things like the antivax protests and gilets jaunes in France, the trucker convoy, the whole damn Republican party, etc etc are not just small groups of malcontents. There's millions being poured into propaganda through Facebook and other media to influence people and it's working.
Police and politicians seem to continue with their "treat the right with kids' gloves" approach, increasing the effectiveness.

It's something people don't like to hear, but the Second Cold War really is happening, and for now the West is losing badly.
I've seen this position around in a few places, and while I'm sure that there is some outside funding and influence on these... actions, I also think that to say "oh, it's all Russia/or whomever is the international villain of the week" lets those of us in Canada/US/North America off the hook too easily, and absolves those who would oppose these protesters of having to act. Because if it's all externally funded, we can say 'oh, that's not Canada', and believe it, and thus this stupidity gets to root in ever deeper.

I think that folks in Canada in particular need to have a long hard look in the mirror and realize that, lamentably, this is Canada. It's not a part of Canada that I like or support or endorse in any way; but it is Canada. And if I/we want that to change, the onus is on us to both say and do something.
 
If it was externally funded, these people wouldn't be putting up GFMs.
No, these are people burning through their retirement savings, taking out loans, and just generally mortgaging their futures because they see it as a gamble that will either pay off once their visions are realized, or they go down a martyr to their cause.

--Patrick
 
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I'm sure there's some Russian-backed misinformation campaigns out there, but I don't think it's big or sinister enough to say this is entirely orchestrated by Russia.

More than anything, it's taking advantage of what was already an undercurrent issue in western civilization. It's taking advantage of and igniting the ignorant, bigoted people who are terrified of the previous status quo from changing. The ones who can look at where the world is at right now and think, "No no, this fine. We shouldn't do anything different."
 
Well, obviously. Propaganda doesn't try to make people suddenly become anything. It helps normalize and rationalize certain points of view. Creates extreme to point to. Provide "sources" to share. Half the "us.patriots-r-us.freedom.org" websites shared with stories about CIA labs in Wuhan, funny gifs about Biden, etc are Russian-owned and funded.
Small, selfish, backwards people have always been around and always will be. The banality of evil, and all that. Channeling it, giving it a little boost in the wrong direction, is all it needs.
 
Oh goddammit, you morons:
This is actually the Blue Water Bridge over in Port Huron, not the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, though reports are that traffic is stacked up just as bad over there.

"The pandemic has put our economy(-ies!) into the shitter! What are we going to do about it?"
"Hey I know let's constipate everything so nothing can move in or out of two of the busiest border crossings in all of North America and choke off ~40% of all trade volume that moves USA<->Canada! That'll show 'em! YEAAAHHHHHH!!!"

This reminds me so much of that "So the asshole stopped itself up until all the other organs finally had to give in" joke. ...except it's not a joke any more, it's going on in real life right now right there at the border.

--Patrick
 
My cousin's husband got assigned to the border crossing in Alberta. I asked him not to be on camera handing out coffees, it gets embarrassing. He didn't think it was funny. Their orders have been constantly do not engage and he told me he's not sure who would actually follow orders to take the blockade apart. It's a fucking mess. The Alberta government capitulated entirely to them, but not fast enough, so the blockade refuses to go anywhere.

It's going to be hilarious when this starts happening in countries where the white supremacy doesn't trump government control and a convoy gets absolutely smashed by cops/army/etc.
 
My cousin's husband got assigned to the border crossing in Alberta. I asked him not to be on camera handing out coffees, it gets embarrassing. He didn't think it was funny. Their orders have been constantly do not engage and he told me he's not sure who would actually follow orders to take the blockade apart. It's a fucking mess. The Alberta government capitulated entirely to them, but not fast enough, so the blockade refuses to go anywhere.

It's going to be hilarious when this starts happening in countries where the white supremacy doesn't trump government control and a convoy gets absolutely smashed by cops/army/etc.
So like France or Spain? Cause I'm not holding my breath for the cops to so much as muss a rightwingers hair in the US.
 
I doubt "absolutely smashed" will be the result, but the European trucker convoys heading to Brussels right now have all been given a blanket statement that they will be considered an illegal protest and they will be stopped at the border, with those vehicles getting through and trying to block roads will be seized.

And while our politicians are useless, our police does still internationally score among the very best when it comes to handling protests legal or otherwise. We'll see.
 
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