What Happens When You Protest Against Democrats

     William F. Buckley, often considered the “father” of conservatism, once said something that seems like it should be used more and more every day. His quote, “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.” This has become a rule of thumb when dealing with Democrats and progressives (usually one and the same), who claim to be all for free speech. They are all for free speech, just the speech they like and agree with. And if you have an issue with that well, you might have a problem.

     This is something that might seem like it is a new thing. Rest assured; it is not. The most recent group to protest a Democrat administration, are the January 6 protesters that are still being held in a Washington D.C jail by the federal government some 26 months after their alleged misdeeds. But they are not the first. That would be a group of women suffragists, who, in November of 1917, endured what has come to be known as “the night of terror.” The tales of what these two groups of Americans have endured at the hands of the government, have eerie similarities.

     As American women fought for the right to vote, Democrat President Woodrow Wilson at first may have looked at the women protesting outside the White House as a novelty, something that would in time subside. He would smile and wave at them, at times even inviting them into the White House for coffee, they refused. When it became obvious that the novelty would not be wearing off, things began to ramp up. In April of that year, Washington D.C. police began arresting the women for the minor infraction of obstructing traffic. They were usually released quickly. But then things got a bit more interesting. Police continued making arrests, but now jail sentences were being handed out. But because they believed in their cause, the Suffragettes kept returning to the protest. As the summer of 1917 went on, more arrests were made and longer jail sentences were imposed. Finally, on November 14, 1917, 33 women were sent to the infamous Occoquan workhouse in Virginia. They wanted to be classified as political prisoners. But the workhouse superintendent had other ideas. He commanded his guards to “teach them a lesson.”

     The women were taken to unlit filthy cells. One woman had her hands tied to the top of the cell forcing her to stand all night. Another was threatened with a straight jacket and being gagged. Yet another endured being slammed down onto the iron arms of a bench and losing consciousness after her head was slammed into the iron portion of a bed. One of the women, after seeing the attacks on her fellow protesters, suffered a heart attack, but did not receive medical attention for several hours until daybreak.

 

    Sound familiar? Well yes it should. Here are just a few of the things that the January 6 political prisoners have been made to endure. They are held in cells where there is mold growing, leaking plumbing fixtures, and several claims that food and water are punitively held from January 6 prisoners and others. When the food does arrive, some January 6 prisoners claim that the jail is purposefully making the food taste bad. One of the prisoners suffers from celiac disease, and at least initially the jail refused to meet the dietary requirements of the prisoner. It is unclear if those requirements have since begun to be met. Still another prisoner’s forearm had turned purple, and his thumb had turned black but claims he was being denied medical treatment. And two others claimed they were “force fed” critical race theory, “re-education propaganda, and “anti-white messaging” on tablets prisoners have permission to use. One of these inmates describes the jail this way, “This is not a correctional facility, this is an evisceration facility, designed to break the body, mind, and soul, of men who are presumed innocent until proven guilty.” Also severely lacking are the inmates’ accessibility to family, legal counsel, and religious materials such as Bibles or religious services.

     If you have not recognized it already, there is a distinct pattern for those who disagree, protest, or in any substantial way, attempt to challenge the system when Democrats are in charge. Many of the same people who, during the upheavals of the 60’s railed against “the man,” and proclaimed, “never trust anyone over 30,” are now themselves the man, and will not tolerate any deviation from views outside of their own. Cancel culture is borne out of intolerance and needing a safe space upon hearing that, as Mr. Buckley said, there are indeed, other views. But getting booted off social media and losing a job may be the tame end of the Democrat progressive intolerance scale. Being thrown in what amounts to the Washington D.C. gulag is clearly the extreme end and appears to be reserved for Suffragettes opposed to Woodrow Wilson, and conservatives, specifically supporters of Donald Trump.

     By late November of 1917, public pressure forced authorities to release the Suffragette inmates, and by 1918, the Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. ruled that the women had been wrongfully arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned. Woodrow Wilson, perhaps in an act of political C.Y.A., began urging Congress to act on the suffrage Constitutional amendment. Today, with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, hopefully more will be done to see that this latest batch of political prisoners of Democrats will be released as well. They will no doubt have many tales to tell about what happens when you have the nerve, to protest against Democrats.