That's how power grabs always work - just like the Patriot Act. They draft unconstitutional, draconian bills and have them sitting on the shelf waiting for a crisis (real or imagined) so that they can roll them out and get people to sign on out of a sense of fear.
Hacker news is not your political soap box, please stay on topic to the comment and thread you are replying to.
The comment you are replying to is requesting a title change based on existing hacker news norms by the mod team because the article can be confused (given current events) with a recently released response to recently introduced legislation to congress, which this is not.
Oh absolutely, some of that was also highly objectionable IMHO.
I want to be clear vigorous protest is a democratic right, including some civil disobedience, but you have to be prepared to accept the consequences and responsibility for your actions. I think the vast majority of the BLM protesters in the summer and the MAGA crowd on Wednesday were intent on peaceful demonstration. It’s the violent assholes on both sides that need reigning in.
> It’s the violent assholes on both sides that need reigning in.
Agreed. However, a lot of the aggressive, confrontational rhetoric on both the left and right implicitly pushed the more action-oriented folks into making bad choices. So many of the "peaceful" protestors and even folks at home ramp up the rhetoric to the point where some confrontation is almost inevitable. Trump's rhetoric is a great example, and obviously extremely influential on the right. But while they're not as individually influential as Trump, there are firebrands on the left who do the same (AOC, Maxine Waters, Rashida Tlaib, many more on the state and local level).
And then even partisans who weren't engaging in aggressive rhetoric often excused it as understandable, which creates a nice cover for the folks engaged in violence.
Legal responsibility, of course, ultimately rests with the rioters who did the deeds. But moral responsibility is more diffuse. Many, many more partisans need to examine the role that they've played in creating the conditions for conflict, on both the left and right.
Improvised explosive devices were found in several locations in Washington, D.C. A device suspected to be a pipe bomb was discovered adjacent to a building containing Republican National Committee (RNC) offices. A search of the nearby area found another suspected pipe bomb under a bush at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters.[4] The devices were believed to have been planted prior to the riots.[124] Both the RNC building and the DNC headquarters are a few blocks from the Capitol.
An explosive device is found at the R.N.C., and the D.N.C. is evacuated.
An explosive device was found at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee in Washington and the nearby headquarters of the Democratic National Committee was evacuated after the discovery of a suspicious package on Wednesday, according to three people briefed on the discoveries.
The device that was found at the R.N.C. was a pipe bomb that was successfully destroyed by a bomb squad, according to an official for the R.N.C.
Information is still being uncovered and reported. Since I'd posted my comment above:
An Alabama man allegedly parked a pickup truck packed with 11 homemade bombs, an assault rifle and a handgun just two blocks form the United States Capitol Building, according to federal prosecutors.
Given conditions, volitility, and expressed intent, two blocks proximity to the US Capitol building, on the Capitol complex, and directly across from the Cannon House Office Building, the location is well within the security zone of concern for the Capitol and was clearly associated with the insurgents and rioters.
Close only counts in horse shoes and... lawn darts. People are making the assumption that the people who entered the Capitol building brought pipe bombs in with them. This is not true, according to both your version of the facts and my version of the facts.
This event is serious. You owe it to yourself to be accurate and informed. You never know who is using you as their news source.
1. I did not claim the bombs were in the Capitol building itself. You are arguing against a case I am not making. The snarky question you asked was clearly answered in the comment you replied to. The insinuation was gratuitous and unnecessary.
But wait, there's more.
2. I do cite and quote reputable sources noting that a) there were in fact multiple bombs, b) that we now know of, c) discovered to date, d) in very near proximity to the Capitol building, e) within the greater Capitol complex, f) posing threats to persons and assets g) with hostile intent.
3. The thousands of insurgents active with the attacks on the Capitol building and complex demonstrably included people carrying and placing bombs within at the very least two blocks of the Capitol building itself and on the same block as Capitol office buildings in which congressional members and staff were lkely present and/or sheltering.
4. There is much we simply don't know as those actually entering the Capitol building proper are not fully identified or known, were not arrested immediately, and certainly have not been fully checked, searched, or inventoried. One person of interest in the Senate Chamber was carrying zip ties and likely a firearm, dressed in paramilitary gear: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/crime/2021/01/08...
5. A false precision limited to proved facts and ignoring, dismissing, or petily hair-splitting distintions in an emergent situations is itself actively dangerous. This discussion is reminiscent of Chernobyl, "3.6 Roentgen, not great, not terrible", rejection of likely, and as it turned out, actual circumstances in the no-longer extant reactor core.[1] The failure in evidence was due to circumstances far beyond the capacities of existing reporting capacities. We face similar circumstances here.
Failure to maintain situational awareness, grasp magnitude, and remain ahead of developments is a common element of crises situations. At Chernobyl in 1986. In the Falklands crisis as the HMS Sheffield was attacked in 1982[2]. At Banqiao in 1975.[3] At Hiroshima in 1945.[4] The causes are multiple: failures of imagination, failures of understanding, incapacitation of observers, disruption, destruction, or overwhelming of sensors, communications, reporting and response systems.
For the moment, we cannot say with certainty that bombs were or were not actually in or on the Capitol building itself. Multiple bombs, possibly placed by multiple parties or units, acting either in concert or independently, were found in the immediate vicinity, close enough to be inside the Capitol within minutes or seconds. The possibility that explosives were inside the building is high, the evidence-based demonstration of this may be years away, possibly never established (though forensics detection may be able to establish likelihood more clearly soon). In terms of risk, post mortem assessment, and future preparedness, with furthe similar events likely within days, operating on the ASSUMPTION that explosives were or could be introduced to the Capitol building and environs is the right thing to do with absolute crystalline clarity.
No, I cannot say with reasonable certainty that there were. Nor have I.
You cannot say there were not.
The best that can be said is that there is as yet no immediate evidence, but a strong possibility, and s clearly demostrated material risk
This event is serious. You owe it to yourself to be realistic and reasonable.
Preciseness is extremely important. How many people are on social media right now calling the people who entered the Capitol terrorists because they assumed they carried bombs into the building?!
