Violence and the Left
Written by Sam on May 7th, 2007Apparently, there have been several riots erupting across France as the result of Sarkozy’s election win. Why does it seem that all the political violence comes from the Left? You saw it at Columbia University when Left wing protesters rushed the stage shutting down a speech by a member of the Minutemen and causing a scuffle. We saw it just a few weeks ago when Left wing activists threw rocks and other projectiles at Karl Rove’s car following his speech at American University. Conservative pundits such as Ann Coulter and David Horowitz have been attacked while speaking in public. Several Bush campaign offices were vandalized during his reelection bid.
You simply don’t observe this behavior from right wing or conservative groups, yet violent actions are becoming increasingly common by the Left throughout the western world. These same people who claim to cherish free speech and the exchange of ideas under the guise of liberalism are simultaneously undermining those freedoms with their own actions. Their behavior is Stalinist. You frequently hear right wing politicians and commentators state that the Left is just as patriotic as the Right; they just have different views. I think the Right needs to stop fooling themselves and start calling a spade a spade.
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I don’t think this is fair. I think it depends on what news you keep up with. I read a lot of leftie blogs, so my initial reaction to this post was: Wait, what?! What about abortion clinic bombers (most recently in Austin, TX), death threats against Justices O’Connor and Ginsberg (oh, and Ann Coulter herself joking that someone should poison Justice John Paul Stevens), Donohue’s strange on-the-air comment that the artist who created the “chocolate Jesus” sculpture “might lose more than your head,” threats against the feminist bloggers who were initially hired by the Edwards campaign, etc, etc. I’m also wondering if the level of vandalism/ attacks against a political party has to do with who’s in power at the time? If there’s more Republican violence against Democrats when Dems are in office, and vice versa? No idea if this could be a possibility or not.
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I’m not sure I understand the logic behind this — are liberal riots in the streets (complete with cars sets on fire) really all that common, either? And abortion clinic violence seems to be enough of a threat to warrant increased security, terrorize doctors and staff, and harass women entering the clinic (even if they’re just there for a check up or contraception).
Also: The few riots I’ve been near have all been related to sports. While we’re making sweeping generalizations, I’m thinking we could just as easily make a case that sports fans are prone to violence.
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The really humorous thing is that the left is home to most of the world’s self-described pacifists.