The New York Times ran op-ed telling people to withhold affection from their relatives unless they protest or give money to anti-racism organizations!

[OldLady]

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Tom Cotton's racist rant went in the garbage where it belongs.

I don't agree. He had the right to voice his opinion and his opinion is shared by a lot of people who are frightened of the violence and destruction of the riots. This is the first I've heard of this. Apparently the OP ED editor quit he was so disgusted. I don't blame him.

I just purchased a subscription to the online Times in order to read his damned essay. Yes, he calls for a massive military reaction to the rioting. If people didn't like what he said, they should be addressing their chagrin at HIM, not at the newspaper that published it! I see this as a massive p.c. reaction that is stifling opposing opinions for no good reason.

Most of you know that I am one of the few here that upholds curbing hate speech in our country. I am no rabid protector of free speech regardless of the message. But Cotton's opinion, as much as I disagree with it, does not ring of hatred. He is one of those "Law and Order" guys. Cotton's staff worked with the Times editorial staff extensively before they accepted the submission. Cotton's staff said they fact checked and documented the Senator's statements. It sounds to me as if most of America's leaders and even some military and police forces disagree with a that militaristic approach. THAT should be where the uproar lies, NOT TOWARD THE PAPER THAT PUBLISHED IT.

I remember when Maine had it's second referendum on legalizing gay marriage. (In the first go round, we voted it down. In 2012 we approved it.)
The Bangor Daily News in its op ed section published a strong editorial in favor of gay marriage and the following week it published a strong editorial opposing it by the religious leader who spearheaded the opposition to legalizing gay marriage. I found the argument pathetic, a lot of emotional and poorly argued bigotry, but it never occurred to me to blame the PAPER for publishing it.

What in hell is happening to us? No. This is not right. Blaming NYT for running that op ed, saying it shouldn't have, is as frightening to me as the Trumpers who call them "fake news." Senator Cotton has the right to his stupid opinion and as an elected official he has a right to express it, so long as it remains within the bounds of decency.

I'm including a link from Vox that gives all the reasons why NYT should not have published it. It sent chills up my spine. We are not that country, folks. I've seen what the NYT is now saying, how it should have been more careful and made him change more of his statements. It frightens me.

The Tom Cotton op-ed affair shows why the media must defend America’s values

It cannot remain neutral when those values are under threat from racialized authoritarianism.

www.vox.com

 

[OldLady]

Here's the editorial in full. I omitted the pictures and the "other opinions" that were linked in the article by the Times, just to save space.

Opinion
Tom Cotton: Send In the Troops
The nation must restore order. The military stands ready.
By Tom Cotton
Mr. Cotton, a Republican, is a United States senator from Arkansas.



This week, rioters have plunged many American cities into anarchy, recalling the widespread violence of the 1960s.
New York City suffered the worst of the riots Monday night, as Mayor Bill de Blasio stood by while Midtown Manhattan descended into lawlessness. Bands of looters roved the streets, smashing and emptying hundreds of businesses. Some even drove exotic cars; the riots were carnivals for the thrill-seeking rich as well as other criminal elements.

Outnumbered police officers, encumbered by feckless politicians, bore the brunt of the violence. In New York State, rioters ran over officers with cars on at least three occasions. In Las Vegas, an officer is in “grave” condition after being shot in the head by a rioter. In St. Louis, four police officers were shot as they attempted to disperse a mob throwing bricks and dumping gasoline; in a separate incident, a 77-year-old retired police captain was shot to death as he tried to stop looters from ransacking a pawnshop. This is “somebody’s granddaddy,” a bystander screamed at the scene.

Some elites have excused this orgy of violence in the spirit of radical chic, calling it an understandable response to the wrongful death of George Floyd. Those excuses are built on a revolting moral equivalence of rioters and looters to peaceful, law-abiding protesters. A majority who seek to protest peacefully shouldn’t be confused with bands of miscreants.

But the rioting has nothing to do with George Floyd, whose bereaved relatives have condemned violence. On the contrary, nihilist criminals are simply out for loot and the thrill of destruction, with cadres of left-wing radicals like antifa infiltrating protest marches to exploit Floyd’s death for their own anarchic purposes.
These rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past upheavals will be set back still further.
One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do what’s necessary to uphold the rule of law.

The pace of looting and disorder may fluctuate from night to night, but it’s past time to support local law enforcement with federal authority. Some governors have mobilized the National Guard, yet others refuse, and in some cases the rioters still outnumber the police and Guard combined. In these circumstances, the Insurrection Act authorizes the president to employ the military “or any other means” in “cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws.”

This venerable law, nearly as old as our republic itself, doesn’t amount to “martial law” or the end of democracy, as some excitable critics, ignorant of both the law and our history, have comically suggested. In fact, the federal government has a constitutional duty to the states to “protect each of them from domestic violence.” Throughout our history, presidents have exercised this authority on dozens of occasions to protect law-abiding citizens from disorder. Nor does it violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which constrains the military’s role in law enforcement but expressly excepts statutes such as the Insurrection Act.

For instance, during the 1950s and 1960s, Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson called out the military to disperse mobs that prevented school desegregation or threatened innocent lives and property. This happened in my own state. Gov. Orval Faubus, a racist Democrat, mobilized our National Guard in 1957 to obstruct desegregation at Little Rock Central High School. President Eisenhower federalized the Guard and called in the 101st Airborne in response. The failure to do so, he said, “would be tantamount to acquiescence in anarchy.”
More recently, President George H.W. Bush ordered the Army’s Seventh Infantry and 1,500 Marines to protect Los Angeles during race riots in 1992. He acknowledged his disgust at Rodney King’s treatment — “what I saw made me sick” — but he knew deadly rioting would only multiply the victims, of all races and from all walks of life.
Not surprisingly, public opinion is on the side of law enforcement and law and order, not insurrectionists. According to a recent poll, 58 percent of registered voters, including nearly half of Democrats and 37 percent of African-Americans, would support cities’ calling in the military to “address protests and demonstrations” that are in “response to the death of George Floyd.” That opinion may not appear often in chic salons, but widespread support for it is fact nonetheless.

The American people aren’t blind to injustices in our society, but they know that the most basic responsibility of government is to maintain public order and safety. In normal times, local law enforcement can uphold public order. But in rare moments, like ours today, more is needed, even if many politicians prefer to wring their hands while the country burns.

Tom Cotton (@sentomcotton) is a Republican senator from Arkansas