Aaron Worthing at Patterico posts on violence in American politics.
The fact is the left is neck deep in hypocrisy on this. Besides Gladney and the other woman attacked at the Paul-Conway debate, every time the G8 meets anywhere, there are violent protests to say the least, and just the other day the GOP HQ in Denver was vandalized. Every time unions go on strike, especially the Teamsters, you can expect violence. And do I have to remind you of the very credible allegation that Charlie Wilson beat his wife? And police recently linked together the shootings at the Pentagon and the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and there is a third shooting at the Marine recruiting station in Chantilly, Virginia (that is fairly close to the other two). I bet that is some right-wing extremist doing that, right? So let’s not pretend that one side is Bull Connor and the other side is Martin Luther King, okay?
The big fuss is because the other day a violent woman was restrained by tea party supporters, and things got out of hand. I know this, because Andrew Breitbart immediatly condemned the violence via his twitter feed, which I follow. (Breitbart helpfully retweats his hate-tweats, with many people calling him names and one fellow by the name of @timothy_watson wishing he would drop dead. That guy’s a leftist – I checked.)
However there have been several incidents both before and after this incident where people attending tea party events have been attacked. While I’m at it, before the last election Gateway Pundit (along with a bus load of Republicans) was almost killed when a lefty threw a bag load of cement off a motorway overpass.
Anyway, read the whole thing etc, etc.
Oh, and he links to this Althouse post.
Yes, yes, I know that liberals would like to purvey the notion that tea partiers are violent and that incident fit their template, but:
1. One data point proves nothing about a large group (unless you follow the thinking style of bigotry).
2. The “violent Tea Party” meme has been pushed since the very beginning of the Tea Party movement, so it’s nothing new. And the failure to pick up enough data points to look anything like a pattern is glaringly obvious.
3. The MoveOn.org woman came to the event to create an incident and caused the Ron Paul’s supporters to worry about his safety, so that violent incident was prompted by the urge to defend, in which case even that one incident isn’t a data point that fits the gapingly empty template.
(Heh, someone in disguise holding a sign from the KKK trying to get to Obama would have a very short life expectancy indeed!)
As I’ve said time and time again, no one is claiming there are no idiots, racists, or violent people on the right. However, to claim that it’s only the right that has idiots is simply wrong and if anything, the boot is on the other foot. You don’t see the right rioting when the Democrats have their convention – you see the left rioting at the Republican and Democratic party conventions.
Update: Liberty Scott coveres much the same terrotory, but from the UK perspective.
Do those on the left really believe their vacuous rhetoric that those who are not on the left hate the poor, want them to suffer and (in the case of Toynbee’s vile but carefully chosen words) want them exterminated?As much as I oppose the welfare state it is not motivated by hatred or disinterest in those who are worse off than myself. Even the trimming of the welfare state being implemented in the UK (largely about those who are on higher incomes claiming benefits and those claiming more than the average wage in total benefits) are seen as being a “savage attack” on the poor.The left does not have a monopoly on compassion, indeed the speed and voracity at which it turns on those who dare to disagree with its solutions shows how shallow that “compassion” actually is. How many on the left talk of dancing on Margaret Thatcher’s grave, how many on the right talk the same about Tony Benn, George Galloway or Arthur Scargill?
Something should go here, maybe later. 