The Rhetorical Art of Blame-Laying By Adam Ellwanger
https://amgreatness.com/2018/10/28/the-
As a public service, here are some things that are in no way responsible for creating a “climate of political violence” in the United States:
- Public performances of plays that depict the execution of Trump-like figures.
- Publishing a Trump assassination fantasy in the New York Times.
- The constant, deliberate misrepresentation and denigration of mainstream conservative policy positions by the corporate legacy news outlets and elected representatives on the left—and their incessant refusal to be accountable for it. There are too many examples to link. Start with the steadfast equivocation by media outlets between conservative perspectives on immigration in general and their criticisms of illegal immigration in particular.
- The recent use of violent rhetoric by presidents on the left: for example, when Barack Obama advises supporters to oppose opponents by saying if “they bring a knife, we bring a gun.”
- The media’s valorization of virtue-signaling celebrities who make threats against the president’s family, disparage his supporters, encourage public violence, or create violent images like the mock-decapitation of the president.
- Antifa’s (and associated groups’) violent responses to peaceful exercises of conservative speech in public spaces.
- Leftists running high-profile conservatives out of restaurants.
- Maxine Waters’ encouragements of those who would use violent methods to signify their opposition to the Trump Administration.
- Hillary Clinton’s call for a hiatus on civility until Democrats regain control of the government.
- The widespread, false, and cynical equivocation between conservative speech and hate speech.
- The would-be assassin who almost killed Rep. Scalise.
- Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder saying, “when [conservatives] go low, we kick them.”
By contrast, the following are entirely responsible for creating a “climate of political violence” in the United States:
- The use of disparaging metaphors in reference to the media or political opponents on the Left—because the words the Right uses really do matter.
- The Deplorables—especially the ones who vote.
- The (comparatively small number of) conservative media outlets.
- The purportedly inherent association between right-wing politics and domestic terrorism.
- President Trump.
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