I wish we still lived in a world where politicians making outrageous threats of violence against presidential candidates was a universally accepted violation of social norms, resulting in common shock and condemnation. I wish for a lot of things. But the Republican Party has danced with eliminationist rhetoric for decades now, burning unseen in the corners of talk radio, then blaring out into the open through social media.
Justin Lecea, candidate for TX-20, took to the Twitter a few days ago to call for the lynching of Pete Buttigieg.
Now Mayor Pete is not my first choice for the Democratic Primary. He’s not even my second. But the significance of Buttigieg being the first openly gay candidate for President on a major party ticket is not lost on me. This
means a lot to older LBGTQ Americans,
whether or not they support him. And everyone should acquaint themselves with
the history of violence against gay men in this country.
But a Republican threatening to lynch the first openly gay candidate for president is regrettably not shocking. There is an unending list of diaries here based on why shocking things republicans say. What may be shocking is that Justin Lecea is not a Republican. He’s a Democrat running to unseat Rep. Joaquin Castro in TX-20.
And this isn’t this first controversial remark he’s made. Just a few days prior, he wished malignant cancer on President Obama, as vengeance upon Obama for... passing Obamacare. No, it doesn’t make any sense to me either. That remark not only earned a diary here, but it even made the local news.
As was stated previously, there is another candidate running for the Democratic nomination in TX-20: incumbent Rep. Joaquin Castro. He has a pretty good progressive score (better than half the Democratic caucus).
I love to quote Charles Pierce, and I shall do so again. The Democrats are the party of Sanity. No it is not enough. But with all the structural disadvantages they must also face, they shouldn’t squander it.