David French uses his latest National Review Online column to expose media outlets that blame left-wing violence on conservatives.
Spend much time in left-wing circles — especially the kind of deep-blue progressive urban centers that produce our nation’s mainstream media — and you’ll find a sincere, abiding fear that “angry white-wing rhetoric” is on the verge of spurring a wave of murder and violence. I’ve had multiple conversations with otherwise smart people who are just convinced that people like my Rush Limbaugh–listening friends and neighbors are so seething with rage that they’re a hair’s breadth from snapping.
At the same time, many of these same folks are utterly unconcerned with the effects of angry left-wing rhetoric. Politician after politician can accuse Republicans of killing people with their health-care plan, and that’s just “speaking truth to power.” When Hillary Clinton calls Republicans the “death party,” then that’s just the #Resistance in action. When left-wing riots break out across the land, then the resulting chaos is glossed-over as “mostly peaceful” protest. The Nation actually printed, just days after an attempted mass assassination of GOP congressmen, an article that asked, “Why does the far-right hold a near-monopoly on political violence?”
There is a problem with far-right violence, but that problem so far comes from the same people it always has: white supremacists who are far removed from the mainstream GOP. That violence exists, it may be escalating, and the GOP should maintain extreme vigilance to push the fools, cranks, conspiracy theorists, and hatemongers far outside its political tent. But it is simply stunning that a major media organization would choose a left-wing shooting to once again highlight the supposed threat of right-wing speech.
