From riots to the filibuster, liberal America won’t accept political opposition Scott Jennings
This is a frightful, dangerous moment for America, where free speech and robust debate are under assault by one half of America’s political spectrum.
America’s left-wing has taken a dark and dangerous turn, now openly expressing a desire for its political opposition to be delegitimized, criminalized, intimidated and ultimately banished.
This attitude has been boiling since Donald Trump became president. He’s too dangerous to be allowed to speak, they said, as the likes of Sen. Kamala Harris called on Twitter to suspend his account.
But that seems quaint compared to the left’s rhetoric of the last few days. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi labeled Republicans “domestic enemies” and “enemies of the state” in an unhinged rant rivaling any of Trump’s crazier tweets. And that was after Rep. Ayanna Pressley called for GOP officials to be harassed with “unrest in the streets.”
Words have consequences. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley, were put in danger as they walked out of Trump’s GOP acceptance speech in Washington on Thursday night.
As the video shows, Mrs. Paul described being “swarmed by a threatening, screaming mob” and “unable to move” until police rescued them from the Black Lives Matter radicals.
“They called me a ‘bitch’ and ‘racist wh—‘ alongside an endless torrent of ‘f— yous,’” she wrote after.
Earlier this year, Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff of Georgia said he wanted Republicans “beaten so bad” they can never “show their face again in public.” I might allow for a poor choice of words with dual meanings on the former, but the latter is clearly a personal preference.
A future controlled by the left
The goal is to intimidate conservatives into silence. A future controlled by liberals is one where political opposition won’t be tolerated. The only speech allowed will be that which is approved by the left-wing authorities and their media enforcers.
Look at the approved speech patterns for describing the violent protests sweeping American cities. This was literally reported by ABC News:
“Protesters in California set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station and assaulted officers after a peaceful demonstration intensified,” read the tweet from ABC to nearly 16 million followers.
Take cover when your peace begins intensifying, I guess?
The latest left-wing conspiracy theory pushed by liberal opinion leaders like MSNBC’s Joy Reid is that the riots are actually caused by super sneaky white supremacists who then deftly blame it on left-wing protesters.
There’s no evidence for this. For all the wailing about conspiracy theorists infiltrating the Republican Party, it seems they are already well ensconced in the Democratic Party.
The official component to this is coming into focus. Democrats — who may win control of the U.S. Senate in November — are plotting to eliminate the legislative filibuster, stripping the minority party of debating rights that have safeguarded bipartisanship for decades.
Senate Democrats have no interest in passing legislation with Republican input, and plan to banish bipartisanship in the Senate just as their political thugs banish conservatives from the public square.
“What (Americans) don’t expect is for one party — be it Republican or Democrat — to change the rules in the middle of the game so that they can make all the decisions while the other party is told to sit down and keep quiet. The American people want less partisanship in this town, but everyone in this chamber knows that if the majority chooses to end the filibuster — if they choose to change the rules and put an end to democratic debate — then the fighting and the bitterness and the gridlock will only get worse,” an American political leader once eloquently stated.
For once, I agree with Barack Obama, circa 2005.
Former Republicans join the scourge
Of course, Obama in 2020 leads the norm-busting parade, as he now says the filibuster is racist. This is how you do it — label every political inconvenience, contrary view or opposing politician racist to make them magically disappear.
Some anti-Trump, former Republican political mercenaries have joined in the scorched earth tactics, even opposing Republican senators they consider to be Trump “enablers.” The next time you hear from these hacks, they will be screaming: “You were supposed to eat me last!”
Liberals are openly telling us their plans for American political discourse. And once given the power to force conformity, they won’t make allowances for the so-called principled conservatives who helped them.
Remember, before Democrats claimed Trump was a dangerous racist, they said the same about Mitt Romney, George W. Bush, John McCain, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. It isn’t just Trump they hate, but anyone who rises to prominence in the Republican Party. Remember when Vice President Joe Biden claimed Romney’s policies would put Black people “back in chains”?
This is a frightful, dangerous moment for America, where free speech and robust debate are under assault by one half of America’s political spectrum. Hopefully, Americans will stand up to the bullies in November.
Scott Jennings is a Republican adviser, CNN political contributor, and partner at RunSwitch Public Relations. This column originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottJenningsKY.
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