Rage Makes You Stupid

National Review

"People have the strongest feelings about the things they know the least about." Kevin Williamson

Anti-Kavanaugh protestor

"What are we supposed to think about political rage?

"Before and after the arrest of Cesar Sayoc, the suspect in the recent string of bombs sent to prominent Democrats and media figures, we were treated to any number of homilies about “rage” and its origins in “toxic” political rhetoric. Many of these homilies were pointed directly or indirectly at President Donald Trump and his immoderate Twitter habits. That political rage is necessarily linked to political violence was assumed, and sometimes asserted, but rarely argued.

"Five minutes before that, rage was all the rage. Rebecca Traister, an editor for New York magazine, has just published a book celebrating the “revolutionary power” of anger, which was celebrated at The Atlantic on 4 October under a headline noting the “seismic power” of “rage.” On 21 September, the Washington Post affirmed that “rage is healthy, rational, and necessary for America.” On Friday, NBC news praised a television show for depicting “anger as righteous and necessary.” Before that, it ran a segment encouraging certain political partisans to “embrace their rage.”

"Earlier in the year, Leslie Jamison wrote a very interesting and intelligent essay for The New York Times Magazine exploring anger as a “tool to be used, part of a well-stocked arsenal.” Right as the bombing suspect was being arrested in Florida, Rewire shared “All the Rage That’s Fit To Print,” its assessment of four books on “fury.”

"I’ve omitted the word “women” in several instances above, on the theory that we’re all adults here, and that we would recognize the obvious hypocrisy and illogic of any “my rage good, your rage bad, bad, bad,” construct." . . .

Antisemitism, the media, and the left

The left has made itself a fount of anti-Semitism, with all major currents of its poison coming from its direction. Democrats have normalized it, promoted its participants and celebrated its advocates. Now they are trying to pin a hideous massacre by an unhinged monster on Trump. This won't wash.  Monica Showalter

Clarice Feldman: Crazy Haters and the Twisted Press  "This Saturday eleven people were killed by a shooter in a Pittsburgh synagogue during morning services. The shooter appears to someone who not only hates Jews, but hates President Trump as well. " . . .

. . . "I cannot help noticing, besides the general media avoidance of this issue (probably because they largely support this version of domestic “catch and release”), the shockingly disparate treatment in the coverage of this series of events with the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise by a man who hoped to take out the Republican House leadership. The header that day in the Washington Post was “Lawmaker Steve Scalise is Critically Injured in GOP Baseball Shooting; James T. Hodgkinson is killed by police”. (Contrast that with this header from the same paper: “Trump’s words have nothing to do with the mail bombs? Spare us.”) It’s true that if you read down seven graphs in the front page Scalise article, you would have learned that Hodgkinson was opposed to Trump, or if you had a local version of the paper, you could see in the “Public Safety" section an article reporting that Hodgkinson was a fervent Bernie Sanders supporter. But you could easily miss the connection. 

It seems to me that partisan scoring of points on twisted evidence is not good journalism. Nor does it seem to me that there’s much purchase to be had in blaming the right for violent rhetoric, when the most violent seems to be coming from the left. Numerous examples exist. They echo Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters's call for violence against their opponents.

. . .
The anti-Semitism is coming from the left  . . . "Yet for years it's been obvious the left and its Democrats in office have been the anti-Semite's best friend.

"Just weeks ago, we watched as former President Bill Clinton and other top Democrats sat there side-by-side in the front row with open and notorious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan at Aretha Franklin's funeral. I remember writing at the time:

Seriously, how'd that freak get in there, and why the heck was he seated in the front row, alongside the other so-called leaders of the black "community," such as the just barely past the respectable line Jesse Jackson; Al Sharpton; and America's supposed "first black president"; Bill Clinton?

"Jewish Republicans have pointed out that not only has Farrakhan been prominent himself in the Democratic Party, the party itself is loaded with people closely tied to him. " . . .

Don't forget Hillary Clinton, the Democrats' top leader up until recently, famously called a campaign aide a 'f**king Jew bastard.'  . . . "There's the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who called Jews, 'Hymietown' and worse still, there's the Rev. Al Sharpton, instigator of the anti-Semitic Crown Heights riots and anti-Semitic Freddie's Fashion Mart fire, and another Democrat the top Democrats never fail to bow down to. He's still unrepentant. According to the Daily Caller:" . . .

Thomas Lifson: Media will be thwarted in efforts to swing midterms blaming Trump’s rhetoric for violent attack

Watch Fox News' Chris Wallace butt heads with Shep Smith as Ole Shep blames Trump for the DudBomber.

Liberal Media United: Trump to blame for violence
Supporter of Israel, anti-ISIS President Trump blamed even for shooting by anti-Trump anti-Semite.

. . . "Here’s a sampling of some headlines from the past few days:

From GQ: There Aren’t Two Sides: Trump’s Violent Rhetoric Is What Got Us HereFrom the San Fransisco Gate: Trump Allies Reject Link of Rhetoric to Increased ViolenceFrom the New York Daily News: The tide of hate and the man in the White HouseFrom the Atlantic: Trump’s Caravan Hysteria Led to ThisFrom the New York Daily News: Yelling fire in a heavily armed theater: That’s what Donald Trump has been doing for three years now

 "And it’s not just in print that the leftstream media is piling on Trump." . . .

ENEMY Of WHITE PEOPLE; Posted Anti-Semitic Rants, Ripped Trump

“For the record, I did not vote for him nor have I owned, worn or even touched a MAGA hat,” he once posted on social media, referring to President Trump.

Socio-Political-Journal "The alleged gunman in Saturday’s mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue spewed anti-Semitic posts on a social media platform where he claimed that Jews were "the enemy of white people," according to a report.
"Two hours before Robert Bowers, 46, allegedly burst into the Tree of Life Synagogue and opened fire during a Shabbat service, he posted on the chat site Gab.com about the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the New York Times reported.

"HIAS, a Maryland-based nonprofit, helps refugees around the world and is guided by Jewish values, according to the organization.

"In total, Bowers allegedly killed 11 people and wounded at least six, including four police officers. He was also wounded and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

"A criminal complaint said the 11 dead were eight men and three women, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Authorities did not immediately identify them.

. . . "Since the Bowers account launched on Gab in January, there have been frequent posts on the account about Jews, including conspiracy theories, according to reports by the New York Times and Associated Press.
One post read: “Open your eyes! It’s the filthy EVIL jews Bringing the Filthy EVIL Muslims into the Country!!”
"Another featured a photo of a Nazi concentration camp used to cremate Jews. A caption read “Make Ovens 1488F Again.” The first two words refer to the white supremacist “14 Words” slogan and “88” stands for “Heil Hitler” because “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
"Other posts featured conspiracy theories about the Holocaust, in which six million Jews perished during World War II." . . .

Pretty much just as Farrakhan and the Iranian Mullahs felt. I'm sure this murderer loved the BDS movement. TD