The Right's Turn to Violence

Christine Blasey Ford is back in the news. Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser intends to show up in time for the presidential election to recount all the threats against her for coming forward against Kavanaugh. Democrats tell us Donald Trump is campaigning on January 6 — making it an issue to galvanize his base. And Trump’s comments about a “bloodbath” relating to the American auto industry are just another reminder that his violent rhetoric leads his supporters to violence.

As Jen Psaki opined on MSNBC, well, hear for yourself:

You see, they didn’t miss the context. Trump’s “allusions” to violence are a spark for his supporters to get violent. They never get it wrong. They’re smarter than us and we should take their word for it because … well … Trump.

Like, undoubtedly, MSNBC viewer and Democrat James Hodgkinson. I cannot remember the last time a Republican attempted the mass assassination of members of Congress. Democrats will scream about January 6th as an “insurrection,” but unlike James Hodgkinson, those Trump supporters, who are statistically the most well-armed group in American history, did not show up with guns. Hodgkinson not only did, but he opened fire.

And, of course, there is Floyd Lee Corkins, who showed up at the conservative Family Research Council intent on murdering the employees and stuffing their faces with Chick-fil-A. He, too, was a progressive activist and MSNBC viewer.

When I was at CNN, the network spent days on the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and immediately presumed it was because of Republicans. The New York Times blamed Sarah Palin, and television news networks ran with that. I, a conservative political commentator, was forced to defend Republicans against both the hosts and Democrat commentators who were buying none of it.

And then… it turned out there was no political motivation.

I was not at CNN when James Hodgkinson attempted to assassinate Republican congressmen. But every single conservative at the network who I know tells me the moment authorities confirmed Hodgkinson’s partisanship and possible motive the network moved on from the story. Likewise, the New York Times ran more stories about the Giffords shooting than the actual attempted mass assassination of Republican members of Congress.

Across television networks and newspapers, we are constantly treated to lectures about the growing violence from the right. Meanwhile, Jewish students are being locked into libraries as progressive activists beat on the doors, demanding they come out. Academics are slandering Jews, and Jewish-owned businesses are being vandalized. Jewish speakers on college campuses are being chased off campus by progressive activists.

You and I know damn well that if it turned out to be Trump supporters doing the violence and silencing, there’d be no end to the coverage on television and ties to Donald Trump. But there’s a notable silence about the violence from the progressive left from news channels and papers.

The American press corps has picked a side. They view Donald Trump as a threat to democracy and will bend their judgments and standards to ignore or downplay behaviors on the left that are the same or more violent.

They claim January 6 was an “insurrection” and discuss it constantly. The behaviors of the left on Trump’s inaugural day are downplayed. Trump supporters were attacked at an inaugural ball, with one man injured and police firing tear gas. Over 200 people were arrested. Protestors smashed windows at businesses. They threw rocks and concrete at police. They set fire to a limousine. Six police officers were injured.

Charges against 129 of the rioters were dismissed. 21 people pled guilty. The only difference between the convictions then and the January 6th convictions for most were cell phone records and security camera footage. Many of those who participated in the violence at Trump’s inaugural got away with it without charges because police could not prove they had participated unless using cell phone data to show January 6th rioters were inside conclusively the Capitol.

The media covers January 6th and all the arrests and convictions as much more substantial while ignoring why there were so many more convictions. However, the media also downplays the vast number of convictions related to being in the Capitol and not actually attempting an insurrection.

The progressive left has been sabotaging rail lines, vandalizing artwork and historical documents, and attacking individuals over climate change. They have attempted the mass assassination of Republican members of Congress and conservative political activists over partisan beliefs. They have rioted and vandalized businesses and firebombed buildings. They have harassed people in churches, attacked fire departments, and shot at police officers in Atlanta over a police training facility.

But the press corps does not cover that.

They cover Donald Trump’s words as provocations to violence and give only passing reference to the actual violence of the left. As we approach the election, they will more and more focus on threats of right-wing violence and continue giving only passing reference to the left — then claiming they covered it, though just through checking boxes. The press corps and Democrats are selling fear of the right as a primary motivator to vote for Joe Biden because they’ve given up trying to sell the economy as a positive to people who buy groceries.

It’s the same pattern with shootings. The mass shooting in Alabama that was black-on-black violence got very little coverage. The old white man shooting a young black man through a door got disproportionate coverage, a presidential visit with the family of the victim, and media lectures about race in America. Chicago gun violence is ignored. Illegal aliens murdering college students are treated as statistics that, after all, show legal citizens kill more people. School shootings are a thing if a white male is the shooter, but not a thing if a transgender shooter is the shooter. Boys are the victims only when girls don’t want them on their teams.

The deck is completely stacked against the right by the American press corps, which, again, has picked a side editorially.

Again, and I cannot emphasize this enough — we’ve had a mass assassination attempt against members of Congress and a mass assassination attempt against a political organization all within the past decade. But the shooters both watched MSNBC, not Fox News.

So let’s talk to Christine Blasey Ford about how she didn’t take a bullet and hear from Joe Biden about how only one shot was fired on January 6th, and that was by a police officer. Because democracy is on the ballot, y’all, and the right is prone to violence.