There are no both sides to our political violence
The Republican vision for our country is violence across the entirety of our society, in all its forms, and all its manifestations.
Following the attempted assassination of Former President Trump, President Biden decided to take a swing at the campus protests that had been held in support of Palestine, against the war machine, and to demand their colleges and universities divest from both war and Israel’s system of apartheid. This is an interesting direction politically as not only did he take the political violence both-sidesing hook line and sinker, but he also chose a target for his attacks that enjoys better polling within his base, and the country at large, than he does. But as we all know, most campus protests were non-violent from end to end. Those where violence did occur, the vast majority of violence was perpetrated by police or counter-protestors, not students encamped in quads or sitting in inside campus buildings.
Which is to say that in fact Biden's reference to campus protests reflecting political violence at all, much less an assassination attempt, is both nonsensical and bad politics. US built planes dropping US made bombs on refugee camps in Gaza while our President gaslights us is political violence. Protesting that genocidal violence, and the deployment of state violence to suppress that protest, is not political violence. As adults we can no longer deploy the “I'm rubber you're glue” defense. And as is always the case for the GOP, every accusation is projection.
So here is an incomplete list of things that conservatives did or continue to do that are, in fact, political violence:
Trump calling for Second Amendment remedies to Supreme Court Justice vacancies is political violence.
Trump inciting an insurrection that wanted to murder his Vice President and his party’s Speaker of the House for not going along with the lie that the election was stolen is political violence.
Trump mocking a violent attack on Paul Pelosi is political violence.
Making it illegal to hand out water to people in line to vote in districts where race is being used to suppress voters is political violence.
Refusing to pass gun reform after the gunning down of 1st graders is political violence
Refusing to pass gun reform after Parkland is political violence.
Refusing to ban assault rifles after Uvalde while wearing AR-15 pins on the floor is political violence
Passing laws to remove Trans healthcare is political violence.
Passing laws that someone must be on the brink of death to receive an abortion is political violence.
Passing laws turning everyone into abortion bounty hunters is political violence.
The leading cause of death during pregnancy being murder is political violence.
Our Black neighbors being inequitably subjected to police brutality is political violence.
Black maternal health discrepancies are political violence.
Creating schools where kids can't afford lunch but can be shot to death in the shadow of the 10 Commandments is political violence.
Enslavement was political violence.
We need elected officials who can and will say these things to their fellow elected representatives, and most importantly, to voters. We need leaders who refuse to let this be both sided.
A political rally where shots are fired from an assault rifle and people die is the Republican Party’s vision for America. It’s where their political project has been steering us for the last 50 years.
An America where women die due to pregnancies that were never viable is the Republican Party’s vision for America.
An America where religious schools are locked down like military bases using public tax dollars via vouchers while public school students face daily gun violence is the Republican Party’s vision for America.
An America where the rich escape their tax burden while children starve and families must live in the street is the Republican Party’s vision for our country.
The Republican vision for our country is violence across the entirety of our society, in all its forms, and all its manifestations. One mentally ill shooter didn’t hand Trump the election. But the Democrats’ feeble reactions will.
Newsletter image by Hannes Wolf on Unsplash