By Kathleen Knowles
Everyone has been told at one time or another there are two subjects you avoid at all cost when conversing with friends and relatives……politics and religion. It is difficult to go anywhere when one or the other is not discussed. Politics has always stirred emotions in people of all walks of life. No one has to tell you this country is extremely divided. We see it in the results of our elections, in congress and especially on the streets. Differences of opinions are very good for society, however, when those differences turn to the loss of civility and the escalation of violence, there is a major cause for concern.
The United States has been holding presidential elections since George Washington became the first President of the United States. With each election, most people in the country, by the most part, have accepted the results of those elections. In recent years, however, that has no longer been the case. In 2016, the Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump was elected, despite the fact most polls said his opponent was going to win. Since that time, there are those in this country that not only refused to accept the result of the election, but have turned to violence to express their disapproval.
Some people retreated to their “safe space” with their coloring books to deal with the fact that their candidate did not win. Some wore a safety pin on their clothing to let others know they too were hurting over the election. One year later, on the anniversary of Donald Trump’s election, some liberals stood in the street, looked up at the sky and screamed their frustration.
Unfortunately, there are many that have not been satisfied with expressing their disapproval of losing power in this manner. Opposition behavior has turned ugly, even violent.
In March, a Democratic political operative from the group American Bridge, shoved a female staff member of President Trump’s Interior Secretary to the floor. That same operative, Wilfred Stark has been arrested for assaulting the campaign manager for Nevada Republican nominee for governor, Adam Laxalt.
The Nebraska Republican headquarters was attack when vandals threw a brick through the window. A message was found on the brick below the window by staffers which read, “Abolish Ice.”
The New York Republican office (Metropolitan Republican Club) has had similar attacks. Their windows were smashed on October 11th with a graffiti warning, “Our attack is merely a beginning.”
The Wyoming GOP office in Laramie was set on fire in September. Police stated the fire appeared to be intentional.
In Minnesota, a man was discovered by Representative Sarah Anderson knocking down campaign signs. When she told him he could not do that, he replied, he was an anarchist and could do whatever he wanted. The man chased her into the street and told her to kill herself. Another Minnesota Republican, Shane Mekeland received a concussion on October 12 when a man shouted at him, which led to a politically motivated attack.
A Republican congressional candidate in California, Rudy Peters was the victim of nasty remarks made about Republicans. The attacker, Frarzad Fazeli attempted to stab him with a switchblade. Fortunately, Peters escaped the incident unharmed.
Death threats are becoming the norm these days as one GOP Congressman has stated he received more death threats in 2017 than all other years combined.
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was recently chased out of a restaurant, as have many other Republicans, including the President’s Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Who could forget the attack on Republicans practicing for a Congressional baseball game? House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot. Also shot were Crystal Griner, a U.S. Capitol Police officer assigned to protect him; Matt Mika, a lobbyist; as well as Zack Barth, who is a congressional aide.
It was former President Barack Obama who said, “Elections have consequences.” Apparently, there are many in the Democrat party that do not agree with their liberal leader. Never has it been more evident than the recent confirmation of Supreme Court Justice, Bret Kavanaugh. As the duly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to nominate a Supreme Court Justice with the consent of the senate. The country watched as the nomination process turned into a three-ring circus. Six FBI investigations of the nominee were not enough to satisfy the Democrats on the committee. A seventh investigation took place with the same results, there was no corroborating evidence that Judge Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Doctor Christine Blasey Ford. Yet, seven FBI investigations did not satisfy many liberals. They sat in the gallery, yelled and disrupted the confirmation vote causing, Vice President Mike Pence to call order to be restored several times. Others stood outside the Supreme Court Building pounding on the doors as Judge Kavanaugh was being sworn in as the next Justice of the Supreme Court. They looked far more like a mob than they did protesters.
A video was shown on television of a woman carrying a sign supporting Kavanaugh. She was attacked and kicked in the stomach. An elderly man supporting the judge was surrounded and harassed. It seems we have gone from majority rule to mob rule.
Democratic staffer, Jackson Costco, who most recently worked for Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, doxxed Republican Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch of Utah. Their personal addresses and information were posted to Wikipedia after each had spoken at the Kavanaugh hearing. Another Republican senator, Cory Gardner’s family information was also doxxed. Someone sent his wife a graphic photo of a beheading.
Is violence exclusive to liberals? Of course not. Some democratic figures have also received death threats this year. California representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat, canceled events in June after she received death threats. A Florida man threaten to shoot members of Congress who voted against Kavanaugh. However, far more violence is seen by liberals who simply cannot accept an opposing opinion or losing power to the opposition party.
Where has all of this violence manifested? We don’t have to look any further then our politicians. Representative Maxine Waters called on supporters to publicly confront and harass members of the Trump Administration. She told them to harass them in restaurants, department stores and confront them in gas stations. Former Attorney General, Eric Holder, during a campaign in McDonough, Georgia had his own take on Michelle Obama’s slogan, “When they go low, we go high.” Holder said, “No, no, when they go low, we kick ’em. That is what the new Democratic Party is about.” Failed presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton said, “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about. If we are fortunate enough to win back the house or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again.” Is she saying Democrats will only be civil if they are the ones in power?
When politicians behave in this manner, you can be certain that their supporters will follow suit. James Thomas, a University of Mississippi professor stated that, “Simply harassing Republicans in restaurants is not enough. Leftist should put their whole damn fingers in Senator’s meals, because they don’t deserve civility.” This is but one example of what happens when politicians encourage this type of behavior. One only has to look at the statements coming out of Hollywood to confirm it. If that doesn’t convince you, turn on any one of the 24-hour news stations. They are all lacking in civility.
Regardless of which party is in power, politicians must understand the reason they have been ousted from power is because the American people wanted it. Recent polls have shown Republicans all over the country making gains on Democrats who were leading their races in the upcoming November election. This is in part due to the “Mob Rule” mentality during the Kavanaugh hearing. Many Americans are sick of this uncivil behavior. It remains to be seen just how upset the American voters are.
Republicans cannot blame it all on the Democrats. Despite the accomplishments of the Republican party and President Trump, they must share in some of the blame for the tone in Washington. They have accomplished much since President Trump was elected. We have record low unemployment in this country, as well as among African Americans and Hispanics. We have a tax cut that his put money back into the American people’s pockets. The Obama Care mandate was repealed. The GDP has increased 3%. 1.7 million jobs have been created with unemployment reducing to 4.1%. Economic confidence is at a 17-year high. The President has opened up the North American free trade agreement for talks for a better deal for the United States. Trump has expanded projects such as the Keystone Pipeline which was snubbed by President Obama. The disastrous policy of catch and release has ended. The arrest of illegal aliens inside of the United States has expanded. He has place two constitutionalists on the Supreme Court. The president signed the very important VA choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 to authorize 2.1 billion dollars in additional funds for the Veterans Choice program. He has won the release of Americans abroad and he did not pay billions of dollars to bring them home. These are but a few of his accomplishments to date.
Despite those accomplishments, President Trump must take some responsibility for the lack of civility in this country. The President should be above name-calling and attacking people. Derogatory nicknames should never be used. He should be able to take the uncivil to task without reverting to being uncivil himself.
If we are ever going to return to civility in disagreement, our leaders in Washington must set the example. Instead of attempting to obstruct everything the president does, the opposition party should be trying to find common ground with the party in power. They should remember and respect the American people for whom they chose to give that power to.
Neither party should ever accept or condone the violence in the mobs that have been taking place all over the country. All politicians should remember that not only do elections have consequences but so do their words. Otherwise, we will see an escalation of mob rule. Hopefully the American voters will have something to say about that in November.
Kathleen Knowles
Contributing Writer
