Victor Davis Hanson is a national treasure, and his recent
column at American Greatness begins:
For 120 days in summer 2020,
violent protesters destroyed some $2 billion in property and injured 1,500
police officers in riots that led to over 35 deaths.
Because blue-state mayors and
governors saw BLM and Antifa instigators as useful street soldiers, most of
those arrested were never tried in court. Street thugs paid no price for
declaring themselves de facto owners of downtown areas of Seattle,
which police themselves conceded were no-go zones. Why did public officials in
blue states ignore the violence? They were certain that it enjoyed majority
support among their leftwing constituencies.
Indeed, some leftist icons cheered
on the violence. Well after the failed attempt to storm the White House
grounds, in June 2020, the Democratic candidate for vice president Kamala
Harris warned us that protestors were “not going to let up, and they should
not.” What did Harris mean by “should not?”—when she knew numerous protests
that summer had ended in terrible violence? Was she reckless in the manner
Trump was said to be by encouraging a demonstration on January 6?
The architect of the “1619 Project”
Nikole Hannah-Jones assured the nation that vast destruction of (someone else’s
property) was not a real crime. CNN’s Chris Cuomo gushed that violent
demonstrations and riots were American traditions. Were these national voices
urging calm during weeks of violent rioting and looting?
There were no investigations, no
congressional committees, and no voices of outrage from the left-wing
establishment over months of such carnage. Indeed, much of the organization of
the violent protests was facilitated by social media that was apparently
unbothered that the medium under their stewardship was used to torch and
loot.
VDH chronicles the incitements to violence, the threats, and
actual violence, all coming from the progressive left. Full article is here.
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