I feel like I should welcome all the people who are suddenly now concerned about violent protesters. When St Louis was burning and cops were being assassinated in their cars, people got upset if you said you support the police or that this went beyond free speech.
When Antifa, angry that Trump won, were smashing Starbucks windows and burning property in the streets, we were told this is all free speech and #resistance.
When protesters set Berkeley ablaze, Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders said he understood their anger, condemned their violence, and admonished the violent ones not to say they were Bernie Sanders supporters.
People cheered when an Antifa member punched Richard Spencer in the face. I’ll admit, I cheered.
People paused for a moment when an alt-leftist from Bernie Sanders campaign staff walked onto a softball field and started gunning down GOP congressmen. In fact for almost a whole 24 hour news cycle there was unity in the thought that a line had been crossed. At the same time, Antifa on social media cheered the attack on right-wingers who opposed the Socialist agenda.
As Antifa emailed threats of violence to Fascist rally organizers and got nationalist events canceled through threats of violence, many sat in silent approval because our violence is apparently better than their violence.
Now that the racist Fascists have drawn blood, people are starting to care. In fact, they care so much that if you even mention “both sides”, you are shouted down and lumped with the racists. Condemning all violence and promoting all free speech has become anathema to the crowds. It is as evil as suggesting all lives matter when a cop is shot dead in his patrol car.
The Socialists of the Antifa movement and the Fascists of the Nazi/KKK movement have one goal in mind. They seek power. One seeks it through populist appeals and promises to those they seek to control, the other through an overt demand that all others should bow to them. Both sides oppose liberty. Both sides only approve of their own free speech and believe the other should be limited.
The only way to truly diffuse this war that the vast majority of Americans want no part of is to embrace liberty. The demands of both the Nazis and the Socialist Antifa are incompatible with the constitution. Unfortunately, embracing liberty means giving up aspirations of controlling others through big government. Even non-radical Republicans and Democrats struggle with that concept.
If you are finally ready to denounce all violence and all attempts by partisan groups to gain power over our lives through big government, then welcome. If you are simply mad that their side killed someone on your side, then this article isn’t for you.
Political Brief 