Terrorism, either by self-styled militias or government authority, is not new to the United States. Notwithstanding efforts by the Ku Klux Klan, at the turn of the century, to paint their cause as American first patriotism, with movies like Birth of a Nation and marching down Broadway in New York and Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C., they were and are a terrorist organization by any definition. White men came to America and terrorized the Natives into eventual submission and near extinction. Despite all the quaint Thanksgiving stories of Pilgrims passing out (smallpox-infected) blankets in exchange for maize with the native Americans, genocide was just around the corner.
The GOP is apoplectic about the neighbors of Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh waving signs of displeasure in front of his home and other women and men—who value freedom peacefully protesting in front of the house of Samuel Alito. No violence, no guns, and no threats to life or property. Conversely, waving flags, G.I. Joe cosplay weekends and supporting army surplus websites by Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, or Storm Front does not remove the stench of terrorism. “You can put lipstick on a pig,’ as one famous Democrat said, ‘but it’s still a pig.”’
The party that says Democrats would not blanketly label all Muslims as terrorists by defaming the religion as [Islamic Terrorism] steadfastly holds to the fantasy that the rioters who attacked officers with bear spray and beat them with hockey sticks and Blue Lives’ Matter flag poles were peaceful. Clearly, some were caught off guard by the violence and wanted no part in beating officers. The same can be said for the peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters, but the right-wing paints them all as violent mobs—with little room for nuance. The difference harkens back to the days of my youth when white kids were described as—protesters and black kids were rioters.
Senator Ted Cruz described those who have chosen to exercise their Constitutional right to peaceful redress of grievance as “goons” engaging in “mob violence.” Senator Lindsey Graham continued the hypocritical absurdity when he said, “Will Biden tell them to leave the judges alone at home?”Graham added. “Do what Trump did. Tell them to leave. He knew to tell them to leave.”
Saturday evening, December 5, 2020, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson decorated her Christmas tree with friends and sat down to watch the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” (my choice would have been the original Miracle on 34th Street) with her four-year-old son. The hoped-for silent night was interrupted by gun-toting protesters upset that she certified the legitimate election of Joe Biden as the forty-sixth President of the United States. Undoubtedly, she comforted her young son while screaming extremists threatened her with taunts and chants. “We are letting her know that we’re not taking this (expletive) election, we are not standing down, we are not giving up; you are not going to take this election from a man that has earned it completely 100% by a freaking landslide,”Genevieve Peters, who posted the live video, said. Visibly agitated, she continued. “Let me tell you: This ain’t over.”
A month later, almost to the day, terrorists overran the Capitol. Ted, Lindsey, Marjorie, and whatever Republican will listen, marching and standing with signs is legal; threatening to hang the Vice President, attacking the police, and violently subverting democracy is terrorism.
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