Russian victimization of Ukrainians was a news issue well over nine decades ago. Sadly, back then (1931–1933), Ukrainians were dying at the hands of Russians of the Soviet variety. Subjected to the brutal rule of dictator Joseph Stalin, millions succumbed to a terror-famine.
But, if one were a reader of the New York Times (NYT) then, one would never have known this. The NYT’s best known journalist of the day, Walter Duranty, perpetrated falsehoods by simply accepting the Soviet party line.
The famine, self-inflicted by Soviet collectivism (the consolidation of individual land and labor into collective farms supposedly to increase agricultural production), killed an estimated four million Ukrainians. Irrationally, if not intentionally, the worst Duranty reported was, “Conditions are bad, but there is no famine.”
The NYT ultimately earned a Pulitzer Prize for 13 stories Duranty wrote, later acknowledging their inaccuracy and thus denying that generation of U.S. readers the truth.
Fast-forwarding to events in Los Angeles, rioters have taken to the streets, violently protesting ICE actions to catch and deport illegal aliens. Again we see truth denied. One such reporter shows us video violence, apparently believing viewers will be ignorant enough to accept the totally contrary story he tells.
Duranty died in 1957, but ABC7 Los Angeles lead Anchor Marc Brown appears to be Duranty reincarnated. While the NYT reporter had no access to factually verify what he put out, Brown did. In fact, he had video of what was occurring in LA as he spoke about it. Duranty may have been irresponsible or intentional by his false reporting, but Brown is both.
As viewers watched burning cars, Brown stated those involved were “not a large group of people.” Then, as if forewarning police not to start trouble, he said, “It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there the wrong way, turning what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation and altercation.”
Such reporting is incredulous. Firstly, this was not a small “bunch of people” and secondly, it is never appropriate to dismiss the actions of those turning to violence by burning cars as simply “having fun.” Thirdly, how does one “move law enforcement” in “the wrong way” as police have a responsibility to quickly prevent further violence?
Brown foolishly makes it sound like police need to forewarn rioters they are on their way. He absurdly dismisses the violence as if it is a neighborhood bonfire being watched. And, he was not alone in attempting to “Stalinize” what was happening.
The legacy media chose not to use words more accurately describing what was actually happening in LA—words such as “riot” or “rioters,” despite ongoing attacks against police, masked activists smashing windows, and rioters even attempting to burn police horses.
Just like Democrat party leaders fed the riots that erupted after the 2020 death of criminal George Floyd during his arrest by police, they are not letting the LA riots slip by without spurring protesters on. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), while dismissing the riots as “pretty small” (apparently believing riots mandate a magical number of participants), he then incites the public into turning this “pretty small” disturbance into a national uprising stating:
Obviously, this is a moment where we have to be on the streets all over the country to protest what’s happening to our immigrant community, but more broadly to protest what’s happening to our democracy.
Murphy’s rationale is that President Donald Trump is deliberately provoking confrontation for political gain by activating the National Guard and deploying 700 Marines. He gives no logic to the fact that rioters and the illegal immigrants they are supporting have been violating U.S. law.
Encouraging national protests only becomes a springboard for more violence. Murphy’s hypocrisy is flagrant in accusing Trump of “taking a protest that is relatively isolated” and turning it “into something that involves an even bigger confrontation” as that is exactly what the senator is doing.
Not to miss out on playing politics, California Governor Gavin Newsom, like the Roman Emperor Nero, fiddles while his city burns, choosing to file a losing lawsuit against Trump for doing something to stop the rioting. His suit alleges Trump “illegally” federalized the Guard, attempting “to manufacture chaos and violence.”
The Guard serves both state and federal interests and typically is activated through the governor’s office. Federal interests include protecting its agents. Trump resorted to Guard activation based on a rarely-used law authorizing the same in the face of rebellion against the U.S. government.
While many leftists critics complain Trump cannot deploy the Guard without a governor’s permission, a president of the Democrat party—Lyndon Johnson—set the precedent for doing so in 1965 to quell riots in Alabama. It is unsurprising, therefore, that all Democrat governors naively support Newsom, accusing Trump of “abuse of power.” They underscore the message that politics outweighs public interest. Both Democrats and the mainstream media thus seek to portray the riots as “peaceful protests.”
Adding her voice to the call for protesters to ratchet things up was LA City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez—a self-proclaimed “community organizer” and the ungrateful daughter of Mexican immigrants—who delivered an incendiary speech as riots were occurring.
Any red-blooded American should be concerned when a foreign leader promotes unrest in the U.S. Sadly, make rioters heeded Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum when she urged illegal immigrants to increase the protests. This has undoubtedly contributed to the Mexican flag becoming a defining symbol of the riots.
Meanwhile, confronting Newsom’s “non-existent” chaos, violence, and riots with an under-budgeted and under-manned LAPD is Police Chief Jim McDonnell. He reports there are escalating attacks on officers, accusing some rioters of shooting potentially deadly commercial-grade fireworks at them.
The rioting has been incited by various groups known for their socialist leanings. And, interestingly, the chaos spreads under the “watchful eye” of LA Mayor Karen Bass—long known for her support of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and her numerous trips to that country dating back to 1973. She encourages rioters, announcing, “We stand with all Angelinos no matter where you were born.”
To protect their identity, many rioters hide their faces behind masks—a practice Trump has now banned.
Among those arrested, yet about whom we hear nothing, was a notorious gang-affiliated murderer of two teenagers at a graduation party.
In a way reminiscent of that used in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel “Scarlet Letter” to permanently mark a sinner, conservative political commentator Wayne Root has recommended a way of temporarily marking rioters—at least long enough for them to be arrested. He suggested filling water cannons—to be used when crowds get out of hand—with a foul-smelling blue dye that would mark participants for days afterward, creating an easy-to-find “Blue Man Group” of criminals. (In 2019, Hong Kong police used blue dye in this manner.)
We cannot forget that an obvious trigger for the LA anti-ICE riots was the example set by some New Jersey politicians in trespassing on an ICE facility with one congresswoman outrageously assaulting an agent there on camera. Whether a politician or not, we need to start strictly observing the policy that liberals have repeatedly promoted that “no one is above the law.”
