Thoughts after reading comments from Joe Walsh and Dan Patrick on the tragic death of five police officers in Dallas this week:
Seems to me the same people who feel that peaceful Black Lives Matter protests (a right granted in the US Constitution) are somehow indirectly responsible for the death of police officers (and not the acts of violence committed against black victims that spurred said protests)…are the same people who support open carry of firearms at tea party rallies where at least a significant percentage (if we judge based on poorly-worded placards) threaten violence against the government (including directly the POTUS). The same who people who spit out hate speech 24/7 on radio, TV and online about Muslims, gays, blacks, immigrants, and even liberals. The same people who say our current president is secretly a Muslim and somehow is supporting terrorists to attack US citizens. The same people who claim immigrants in our country (who commit less crime than the average citizen) are “criminals and rapists”.
The same NRA members who feel that their right to have deadly weapons is historically rooted in not just self-defense but as a check against tyrannical rule of government (i.e., that if our government is unjust they have the ability to take up arms against said government), have been suspiciously silent as officers of the government kill innocent civilians during routine traffic stops and misdemeanor arrests…but support armed standoffs/conflict with the federal government over land rights. In fact supporting criminals who “steal” federal land that belongs to all of us.
There is no consistent logic or ideology at work here…other than bigotry. There are a select few in the GOP (and many Libertarians) who do demonstrate consistent ideals and apply them equally, but they are too often either outnumbered or shouted down by the “base”. I frequent these types of thoughtful right-leaning sites (e.g., Redstate) and while I may not agree with the opinions, I am encouraged by those that are trying to fight the ignorance on both sides of the political spectrum. At the same time, I am depressed at how under-represented they are in the national media.
UPDATE: On multiple video-taped occasions at Trump rallies, one can hear things such as “lock her up!” and “kill her!” in reference to Hillary Clinton (a political opponent). Where are the voices on the right denouncing this disturbing and inflammatory language?