LA Riots — The New Rules of Civil Unrest

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When federal agents are attacked, cars are torched, and cities burn — but the media calls it “mostly peaceful” — you know something’s off. In this episode, we unpack the absurdity of modern narrative framing, where bricks become metaphors and violence gets a rebrand. From poetic truth to delayed police response, this one pulls no punches… unless they’re labeled “symbolic.” Dry wit, dark humor, and just enough sarcasm to light a match.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ever notice how a riot becomes a protest?
If it's for the right cause,like if you're angry enough and
your sign has just the rightcombo of guilt fonts, hashtags
and fire emojis, you can torch acop car and still get profiled
by NPR as a changemaker.
Hi, I'm Jim Detchen and this isThink First, the podcast that

(00:23):
politely taps the mic and saysuh, does anyone else see the
flames?
What color does the sky have tobe for assaulting a federal
officer to count as a lovelanguage?
Let's think about it.
Ice agents get attacked inbroad daylight, not by a shadowy
militia, by street mobs withsmartphones and slogans and the

(00:45):
hot take Not that's a problem,but well, people are just
frustrated, right, and fire?
Fire is just the universe's wayof cleansing underused parking
structures.
You want to know how long ittook LAPD to show up?
Two hours, which is roughly thetime it takes to get through

(01:06):
TSA with a metal hip and a waterbottle.
If you're ICE in Los Angeles,calling for help is like
ordering from a drive-thru wherethe fries are on fire and the
manager's union rep says they'llget to it after their lunch
break.
Meanwhile, protesters arescreaming this is our street.
Um, okay, cool, can I borrow itwhen you're done assaulting

(01:28):
people on it, because apparentlyrent gives you riot privileges.
Now and yes, someone actuallyused the phrase mostly peaceful.
Again, you'd think by now thatphrase would be banned under
some sort of intellectualhygiene act.
But no, it's back Like cargoshorts and political amnesia.
Let's talk poetic truth.

(01:49):
Poetic truth says don't worryabout what's true.
Just ask does this feelrighteous?
Because if it does, then itdoesn't matter.
If you're throwing bricks,you're speaking truth to power,
just you know, with projectiles.
And if you question it, you'reeither racist, classist, fascist

(02:09):
or just not vibing hard enough.
And here's where the comedystops being funny, because while
social media was busy turningviolence into a carousel post,
real people were bleeding,federal officers were abandoned,
businesses destroyed and thepublic once again got a
masterclass in how not to noticea double standard.

(02:31):
Let's get serious for a second.
While politicians recycle theirtalking points, while networks
queue up the B-roll and wait forthe next fire to get good
coverage, you have a choice youcan follow their narrative or
you can see it for what it is alooping script designed to keep
you outraged, obedient andconfused.

(02:52):
At Gaslight360.com, we'vemapped out six steps to break
out of this narrative trap.
They won't be trending on cablenews, but they will help you
think clearly, even when theworld's on fire.
You don't need all the answers,but you should question the
ones you're handed.
This has been Think First aGaslight 360 production, follow,

(03:17):
share and if someone tells youthe riot was mostly peaceful,
ask them if they'd call amugging a passionate exchange of
property.
Thank you,