Below is my column in the Hill on how some on the American left have learned how to hate. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is actually leading in the polls after admitting that he wanted to see a political opponent and his children killed. It appears that many Democratic voters have now embraced the rage as leaders ratchet up violent rhetoric. Those who once demanded the criminalization of hate speech appear to relish it.
Here is the column:
In Shakespeare’s Richard III, Queen Elizabeth — whose husband King Edward IV was overthrown and her twins taken to the Tower — asks the older Queen Margaret (widow of the murdered King Henry VI) to “teach me how to curse mine enemies.” The Queen responds that it is easy: “Think that thy babes were sweeter than they were, And he that slew them fouler than he is.”
The lesson: The key to hate is to decouple it entirely from reason and reality. Only then can you hate completely without restraint or regret.
It seems that the left has learned how to hate. Hateful speech is in vogue as Democratic leaders ramp up violent rhetoric and political violence rises. The key is to get voters to hate your opponent so much that they forget how much they dislike you.
The irony is crushing. For years, liberals have sought to criminalize hate speech while expanding the range of viewpoints considered to fall within this category. Democratic leaders, from senators to former presidential candidates, have falsely claimed that hate speech is not protected under the First Amendment.
In “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I write about rage and the uncomfortable fact: “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.” Rage is addictive, and it is contagious.
This week, Bravo star and liberal podcast host Jennifer Welch praised footage of a “No Kings” protester celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk, holding her up as an example for all liberals.
In the clip, the elderly woman said, “Charlie Kirk is horrible. Yes. I’m glad he’s not here.” When pressed if she was actually happy that the husband and father of two had been murdered, the woman said “Yes…because he was horrible on the campuses. Horrible person.”
After playing the clip, Welch laughed with joy and declared, “So listen up, Democratic establishment. You can either jump on board with this s—, or we’re coming after you in the same way that we come after MAGA. Period.”
Celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis certainly got that message. The actress was facing a social and professional meltdown after openly mourning Kirk’s death in a podcast interview. “I disagreed with him on almost every point I ever heard him say,” she said. “But I believe he was a man of faith, and I hope in that moment when he died, that he felt connected to his faith, even though his ideas were abhorrent to me.”
It appeared to be a moment of weakness that briefly overrode wokeness. Curtis quickly found herself persona non grata in Hollywood, as an angry liberal mob began to circle her. Curtis quickly saw the light and effectively retracted her fleeting expression of humanity, claiming it had been “mistranslated.” It is said that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. But that does not apply if you then gouge out your own eye. Now fully and comfortably blinded by her own hand, Curtis is back as a member of good standing in Hollywood.
Internationally, the left has pushed for criminalizing the speech of those with opposing views as hateful and harmful. UNESCO works off a definition of hate speech as including “pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender or other identity factor.” This includes “scapegoating, stereotyping, stigmatization and the use of derogatory language” based on any “identity factor.”
Countries are also “required to prohibit” speech tied to “conspiracy theories, disinformation and denial and distortion of historical events.”
In the past, some leftists have included political criticism or parodies of their leaders as hate speech. For example, when a rodeo clown, Tuffy Gessling, donned a President Barack Obama mask at the Missouri State Fair as part of a skit years ago, the response was calls for his arrest. The President of the Missouri chapter of the NAACP, Mary Radliff, insisted that it constituted criminal hate speech.
But things have changed. The left has now discovered the thrill of uninhibited hate.
Recently, in Chicago, elementary school teacher Lucy Martinez was shown on video reacting to an image of Kirk by mockingly making a gesture akin to being shot in the neck, mimicking how Kirk had been assassinated.
Another educator, Wilbur Wright College Adult Education Manager Moises Bernal, screamed to a crowd that “ICE agents gotta get shot and wiped out.” Bernal told the crowd, “You gotta grab a gun!” and “We gotta turn around the guns on this fascist system!”
In academia, hateful speech has long been a way to establish one’s bona fides as a faculty member. By attacking and excluding others, you reaffirm your own protected status.
Faculty have thrilled their colleagues and students by talking about “detonating white people,” abolishing white people, calling for Republicans to suffer, strangling police officers, celebrating the death of conservatives, calling for the killing of Trump supporters, and supporting the murder of conservative protesters.
Even school board members have referred to taking faculty “to the slaughterhouse” for questioning diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Last week, Democratic strategist James Carville went on a hate-filled rant, to the delight of his podcast audience. He declared that anyone supporting Trump and the Republicans will be treated like collaborators in World War II who were publicly abused and paraded by mobs.
“You know what we do with collaborators?” he said. “I think these corporations [funding White House renovations] — 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.”
Carville later repeated the call that “The universities, the corporations, the law firms, all of these collaborators should be shaved, pajamaed and spit on.”
For years, Democratic leaders have given their base the license for such blind rage by calling Republicans “Nazis” and claiming that democracy will die unless their opponents are stopped.
The effect has been transformative across the party. In the current race for Virginia Attorney General, Democratic nominee Jay Jones admitted to sending text messages expressing the desire to kill a political opponent, “piss on the grave” of a dead Republican, and kill his children, whom he dismissed as “little fascists,” in their mother’s arms.
There was a time when such a candidate would be denounced by those on the ticket from his party and made a nonentity in politics. Instead, the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Abigail Spanberger (who had previously told her supporters to “Let your rage fuel you”), has refused to withdraw her endorsement. Moreover, the race remains close, with most Democratic voters still planning to cast their ballots for him.
It is a lesson many hope will take hold in the midterm elections. Like Queen Elizabeth, these voters have overcome all inhibitions and can now teach others “how to curse.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of the bestselling book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
The stunner is that while Jones lost mightily among men (12 points) he won mightier still with women )14 pts). Women. Outrageous? Sure. But aren’t all the Democrats! So I guess we’re in occupied Virginia for awhile. Universal suffrage sucks.
Thing is, the observation he made about breeding little fascists is true.
And breeding little hate mongering, raging democrat demon anti God fascists is true too.
Wait, we were told Antifa is not real.
Oops
_______________________
BREAKING: Antifa claims responsibility for firebomb attack on AfD politician’s car in Germany, issues warning, ‘All you d*mn MAGA freaks will follow Kirk to Hell’
The German Antifa organization that dates back to the 1930s is unrelated to the Antifa movement in the US which has no central organization. The Antifa movement in the US started really moving when the Japanese bombed Pearl harbor leading to America, among others, joining the German Antifa organization in their efforts to kill Nazis. Modern Republicans accept neo-Nazis as part of their party, that big tent they advertise.
Will you ever write about the right and how it has wrecked havoc in America–or does that not matter in your make belief World.
Only in your dreams! The left is killing America!
Since that has not happened, there’s no reason to write about it.
OK.. Tell us. Were waiting..
OK. You tell us. we’re waiting.
Put down the joint and think for a moment. Since you made the claim, you have to tell us.
They all are here only because of “free stuff” and “free status,” as in welfare and affirmative action.
What in the world is this:
https://youtu.be/48W2RPybrDA
Nazis were opposed to violence…to themselves, that is.
That’s not Dick Shawn; the re-make of “The Producers” without Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder and Shawn was not watchable. They destroyed Mel Brooks’ first comedic film. In other news: NAZI was National Socialism, wasn’t it? The Left owns history and the modern day version. Someone will have to rewrite the lyrics to Sinatra’s “NY NY”. Glad I fled almost 40 years ago.
The thing you got to know is
Everything is show-biz
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1JWzyvv8A
It’s not much of a free speech blog really, is it?
*. All of it is dishonesty. Honesty can solve all the problems here. Illegals? If you are illegally present in the US, leave.
Snap- DJT proposed volunteer work for 4 hours to get the food subsidy.
It’s 3rd world, lies, dishonesty, deception. It’s Dr. Faustus. It’s mephistopheles servants. It’s ill-fated.
Now, resist.
^^^ Mamdani saying free universal daycare for children as dem voting perk? Republicans have that. They’re called mothers and dads.
Portland just got hit with a major shock wave.
One of the most significant downtown buildings which sold in 2015 for 373M and was valued at 450M in 2020, just sold for $45M. The taxhees that Portland will collect drop from 2.7M/yr to 65K/yr. But it gets worse.
The sale effectively resets the entire portland tax base. There is already a queue of filings of commercial building owners requesting drastic adjustments to their tax base. The portland city counsel – many of them actual socialists are getting a lesson in economics. If your left wing nut nonsense drives productive people and uses away – things go to H311 fast. Seems like neither national banks nor smaller commercial ventures want to go to work in the ghetto/warzone that Portlands political class have created.
The first problem that nearly all major cities have is that people are just not coming back to work in the office after Covid – no matter how much pressure is put on them. People left the cities and found they liked it elsewhere.
When push comes to shove – many are taking less pay to continue to work from home or work elsewhere than the $hitholes the left has made of the cities they run. I
Portland is likely to see local govenrment revenue decline by about 25% – that means layoffs and reductions in services. Nothing like the socialist utopia they were hoping for.
Many other cities are in big trouble too. Atleast one 40 story office tower in NYC sold for less than the value of the land more recently. The NYC commercial real estate market has been holding on by the skin of its teeth since the mass egress of office workers from the city in 2020. I did a Due Dilligence evaluation of a 40 story office tower in Jersey city in 2021 – the building was 80% empty – according to the owners it was 50% rented – but 30% of the building that was supposedly rented had no one occupying the spaces. Warehouses are doing fine. Strip malls are doing fine. Alot of retail – especially outside of the city is surprisingly strong. The housing market seems strong, apartments are strong. But Big indoor malls are doing poorly and commerical office space is in the toilet.
Biden’s high inflation driving interest rates up – did not help. Nor did the idiotic lawfare against Trump is NYC
The largest river flowing through Portland isn’t the Willamette, or the Columbia, it’s “De Nial”.
This blog would be much better and enjoyable if commenters followed the blog civility rule. https://jonathanturley.org/civility-rule/ — Concerned Citizen
Thanks, anon. As to anonymity, women today may feel more comfortable as anonymous because the world has changed and the brutish behaviors of many are fearsome. The language alone is stunningly gruesome.
The world has changed.
When I was born – blacks were still being lynched in the south.
Blacks could not marry whites in parts of the country.
Protestants did not marry catholics.
The Civil Rights act was almost a decade away.
If you were gay you could be arrested.
And almost no women had jobs outside the home.
There have been massive changes during my lifetime.
Most of those changes are permanent – though a few of the changes the left has forced on us are stupid and will not survive.
If you are born today – you are being born into the least racist, the least sexist, the least homophobic country in the world in the least racist, sexist, homophobic moment in time – except tomorow.
There are still problems – but not nearly those of 50 years ago, or even 10.
If you are among they exploding numbers on the left who think things are really bad – you suffering from anxiety and depression and should seek treatment.
The world is rejecting many of your values, but it is not going to h311. It is doing fine, and it will be even better tomorow.
We have lots of real (and immagined) problems – the immagined ones will disappear. the real ones we will face and overcome. Some of those may be hard, and some may be very hard on some people. But in the end we will be better off not worse.
Imagine writing that yesterday there were 10 rat droppings in the morning bowl of cornflakes but today there are only 9 and isn’t that a sign that things are so much better that no one should complain about the 9 rat droppings in this morning’s bowl of cornflakes.
Why are women in the workplace? Because the cost of living increases have exceeded wage increases. It used to be a guy with a job on an assembly line could afford a small house, a wife, a dog, a new car every so often and put three children through college.
The billionaires are billionaires because they took what used to be paid in wage increases and product development and factory improvements and sent some of it to build factories overseas and kept the rest to invest in competing against those factor workers in buying real estate, for example.
I agree.
The MAGA morons here are the most uncivilized people I have ever encountered
Me, too. I always feel icky when entering this MAGA circle jerk.
I feel the need to take a shower after every visit to this worthless blog.
Then don’t.
This blog welcomes articulate people who can argue compellingly for their position whatever it is.
But it is not friendly to morons who take stupid positions on faith and do not feel any need to support them.
Whether left or right, if you are the letter – your participation here is pointless.
Like many many bad things – both the left and the right are guilty.
But they are not EQUALLY guilty.
It has been a long time since I have read a competent argument from anyone on the left.
Yet, you are here. Odd, really odd.,
That’s a lie , deception. You can restate what you’ve said. Identify the vice that caused you to say that.
^^^^^And yet, here they all are.^^^^^
We are optimistic that it might have changed for the better but it never does because here you all are.
Not a productive statement. you are likely not a productive individual either. This is probably why you are a liberal and embrace the strategy of living off others’ productivity, much like a parasite. This is your problem. Go forth and be productive and call me in the morning. You’re welcome. Next diagnosis will cost. Because I’m productive.
Our side voted for a guy who publicly said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and still get elected. Let’s face it, we all overlook rhetoric in order to support pols pushing the policies we like.
While that may be true, it is not on-point to this topic. Braggadocio and rage rhetoric that expresses intense hatred toward others and tends to incite actual violence against them are two different things.
I laugh when people argue that Democrats have policies. Other than grand mal seizures on Republican positions, Democrats only have one goal in mind: power by any means necessary. e.g. Democrats nationwide have publicly defended the indefensible: Jay Jones.
Identify the vice underlying Jay Jones statement.
Murder… you know that word right?
Power to do what? Tear down the East Wing of the White House and replace it with a gold whale ballroom that is more appropriate for an entertainment venue than the house at the center of American democracy?
The PP-ACA, pushed for by Obama, was previously instituted in Massachusetts by a Republican and was originated by the Heritage Foundation. Not really a grand mal seizure, but adopting a policy that not only worked but was from the core of American conservatism.
I am willing to bet that Jay Jones is known to nearly no Democrats nationwide and are not in a position to defend him. But I am sure most Republicans do know Donald Trump and know that he promised he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose a single vote – I believe most Republicans defended him saying that by going and voting for him as President.
What was wrong with saying that? How is that uncivil or violent rhetoric? It’s a simple statement of how popular he is. It may or may not be true, and he may or may not have thought it was true, but it’s not violent in any way, nor morally wrong in any way.
Oh. here we go. Bringing political murder ideation into the public square (with an overlay of child traumatization) is fine, because it’s only ideation. It’s vile and repugnant for a grown adult, especially one aspiring to a position of leadership. Sane people will turn their gaze away from such a freak, and look elsewhere for leadership.
The moral depravity of some is showing.
A lib waxing moral. Rich.
Put the statement in context and post a video of it.
Yep he has shot NO-one. Hmmm
edwardmahl says: For centuries, religious fanatics have devoted themselves to uncovering the works of the Devil and extirpating them by any means deemed necessary.
That explains Karl Marx and his communist disciples and their deadly religious fanaticism worshiping at the Church Of Rock Fairy Atheism?
The rock star leaders of those atheist religious fanatics between them have slaughtered over 100 million people in just this last century. Their targeted victims have primarily been anyone or any group whose foundational beliefs and principles are the West’s Judeo-Christian core values.
I can not help but think that perhaps Western Civilization reached a turning point in 1927:
It was a straight line from her to Patryk and Anna:
They understand the world kinesthetic-ly.
I loved that video! Thx!
” . . . the Left found peace through hate.” Exactly. For centuries, religious fanatics have devoted themselves to uncovering the works of the Devil and extirpating them by any means deemed necessary. Our crazy lefties are the heirs of this tradition of zealotry.
The Usual Suspects?
The eeriest example of empirical evidence of Faustus perhaps, were the events surrounding Nicole Brown RIP. I dare not speak such?