Congressman Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for Governor of New York, stood on stage at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post when a man jumped up on the platform and quickly approached him. Clutching an unknown weapon the assailant lunged at the congressman who wrestled free from his grasp and escaped injury.
Weeks earlier a man armed with a gun and a knife who had previously threatened U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was arrested near the justice’s home. He told police he was there to kill Kavanaugh.
Left-wing violence against Republican candidates and officials is on the upswing. Both of these incidents received scant attention in the legacy news media – but would have dominated the headlines for days, if not weeks, had the perpetrators been the “Right-wing extremists” upon whom the media likes to focus.
Political violence emanating from any point on the political spectrum is, of course, unacceptable and a threat to our Republic. It is therefore concerning that protests, which all too often have turned violent and/or stoked the rage that led to the attack on Zeldin and the attempt on Justice Kavanaugh’s life, have become the preferred course of action by the Left.
Let us not forget that in many cities the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 turned violent. Apologists in the legacy media continually referred to them as largely “peaceful protests” even as police were attacked, stores were looted, and buildings were set ablaze.
Left-wing ideology is of course steeped in entitlement. It should come as no surprise then that when Left-wing adherents don’t get their way in matters of public policy their response is to flood into the streets in a public brat fit to stomp their feet and denounce those who failed to satisfy their every whim.
So we have seen protest become the go-to tactic of the Left. Don’t like the Dobbs ruling? Take to the streets. Want to restrict Second Amendment rights? Take to the streets. Don’t like police arresting law breakers? Take to the streets. Don’t want broccoli for dinner? Take to the streets.
The Left’s protest culture has been greatly aided and abetted by the legacy news media. Even smaller, community newspapers run out with cameras and notepads if four or five pro-abortion protesters show up in the courthouse square. Protest for a Left-wing cause and media coverage is ensured.
It is even better made-for-the-camera theatre to get arrested while protesting. In their zeal to protect womens’ ability to kill pre-born children more than a dozen Democratic members of Congress were arrested while taking part in a pro-abortion protest. Police failed to slap the cuffs on publicity crazed Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who was reduced to faking her own arrest.
While the Left has engaged in a summer long made-for-television spectacle over Donald Trump’s actions or inactions during the infamous January 6th riots (spoiler alert: season ending cliff-hanger to air week before mid-term Election Day), there has been little to no denunciation of violence by the Left.
Worse, high-ranking Democrats have actually suborned violence with their inflammatory rhetoric. Following the leak of the draft Dobbs decision Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer actually stood in from of the Supreme Court building and threatened: “I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you the price. You won’t know what hit you.”
Congress then dragged its collective feet for weeks on providing additional security to the Supreme Court Justices only doing so after the failed attempt on Justice Kavanaugh’s life. They did, however, approve extra money to provide security for themselves.
Even the annual Congressional baseball game was the target of protestors demanding more action on so-called climate change. The game is a uniquely bi-partisan event to raise money for charity. It is not the first time it has been targeted. During a practice session in 2020 Congressman Steve Scalise was shot and seriously wounded by a crazed Bernie Sanders supporter.
All of this as an amazing number of Americans view some level of political violence as acceptable. Researchers at the University of California, Davis conducted a survey which found one in five U.S. adults say political violence is justified in at least some circumstances. Three percent believe that political violence is usually or always justified.
Democratic-socialist policies have plunged America into a recession with skyrocketing inflation and soaring energy prices. This failure has deprived the Left of cogent arguments for its positions reducing its adherents to street protest. The Biden Administration and Congress are doubling down on failed policies; which means the rage of the Left is likely to worsen in the months and years ahead.
(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly American Radio Journal and Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is [email protected].)
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