Stand down: Bellamy, Signer humiliate, undermine Charlottesville cop

I would think that even those that identify with the council’s activist social agendas can clearly see the unethical and incompetent behavior of this group. Signer, Bellamy, and Szakos should have been booted from office for their actions and behavior throughout their FUBAR crusade to transform Charlottesville into Berkley East. Removing the statues would be a signature achievement they can use as their battleflag moving forward. Obviously these are my opinions formed from my personal observations and conservative ideology. Never in my wildest dreams would I think Charlottesville could become a conservative city. However, neither did I think it could possibly elect such a dysfunctional Clown City Council as the one in place.

I totally agree with you. This will appear racist but my observations are that blacks are given the right to speak, yell, curse or whatever. Whites are shut down in a heartbeat if they do not agree with the Bellamy club. It is so flippin sad that this city has become the way it is.

Signer’s defiance of the law led to the City’s inability to enforce its existing permit regulations on August 12

Stuff and nonsense. Kessler and Co. _had_ a permit on August 12, and there is no earthly reason why if Signer had obtained one for his own rally the city would have been able to deny Kessler one.

Al’s post, however, is right on target.

I also fail to see the connection between Signer’s little rally and 8/12. A more important question should be, has Charlottesville benefitted from this report? I seriously doubt it considering the makeup of the city council. It certainly did not improve after the last election IMO. Time will tell of course. Refusing to allow opposing factions to hold rallies will most certainly do no good however this is what the activist organizations clearly want to see happen. I would question who Kessler plans on inviting to his next one because the last group is unacceptable. If the anti-rally crowd would just let him have his day, I really believe the events would fizzle out due to lack of interest or at least become insignificant. Both damn sides are their own worst enemy. The activists however come out the winner in a conflict because UVA and the media are complicit in what has and will continue to happen. I can’t be happier that Sullivan is departing but I’m not sure how much will change. I’d like to see UVA focus on education which means staying the hell out of local social issues.

On another, more critical note, I noticed–after many years (silly ol’ me)–that the Charlottesville city seal has a weapon of violence–a cannon–plastered on it. I am surprised that this has not been addressed in the past.

I also find it illuminating that the precious “Dialogue on Race” club in Charlottesville (now going on many years) has the word “dialogue” in brown on its official banner. Not sure why it is not “rainbowed,” but perhaps they can spend some productive time addressing that issue.

Al, if Orwell were still with us, perhaps his brilliance could pen a captivating novel based on waking up on December 25th and having Charlottesville transformed into a conservative city.

And now Chief Thomas is gone. Liberals eating there own.

Jim, I suspect Thomas was hired largely on his pedigree from Lexington, e.g., his anti-military stance on VMI students and the ire that drew from the citizenry in Lexington. Those were actually a resume enhancer to the search committee in Charlottesville.

Sadly, the conspiracy to try to enable the radicals like Kessler to somehow be tied to the US mainstream right–and therefore to Trump–backfired on the Cville leftist establishment. Although folks like McAuliffe (those higher up the lefty food chain) probably view casualties as “collateral damage,” amateurs like Szakos, Bellamy, Signer and UVa brass were likely truly abhorred by the loss of life. They mixed the wrong ingredients and their little experiment got out of control.

Now they need to line up sacrificial lambs. They will start low on the totem pole and keep going until the lemmings in Cville “stand down” and stop attacking the illuminati in town. This should not take long.

The Charlottesville community has a short memory, anesthetized by candlelight vigils, copious use of Sharpies on cardboard signs, and community task forces. Before you know it, NBC-29 will be putting bake sales and food drives above the fold.

Interesting comments. I wholeheartedly agree with the attempt to paint Kessler and the alt-right folks he aligned with as somehow representative of conservative America. The left wing activists are as cruel and ruthless as the people they oppose. Their weapons of choice however are extreme opposites. Activists are not open to negotiation and dialogue regardless of their agenda. More activists on one side is surely going to create more on the other. Screaming vile insults into the faces of people you disagree with is going to eventually draw a violent response. Personal insults, especially in public, cut deeply in most folks taught to be respectful in choosing the words they use. I have personally seen mild confrontations explode into a wild west style slugfest when someone let their mouth overload their arse. Until C’ville shuts the rhetoric down and brings order to their council meetings, it will continue to be a laughing stock to those paying attention. Unfortunately I predict a more activist council that will join in the fray versus calming it.

That’s your silliest post yet, Forbes. Cynicism makes people say dumb things. And that bit about how McAuliffe doesn’t care about the deaths is your most hateful; that right there is a link to Kessler, and you forget that Trump tied himself to Kessler and his ilk by saying many were good people. I won’t ask how your imagined conspiracy backfired on the Left because you don’t answer inconvenient questions.

Al, I agree again with most of your own remarks, but I’d add that if Kessler was a leftist anti-semite, most people on your side would be blaming the Left for not condemning him before people died.

Disingenuous, Ken. Trump said “there were people on both sides who are good people.” You clearly show your hand by, again, making this about Trump, as though somehow, magically, Trump’s election in November emboldened people like Kessler to flex their muscles because it would be “acceptable” in Trump’s America. That is the cry I hear so frequently: welcome to Trump’s America.

However, when Baltimore was burning, I never heard “Welcome to Obama’s America” from the same people I hear crying these days. Mysterious, eh?

As for McAuliffe, I never said he “didn’t care.” I said he probably views it as collateral damage. One can have some concern but still resign themselves to the fact that things will occur beyond one’s control in pursuit of one’s agenda. People in Virginia either selectively forget or just have a short attention span: McAuliffe is part of the Clinton cadre…a very close “capo,” if you will. Perhaps even a consigliere. He is quite happy to sit back and watch his agenda unfold, and is very accustomed to collateral damage.

Do you think for one minute that McAuliffe merely sat on the sidelines during the disgusting campaign run by the DNC/Clinton in 2016? You give the good guv way more ethical points than I, kind reader.

Finally, I am happy to answer that the conspiracy in Cville backfired because lives were lost and city government is imploding (local effects), Trump’s crises are fading away save for the clawing at straws by a frenzied media (Mueller’s crew is real credible, eh?), the so-called “Russian conspiracy” is pointing more at Clinton and Stein than at Trump, and the economy is humming along at high growth.

You’re the one who brought up, Trump, Forbes, and yes he commended people on Kessler’s side. If you want to claim, against common sense and popular opinion, that a president’s support doesn’t encourage and embolden, the burden of proof is on you. (And while you’re at it, explain how Obama encouraged riots – not legitimate protests against decades of police brutality, but riots – in Baltimore). Throughout his campaign Trump belligerently attacked non-white immigrants to this country (not to mention encouraging violence against journalists), and not only illegal immigrants. That set a tone, and he’s continued it in his tweets. Yes, I know Hillary attacked you guys too, and I don’t defend that. If you want to say she in turn emboldened antifa even though they hate her, go ahead.

Opposing McAuliffe’s supposed view of the August 12 deaths to those of people who were “truly abhorred” by them suggests you think he didn’t care. The mob boss terms you apply to him further suggest that’s what you really meant. I said nothing about him sitting out the 2016 campaign.

Conspiracy” is just a hyper-ventilating word for plan, and you haven’t said how the plan was supposed to work anyhow. Long before the actual tragedy of August 12 took place, sensible people saw and said that Trump had emboldened Kessler and Spencer and their ilk.

I’m no economist but I give Trump’s deregulations, tax plan and general pro-business attitude some credit for the economy. It’s also true, however, that things had been on a steady upswing for years and that a new president inherits the previous one’s economy. If you think Trump is out of the water and that Mueller is effectively exonerating him, you need to get out of the FOX bubble.

Regarding Kessler as an anti-semite, damn right I’d attack the left for not condemning him.

Regarding Kessler as an anti-semite, damn right I’d attack the left for not condemning him.

The point is that Kessler is a conservative, and while you’re correct that he doesn’t represent conservatism as a whole (just a distressingly large part of it in the Trump era), conservatives gave him aid and comfort.

Ken, do you mean like liberals have given Wes Bellamy aid and comfort? Before you respond with a “but Kessler Bellamy hasn’t killed anyone”, neither has Kessler. They are entwined and both culpable of what happened here however. One has become virtually insignificant due to this part. The other has emerged unscathed and possibly even more of a presence. It appears the 3 Joker Poker triangle running the city council is destined for more and better, or worse, things in store for their city.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/30X40CM-3-Joker-Poker-Tin-Sign-for-Wall-Decor-Coffee-Store-Metal-Sign-Vintage-Art-Poster/32816584764.html

I miss my photoshop that is only operational on a 2003 homebuild PC. I have two of these tins ready and waiting for exploitation if you know what I mean.

I think we’ve beat this one to death so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, Forbes and the rest of this small jousting crew. ;)

Al, after that gentlemanly sign off I almost hate to answer your question, but I blame Bellamy and not Kessler for the violence because I feel Bellamy’s pain and that of the people he represents. They may not all be angels, but they do have a legitimate grievance. As I’ve said before, I’d like to see the statue remain in place, but be contextualized with signage that states the reasons for its erection stated in no uncertain terms, but I understand why many African-Americans find its continued presence objectionable and hurtful. You can argue that Bellamy’s attempts at removal ultimately harmed the city, but that doesn’t mean he is to blame – he was not the only actor in the play.

The key failing that I see on the Right here is a failure of empathy. Having said that, I empathize with people who see their heritage disrespected. But they need to understand that some of it doesn’t deserve respect, and take pride in the rest instead. You guys don’t have to identify so strongly with the Confederacy – that’s a choice you’re making. I’m not saying it would be easy, but you can make a conscious choice to identify as well with the descendants of slaves and virtual slaves. To my mind, that’s loving one’s neighbor.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and to all the gang here. May your Christmases be bright – or shall I say, “illuminating.” ;-)

“I understand why many African-Americans find its continued presence objectionable and hurtful”

If you would get those numbnuts to get an education and graduate from high school, they would not be so ignorant of our history and monuments. Instead you your kind are facilitating their perpetual complaining and troublemaking and disruption of the peace and rights which we should all be able to enjoy.You advocate for the lowest common denominator of society. Why not raise the bar and encourage these people to participate and act better?

Um, Elizabeth, they are participating. That’s why the statues almost came down. If you don’t think those “war memorials” were erected to reinforce white supremacy and to excuse a war fought for shameful reasons, you either don’t know history yourself or you lack the courage to accept it. The record is clear.

“perpetual complaining and troublemaking and disruption of the peace and rights which we should all be able to enjoy” – that was the language of slaveholders and segregationists. You are their intellectual and spiritual heir.