The New York Times’ Charles Blow and David Leonhardt have apparently decided that the best way to make sense of this weekend’s senseless, horrible mass shootings is to try to figure out how to link the violence to conservatism. And frankly, Ben Shapiro is tired of it:
So, we now have two separate NYT columnists arguing that all conservatives are basically violent white supremacists, but slightly more subtle. Let me put this gently: f*** yourselves. pic.twitter.com/aqJjZjfPra
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 5, 2019
I have been fighting against these white supremacist monsters for years. The FBI arrested a white supremacist threatening me and my family two months ago. I was their number one online target in 2016 according to the ADL. I have 24/7 security because of them.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 5, 2019
Your conflation of all conservatives with white supremacist monsters who despise actual conservative principles — you know, like the universal, non-racially-based applicability of the principles of Western civilization — is cynical, deliberate, and disgusting.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 5, 2019
And it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from the New York Times and their ilk. This isn’t journalism. It’s not even thoughtful opinion. It’s just tiresome and unproductive.
Charles Blow suggests that GOP lawmakers, aka “white nationalist policymakers,” and white supremacist terrorists are cut from the same cloth:
I think a better way to look at it is to understand that white nationalist terrorists — young and rash — and white nationalist policymakers — older and more methodical — live on parallel planes, both aiming in the same direction, both with the same goal: To maintain and ensure white dominance and white supremacy.
The policymakers believe they can accomplish with legislation in the legal system what the terrorists are trying to underscore with lead. In the minds of the policymakers, border walls, anti-immigrant laws, voter suppression and packing the courts are more prudent and permanent than bodies in the streets. But, try telling that to a young white terrorist who distrusts everyone in Washington.
Border security measures and nonexistent voter suppression and court packing are white nationalist in nature? GOP Rep. Steve King has been accused of being an actual white supremacist — thanks in no small part to remarks defending white nationalism and white supremacy — and was loudly condemned by conservatives and Republicans, culminating in him being stripped of committee assignments. Blow’s basically arguing that GOP lawmakers are only slightly better than terrorists who are killing people.
You are literally unbelievable! Did you even read Leonhardt’s article? Let me supply you a quote: “Conservative America is mostly filled with honorable people who deplore violence and bear no responsibility for right wing hate killings.”
— John Donnelly (@John_F_Donnelly) August 5, 2019
Yes, Leonhardt does say that. But he says some other things, too. Like that the Dayton shooter had “no evident political motive,” which doesn’t really line up with the evidence. And that the political violence is largely one-sided:
Yes, I understand that there are important caveats to add. Conservative America is mostly filled with honorable people who deplore violence and bear no responsibility for right-wing hate killings. Some mass shootings have no evident political motive, like the one in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday. And liberal America also has violent and deranged people, like the man who shot at Republican members of Congress playing softball in 2017. Some Democratic politicians have also occasionally lapsed into ugly, violent rhetoric and suggested they want to punch their political opponents.
But it’s folly to pretend that the problem is symmetrical. Mainstream conservative politicians use the rhetoric of physical violence much more often, starting with the current president of the United States. And right-wing extremists have a culture of violence unlike anything on the left. Its consequences are fatal, again and again.
That’s not something someone interested in an intellectually honest discussion about political violence would write.
The notion that this isn't "symmetrical" is an admission of blindness. It fails to account for a decade of preamble, nor does it acknowledge the ongoing acts of violence committed by self-described leftist activists. What's "folly" is scoring points here. https://t.co/g8HvAGtR7q
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) August 5, 2019
Anyone who is genuinely terrified by America's trend toward political violence in this decade has chronicled examples on both sides for years. If you're just coming to the table now, ask around before making declarations like these.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) August 5, 2019
It shouldn’t be that difficult.
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