Protests turned riots

As I have said repeatedly, protests are part of the fabric of our democracy and have been a staple in American politics since the very beginning.

And protests of all sorts give voice to those who feel their views and positions are not being heard.

But it's also important to draw a line between protests and riots. What we are too often seeing these days are riots camouflaged as protests.

The Democrats in Congress are undertaking their own protests by failing to attend critical confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump's cabinet posts. This apparently is how they show the youth of America just how the political process works -- at least in their minds.

What they are actually showing, of course, is the age-old school yard tactic -- if things don't go your way, take your ball and go home.

But the street-protests-turned-riots are a much different matter.

Just last week, a controversial conservative speaker -- who happens to be an outstanding conservative advocate and gay -- was scheduled to speak at the home of the free speech movement in Berkeley, California.

But protesters turned violent and ended the evening's program before it began.

Leading the riots was a group called Refuse Fascism, a black-clad gang of communists whose goal is to create chaos and violence against the new administration.

Which leads me to the point I have made several times.

Who funds these riots? As stated before, these protests are not as organic and spontaneous as they want you to believe.

Instead, it now appears that some strange bedfellows forked over lots of money to finance these anarchists with the specific purpose of destroying property and creating an unsafe environment for those they oppose.

So who is it that funds these anti-American protests turned riots?

George Soros, the leftist billionaire, is on top of a long list of usual suspects. Also providing funding were the United Steel Workers, the Ben and Jerry's Foundation, along with others. It also shows that $52,000 in funding came from Hillary Clinton's old boss, the New World Foundation.

So why are these individuals and organizations not being held accountable for funding violence and damage?

The answer under the Obama administration would be easy. These groups were soulmates to the policies and vision of our former president.

But there's a new sheriff in town and our hope is that someday soon there will be a day when the enemies from within this nation are brought to justice not for their views but for their tactics that put property and people in harm's way.

Regardless of your political stance, surely everyone understands that violence is abhorrent to the political process. If nothing else, we must come to a national consensus that these anarchist thugs must not and cannot continue.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston, Missouri.