# "You would actually think it was a normal tourist visit" \[Jan 6, 2021 Quote\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 14, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093 "2021-05-14T17:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/41 "2021-05-20T03:30:05Z")
What 1945 Germany had that the United States currently lacks is a military invasion, abject defeat, and occupation by an external power (or coalition of powers) that had the power and the will to force denazification down the Germans’ throats. What current power, or coalition of powers, could play that role for the Unites States today? What occupation force could defeat the United States and force detrumpification down our throats? Will they be benign? Will they give us a new Marshall Plan? Will we welcome our new overlords? Even the Organians didn’t take sides when they butt into the fight over Sherman’s planet. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/42 "2021-05-21T19:23:57Z")
How does all this compare with ubiquitous media references to the “mostly peaceful” George Floyd riots? (And have there been any comparable threads about that?) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/43 "2021-05-21T19:34:37Z")
Who has called riots (which are, by definition, not peaceful) mostly peaceful? I’ve heard about protests that were mostly peaceful (which, in my understanding, is a factual description of the protests following George Floyd’s murder), but I’ve never heard anyone call riots “mostly peaceful”. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/44 "2021-05-21T20:07:11Z")
Nothing that happened inside the Capitol Building was in any way peaceful, and nothing like a tourist visit. Maybe the stuff happening outside, away from the gallows, had some peaceful elements, but not inside the building, so I don’t see how you can possibly compare the two. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/45 "2021-05-21T20:09:58Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Maybe the stuff happening outside, away from the gallows, had some peaceful elements, but not inside the building, so I don’t see how you can possibly compare the two.- Clearly, only because you lack imagination. /s ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/46 "2021-05-21T20:16:22Z")
Happy cake slice day! ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/47 "2021-05-21T20:21:25Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Nothing that happened inside the Capitol Building was in any way peaceful, and nothing like a tourist visit. Is that because you consider “being in the Capitol Building” as violent by definition? Or are you asserting that all the people who entered the building physically attacked people or damaged/stole things? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/48 "2021-05-21T20:22:46Z")
Where’s that irony tag when you need it? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/49 "2021-05-21T20:37:52Z")
I feel like you’re not well-informed enough on what happened that day to have a useful conversation, but maybe you should take this chance to review the video of the shots fired, the legislators literally running for their lives, the mobs attacking the cops, and so on. I don’t think that you and I will be able to have a productive conversation on this. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/50 "2021-05-21T20:52:43Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I feel like you’re not well-informed enough on what happened that day to have a useful conversation, but maybe you should take this chance to review the video of the shots fired, the legislators literally running for their lives, the mobs attacking the cops, and so on. We’re not discussing whether there was violence. We’re discussing whether that’s _all_ there was, which is your claim. Looking at videos of the most violent parts has little bearing on that particular question. The OP of this thread noted that there is also video where “_the people that entered the capital are just walking between the ropes and stanchions_”. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/51 "2021-05-21T21:05:36Z")
Of course, the Capitol was closed to tourists at that time, so any “walking between the ropes” was illegal trespass. Peaceful tourists don’t typically trespass. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/52 "2021-05-21T21:10:58Z")
Moreover, one of the supposed “rioters” actually scratched his butt one time while standing in the Capitol rotunda – are we supposed to believe that scratching one’s butt is “violent” and “rioting”? I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/53 "2021-05-21T21:11:31Z")
Oh, yeh, lots of tourists walk between the ropes carrying lecterns they’d looted. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/54 "2021-05-21T21:20:26Z")
“Oh, darn, Maude. It looks like the Capitol is closed today.” “Oh, well. Let’s see if we can catch tour at the U.S. Mint.” versus “Oh, darn, Maude. It looks like the Capitol is closed today.” “No problem. These nice young men in MAGA hats have broken out this window and kindly taken care of the Capitol Police. We can get in that way.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/55 "2021-05-21T21:25:25Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > > [@RitterSport](#): > > > > I feel like you’re not well-informed enough on what happened that day to have a useful conversation, but maybe you should take this chance to review the video of the shots fired, the legislators literally running for their lives, the mobs attacking the cops, and so on. > > We’re not discussing whether there was violence. We’re discussing whether that’s _all_ there was, which is your claim. Looking at videos of the most violent parts has little bearing on that particular question. The OP of this thread noted that there is also video where “ _the people that entered the capital are just walking between the ropes and stanchions_ ”. Note that was a quote from a Republican congressman who was seeking to minimize the crimes of January 9, not a statement from @StraightTalk. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/56 "2021-05-21T21:35:20Z")
There appears to have been enough violence and destruction that it is not credible that anyone in the capitol at the time was unaware that the capitol had been breached forcefully and that there was resistance to their presence. So while an individual protestors may not have engaged in violence they certainly seemed to be willing to be associated with those that were. If they did not wish to be associated with this they would have stayed outside (as many of the protestors did). And no this isn’t the same as saying that everyone at a BLM protest that turned into a riot was guilty by association. You can’t use the violence of some protestors to color the whole movement. However if at such a protest someone threw a trashcan through the window of a Best Buy, anyone who followed them in should be prosecuted. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/57 "2021-05-21T21:39:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Note that was a quote from a Republican congressman who was seeking to minimize the crimes of January 9, not a statement from @StraightTalk. This is untrue. Reread the OP. > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > There appears to have been enough violence and destruction that it is not credible that anyone in the capitol at the time was unaware that the capitol had been breached forcefully and that there was resistance to their presence. I’m not sure if this is correct. If it is, then I agree with you. What’s the basis for your claim? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/58 "2021-05-21T21:46:28Z")
I’m sure many of the insurrectionists behaved perfectly normally at times during January 6th — I doubt they rioted at hotel breakfast bar, for example. Some people may have behaved in an orderly manner during the demonstrations, until they didn’t. So what? The 9/11 hijackers looked and behaved like normal airline passengers, until they didn’t. It doesn’t make their actions any less horrific. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/60 "2021-05-21T22:00:14Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Um… One more time. Read what I quoted, then read the OP and see who it was quoting. I don’t intend to adress this silliness any further. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093/61 "2021-05-21T22:12:18Z")
Compare and contrast: > [@StraightTalk](#): > > So, I watched/listed to the whole hearing the other day on January 6 and the one republican congressman Andrew Clyde said, “Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures,” Clyde said. “You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.” Versus > [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > We’re not discussing whether there was violence. We’re discussing whether that’s _all_ there was, which is your claim. Looking at videos of the most violent parts has little bearing on that particular question. The OP of this thread noted that there is also video where “ _the people that entered the capital are just walking between the ropes and stanchions_ ”. Who was referring to people walking between ropes and stanchions? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-would-actually-think-it-was-a-normal-tourist-visit-jan-6-2021-quote/942093.md?page=4)