Are Democratic leaders encouraging political violence?
It was reported this week that a canvasser for Senator Marco Rubio was brutally attacked by Democrats because the victim was wearing clothing advertising Rubio and also Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Sen. Rubio tweeted Monday:
https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1584564895605198849
Whatever one’s partisan leanings, when this incident was reported a fair person could condemn this act of political violence without jumping to the conclusion that Republicans should be on the lookout for physical attacks from Democrats all over the country.
After all, some Democrats responded properly:
https://twitter.com/CharlieCrist/status/1584586226094723073
Yet this also happened:
https://twitter.com/BrendonLeslie/status/1584595076260372480
Then we got to Tuesday when an old tweet from another prominent Democrat surfaced.
https://twitter.com/FrankenforIowa/status/1352221334915452928
He is referring to Paul’s former neighbor who brutally assaulted him. Sen. Paul condemned the Democrat for encouraging violence:
https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1584945919338106881 https://twitter.com/KelleyAshbyPaul/status/1584951398869106688
High profile left-leaning people celebrating the 2017 assault of Paul is not new.
https://twitter.com/BetteMidler/status/961800320014737408 https://twitter.com/TomArnold/status/1155860325100425217
After singer Richard Marx offered to buy Paul’s neighbor a beer in a now removed tweet, a package of white powder and violent threats arrived at his home.
https://twitter.com/randpaul/status/1397000983201394689
So, again, after some Democrats reportedly attacked a Republican worker in Florida on Monday - specifically for being a Republican - can we expect more of this kind of violence?
On the surface, one would think not. It seems too random.
But when you think about it further, particularly what Sen. Paul has experienced, I can’t say with certainty that more of this kind of violence won’t happen in the future and it could become more common than anyone might expect - with Democratic leaders either encouraging it or at least not condemning it. That’s what rage can potentially drive people to do and there’s a blaze of political rage out there right now, on all sides.
A civil society requires civility. This is ain’t it.
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