A poll released by the University of Chicago via the Chicago Project on Security and Threats offers a chilling account of the growing radicalism in America, particularly after the second foiled assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump, the poll found that 26 million Americans believe “the use of force” is justified to keep Trump from regaining the presidency.
As discussed in my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” we have seen an increasing level of rage rhetoric in our political system. For some, violent language can become violent action. There is a normalization that can occur as extreme actions become more acceptable to more and more citizens:
“We are living in an age of rage. It permeates every aspect of our society and politics. Rage is liberating, even addictive. It allows us to say and do things that we would ordinarily avoid, even denounce in others. Rage is often found at the farthest extreme of reason. For those who agree with the underlying message, it is righteous and passionate. For those who disagree, it is dangerous and destabilizing.”
With the unrelenting claims of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and others that democracy is about to die in America, some now feel a license to commit criminal acts in the name of “saving democracy.”
It is the ultimate form of self-delusion that one saves democracy by committing political violence against those with whom you disagree.
We have seen this radicalism spread in past years from higher education into society at large.
Years ago, many of us were shocked by the conduct of University of Missouri communications professor Melissa Click who directed a mob against a student journalist covering a Black Lives Matter event. Yet, Click was hired by Gonzaga University. Since that time, we have seen a steady stream of professors joining students in shouting down, committing property damage, participating in riots, verbally attacking students, or even taking violent action in protests.
It is now common to hear inflammatory language from professors advocating “detonating white people,” denouncing police, calling for Republicans to suffer, strangling police officers, celebrating the death of conservatives, calling for the killing of Trump supporters, supporting the murder of conservative protesters and other outrageous statements.
At the University of Rhode Island, professor Erik Loomis defended the murder of a conservative protester and said that he saw “nothing wrong” with such acts of violence.
At the University of California Santa Barbara, professors actually rallied around feminist studies associate professor Mireille Miller-Young, who physically assaulted pro-life advocates and tore down their display. Despite pleading guilty to criminal assault, she was not fired and received overwhelming support from the students and faculty. She was later honored as a model for women advocates.
At Hunter College in New York, Professor Shellyne Rodríguez was shown trashing a pro-life display of students.
She was captured on a videotape telling the students that “you’re not educating s–t […] This is f–king propaganda. What are you going to do, like, anti-trans next? This is bulls–t. This is violent. You’re triggering my students.”
Unlike the professor, the students remained calm and respectful. One even said “sorry” to the accusation that being pro-life was triggering for her students.
Rodríguez continued to rave, stating, “No you’re not — because you can’t even have a f–king baby. So you don’t even know what that is. Get this s–t the f–k out of here.” In an Instagram post, she is then shown trashing the table.
Hunter College, however, did not consider this unhinged attack to be sufficient to terminate Rodríguez.
It was only after she later chased reporters with a machete that the college fired Rodríguez. She was then hired by another college.
Another recent example comes from the State University of New York at Albany, where sociology professor Renee Overdyke shut down a pro-life display and then resisted arrest. One student is heard screaming, “She’s a [expletive] professor.” That of course is the point.
While Democratic leaders have condemned the second assassination attempt on Trump, they have continued the unhinged rhetoric of how this may be our last election and democracy is about to die in America.
At the same time, some leaders have allied themselves with violent groups.
We have continued to follow the attacks and arrests of Antifa followers across the country, including attacks on journalists.
Some Democrats have played a dangerous game in supporting or excusing the work of Antifa, one of the most violent anti-free speech groups in the world. Former Democratic National Committee deputy chair Keith Ellison, now the Minnesota attorney general, once said Antifa would “strike fear in the heart” of Trump. This was after Antifa had been involved in numerous acts of violence and its website was banned in Germany.
Ellison’s son, Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison, declared his allegiance to Antifa in the heat of violent protests. During a prior hearing, Democratic senators refused to clearly denounce Antifa and falsely suggested that the far right was the primary cause of recent violence. Likewise, Joe Biden has dismissed objections to Antifa as just “an idea.”
These politicians are playing a dangerous game in toying with groups like Antifa, which will not stop at threatening their opponents. Politicians like Ellison could easily find themselves the next target as groups seek to “strike fear in the heart” of the establishment.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster).
It’s telling for lots of reasons, given that this phenomena is largely confined to certain generational demographics, but it was probably inevitable that at some point what were temper tantrums would blossom into violence from the ‘words are violence’ cohorts (oh, the irony 🙄). Ignorance is ignorance, and ignorance can easily metastasize into madness and hatred; these people are plain and simply *not well*. Should we turn the tide I honestly don’t know what we’ll do with them, they are too damaged to integrate into healthy society. It IS going to be a problem no matter what transpires going forward.
James,
I would prefer a national divorce. Let them sit in their cities with their blue hair, multiple pronouns, non-laws and see how well their society fairs.
Or, for an idea of what that would look like, just look at the failed city of San Fran CA.
You must live in the fantasy dream land of Mississippi, LMFAO.
I think we tried that in 1862
“I think we tried that in 1862”
Several States tried it, but a certain famous (or infamous, depends on your POV) President intervened with the military to quash the attempt.
The Confederate States seceded between Dec 1860 and Feb 1861, not 1862
I may be off a year or so but I thought the war commenced in 1862, the struggle to escape the Northern aggression was well before.
‘Upstate’ with more of his “They, them, their…”
Hmmm who else talked like that?
Segregationists. Nazis.
Yea, typical marxist. THEY know THEY can’t survive alone. THEY need the backs of everyone ELSE.
You would think THEY would be all for it, as much as THEY hate the OTHERS.
@Upstate
We are a big, big, country. How would we divide it up? My feeling is that we’d end up with something akin to East/West Berlin, and the fascist side would not cease trying to subjugate the other, tey won’t ever stop under any circumstance. A serious question, I am not being obtuse.
That said, I don’t disagree; I do not think a reunification of ideology is possible when even being a centimeter to the center is considered fascist/racist/sexist/triggering/something we haven’t even thought of yet. I don’t think it would work. It would make the partition in India look like a picnic, IMO, and that is a point of contention to this day. Britain is currently experiencing the mother of all karmas, IMO.
We are facing a global, fascist force we haven’t seen since WWII, and this time they wear nice suits and have very persuasive gravitas in speaking to anyone that doesn’t dig deeper. We are currently in a real pickle. We could very well lose our country this year, do not tell me it’s a coincidence that global rhetoric in the West is an *identical* narrative; we all need to find our courage. We can still stop this with votes, today. Tomorrow? Not bloody likely. Do we have to do Robespierre all over again because younger people and a handful of their forebears in the West are straight up, freaking, stupid?
As an aside: was in Texas (Dallas area) this past weekend. Yes, you would see a very few Kamala signs in front yards. The rest were empty. The rest are empty because they are voting for Trump, and they do not want the grief that accompanies simply sharing their opinion publicly. This is a shame. But it tells us that the silent majority is very much a real thing. If they do not let us express our freedoms the price is going to be high. I am not looking forward to November or the months that will follow.
James,
I would never think you were being obtuse and take your word a face value.
Actually I was thinking of something along the lines of the partition in India. To a degree we are already seeing that as more and more move to areas or states that reflect their values, ideology or political alignment. If we do not do something along those lines, I think we could see real violence as we are seeing more and more calls for violence coming from Democrats in leadership roles, stirring up even more hate, rage and fear among their followers. Just look at what Hillary Clinton said on the Rachel Maddow program last night about Trump being “danger to America and the world” without never saying exactly how or why. She further went on to say, “And I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for the press to have a consistent narrative about how dangerous Trump is,” Clinton said. “You know, the late, great journalist Harry Evans, you know, one time said that, you know, journalists should, you know, really try to achieve objectivity. And by that, he said, I mean, they should cover the object. Well, the object in this case is Donald Trump, his demagoguery, his danger to our country and the world.”
I have noted there is one home down in town that had several Biden signs in his front lawn in 2020 are absent this time around.
Invest in chickens, PMs, ammunition and your own personal well being.
I think it would be necessary to divide the country into several large chunks. The reason for more than two parts is so some ideological integrity might be at least partially preserved, instead of forcing New Mexico and Texas (for one example) into the same nation. That obviously will never be more than approximate, and a lot of people would be unhappy with it, but it might be closer than an arbitrary line down the Mississippi or such. People who ended up in a nation they did not like could possibly be permitted a grace period (3 – 5 years?) by mutual agreement to change their minds and move elsewhere, with no restrictions, and no confiscation of assets. But that would be a one-time offer, anyone who changed their mind again and wanted to move back would be subject to all of the emigration and immigration rules in general effect, to minimize the chaos of indecisive people constantly moving between the areas. Just spitballing.
Democrats used increasingly incendiary rhetoric against President Trump in the days, weeks, and months leading up to the two assassination attempts:
Kamala Harris — repeatedly: “Trump is a threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms.”
Kamala Harris: “It’s on us to recognize the threat [Trump] poses.”
Kamala Harris: “Does one of us have to come out alive? Ha ha ha ha!”
Joe Biden: “It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
Joe Biden: “I mean this from the bottom of my heart: Trump is a threat to this nation.”
Joe Biden: “There is one existential threat: it’s Donald Trump.”
Joe Biden: “Trump is a genuine threat to this nation … He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.”
Joe Biden: “Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country.”
Joe Biden: “Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic … and that is a threat to this country.”
Tim Walz: “Are [Republicans] a threat to democracy? Yes. … Are they going to put peoples’ lives in danger? Yes.”
Gwen Walz: “Buh-bye, Donald Trump.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi: “[Trump] is a threat to our democracy of the kind that we have not seen.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett: “MAGA in general — they are threats to us domestically.”
Rep. Dan Goldman: “He is destructive to our democracy and … he has to be eliminated.”
Disgraced Harris staffer TJ Ducklo: “Trump is an existential, urgent threat to our democracy.”
Top Harris surrogate Liz Cheney: “Trump presents a fundamental threat to the republic and we are seeing it on a daily basis.”
Rep. Steve Cohen: “Trump is an enemy of the United States.”
Rep. Maxine Waters: “Are [Trump supporters] preparing a civil war against us?”
Rep. Maxine Waters: “I want to know about all of those right-wing organizations that [Trump] is connected with who are training up in the hills somewhere.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Trump is an “existential threat to our democracy.”
Rep. Adam Schiff: Trump is the “gravest threat to our democracy.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks: “Trump cannot be president again. He’s an existential threat to democracy.”
Rep. Dan Goldman: “Trump remains the greatest threat to our democracy.”
Rep. Jake Auchincloss: “What unifies us as a party is knowing that Donald Trump is an existential threat to Democracy.”
Rep. Abigail Spanberger: “Trump is a threat to our democracy … the threats to our democratic republic are real.”
Rep. Annie Kuster: “Trump and his extreme right-wing followers pose an existential threat to our democracy.”
Rep. Becca Balint: “We cannot underestimate the threat [Trump] poses to American democracy.”
Rep. Jason Crow: “Trump is an extreme danger to our democracy.”
Rep. Raul Grijalva: “Trump is an existential threat to American democracy.”
Sen. Michael Bennet: Trump is “a threat to our democracy.”
Rep. Stacey Plaskett: Trump “needs to be shot.”
Rep. Steven Horsford: “Trump Republicans are a dangerous threat to our state.”
Rep. Gabe Vasquez: “Remove the national threat from office.”
Rep. Mike Levin: “Donald Trump is a threat to our nation, our freedom, and our democracy.”
Rep. Eric Sorensen: “He is the greatest threat to law and order we have in our country.”
Rep. Greg Landsman: “The threat is not over.”
Rep. Pat Ryan: “Trump is an existential threat to American democracy.”
Rick Wilson, The Lincoln Project: “They’re still going to have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump.”
Former Harris-Biden staffer Kate Bedingfield: Democrats should “turn their fire on Donald Trump.”
Shouldn’t Turley be focused on Trump’s mental illness, the elephant in the room?
He’ll leave that to the TDS afflicted in the room. Good boy.
You are useless and pathetic.
Triggered again ^^^^
JT, You are completely twisted. Sad, so sad as you used to be reasonable.
DJT spouts racist misogynistic and violence every day. Yet you have the gal to say oh it’s all Biden/Harris fault because they take about democracy in danger. What a fricken A Hole you have become.
JD spouts crap about immigrants eating pets, a made up story, justifies it because he has a bigger story to tell, bomb threats ensue, death threats ensue directly a result of what JD and trump talk about. The threats have hurt the community, thankfully nobody has been hurt or killed but the affect on life for thousands of people has been affected by JD and trumps speech. Your response to JD and trump? Blame Biden.
JT you have lost it.
Triggered libtard ^^^^
Wait till Harris wins. The Trumptards are going to be massively triggered.
So be it. You will get what you deserve. But thanks for proving my point.
I on the other hand will be at Trump National Doral, enjoying a round of golf. Voting early and already have my tee time for Nov 6.
“It takes another level of stupid to want 4 more years of what we just went through.” — Kid Rock
Anybody can be stupid on any subject, but you abuse the right. Kid Rock? Really?
FishFarts, who says something stupid every day, displaying his jealousy.^^^
Fishstick, Kid Rock was not wrong.
He can’t deny the message, so he attacks the messenger. Typical FishFart tactic
I wonder what Fishdips networth is compared to Kid Rock’s? Yeah, Fishdip, that Kid Rock…
He’s smart enough to make it on his own and smart enough to manage it to keep it.
No doubt spoken in 2020.
Your cult leader is so proud of your infantile response.
“Your cult leader is so proud of your infantile response.”
Says the un-self aware spastic idiot who led with this…
“What a fricken A Hole you have become.”
Also, I wasn’t aware Trump reads this blog…
Have another sip, drunktard.
JD has has talked about immigrants eating pets because his constituents have contacted his office and complained.
He didn’t just pull a debunked story out of his ass. Not like Kamala’s un-fact-checked “Trump said good people on all sides” debate comment- earlier debunked by Snopes.
How stupidly ironic. Turley complains that the EU and the UK are engaging in anti-free speech because they are demanding social media platforms moderate or remove content that incites or encourages violence and how wrong it is but in this column he complains about the “age of rage” which is rhetoric that is protected speech. Of course the rage rhetoric is going to increase the likelihood of political violence. Trump demonstrated that clearly on Jan 6, 2020. He conditions his supporters by expressing divisive and rage against his ‘enemies’, those who dare challenge his BS and fact check him in real time.
The latest “assassination” attempt against trump is nothing more than the same free speech he always supports. Elon Must posted a now deleted ‘tweet’ asking why Kamala Harris hasn’t been targeted for assassination yet. Implying perhaps she should be. That’s why it’s extremely important to recognize that speech requires responsibility and accountability. It is more than just being able to express whatever thoughts and opinions. There are real consequences associated with then ability to express them. This “age or rage” nonsense is a direct consequence of the kind of free speech Turley and Elon Musk want. But weirdly enough there are “concerns” about the potential for political violence and/or inciting it by implying it casually.
Those on the right are constantly bloviating about the collapse of the country, the end of civilization, the destruction of freedoms, and blah blah blah. All if that comes from the rhetoric spewed by Trump and his political enablers who use fear as a powerful tool to recruit voters and supporters. They are the first to admit they will and have already done political violence. Jan 6 proved they are ready and willing to follow trump’s lead just as any cult leader expects his followers to. Political violence will not come from the left. It will come from the right, specifically Trump’s supporters. They have already shown a willingness to call for violence and civil war, or take up arms against Trump’s perceived “enemies”. Those who are ‘not real American’, ‘not real Republicans’, etc. that’s why Harris has been endorsed openly by more republicans than democrats have endorsed Trump.
“Elon Must posted a now deleted ‘tweet’ asking why Kamala Harris hasn’t been targeted for assassination yet.”
Here, Svelaz repeats his lie for the second time today.
“ And no one is even trying to assassinate Kamala,” with a thinking face emoji.”
That’s part of the quote from the now deleted post by Musk.
If it was “just a joke” why delete it?
Svelaz-George
What would you say about the legality/morality of Ted Cruz saying:
“Muslims in this country are an existential threat to our Democracy and way of life”
“It’s on us to recognize the threat Muslims pose.”
“Does one of us [he and Omar] have to come out alive?”
“Muslims are a genuine threat to this nation …They are literally a threat to everything America stands for”
“Omar and the Muslims represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic … and that is a threat to this country.”
And here’s what should be your favorite
“Muslims are destructive to our democracy and …They have to be eliminated”
Obviously, these were not statements made by Ted Cruz. And they weren’t about Muslims. Maybe you’d like a shot at assigning the origination? Pro tip, some of them have been repeated over and over by several democrats.
Or maybe you like Rick Wilson’s honesty better “They’re still going to have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump.”
‘George’, if there’s anyone here who knows about ‘bloviating’, it’s You.
“Harris has been endorsed openly by more republicans than democrats have endorsed Trump.”
LMAO dumbest statement ever but also:
What is the exact count, LIAR?
Trump has been endorsed by a couple million democrats who were going to vote for Kennedy.
So give an exact number, and stop making shit up.
“The latest “assassination” attempt against trump is nothing more than the same free speech he always supports.”
Svelaz, you sound like an idiot. After all the revelations about you, one would think you would keep your stupidity to yourself, but you remain unabashed despite the embarrassment all but a worm would feel.
Along with being ignorant, a liar, and arrogant, Svelaz is also a plagiarist—hat tip to Davey.
Every word copied and pasted from HERE:
https://fairtest.org/facts-whatwron-htm/
Svelaz, I am still waiting.
When the Ottoman Empire broke up, portions of the Middle East were divided into Mandates. Some of the major countries of the time each got a piece of land, which, under specific laws, was to be divided up to become nation-states. That is how many of the countries were created and the boundaries settled. Therefore, each country created worked under the same international rules.
What happened to the British Mandate?
Time for you to respond, but you don’t. You can’t. You are too stupid to do so.
To which I say: “Wouldn’t it be better to apply reason and discuss our differences like adult humans? However, If violence is truly the way you want to play this, bring it on.”
-John Underwood, Tyler, TX
American political and labor history is one of violence. Political violence is not a recent phenomenon, nor is the use of violent rhetoric to smear and dehumanize a political opponent. But for most of our history, it was those on the ‘right,’ not the ‘left,’ who deployed such methods. What passes for the ‘left’ today began to use them in their attacks on Trump after he won the election in 2016, e.g., #Resistance and the Russian hoax.
I first became aware of presidential elections in1952 (my dad supported Stevenson, my Uncle favored Eisenhower) and I have been following them closely since 1960 (I supported JFK and his New Frontier). Yet not until 2000 did I see the losing party insist the election had been stolen, and only in 2016 did I see the losing side organize to “resist” the winner and use every dirty trick available to undermine rather than oppose the new administration. So I mark 2016 as the beginning of what Turley calls ‘the age of rage.’
Molly Ball’s article in Time laid out how the Democrats ‘fortified’ the 2020 election, and the Twitter Files exposed how the government contributed to that effort by censoring social media both prior to and after the election.
https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
Ball’s article, along The Twitter Files (by Matt Taibbi, Bari Weis, Lee Fang, and others) should be required reading for everybody interested in American politics. But neither had been discussed honestly or at length anywhere in “the West.” Mainstream journalists only note them to dismiss them, and since 2016 Democrats, NeverTrumpers, and most of the mainstream media have been demonizing Donald Trump and rationalizing violence against him and the “Right.” But should anyone note that they are doing so, they react like a petulant child, denying that they have done so and insisting that only their accusers do so.
Trump has been the catalyst for what Turley calls the ‘days of rage,’ but the components were political correctness, critical theory, anti-racist grifters, irresponsible politicians, misguided activists, and the crisis in journalism as readers and listeners migrated to the internet and news organizations sought to win them back by pandering to them rather than informing them.
Regaining a modicum of civility will be difficult and all but impossible until the majority of citizens decide to use their common sense and strive to be objective as they struggleto tease out the truth from the morass of innuendo and propaganda they are confronted with on a daily basis. As Turley has repeatedly argued, free speech is the essential tool to do so, and Lukianoff’s observations on why this is so are a good place to begin.
https://quillette.com/2024/09/12/answers-to-12-bad-anti-free-speech-arguments/
Best post on Turley blog I have seen. But I would like to add one thing. In 2015, the person who started the current version of the rhetorical war was Trump. If you watched any of those debates you heard Trump childishly call people silly names like Lyin’ Ted, small hands Rubio, etc. etc. Much of the public ate it up. The only person I recall who ignored Trump’s silly attacks was Jon Kasich who I voted for in the primary because he was the only adult in the room.
“the person who started the current version of the rhetorical war was Trump’
Turley is speaking to the advocacy of physical violence to achieve a particular electoral result, not silly name calling. Apparently you are so ethically and morally numb that you cannot distinguish between the two.
* 2016? Where were you Gore v. Bush? There’s abundant evidence the 20 16 installation was false and no doubt the upcoming installation , too. Installed like a new commode in lew.
An old guy,
Another great comment. Thank you.
When DJT came down that escalator to announce his candidacy, I don’t think he had any idea how serious the rot was in American Politics. The democrats latched on to his unconventional style and mocking of their candidates almost from the outset. It was not DJT that called half the country “deplorables”. He also identified the media as basically an enemy of the people. Obama had said essentially the same thing during his presidency with condemning people for clutching at “their bibles and guns”.
Obama also did not seem to grasp that his blowout loss in the midterm elections of 2010 and his tremendous drop in Popular vote count in 2012 heralded some major discontent with his governance. If only the Republicans had had an energetic candidate in 2012 but all we had was McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012.
Now the wheel has turned. Those were not republicans rioting in Washington in 2017 but Antifa and it has only been magnified since. J6 2021 was a minor blip on the radar compared to a summer of 2020 with cities burning, multiple people killed, and an abomination of an impeachment in 2019, because DJT questioned the actions of a former vice president getting a foreign prosecutor fired because they were investigating the former vice president’s son and his nefarious enterprises, which we now know were basically all true.
Democrats covered up the president’s dementia, suppressed the news and countering arguments about Covid and then have pushed Cat’s Paws in the mainstream media to suppress even more of the news and basically fix the game in debates.
And who is the threat to the Republic?
The threat of violence at this point in time basically sits in the area to the left of the middle.
I hope that this quiets down but I have no basis in fact to think it will.
Does the left not comprehend what they would loose on this land if there was a successful assassination attempt. All those people on the right side of center would likely not simply melt away.
I really would not want to see that happen, because things like this snowball until all participants are exhausted and the land is a funeral pyre.
Remember Fort Sumpter was a cannon bombardment that resulted in no deaths (2 soldiers were killed in a cannon explosion during the surrender) but the war that followed was the greatest bloodletting in American History.
We are capable of such much more now.
GEB,
Great comment.
Good to know… what’s good for the goose….
A totally one-sided analysis of the problem. Those 26% who can justify political violence, split pretty close to 50-50 militant left and right. Why only pick examples of leftist zealotry?
Before one can get to solving the problem of violence ideation, one must see the symmetry between the two warring fringe factions. They egg each other on. If you ask any of these militants:
” What makes you think “they” will cower and shrink in the face of your shrill denunciations?”
“Do you ever consider how your rhetoric STRENGTHENS their resolve to oppose you?”
What you’ll get back is “I don’t care”. These are neurotics gone far down the rabbit hole, not rational thinkers. They recoil at any notion of self-awareness.
The way to get them to back down is through prickly humor. The new mockumentary “Am I Racist?” by Matt Walsh is the exact tone to be taking. Or, W. Kamau Bell’s CNN interview with the Ku Klux Klan…funny stuff.
Taking leftist violent rhetoric seriously (as JT does) shows he’s becoming unbalanced. Mostly it’s performative virtue signaling of the type “I’m more committed than you are”. The same coming from the neurotic, paranoid right.
The country is not facing a takeover by either fringe. The audience needs to “train” media away from sensationalistic alarmism by turning off those media voices. We need to get busy repairing our political and media institutions so that responsible voices dominate the public square, and unhinged zealots are pushed to the sidelines. Section 230 reform and overturning Sullivan are incremental are calibrated adjustment we might consider.
Come back when you actually understand what you read. Turley’s article correctly stated the percentage cited.
“the poll found that 26 million Americans believe “the use of force” is justified to keep Trump from regaining the presidency.”
Read, understand, then speak.
Thanks, Clarke, I stand corrected. 26 million is about 9% of American adults. That number jibes with previous surveys showing that each political faction’s radical fringe (left/right) represents about 10% of adult population, totaling 20%. I think this 20% represents a personality type — closed-minded, attracted to authoritarian rule (by their side, of course) — paranoid, and incapable of perceiving current events except through their polemic, “us vs. them” lens.
The majority of us are not the least drawn to fantasy-ideation — that civil war would solve something. It would heap irreversible injustices upon our current grievances, and leave us with essentially the same problem to solve in its aftermath — how to govern ourselves peacefully and effectively. That problem is inescapable if we wish to remain free of autocratic despotism. Those spouting violence ideation are the ultimate escapists — they take zero responsibility for the consequences of their fantasy-thinking.
Pbinca, that’s actually a very good insight.
LMAO says the sycophant that peanut brain is talking about
MORE TORT!!!!
In other news, Democrats express relief that Hitler is OK. https://babylonbee.com/news/democrats-express-relief-that-hitler-is-ok
J
Wow, you mean that violent, racist, and divisive rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans is having an effect? That is unbelievable. The difference in rhetoric from the Republicans and Democrats is night an day, as demonstrated by the last debate.
Two notes: Of course the Ds say that democracy is under attack…because it is. Just look at the MAGats commenters here who refuse to acknowledge that Trump tried to overturn the results of a fair election. And also all the other voter suppression laws and tactics that Republicans are pushing.
And the dude this week was a MAGA nut.
That’s why he’s repeatedly donated to Act Blue and has a Biden Harris sticker on his truck. Looks like there’s a reported connection with Crookes too in some BlackRock libtard commercials. I think he’s Amish too, you know how much trouble they are! Go sit in the corner liar and think on your sins!
He voted for Trump, that makes him MAGA.
What simplistic thought, lacking any degree of critical thinking or considering the newly reviewed facts. Like his own son said he “hated” Trump. Or that he praised Biden and Harris on social media and criticized Trump. He donated to Democrats through Act Blue several times. Then there is the Biden Harris sticker on his truck. Oh! And here is a BIG one! He attempted to assassinated Trump! Still think he is MAGA? Man you Democrats are not very bright.
A MAGA NUT? Where in the world did you get that? Good grief!
Sammy got that from his Harris-Walz print out of daily deflection talking points. (Liars sheeet). Nothing says Saving Democracy like skipping a primary and installing a candidate, nothing says Democracy like having a candidate not do regular press conferences to shine light on their policies and ideas, Nothing says Democracy like having a rigged multi pronged attack on the opposition and call it a debate. Trump will prevail, the Democrats will realign to center, and America will clean itself off from the Marxists likes of Barrack Obama, Soros and Clinton. If they don’t start WW3 before the election that is.
“And the dude this week was a MAGA nut.”
Sammy Metamucil with another of his unhinged, divorced from reality, steaming turds.
Of course, he would put it at the end of a post claiming others are deluded.
Cant make this stuff up.
And yet when Democrats challenge an election outcome, they call themselves patriots.
Voter ID is not voter suppression. It is ensuring the integrity of an election. Nearly every other Western nation do it.
HIs own son said he hated Trump. He donated to Democrats several times through Act Blue. On social media he praised Biden and Harris. Kinda hard to be a “MAGA” nut if you have a Biden Harris sticker on your truck.
The last debate was rigged in favor of Harris. ABC would not fact check Harris like they did Trump. The moderators did not push Harris to actually answer a question. Trump was debating three people. Harris told some 25 lies and the moderators never did anything to correct her or call her out on it. Later, the moderators bragged about how they rigged the debate so it would not be like the debate between Trump and Joe Biden.
Yes, the difference was like night and day.
The “lies” that Harris told were minor. The lies that Trump told were absurd whoppers.
A single punch to the face would end such nonsense, but the pussification of America has put the pussies in charge.
A punch in the face radicalizes its recipient and amps up the resolve to retaliate. You’re unschooled in basic human psychology, James.
I believe everyone should suffer a good old azzwhoopin in their life at least once. It’s the best learning tool for learning what trouble a grizzly bear mouth and a canary azz can get you into. There was a time when fisticuffs was the gentlemans of settling disputes BEFORE they escalated into true damage. Where we were kids we fought after school until someone said I give, then the fight ended with a bloody nose or black eye. Now they bottle it up, taunting and ridicule until some prepubescent kids shoot or stab or the feral herd head stomps you to death. We’re doomed by liberals.
+1000 Traveler
Grew up in a family of 7 boys, 3 older than me. I took more than one beating for my big mouth. Learned a lot.
50/50 in several school fights. Not a big kid, but those fights at home hardened me up a bit.
Amen.
It also ends the threat.
Not only that, James proves to be a meat head walking around with the idea his big bad right hand is going to punch someone in the face and they’re just going to fall down and not come back at him. In other words, he doesn’t know how to fight. Easiest thing to do is turn someone’s big bad right hand and mind full of rage right back at them.
👍👍👍winner comment
James’s
Not Lead in Ca
26 million huh? I smell a civil war coming. But hoping for a revolution, of joy of course. Colour me joyful.
* What EXACTLY will you be fighting for? Please list your reasons. Thank you
How much would it take for the creeps who think political violence is justified to keep Trump from being elected President, to conclude that it is also OK to perpetrate violence against individuals exercising their free speech liberty, if they believe that exercise would help to elect Trump? How far is it from that to the belief that violence is justified against anyone saying or writing anything at all that the don’t like? We appear to be right on the cusp of societal dissolution here, folks. Maybe it’s reversible, maybe not. I am among those who hope to avert the need for concerted private armed force to be used to repel physical attack (private or public) on us for exercising our rights, but results like this make me wonder if that will be possible over the long, or even medium, term. I have not looked at the demographics of the survey (if those are even cited), nor do I know how many of the affirmative respondents would have the guts to actually practice what they preach, both of which no doubt affect the magnitude of the actual threat posed, but the results are still sobering, and, to me, reinforce a real need to become, and remain, prepared. I do not advocate initiating violence of any kind, under any circumstances, but I do strongly recommend being prepared to deal with it, shouId it be directed at you, or your dependents. I do also wonder whether the typical affirmative respondent to this poll believes that, should it come down to physical violence involving woke groups against liberty favoring groups, that the former would prevail, considering the wokists’ aversion to firearms? That is, assuming any of them even have the capability to think that far ahead.
Certainly brings the arguments for and against the second amendment into shop focus, doesn’t it?
If you can convince a mother it’s aok to kill its child, why would condoning political violence surprise anyone? If you can convince people that it is aok to have mob rule in their cities, why would condoning political violence surprise anyone? If you can convince people that allowing the free-flow of illegals across the border is aok, why would condoning political violence surprise anyone? The left is simply conditioned to accept anything except personal responsibility.
The problem now is that because the neo-cons have taken over the democrats, political violence is on the menu.
26 million is vastly under stating the number of liberals who would condone or accept violence against conservatives.
While I certainly believe the poll, I AM a bit confused as to how they polled 26 MILLION people?
Talk about indoctrination. I doubt if Hitler had as much support. We have tacitly allowed these prog/left thug revolutionaries to thrive amongst us and now we will need try and undo generations of brainwashed tools who lack even the morals of Hitler’s SS. And even if there were a red tide in November, what do you do with so much ignorant human flotsam?
The NSDAP had polled only 809,000 of the 29.5 million votes cast in the May 1928 elections, but 6,401,000 votes in the September 1930 elections. The Nazis doubled their vote to 13,700,000 in July 1932, but still did not have a majority of the vote. Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor.
For what it’s worth, when Europeans talk about ‘winning’ an election today, they mean a plurality of the vote, not a majority. Angela Merkel never won a majority, but governed for sixteen years, owing to how seats are awarded. In July 2024, Labour candidates won just 34 percent of the vote, less than the Nazis in 1932, but they got 412 seats, the Conservatives just 211, due to Britain’s ‘first-past-the-post’ system.
The Europeans never did take a lesson from us on how to establish and run a government, and now it seems as if the prog/leftists in our nation are drifting back to the motherland of communism. Our problem is that far too many mis-educated tools for the prog/left now can cast a vote without ever comprehending the great gift that our constitution was and is. I blame timid and complacent republicans, as far back as Joe McCarthy for allowing the prog/left to gain such a death death grip on our nation and our culture.
End the Department of Education and return the job to the local communities.
Then simply prosecute lawbreakers using conspiracy charges.
Somewhat reminiscent of pre-Civil War Congress and Kansas – bloody Kansas. Hope to avoid the result of all that
In other news, Democrats accuse Trump of inciting further violence by not dying. https://babylonbee.com/news/democrats-accuse-trump-of-inciting-further-violence-by-not-dying
J
* Nothing is funny about it.
Violence is a 3rd world mentality. Civilized nations have political systems in place that don’t require violence to change. Egypt for one example thinks an election involves slaughtering the opposition. After the election hsevered hands and feet are strewn in the streets.
Maybe the dems will try that fear tactic or just jail, confiscate property and assassinate the opposition will cause a pause.