In case you missed it, a man by the name of James T. Hodgkinson has been identified as the shooter in this morning's attack on majority whip Steve Scalise (R-LA). Already much has been discussed about the fact that he was a huge Bernie supporter who wrote tweets such as the one shown above.
Let’s make this perfectly clear, right here, and right now: James T. Hodgkinson did not speak for every Bernie supporter, the overwhelming majority of whom are peaceful people.
If you look at my posting history, that statement is coming from someone who has made some fierce criticisms of Bernie Sanders and some of the things his supporters have said. But there is a world of difference between opposing leaders or causes politically or nonviolently, vs. doing so with violence. The former is just good ol’ democracy; the latter is descending to a depth that should not be approached.
There are two caveats we need to discuss, however.
1. Hodgkinson was a white male. If you don’t think that doesn’t affect the national conversation, then frankly you haven’t been paying attention to it. You can rest assured that had he been a brown-skinned man with an Arab-sounding name, the popular conversation would be very, very different.
2. The best of causes can go horribly wrong if someone tries to take them there. The descent of the French Revolution into the Reign of Terror was a classic example of this happening on a large scale. The October Revolution in Russia was, too. Did the commonfolk have the right to say enough was enough with the rich elites continuing to put their thumb on them? Of course. But somewhere along the way they forgot that two wrongs don’t make a right. Violence is not the answer to violence. The French forgot that in the late 1700s, the Russians forgot that a century ago, and Hodgkinson forgot that in 2017 (maybe earlier as well).
So remember, fellow progressives, keep up the opposition to SCROTUS, but keep it nonviolent. Violence is not the answer. Besides, the last thing we want to do is provide him with some sort of Reichstag Fire.