If you are appalled by the terrible scene January 6th at our nation’s Capitol - join the club - there’s a lot of us. In fact I’d say the majority of Americans are in agreement.
But once again, something that could have united sensible citizens was, instead, a catalyst towards division. The thing is we are not divided because we have different politics; this has been the case since the first shot fired at Lexington. We are divided because we treat people differently depending on their politics. And January 6th made it clear that some of us - many of us - live with two sets of standards.
Things the Left has overlooked
If you lamented the desecration of our Capitol when Congress was moved to a bunker, after defending the desecration of our capital when the President was moved to a bunker --- you might have a double standard.
If you blame Trump’s rhetoric for the blood shed, but turned a deaf ear for years as Democrats ramped up their rhetoric:
[Watch videos of the quotes by the above Democrats here: Rep. Waters, Rep. Pressley, Rep. Pelosi, then Sen. Harris]
Like when Bernie Sanders said for years that Republicans were killing old people, then a Bernie Sanders supporter shot at a baseball field full of Republicans.
Or when AOC compared border facilities to concentration camps, then ANTIFA started attacking ICE facilities.
Or when Obama kept implying that cops are racists, then a black man went and shot 14 police officers (killing 5).
If you are disgusted by Republicans who objected to the electoral college certification of six states, but had no qualms when Democrats objected in 2017 to nine states, (or when they objected in 2005 and 2011)...
If you think said Republicans should be held responsible for the heinous violence at the Capitol after you voted for a politician who supported bailing out rioters and another who proclaimed, “ANTIFA is not an organization, it’s an idea!” while that idea was setting American cities on fire --- you may live in la la land.
[Page with info on how to join the local "idea", found at https://antifainternational.tumblr.com]
If you are seething right now because I still don’t get it - and there is no comparison of the lawlessness on January 6th to the lawlessness of 2020 --- I thank you for proving my point.
If you worried that Trump supporters would ruin Biden’s inauguration day with violence, but couldn't care less about the violence Clinton supporters created on Trump’s inauguration day...
If you're infuriated by scenes of MAGA supporters rushing the Capitol in January 2021, but scrolled by scenes of anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators who “stormed onto the front of the Capitol” and descended on senate office buildings in October 2018...
[Image found at https://www.endbigtechtyranny.com/]
Or if you gabbed in social circles about the zip ties and brass knuckles found on the mob at the Capitol, but said nothing of the fireworks launched at dining Trump supports three weeks earlier --- your moral compass may be a little off course.
If you were shocked to see those morons wander the Capitol unscathed, but gave your silent sympathies to the morons who “took over” a 6-block span of Seattle (including a police station) for 3 weeks, enabled by local government and celebrated by the media...
If you laughed at people being tear-gassed for rushing the Capitol, but cried “racism” when people were tear-gassed for throwing bottles and bricks at police…
[Comment thread on public Facebook page regarding the Capitol riots.]
Or if you understand not all BLM protesters are violent and destructive, then lumped the thousands of MAGA protesters on January 6th (who left zero buildings burned and zero businesses looted) in with the few hundred idiots who mobbed the Capitol --- my friend that is the definition of a double standard.
If you preach that silence is complicity, yet are conveniently silent as black conservatives are harassed and maligned as Uncle Toms, coons, nappy ass hoes, and white supremacists ---
my dear you're not anti-racist, you're anti-speech-you-don’t-like. (It's different.)
If you mock those uncertain of an election riddled with last minute law changes, boarded up windows, and other inconsistencies, yet clung for three years to a collusion conspiracy based on fake intel...
If you lectured your friends that human life is more important than brick and mortar, then turned a blind eye while human lives were - beat - to - a - pulp - defending the brick and mortar that was their life's work...
If you couldn’t mention Trump supporters without disdain after January 6th, then ho-hummed as this unprovoked pepper spray attack on Trump supporters January 9th went unnoticed...
Or if you propped up the incredibly senseless death of the Capitol police officer, after ignoring the 12 police officers shot during the 2020 riots --- you're not exactly consistent in your convictions.
If you throw out the name 'Kyle Rittenhouse' ad nauseum to decry Trump supporters, but don’t know the name of the BLM protester the who pulled the fatal trigger in this video, or the one who yelled:
“We got a Trumper right here!”
That’s not a double standard - but you’re definitely struggling to connect the dots.
If you advocated to “defund the police” - then shrilled when Capitol police didn’t do their job because they were grossly understaffed --- well,
If you still support Black Lives Matter, after almost $2 billion in damage and 19 lives lost, but join the chorus of “journalists” calling for the “reeducation”, "deprogramming", and “cleansing” of 74 million Trump voters --- you not only have a double standard, you have zero understanding of history.
And if you gushed over Biden’s call for unity, but like the people in this video, call Republicans “disgusting” and have no desire to compromise...
or you agree with the New York Times contributor below:
[Image found at www.200proofliberals.blogspot.com]
Well ---
Condemn them one - condemn them all
If you’re upset by what you saw January 6th - be upset, demand justice - I’m right there with you. But if you are appalled by violence, then be appalled by ALL violence.
A country is a country because its citizens agree to follow the established laws and procedures. That's how a nation has order, that’s the standard.
We cannot live with two different sets of standards. We cannot condemn one act of lawlessness - then turn around and condone another.
Amid our division the least we an do - the least - is agree that the sacred right to peacefully protest ends as soon as the first law is broken:
the first step onto prohibited property,
the first window busted,
the first punch thrown.
It should not matter how much you support or detest the cause, riots are riots and violence is violence.
Lawlessness is lawlessness.
Condemn them one - condemn them all. Otherwise what do we have left?
What you can do
Two great rules of thumb when it comes to politics:
1) Always ask yourself, if the shoe was on the other foot, if the roles were reversed, the (D) an (R), the red hat a black helmet, the skin color a different shade….WOULD I REACT THE SAME WAY?
It’s a difficult conversation I’ve had with myself; if the other political party did this, would I feel the same?
If the answer is 'no', it's time for some self-reflection.
2) Play this game: As an informed citizen (and mature adult), we should be able to adequately articulate opinions different from our own…without degrading the other side. Try it. Think of a hot button issue and explain the view point of the opposite side.
Seriously, try it. Right now.
If you support Black Lives Matter, explain why some people don’t (and you can’t use the word “racists”). If you disagree with abortion, explain why some people support it (and you can’t use the term “baby killer”).
If you cannot explain an opposing perspective without the swear words or cynicism, why?
And if you honestly don’t know why someone would think that way --- do some research. Not to change your mind, but to better understand your fellow countrymen. So we can stop looking at each other as a walking set of political ideals, and get back to looking at each other as human beings.
