“Someone is going to get hurt — or worse.”
I wrote those words in this space in a February column entitled “Democrats’ Rhetoric Risks Violence.”
Five people got hurt this week when one of the left’s shock troops, James T. Hodgkinson, no doubt acting on the hateful political anti-Trump rhetoric and actions of the left, opened fire on several Republican congressmen and senators practicing for a charity baseball game in Alexandria, Virginia. Before being killed by U.S. Capitol police, he critically wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and injured four others.
Hodgkinson was a supporter of former Vermont Socialist Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a Trump hater and a loyal member of the Trump so-called “Resistance.” You can bet that he will be celebrated in the secret dungeons of the far left by many Trump haters as a true martyr in their war of Resistance against the Trump agenda. To give them cover, Resistance supporters in the elite media and Democratic establishment condemn his actions.
The chickens of vile political rhetoric, hateful images and obscenities directed at Trump and his agenda by Democratic politicians and their progressive allies — including the New York Times, Washington Post and certain cable news network hosts — have finally come home to roost!
I believe that the failure of so many liberals and Democratic leaders to condemn hateful actions and comments of their own supporters sent a message that they tacitly supported them. That obviously was not lost on the shooter and led to bloodshed! To date, no lives have been lost!
Democrats and their cohorts in the entertainment and media industry who have aided and abetted the atmosphere of hate and vitriol no doubt gave the shooter comfort. Assassinating a few Republicans would bring him covert praise from the left just as ISIS praises those who commit terroristic acts.
The left uses every kind of invective to degrade and demean Trump and his supporters as infidels just like ISIS labels their perceived enemies.
If it is okay to call for the frying of cops like bacon; pretend you are shooting, beheading, or stabbing the president; or, destroy property and prevent conservatives from speaking without any condemnation from Democrat leaders, then why not go the next step and kill a few of the infidels?
Keep in mind that it was not Trump supporters spewing hatred and despicable words against those with whom they had political disagreements. It was the Democrats’ key allies: from violent street and college campus protesters, potty-mouth politicians ranging from the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Tom Perez, the F*** Donald Trump chant at the California Democratic Party convention to the “F” bomb peppered anti-Trump remarks of New York Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand at New York University. None of these actions merited any criticism from Democrat leaders.
Of course, after the shooting, the hypocrites were quick to express shock and dismay.
Senator Sanders rushed to the Senate floor to condemn violence and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Ca., said the shooting was an “injury in the family…we will use this occasion as one that brings us together, not separates us further.”
Give me a break!
Both are hypocrites on this issue and their comments were a day late and a dollar short!
Where was Sanders months ago on the violence against Trump supporters? Where was he when the Black Lives Movement urged the killing of police? Where was his condemnation of Kathy Griffin, the New York Shakespeare play depicting the assassination of Trump or the Snoop Dogg video of him shooting the President?
As to Pelosi, not more than 24 hours after her statements on the need for unity, she showed her real colors saying Trump’s rhetoric contributed to the shooting. Pelosi wanting unity is like an arsonist wanting to put out a fire!
If you want to know who is serious about ending the division, just look at who has been calling for less harsh rhetoric — mostly Republicans. Most Democrats are as silent about ending the harsh rhetoric as they were in condemning it!
Let’s hope that the violence ended in Alexandria and that radicals on the right do not decide to retaliate believing that retaliation is the only way to gain attention and respect in media, entertainment and political environment where they have been defamed.
It is a sad day in our country when such thoughts even have to be stated!
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations consulting firm in Florida. He held several positions in the Reagan administration as well as in the Reagan presidential campaigns. He is a former co-owner of WTVT-TV in Tampa and former president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters. Read more of his reports — Go Here Now.