On Monday, Axios reported on the Democrats’ increasingly bloodthirsty mood: “Democrats told to ‘get shot’ for the anti-Trump resistance.”
At town halls in their districts and in one-on-one meetings with constituents and activists, Democratic members of Congress are facing a growing thrum of demands to break the rules, fight dirty — and not be afraid to get hurt.
That last point would be a change. Generally, Democrats prefer only to hurt others.
House Democrats told Axios they see a growing anger among their base that has, in some cases, morphed into a disregard for American institutions, political traditions and even the rule of law.
That sounds like a description of what the Democrats have been doing now for some years. If there is a change, it appears to be a growing acceptance of violence.
Liberal voters have angrily accosted Democrats at town halls for — in their view — not doing enough to counter President Trump’s agenda.
In response, some Democrats have tried to up the ante: Heckling Trump, mounting rogue impeachment attempts, and getting tackled by law enforcement and even indicted in their efforts to scrutinize the president’s deportation campaign.
Heh. If indicting Trump didn’t work, why would Democrats think that getting indicted themselves would change anything? The only course left is violence! Or, we should say, more violence.
“Some of them have suggested … what we really need to do is be willing to get shot” when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies, a third House Democrat told Axios.
Get yourselves shot? It’s generally better to shoot the other guy. Oh, wait–the Democrats have already tried that. Just ask Steve Scalise and Donald Trump.
“Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough … [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public,” the lawmaker said.
A fourth House Democrat said constituents have told them “civility isn’t working” and to prepare for “violence … to fight to protect our democracy.”
Sure, there’s nothing like violence to protect democracy! When namby-pamby measures like voting aren’t providing enough democracy, it is time to get out the firearms.
The culprits seem to be the usual suspects:
Many lawmakers said these voters tend to be white, well-educated and live in upscale suburban or urban neighborhoods.
“What I have seen is a demand that we get ourselves arrested intentionally or allow ourselves to be victims of violence, and … a lot of times that’s coming from economically very secure white people,” said an eighth House Democrat.
So liberal white women are encouraging other people to get shot. It figures.
A ninth lawmaker told Axios: “I actually said in a meeting, ‘When they light a fire, my thought is to grab an extinguisher,’” a ninth House Democrat told Axios.
“And someone at the table said, ‘Have you tried gasoline?’”
Funny you should ask! Democrats have tried gasoline many times, hence the recurrent theme of “fiery but mostly peaceful” protests.
And, of course, my own organization’s offices were firebombed not long ago. The activists who committed the crime used gasoline as an accelerant:
Are the Democrats really serious about violent resistance to democracy? They have gone down that path once before, and it didn’t end well. But this time, maybe we should think seriously about letting them go. We might be better off without them.
