The Myth of Liberal Pacifism
For months now we've been hearing about the "heated rhetoric" the Tea Party movement. Liberal politicians have dutifully warned their Republican colleagues to steer clear of the protests. Prominent Conservatives have been accused of inciting these patriotic citizens to violence. Our dutiful "journalists" have carefully documented each and every wacky sign or event that could potentially be construed as right-wing violence. The legitimacy of their accusations is never questioned. It doesn't matter whether there has actually been any "right-wing violence."
Meanwhile, liberals are presented as peace-loving pacifists gathering together to sing Kumbaya. Whenever the next Bill Ayers tries to blow something up, we're reminded that there are fringes own both sides of the aisle. If it's a left-wing movement, that person can't have been an accurate representation of the rank-and-file. We're told that every group on both sides of the aisle "has it's crazies." This is a false equivalency.
I'm not denying that both sides have a "fringe." There are some people on both sides willing to do pretty much anything. And more importantly, most people on the left are perfectly capable of resisting the urge to bomb the Pentagon. But the "crazies" of the left are far more numerous, and far more active than their counterparts on the right. Just look at recent history.
Members of the new Black Panthers were videotaped intimidating voters at a Pennsylvania polling place. Despite video evidence, multiple eyewitnesses, and the prognostication of a "slam-dunk" case, US Attorney General Eric Holder shuts down the investigation
Joseph Stack flies his plane into an IRS building in Texas. Since the Tea Party is against excessive taxation, he is immediately associated with the movement despite leaving an anti-Capitalist rant posted online just prior to his departure.
Members of the SEIU beat down Kenneth Gladney, a black man, as he sells Gadsden flags at a local town-hall. Despite video recordings of the aftermath, nothing was done.
A "counter-protester" and Obamacare supporter affiliated with MoveOn.org bit the finger off a Tea Party protester in California. The LA Times conveniently reversed the roles.
A Philadelphia man was arrested after publishing a video rant threatening the life of Rep. Eric Cantor, the second highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. This has been the only threat-related arrest since Democrats pushed out reports that their members had been threatened for supporting Health Care.
Five members of Code Pink assaulted Karl Rove in Hollywood shutting down an event for the 100 people who had paid to hear him speak and to get their books signed.
I could continue, but this short list is more than sufficient to demonstrate my point. When we talk of liberal violence, we have specific—often within the previous month—events that we can point to. We're talking about concrete things that actual people did to other actual, living citizens.
When the media talks about "right-wing" violence, what they're often referring to is potential violence. In almost every case, the talking heads are referring to certain things that certain people might do to people they disagree with if they interpret things another group of people has said in a certain way and react in the way the media has predicted. That's a lot of hypotheticals. And then, when the media finally gets its "gotcha moment," it often turns out that the "right-wing violence" either didn't happen, or it was perpetrated by a liberal.
Case and point: the Congressional Black Caucus' accusations of Tea Party racism. The CBC claimed Tea Party protesters shouted the word "nigger" no less than 15 times as they walked through the crowd. If you take Rep. Lewis' word, the Tea Party crowd was chanting this epithet every time a black congressman walked from the Capitol to the House office building. For weeks these accusations have been reprinted as fact. In reality, there is no evidence any epithets were shouted once, much less repeated 15 times by a throng of citizens. If it had actually happened, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. would know. He recorded the whole thing on his phone, but has failed to release the video footage. It's pretty shocking that despite Andrew Breitbart's generous offer to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund for evidence of the alleged outburst, not one Democrat or staffer has come forward to claim the prize despite the myriad of cameras recording the event. And the CBC member who accused a Tea Partier of spitting on him has quietly dropped the charges and changed his story.
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