The Left Condones Violence Because They Think They’re Fighting Evil

Violence and intimidation have become hallmarks of left wing politics in America.

Trump’s election was met with days of violent rioting. His inauguration saw more violence in the streets of Washington DC and elsewhere.

Left wing #NoDAPL groups pursued the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s case against the Dakota Access Pipeline with acts of violence. The #BlackLivesMatter movement regularly sponsors violent demonstrations.

Businesses (and/or their owners) who take a stand on social issues, like Chick-fil-A or some random pizza parlor in Indiana, are targeted for backlash.

Conservative speakers on campus are routinely shouted down by angry mobs. Sometimes, like in Berkeley recently, those mobs turn violent.

[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]That’s what happens when you casually toss around terms like “fascist” and “white supremacist” when talking about the political opposition. It’s irresponsible.[/mks_pullquote]

The left has also been waging war on a book publisher, Simon & Schuster, for having the temerity to, you know, publish a book. It’s one thing to boycott a book or author you don’t like. It’s quite another to attack a publisher for publishing a book you don’t like.

I wrote about this phenomena in my Sunday newspaper column, noting that it’s a natural progression for the left. They’ve decided that the American right is evil, so naturally it follows that some broken windows and bloody noses are justified.

That’s what happens when you casually toss around terms like “fascist” and “white supremacist” when talking about the political opposition. It’s irresponsible.

That Trump seems intent on becoming the super villain the believes he is would be a topic for a whole other column.

Anyway, unwittingly proving my point is this letter to the editor in the Fargo Forum today responding to my column.

“Forum News Service columnist Rob Port has made a “career” out of being a mouthpiece for a conservative movement that has become more bigoted, exclusionary and dangerous by the day, so his strike out against the horrible “left” for their violence and vandalism in the wake of Trump’s election is laughable, but not surprising,” Matt Smith of Fargo writes. “Port can hedge all he wants, but at the end of the day he supports a party that has no respect for religion, race or gender – unless it’s one they approve of. By supporting Donald Trump and Trump’s ilk, Port supports mass discrimination of religious groups, the assault on women’s reproductive rights and an increasingly confident White Nationalist movement.”

I’m not a Trump supporter, and I’ve been pretty skeptical of his moves on immigration and refugee resettlement, so deduct some points from Mr. Smith for accuracy.

But beyond Smith’s petty personal attacks on me, his larger point is clear: The violent, bullying tactics of the left are ok because those perpetrating them are fighting evil.

This is scary stuff folks. And just to point an explanation point on how widespread these feelings are, here’s former North Dakota Democratic Party chairman Bob Valeu backing up Smith’s letter on Twitter:

I guess republican denial of Obama’s SCOTUS nominee was justified because Obama was evil. @robport https://t.co/EzQ3slcw4j

— bob valeu (@bobvaleu) February 6, 2017

Right. As if procedural obstruction were somehow just like lighting buildings on fire.

I think there are millions of Americans who are deeply uncomfortable with Trump but voted for him anyway because the alternative was voting for a candidate backed by people who have defined dissent from liberal orthodoxy as something akin to joining the Ku Klux Klan.

This is not only bad politics – it’s why Democrats steadily lost ground in American government throughout the Obama administration – but it’s bad for the peace and prosperity of our nation.

If Democrats want to win again they’re going to need to start talking to people outside of the progressive movement. People who reject identity politics and see nothing all that evil in free market capitalism. But they can’t begin to build those bridges as long as the far-left keeps burning them down.