Despite calls for many Democratic politicians and pundits to temper their inflammatory rhetoric, this week has proven a further escalation in this dangerous form of rage rhetoric. DNC Chair Ken Martin just told MSNBC’s “The Beat” that “we may be nearing” the moment when “elections don’t matter and then the resistance looks completely different.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on people to “forcefully rise up.” With political violence on the rise, these leaders are clearly fueling the mob in hopes that they and their party can ride the wave of rage back into power. History suggests that it is a foolish delusion. Today’s revolutionaries quickly become tomorrow’s reactionaries.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who pictures himself brandishing a baseball bat has previously called upon people to “fight in the streets.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom previously declared, “I’m going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.”
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger called upon her supporters to “Let your rage fuel you.” She then refused to withdraw her support for the Democratic candidate for Attorney General, Jay Jones, who once expressed his desire to kill his political opponents and his children.
In his podcast with co-host Al Hunt, James Carville was again spewing unhinged hate. He returned to treating Trump and others as Nazis and their supporters as “collaborators.” I previously criticized Carville for that analogy. He later attacked me.
Doubling down, Carville declared
“You know what we do with collaborators? I think these corporations, my fantasy dream is that this nightmare ends in 2029 and I think we ought to have radical things. I think they all ought to have their heads shaven, they should be put in orange pajamas and they should be marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and the public should be invited to spit on them.”
To be sure that his menacing words were not lost, he then added “The universities, the corporations, the law firms, all of these collaborators should be shaved, pajamaed and spit on.”
There was no later push back by his co-host Hunt or anyone else associated with the podcast.
As one of those Carville has already attacked, I expect he has a haircut and public humiliation in mind for me and a significant number of others deemed insufficiently committed to the resistance.
Even with the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the attempts on Trump and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, these politicians and pundits are still fueling the madness. Even with the sniper attack on ICE officers, they are still calling these law enforcement officers “Gestapo” and “Nazis.”
In my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I write about rage and the uncomfortable truth for many engaging in rage rhetoric:
“What few today want to admit is that they like it. They like the freedom that it affords, the ability to hate and harass without a sense of responsibility. It is evident all around us as people engage in language and conduct that they repudiate in others. We have become a nation of rage addicts, flailing against anyone or anything that stands in opposition to our own truths. Like all addictions, there is not only a dependency on rage but an intolerance for opposing views. … Indeed, to voice free speech principles in a time of rage is to invite the rage of the mob.”
The appearance of guillotines has become commonplace in left-wing protests. From protests against Trump to those against Israel, the symbol of the Terror is being rolled out as a warning to those with opposing views: “We got the guillotine, you better run.”
It is the ultimate expression of an age of rage. There is no question that it is protected speech. However, it is part of what I have called “rage rhetoric,” and it is meant to inflame others. It suggests that the only solution to these issues is what the French called “the razor of the Republic.”
In the French Revolution, the irony is that those who turned the guillotine into the symbol of revolution were themselves beheaded on the same platforms. Robespierre and others would ultimately be dispatched in the same atmosphere of rage and revelry.
As my new book discusses, most revolutions are driven by establishment figures who seek to capitalize on the wave of popular rage to gain power. We are seeing that today with many Democratic leaders using rage rhetoric to appeal to the far extremes of their political bases.
Some have. Protesters are burning cars, dealerships, and even lawyers and reporters on the left are throwing Molotov cocktails at police.
In the end, today’s pseudo-revolutionaries are likely to find themselves tomorrow’s reactionaries. Leading mobs is rarely a safe place to be as more radical elements take hold of a movement. The result is an inexorable pattern that runs throughout history as revolution devours its own.
When do we reach the Fort Sumter moment.
You mean the very moment, the historical inflection point, when “Crazy Abe” denied not prohibited and fully constitutional—per the 10th Amendment—secession, violating law, nullifying the Constitution, and setting America on its course of downward trajectory and ultimate lapse into the current rendition of communism, all of which the apologist and quisling Supreme Court egregiously failed to strike down emphatically?
Anonymous, yes that moment. In 1866 we were a different country than we were in 1859. The Civil War was over, but we weren’t the same country. That was 160 years ago, every 80 years we go through a crisis. Then we start cycle all over again. The first 80 years was the best time to be an American. We had the fewest laws. You were free.
American freedom persisted for a mere 71 years, from 1789 to 1860. Freedom of speech meant freedom of speech; the right to private property meant the right to private property; freedom from government meant freedom from government. And along came “Crazy Abe,” who never met a law he liked—or obeyed.
Mad Confederate Kluxxer King GeorgeX is at it again: “You mean the very moment, the historical inflection point, when “Crazy Abe” denied not prohibited and fully constitutional…”
How did his tryst with his intersectional bi-racial lust interest, the brilliant BLM Marxist journalist Stacey Patton turn out?
The overwhelming singular failure of the American republic rights and freedoms experiment has been voters allowing the continued existence of the vile and violent, seditious DNC and their equally vile members like GeorgeX. The Democrats who blame the chaos they’ve created on the Supreme Court, not themselves: the Court that has given them what they couldn’t get at the ballot box.
Incoherent much? Take your meds. Call 911.
Success! Three sentences in a row – a first! One of which actually had three words!
When the dollar tanks, the tanks will roll…
Not soon enough.
“It’s time to stop talkin’ and start chalkin’!”
– Chick Hearn, Lakers Sportscaster
Give the National Guard magazines, pouches of magazines, a full combat load!
Active duty military. Insurrection Act.
You seem to ignore the comments made by President Trump and his enablers. Also you seem to ignore the republicans and Trump’s attempt to hide and coverup the Epstein files.
“you seem to ignore the republicans and Trump’s attempt to hide and coverup the Epstein files.”
Would those be the EXACT SAME FILES THAT EIGHT EIGHT YEARS OF OBAMA AND BIDEN HID BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER TRUMP WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT?
Normal AMERICAN Democrats would like to know!
Why didn’t Democrats release them?
That all you got?
No reply? Why didn’t Democrats release them?
That all you got?
So, yes?
I just saw that the Guiffre’s autobiography exonerates Trump pretty clearly. Oh my !
Brutally raped and beaten by a Prime Minister, Oye Vey!
You’ve read it? It’s a best seller filed under fiction.
So as a lib, you say women should NOT be trusted? Wow you should call Billary.
Walked into your own trap.
Talk to the obama judges who keep blocking the release.
Leading mobs is rarely a safe place to be as more radical elements take hold of a movement. No need to worry Professor Turley. The leaders of the Democratic Party are too cowardly to lead a mob themselves.
I would be more than happy for the pusillanimous Gavin Newson to try to punch me in the mouth.
I’m seventy-eight years old and was a Marine. Even if he outweighs me by forty pounds it wouldn’t make any difference. A big sniveling coward trying to get others to do the bloody work for him. We all at one time have known the kind of guy I’m describing. Egging on someone like in Junior High School to do
what he can’t do for himself. The same for Jeffries and Schumer. Big talk no walk.
C. S. Lewis described how the Nazi’s hated the Jews, but once they abused, beat, and killed them, they hated them all the more. The hatred in the heart of the left will never be appeased with any amount of punishment. The vortex of enmity and acrimony swirls ever so much faster as it reaches climax in the black hole of total depravity.
“The vortex of enmity and acrimony…”. A bit lurid, but not bad. People seem to be poets today.
Democrats want civil war.
SAY WHEN
Anon, The civil war has already started. Law fare, the hateful rhetoric, and the demonstrations and violence against ICE constitute the early phase. It may sizzle out, or it may explode. Civil wars are always nasty and unpredictable. Not wishing for it, but it makes sense to prepare for it.
I’m wishing for the implementation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, which will extirpate the communist American welfare state, restore American freedom, reverse the invasion by illegal aliens past and present, and place America squarely back on the “manifest tenor” of the intent and fundamental law of the American Founders.
There isn’t going to be a civil war. They may be consumed with rage and hatred – but they aren’t stupid enough to attempt what they will know will result in them gaging out the last of their life’s blood in agony, as they assume room temperature in a pool of their own gore.
These Faux Marxist Warriors know they’d be picking a fight with that half of the American population that are far, FAR more likely to not only have weapons, but also the training and experience to know how to use them against violent cowards.
Almost half a million Americans served in the combat arms units that fought the Taliban hajji cowards face to face over in Afghanistan. They know the solution to violent haters, particularly the ones wearing black uniforms and face masks, is Policy 5.56.
Anyone believe even one of the cowardly hate-baiters named above would have enough spine to even engage in recreational pugilism with anyone they’re directing their hatred against?
Nope, never. They will attempt to get some of their more deranged Marxist Dangerous Idiots to the violence on their behalf.
“So roughly 8–10% of the American population fought in the Revolutionary War.”
– ChatGPT
Rabble:
Maybe only 10% fought, but anyone who was not on the side of the British still supported and combated the Redcoats in their own ways, not just on the front lines.
Incorrect, there were Torries. These were British subjects that immigrated yet were still loyal to the King. I know because one of my forefathers was killed in South Carolina in a battle.
8-10 % of Americans fought and .01% of Americans led the Revolutionary War.
“Summary Table”
“Category Number of Men Percent of Population
“Fought as soldiers 200,000–250,000 8–10%
“Led the war (generals, political/military leaders) ~200–300 ~0.01%”
– ChatGPT
You kinda say that it’s too late for not wishing nor wanting a civil war.
https://x.com/Osint613/status/1981621640875176011
Ah the Dem Party – the party of peace love and caring – only for themselves!!! It only takes a few loons in their midst’s to take violent action (see Kavanaugh loon, see Trump Assassin loons, see Kirk loons, etc.) where, like any physics student can tell you, actions can lead to equal but opposite reactions! Careless Dem Leadership loves a good Rave Rager and then get amnesia!! Morons.
“the ability to hate and harass without a sense of responsibility” – Sounds like Trump to me.
Biden was horrible, conflating protest with terrorism, and yet Trump and company are doing the same thing. Do you really have no memory of when the right claimed that words are not violence?
Each administration — left and right — assumes all the negative aspects of their predecessors and adds a few more horrible attributes to the mix. And Americans are largely too asleep to see it. And the people who can see it have mostly sold out for money and power.
As Trump once said: “Sad”.
Anonymous, Trump did indeed say that he hated his enemies but he has never said that someone should kill them and all their children. If he did so he would be drummed out of the party. Let me ask you plainly do you condone the killing of your political opponents children? It’s so important for you to win an argument that you will not say that killing a man and his children is an abhorrent maniacal desire. There once was a man who said that he wished that all men of a particular race should be killed along with his wives and all their children. No need to name this man but it appears that in not condemning such a statement that you do indeed agree with his pronouncements. 1999: A French news agency reported that Mein Kampf was a bestseller in the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories. A bookstore in Ramallah, the PA capital, was cited as having sales figures that placed the book sixth on its bestseller list. Furor himself and you couldn’t have said it any better.
Mien Fuher had a furor …
Der Fuhrer had a fervor for furor.
Can I put in a reservation for a cattle car with a window?
“Biden was horrible, conflating protest with terrorism, and yet Trump and company are doing the same thing.
The commies attempt to sail their false flag warship of fraudulent moral equivalency on their River of De’ Nile”
As Bribery Biden once lectured: “If we aren’t lyin’ and denyin’, we aren’t really tryin'”
Removing illegals from our country is NOT SAD, but by own laws.
Maybe you should remember that.
Not a great plan
Leftwing fascists would quickly sing a different tune if the violence was directed at them. Right now, they are pushing their brownshirt footsoldiers to attack anyone on the right. If they really want a civil war, then lfg.
Hakeem “The Hack” Jeffries, leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, just came out and endorsed Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor, leaving no longer any doubt that the Democrats are the party of socialism and communism.
Vincente,
I think Jeffries sees himself as the future leader of the DNC and even possible WH ambitions. He is the kind of guy I could see riding his age of rage and real violence to the WH.
Well, it seems like the Dems are organizing their very own J6 insurrection, similar to their Russian Collusion.
The democrats are temporarily a group of factions. Know what I’m sayin’ ?
We are again witnessing a rebirth of fascism. In this instance, however, it is incumbent upon everyone to understand and appreciate that this time the historically dictatorial and oppressive system originates from the left and not the right.
There are on the order of a half BILLION firearms in the hands of private US citizens, the vast majority of whom are revolted by the terroristic rhetoric from Democrats and other leftists, and who, at least generally, support the Constitution and the essential Liberties that it guarantees. So, stupid Democrat clowns, keep calling for violence, and you will likely get what you ask for. Just be advised that it may not take the form, or produce the results, that you would prefer. My fervent wish is that, if and when this confrontation happens, the consequences are visited on the heads of those who are fomenting it, not solely on the fools that they are able to motivate.
They are dangerous lunatics. We are on the cusp of a very dangerous civil war. they already have blood on their hands, with Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and want more. 🙁 🙁
I don’t think the verdict is in yet on that one…this world is full of deception and deceit. What you think is, is not, what you see is what you are supposed to see.
Tell that to the DNC. Day after day we see more threats coming out of them.
Good luck with that.
At this point, the country doesn’t need more punishment — it needs an offramp. If half of America has been trapped in a narrative of rage, you don’t end it by humiliating them, you end it by giving them a way to walk back without losing face.
Trump and conservatives have the stronger hand right now, but real strength isn’t revenge — it’s restoration. The Left needs a lifeline: a way to return to reason, law, and civic order that still feels like a “win” for them. That’s how wars end — not when one side is annihilated, but when both sides see a path back to dignity.
That means leading with magnanimity, not malice. Expose what’s broken, yes, but also leave a door open for those ready to rejoin the American family. If we can find that balance — truth with mercy, accountability with forgiveness — then maybe this fire doesn’t have to burn through the whole Republic before it dies out.
As Sun Tzu taught: “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.”
Statesmanship builds a golden bridge so opponents can cross back to reason—without humiliation.
“The Left needs a lifeline: a way to return to reason, law, and civic order that still feels like a “win” for them.”
And when there is no “lifeline”that the left would accept that is in the slightest way reasonable for the rest of us to countenance? Should we then kneel to them, and give in to their every demand? Or, to put it in Sun Tzu’s terms: what if the surrounded army irrationally declines to take advantage of the provided outlet to make its retreat? That is the situation in which I fear we find ourselves, and I think that the obvious answer to those hypothetical questions is staring us in the face.
If they refuse the lifeline, that’s on them. Nobody’s kneeling, and nobody’s giving in. But we also don’t need to lose our heads or trash the Constitution just because they already have. The door is still open — reason, law, and honest debate. If they’d rather fight than walk through it, that says more about them than it does about us.
Sun Tzu said, “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Don’t press a desperate foe too hard.” He knew that when people feel trapped, they get reckless. We’ve left that outlet open — through due process, elections, and the rule of law. If they burn everything down instead of stepping out, they’ll end up getting burned by their own fire.
We stay steady, we stay lawful, and we don’t trade our values for their rage. That’s how you outlast chaos without becoming part of it.
Olly,
I was writing my response, see below, when you posted this one. Again, very well said. Our leftist friends have a tendency of commenting anonymously, claiming our comments are that of hate and rage. If anything, the vast majority of our comments are reasonable, well balanced.
I do not want to see the annihilation of the Democrat party. I want to see them return to sane and normal. Moderate Democrats need to take back their party from the rage filled far leftists like Jeffries. Democrats, you need to vote these people out of your party.
Upstate — Exactly. The country doesn’t need Democrats destroyed; it needs Democrats restored. The problem isn’t that all have gone radical — it’s that the moderates have gone silent. Their silence has given the fringe the steering wheel, and now we’re all paying the price.
A Republic can’t survive when one side plays by emotion and the other side alone defends the rules. If sane Democrats still exist, it’s time they speak up, reclaim their party, and help pull this nation back from the edge. Otherwise, history will remember that when America needed balance, too many chose comfort over courage.
Sorry. That was from me.
A sane (and rational) Democrat is like a liger (or a tigon, for that matter), IMO. They do exist but exceptionally rare. After all ligers don’t exist in nature, they only exist in the captivity of zoos.
Upstate
The left has been full of hate since Nixon & Reagan. Not sure if they will bring the temp down?
Olly,
I think that is a really great comment. But how do we give them an out, with grace and dignity, if our wins only incites them more?
I would only counter, I think the Democrats are hoping on riding this rage rhetoric to a 2026 and maybe 2028 wins. While they rant and rave, IF they were to lose and the loss incites leftist leaning Democrats to actually commit real acts of violence like their rhetoric reflects, will they be able to reign in the monster they created? And a few of these true believers just might used the rage and violence to propel themselves into a leadership role for the far leftists. As we have seen, if you are not far leftist enough, they will go after you. There are people out there who really do believe all this rage rhetoric. I think the far left Democrats have raised the rage bar so high, only a sweeping win in 2026 and 2028 is the only win they might accept.
Do we really want them to win the House, Senate or WH? Would they all of a sudden come back to sane and normal, moderate Democrats? I just read that the progressive part of the Democrat party is raising the money for the DNC. What are they going to do? Rant and rave rage rhetoric, take their money than say, “Sorry! Just kidding!” That would be like how the Harris campaign spread the rumor that Beyonce was going to give a concert, took all those peoples money, trotted Beyonce out for a two minute pro-Harris speech and walked away. Then when they trotted Harris out, all those Beyonce fans, pissed, walked out.
Even according to the NYT, the Democrats lost some 2.1 million voters, while the Republicans gained 2.4 million. Democrat party has been polling at historic lows. Seems these rage rhetoric is not improving that.
You’re right Upstate, rage has become their campaign strategy, and another loss could push some of their true believers over the edge. That’s why conservatives have to stay steady and results-focused. Fix the border, rebuild energy strength, protect free speech, and keep elections clean and transparent. Show the country competence and calm instead of chaos. We can’t out-rage them, and we shouldn’t try. If we lead with discipline and deliver real results, ordinary voters—including some Democrats—will see who’s building and who’s burning. That’s how you beat rage politics and protect the Republic at the same time.
Olly, is there a time in history where offering an offramp or lifeline to aggressors has reached the way back to reason and civic order? Surrounding a disciplined army, leaving a way out isn’t the same circumstance as well-funded, professional-class, rabble-rousers seeing-the-light; that they can’t possibly defend against a well armed population that’s, quite frankly, had enough of their shineola. Perhaps a more civil solution to the latter is to cut off their funding as quickly and quietly as possible.
JAFO,
Good analysis and comment.
I agree with the cutting off of the funding. Perhaps that is why they seem to be in a panic? We all saw what happened when DOGE exposed the grift and shut down USAID.
Exactly—you’re right JAFO. The answer to rage is steady leadership and results that speak for themselves. History shows it works: Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement, South Africa’s transition, and the Civil Rights Movement all cooled fury with discipline and law, not revenge. Italy’s “Years of Lead” proved that prosecuting acts, not opinions, drains power from extremists. And when radicals refuse the lifeline—as the Weathermen and Red Army Faction did—they eventually burn themselves out while the system holds. If we stay calm, keep the outlet open, and lead with competence and conviction, the contrast between builders and burners will speak for itself.
@olly, upstate, Jafo – Sadly dear friends they are not considering a way out or lifeline. If that were the case they would have just a couple of their comrades vote to open the government and save face as democrats. They’ve never had to utilize an out or lifeline, they have consistently voted solidly in all matters as one and won. Two impeachments, Russia Russia Russia, erroneous trials against DJT, FBI raids and not once did you hear one, just one of them call “foul”? They’re used to republicans buckling to their threats but this time as they say “the jig is up”? Let’s hope for the best and prepare for the worst for America and all good Americans.
I agree Margot, they’ve never had to take a lifeline because unity in outrage has always worked for them. But that’s also their weakness. Movements built on rage eventually collapse when the other side refuses to match it.
History proves it—whether in Northern Ireland, South Africa, or the Civil Rights era—discipline and law outlast fury. The radicals always burn bright and die fast; the steady builders endure.
So yes, the jig may be up. Let’s hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and remember that strength and steadiness—not rage—are what save a Republic.
Sorry OLLY, I disagree. These are raging children we are dealing with, and a minority of them to boot. Soon they will tire out and we will find them in a corner sucking their thumb. They don’t need an out, since their positions are wholly indefensible so any out provided just encourages their crazy.
There is no golden bridge that will appeal to them. Sun Achoo must have said something about if your enemy reveals their positions forcefully, believe them.
As soon as Trump had any political significance they went he opposite way: America Never, Destroy America. They almost did; economically, DEI-racism, Lawfare, etc. The majority won and we are done with that direction wholly and it’s working.
His greatest weapon is to humiliate them. That’s why he’s president. You MUST have heard him do that at least once, what do you think he was doing?
Outlet: Thousands of ships for compassionate repatriation with temporary work permits for those awaiting embarkation.
Offramp-Outlet: Thousands of ships for compassionate repatriation with temporary work permits for those awaiting embarkation.
Presidents are elected to represent voters within the legal limits of the U.S. Constitution and its circumscribing laws.
Presidents have no authority to violate the U.S. Constitution (a wartime governing charter) – of either party.
Trump made a promise to GOD to follow the U.S. Constitution (oath of office). Betraying that solemn and supreme loyalty oath deserves criticism.
Criticism=/=inflammatory rhetoric.
Betraying that solemn and supreme loyalty oath deserves criticism.
Agreed—And proof. You know, like evidence. No president is above the Constitution. But let’s be honest: every accusation against Trump has been investigated, impeached, and litigated, and none have proven an actual constitutional violation. Lacking evidence, his opponents weaponize rage rhetoric to sway emotion when facts won’t serve them. Meanwhile, in his current term, Trump’s actions—border security, deregulation, government reform—are happening in plain sight, through lawful, reviewable channels. The real danger to the Constitution isn’t Trump’s transparency—it’s the partisan habit of crying “tyranny” while abusing the very institutions they claim to defend.
What about Trump being found liable for sexual assault and his coverup of his involvement in the Epstein files?
Is there an impeachable constitutional violation anywhere in your whatabout?
What about Trump being found liable for sexual assault and his coverup of his involvement in the Epstein files?
Aside from starting with the lie he was found liable for sexual assault and the remainder of the two lies in one sentence: What about that trial being a carbon copy of a Soviet political show trial, with prosecutors and judges acting like the American equivalents of Stalin’s Lavarentiy Beria?
Go ahead: take the time to come back instead of running away like a coward.
Tell us why that process from start to finish looks like normal American court proceedings.
Have you been following the Giuffre autobiography? Apparently you have not as Ms. Giuffre exonerated Trump in he book from anything nefarious that she witnessed and/or actually knew. She actually alluded that he was quite an honorable person. Uh-oh, what you going squeak about now Pippy?
He grabbed her there and she let him. He could’ve shot her on 5th Ave. Who needs Epstein?
“Trump made a promise to GOD to follow the U.S. Constitution (oath of office). Betraying that solemn and supreme loyalty oath deserves criticism.”
And your excuse for deciding to instead cheer for Obama’s eight years of police state fascism and violation of that oath, rather than criticize?
Nothing? Okay: your excuse for being silent as the sphinx the last four years of Biden?
Projection:
Channeling one’s actions onto others typically refers to the psychological concept of projection, where an emotionally disturbed individual unconsciously or deliberately attributes their own thoughts, feelings, and anti-social or criminal behaviors onto someone else. This is an internal defense mechanism which allows a person to avoid confronting their own behavior and guilt by seeing them as the thoughts and actions of someone else who they despise and hate instead.
Like O-bama & biden did?
The democrats are dancing on the head of a pin, they offer the opposite of what the majority of Americans want. Party members are abandoning them as they no longer represent what the party of the past was. How can an American democrat leader endorse a Marxist if he is truly a democrat? They have never had to deal with a republican party that has finally realized they have balls. Currently they’re hanging onto a name “Democrat party” but in reality, there is no democrat party.