Becket Adams writes for National Review Online about concerted efforts to ignore the political left’s dangerous side.
CNN must broadcast from another planet.
Network correspondent Donie O’Sullivan suggested recently — with a straight face — that political violence in the United States is almost entirely a right-wing phenomenon and that there simply is “no equivalent on the left.”
This isn’t just untrue. It’s dangerous.
Denialism creates a permission structure, which invites more left-wing violence. If it can be excused, forgiven, downplayed, or ignored entirely, then what won’t be allowed?
“While America’s roots are soaked in bloodshed, violence in the country today is mostly from right-wing extremism,” asserted O’Sullivan in the latest installment in his MisinfoNation series, which supposedly investigates “the rise of extremism” in America.
The senior correspondent added, “From Oklahoma City to Charlottesville to January 6. There is simply no equivalent on the left.”
The only thing more disturbing than the alternate reality O’Sullivan has constructed is the newsman who (apparently) knows nothing about the news.
My colleague Noah Rothman is correct when he writes that to “tally individual episodes of political violence on a scorecard is to miss the point.” Nevertheless, it’s helpful now and again to lay out precisely what we mean by “left-wing political violence.” Some people clearly need a refresher, including CNN’s stable of crackerjack reporters.
For starters, let’s take the firebombing of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s official residence last weekend. The alleged arsonist set the home ablaze because of what the Jewish governor “wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to a search warrant signed by Pennsylvania State Police. It can’t be missed that this occurred over the same weekend that CNN aired a report alleging that the right in America has a stranglehold on political violence.
Next, let’s take the assassination last year of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, whose alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, held a mishmash of political views, including several that can be rightly described as left-wing. More to the point, Mangione has become a folk hero — sainted even! — among left-wing progressives.
There is no “equivalent on the left”?
