Obviously Trump’s sudden call for civility is disingenuous. But it’s worse than that: if Ds & the press are truly “enemies of the ppl”/“deep state” as he so often claims, his rhetoric recasts violence against them as rationale, self-defense. It’s a extremist canard.
“Our violence is an act of self-defense and/or a response to *their* (imagined) violence” is the hallmark of extremist movements throughout history. That’s the whole point of dehumanizing your opponents as traitors/heretics; so you can have license to exterminate them.
This may seem like splitting hairs but it’s important: extreme rhetoric invites, indeed, demands extreme responses from those who buy into it. That’s why hate speech/demagoguery are not mere words: they’re clearly calls to action, to mobilization, and confrontation.
It is imperative that citizens, media, everyone w a stake in constitutional govt & democracy in the US demand elected officials actually *sanction* & curb demagoguery. The spread & normalization of violence & extremism are an existential threat to the American republic.
The slope from rhetoric to isolated incidents to outright chaos is incredibly steep & slippery — and the decline has already begun. It’ll take mass movements & genuine bipartisanship to halt. If you don’t, you won’t recognize tomorrow. Take it from this (one time) refugee. /xxx
