What's Going On By The Congress Now?

[Pensador]

I talked with my wife about all this, her response was simple. "These are the stupid Argentinians" My reply... Well you cannot fix stupid! Ignorance seems to have become a global epidemic or perhaps I have just finally realized that. All reference too to violent protesters for the record. I wonder if the congress will break out into a brawl. I seem to recall something like that happening years ago if I am correct.

 

[ben]

Not even dealing with the silliness in the first part of the post.

Meanwhile they militarized the Congress are and the represion of people who was protesting, congresmen included was brutal.

Welcome to the the Revolution of happiness.

Having written that, and having presumably seen the action today... your silence, your deafening silence, is shameful.

A well organized group of thugs came to the city center, hurling rocks at police, breaking street benches, building walls and street tiles to get more projectiles to throw, attacking journalists, the whole nine yards. The police stood heroically and stoically, covering themselves with their shields, and basically nothing more. Enduring insults, a rain of projectiles that did not stop for hours, retreating from time to time as the mob rushed them, stoically. At least 48 police injured at last count - for what?

These were well organized. You don't break these benches without having brought hammers for the purpose. Some buses intercepted entering the city, were found with glass balls, slingshots and more. Orders had been given.

Meanwhile, in the Congress, the show continued. K diputados spoke about police brutality - either completely disconnected from the reality on the ground, or simply shamelessly lying. Constant badgering to interrupt the session on account of the violence outside - the cynicism breaks the meter.

Every politician who instead of condemning this inexcusable violence, cynically took advantage of it, is complicit. Your side lost an election, you respect the process. You protest if need be. You do not contribute your all, to breaking down the very concept of civil society. Don't like a law? Bus in a horde of thugs to destroy the city center and obligate the police to endure 50 officers injured, or even better - get some protestor hurt to hold up as an example of police brutality.

Having lost an election, continue with thuggery, saqueos, rule of the jungle.

And bajo is silent. Shameful. For shame.

 

[Macanudo]

Lots of pot banging going on in Congreso now.

 

[ben]

In Barrio Norte too.
How many people banging and rioting today bothered to find out anything about the bill being debated?

(Let's all agree to use the word riot, because this is what it was.
If you're not sure, go watch some TV then come back and you'll be using the word riot).

 

[MilHojas]

Rivadavia & Ayacucho

 

[Ries]

In current USA english, the word "thug" is old white guy code for black people and chicanos.
Seems like its being used here in a similar sense to discuss young leftists, and, suggest they are immigrants from other countries who live in villas.

There is no doubt there were 100-200 angry young men throwing rocks- at the front of a crowd of tens of thousands of ordinary people.
This is the case at most demonstrations- there are always testostorone driven young men, ready to make trouble- and they always get the most publicity.
I was in Seattle (nearby, anyway) during the WTO demonstrations- and a couple of dozen of these type of kids broke some windows, and the right assigned blame to thirty thousand demonstrators.

Frankly, in a city of 4 plus million, you could find 100 kids ready to make trouble, but it tells you NOTHING about the actual feelings of the argentine people.

In my barrio, last night, at 10pm, I saw hundreds and hundreds of ordinary argentines protest. Not "stupid argentines"- no, these were my neighbors, regular people of all ages. The majority, as in, more than 50% of them, were jubilados. Because they are directly being affected by this law, and they are mad as hell and not going to take it any more.

There was not a single black clad anarchist revolutionary throwing rocks at the corner of Coronel Diaz and Santa Fe last night. There were hundreds of locals, old, young, and in between, genuinely pissed off at the government. They were not radical leftists, they were not stupid or uninformed. Most, no doubt, went to college- its an affluent neighborhood. They blocked the street, banged on pots and pans, honked horns, and chanted for a couple of hours, then peacefully went home to their houses in the surrounding buildings.
No marxists. Just folks.
And, definitely, not a single "thug".

 

[JoeGillis]

Ries, in the US "thug" still applies to anyone of any race that fits the definition of the word.

 

[ben]

I certainly did not use “thug” in any racial sense. But when you are watching 20 year-old kids, of whichever color, hurl rocks at police 10 feet away with impunity, “thuggery” and “thugs” is the exactly appropriate term.

As for other protesters - sure, have at it. I’m curious to know how many, even among the “civilized” protesters, actually give a whit about the issue at hand and how many are just happy to join the chorus of “Macri basura”. But peaceful protest is fine. Just that after having seen yesterday’s well-planned rioting, one starts to harbor suspicions regarding the sincerity of any and all protests. That’s just how it works.

 

[MilHojas]

I listened to the Congress session last night. And from like 10 people talking everybody was against the reform. So, I thought there is no way it will pass through. Go figure.

 

[Ries]

Trump constantly uses the word "thug", when he is referring to black people. When he is talking about Nazis and white supremicists, he uses "very nice people".

then there is this:
As John McWhorter, an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, told NPR in 2015:

"Well, the truth is that thug today is a nominally polite way of using the N-word. Many people suspect it, and they are correct. When somebody talks about thugs ruining a place, it is almost impossible today that they are referring to somebody with blond hair. It is a sly way of saying there go those black people ruining things again. And so anybody who wonders whether thug is becoming the new N-word doesn't need to. It's most certainly is."​

Anyway, my point is- there are a few kids who were attacking the police, and they amounted to about .001% of the crowd at that protest, and much less of a percentage of the people of Buenos Aires who were, and are, protesting all over town.

When I think of thugs, I think of moto-chorros, or of futbol hooligans- neither of which are the least political, and both of which outnumber the violent protesters yesterday. Football hooligans, true thugs, are present in apolitical hundreds of thousands around the world. They beat people up for wearing the wrong color shirt.