Don's Tuesday Column

              THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   6/20/2017

                Political assassin; rhetorical slaughter

“A house divided against itself cannot stand,” Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858. “They drew first blood, not me…They drew first blood.” (fictional John Rambo, “First Blood,” 1982)

I hope not to write another column on this topic; realistically, but sadly, that hope will likely be dashed on the immovable rocks of inherent violence permeating the left in America. A leftist/progressive nut job—fueled by anti-Trump hysteria, Republican-hating bilge on liberal cable shows, and ever-harsher vitriol over the injustice of the “1 percent” subjecting the “99 percent” to brutal, deathly daily life—took it into his own hands and long gun to carry out his own version of “assassination art.” No, anti-Obama fever never came close to this level of hate.

I don’t think the “kumbaya” mood lasts. The group prayer and hug (“Can’t we all just get along?”) came the day after the loon attempted a literal slaughter to match the rhetorical slaughter that frequents leftist social media. Never forget: some Democrats that stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Republicans on the Capitol steps after 9/11 singing “God Bless America,” morphed into “Bush knew,” and “9/11 was an inside job,” tin-foil-hat nutters in their craven thirst for power.

Indeed, I read that a few Democrat staffers among the bipartisan group on the field, watching President Trump’s video message of unity, shamelessly booed and gesticulated with their middle fingers at Trump’s image on the screen. “In the wake of James Hodgkinson’s rampage, Democrats should look in the mirror and consider whether the insane climate of hate they have fomented over the last seven months contributed to the overtly political crime committed by one of their fervent supporters…They take umbrage at the idea that their calls for ‘Resistance’ might have gone too far.” (J. Hinderaker, Powerlineblog.com)

The Associated Press helped advance the “umbrage” narrative with “Dems bridle as some in GOP blame shooting on the left.” The AP didn’t have to go far to get their money quote: “‘How dare they say such a thing? How dare they?’ retorted Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, pointing to a year of venomous attacks by Republicans including President Donald Trump.”

She and her ilk must be in an alternate universe. Trump encouraging his audience members to physically remove protesters that invade and disrupt his rallies is not, repeat not, the equivalent of black-clothed and masked leftist “antifa” thugs pummeling unarmed men and women posing no threat beyond that of “peaceably assembling” to support their candidate.

“It is fair to say that violence has been incited by the leading cultural voices of the Left, who call President Trump a Nazi, a fascist, a racist, a misogynist and a traitor (on evening television and entertainment awards shows); who were calling for his impeachment before he was inaugurated; who condone rioters wearing black masks that smash store windows with bricks and assault Republicans; who make it impossible for a conservative to give a speech on a college campus; who say, every day, that Republicans are trying to make everyone sick and destroy the planet…” plus the president’s severed head, staged stabbing and so on ad infinitum. Sickening!

I heard a local radio talker bring up the murders of black churchgoers by racist Dylan Roof, and the Oklahoma City bombing by mass murderer Timothy McVeigh. It seemed as if we have some obligation to check our outrage over the attempted murders of Republicans in Virginia—by leftist Bernie Sanders fan Hodgkinson—by apologizing for right wing violence.

Other comparisons can be found but they completely fall apart considering that, for instance, Roof’s hatred has no place in the entirety of conservative thought and advocacy. Hypocritically, Democrats that had, as a party, violently enforced the “Jim Crow” segregationist status quo in the South, told us within 24 hours that every Confederate flag must be removed. McVeigh’s diabolical terrorism had zero connection to Rush Limbaugh or any other conservative (then-President Bill Clinton shamefully attempted to tie them together).

Please recall that Sen. Bernie Sanders, “appalled” that supporter/campaign volunteer Hodgkinson had assaulted the Republicans at the baseball field, never once condemned the left’s rhetoric. Neither he nor any Democrats have called for the liberal/progressive left to cease and desist such hateful, inciting statements. Neither did he retract or apologize for having “cited…Sarah Palin’s ‘crosshairs map’ as part of the ‘right-wing reactionaries’ tied to the attack on Rep. Giffords”—by a nut that hadn’t heard of Palin. (ABC reporter M. Jaffe)

Here are samples of “eliminationist” rhetoric from around the leftist/progressive universe, some in the immediate aftermath of the attempted assassination of Republican Steve Scalise that injured Capitol Police officers and others last week: “Trump is a Traitor, Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” (shooter Hodgkinson)’

The blood hadn’t dried when Kelly Lee Williams tweeted “I hope Steve Scalise walks with a limp for the rest of his life as a reminder of how he failed his constituents and himself re: guns.” “Too bad he’s not hurt worse. He and GOP trying to hurt, kill, strip health care from millions of us presently. It’s unfortunately deserved.” (DPConsulting) Professor John Griffin tweeted “They (Republicans) should be lined up and shot. That’s not hyperbole, blood is on their hands.” “If the shooter has a serious health condition,” it would be “self defense” (M. Harris).

“Republicans are pushing a health care bill that will kill people. As dead as any shooting victim.” One despicable theme was that Scalise had it coming, “karma,” they wrote, for his support for gun rights after the Sandy Hook school shooting, or the Republican health care bill. “It’s as if karma literally bit him in the a--” (Joe Quint). Read more, if you can stomach it, at Grabien.com, “Left-Wing Twitter Celebrates Shooting of Rep. Scalise.”