More than once, I predicted with great confidence that Trump’s presidency would not have a great impact on the country. It has barely started, and I am beginning to fear that I was wrong.
It’s not Trump I’m concerned about. It is the left. The people who say that they want equality, and peace and social justice. The people who claim that those on the right are bigots, war mongers, violent and greedy.
It’s not just this thing with UC Berkley. That is the latest and (so far) most egregious of the outrages. Since Trump’s startling win on election day, the left has made a point to say that everyone who didn’t vote for Hillary is a racist, bigot, vile, despicable human being. It isn’t good enough to say “I disagree with your judgement”, or “I disagree with your priorities”, or even “You are flat wrong for what you did”. None of these goes far enough to satiate the left. They will not tolerate anything less than outright condemnation of every non-Hillary supporter, and far less the genuine Trump supporters.
I can live with that. Immature as such behavior is, hurtful and unproductive as it is, it is similar to the outcry from the right when Obama was elected. Worse in degree, I think, but still the same in kind.
But since the inauguration, things have stepped up a couple of notches, and I am starting to think that it just might be worthy of genuine concern. These lovers of peace and freedom and equality are turning radical in a way that I didn’t expect. I have heard people on the left, in no uncertain terms, state that they were going to intentionally engage in disinformation campaigns. I have heard repeated cheers of support for the guy who sucker-punched Richard Spencer, which I can almost understand. But I’ve also heard the left tearing apart others on the left who decried violence. These are not things I expected to hear from the left.
Now UC Berkley. I’d love to know how many of the rioters have ever actually listened to Milo Yiannopoulos give a talk? How many of them know who he is only because they have been told by their shepherd media that Milo is bad? Milo is a provocateur, no doubt. But he’s just a guy with some ideas. I’ve never heard him promote violence. He doesn’t promote causing harm to anyone.
Maybe if the left would take the time to listen to Milo, they could make an informed rebuttal, rather than being the raging, violent mob that tolerates no dissenting opinion. For all the fear people have of vicious dictators who crush anything in the path of their vision, torture and kill any people or group that does not sufficiently support that vision, it somehow slips past the sight of the leftist that it is their political ideology that has actually lead to these horrors.
I know just enough history to be aware that the most merciless people in history are on the left of the political spectrum. I know that those people who have pitilessly crushed and slaughtered all who oppose them have claimed to be doing so for the good of the people.
If the left proves me wrong, if we descend into darkness and chaos because of their violent response to Trump’s presidency, I will concede that I was indeed wrong. I had more faith in the left than I should have.
Excellent. Thanks for putting in the effort. If you have any faith in what passes for the left these days, it’s a bit too much.