Ok, now that I've taken some time to process the info coming out on Cesar Sayoc and the attempted bombings, I have a few things to say.
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First of all, there is an obvious double standard here. Am I the only one who remembers Nancy Pelosi being affronted at the suggestion that Dem rhetoric might have contributed to the Bernie Bro shooter's actions on that baseball field? HOW DARE YOU! /2
Now, Ds & media (but I repeat myself) are happy to blame Trump's rhetoric (which for the record, I hate and said so) for the actions of a crazy person who has a rap sheet of violent threats and assaults going back to 2002, over a decade before Trump came down that escalator. /3
Our system sets a v high bar for incitement in order to protect free speech & robust debate. This is a good thing. & no one in this mess - Trump, Hillary, Bernie - crossed that line. THAT BEING SAID, it behooves us all to think hard about whether we want to live in 1968 Redux. /4
When we use overheated rhetoric and regard our political opposition as "enemies," we are not going down a path that ends well. As Rand Paul said last week re: Booker's "get in their face" comments, 1 in 1000 people is crazy and takes that kind of talk all too seriously. /5
That does NOT make politicians or commentators responsible for the behavior of crazy and violent people. But it should make us step back & think about how we want to conduct discourse in this country. The current track won't change without both sides asking themselves that Q. /6
Finally, the media double standard makes things WORSE, not better. Ricin to Mattis and Senator Collins didn't garner this kind of coverage, nor did the violent attacks on 2 MN GOP candidates, 1 of whom went to the hospital w/ a concussion. Nor the attack on a NV consultant... /7
..nor the hysterics who beat on the doors of SCOTUS, or scary mobs that have been chasing GOPers & Fox commentators in restaurants & subways. NYT ran 19 stories in 2 wks on attempted assassination of GOP Congressmen. It ran 26 on bombings in last 24 hrs (thx @julie_kelly2). /8
This double standard DOES NOT HELP. It stirs the pot and encourages anger. We need to be honest - even vociferous - about our very deep political differences in this country. But we can do that while avoiding over-the-top rhetoric, and CERTAINLY while condemning violence.
FIN.
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