National Review Online
Friday, June 03, 2016
For all his faults, Donald Trump is not committing acts
of violence — unlike the contemptible goons who have descended on his rallies
in recent months.
That’s worth keeping in mind after Thursday’s bloody
evening in San Jose, during which Trump supporters were pelted with eggs,
vegetables, and bottles; had their “Make America Great Again” hats stolen and
in some cases burned; and were punched or beaten. San Jose is the latest in a
series not of anti-Trump “protests” but of riots — the distinction seems to be
lost on these courageous opponents of “hatred” and on their defenders in the
media and elsewhere. San Jose’s Democratic mayor, Sam Liccardo, suggested that
it was “irresponsible” of Trump even to come to the city — or, put another way,
Trump was wearing a short skirt, ergo . . . Apparently, any means justify
anti-Trump ends.
For those in need of a First Amendment refresher course,
the distinction between protests and riots is simple: To object to candidates
with words of political dissent (i.e., not incitement to violence), and to
peaceably assemble in order to propagate those words, are constitutionally
protected rights; to destroy property and commit assault are not. Those are
crimes, which should be prosecuted vigorously.
More important than their short-term aims, though, is
that these “demonstrators,” like their counterparts in Ferguson and Baltimore,
are demonstrating nothing so much as their contempt for the institutions and
disciplines that make self-government possible. The ability to speak freely is
one such institution, and the ability to listen to it without responding
violently is one such discipline.
This is the predictable result of, among other things, a
society beholden to the notion of “safe spaces” and “violent rhetoric,”
academic nonsense that seeks to erase the bright, bold line between talking
about throwing a punch and actually throwing one. The confusion of hostile
speech with literal violence threatens our ability to engage thoughtfully and
humanely with each other in pursuit of common goals. It threatens the entire
business of republican politics.
Trump is not Hitler, and America is not on the threshold
of a Reich. His opponents still have at their disposal all the tools of
democratic persuasion, if they are so inclined to use them.
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