
<p>We really must end the hypocrisy about political violence. If we cannot unite behind a common understanding that political violence of ALL kinds, including violent protests, is an attack on our democracy – and a crime – we do not have a nation. We do not have a common culture. And we do not have a civil society. </p>



<p>We should not nullify laws or stop the wheels of justice based on a claim that the violence is “for a good cause.” </p>



<p>In fact, those who engage in violent protests are harming the causes they purport to be championing.</p>



<p>Of course, we understand that rioters do not give a rat’s ass about the cause. ; They are there to loot and burn out of greed or anger. ; They get perverse pleasure – a pathetic sense of personal power &#8212; by damaging property and toppling statues.</p>



<p>Once they engage in violent and destructive activities or protests&#8230; once they break the law in the name of any cause &#8230; They are no longer demonstrators or protestors. They are low-life criminals.</p>



<p>The arsonists, the looters and the vandals are bad enough. But we also have too many in our society that make excuses for them. There are people who justify the violence as a means to a noble end. We have seen generation upon generation of urban protest that devolved into riots. And those on the left constantly claim justification … sympathy … and undeserved tolerance.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">As we talk about enablers, we should remember&#8230;</h3>



<p>CNN’s <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/06/04/cnns_chris_cuomo_who_says_protests_are_supposed.html">Chris Cuomo saying</a> “Who says protests have to be peaceful.” </p>



<p>Or Congresswoman Maxine Waters commissioning her followers to accost Republicans in public. “To get out and create a crowd and you push back on them and tell them they are not welcome anymore, anywhere.” </p>



<p>Then there is New York Democrat Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley saying that “there needs to be unrest in the streets.” </p>



<p>And even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lamenting, “I just don’t know why there are not uprisings all over the country. Maybe there should be.” These are not the voices of calm and comity.</p>



<p>As a conservative, I am more than a little angered. I am angered at those who turned a <a href="https://punchingbagpost.com/2021/01/white-house-officials-resign-over-capitol-siege/">demonstration on Capitol Hill</a> into a destructive and deadly riot. I hope that they will be identified, prosecuted and incarcerated to the full extent of the law appropriate to the individual crimes they committed.</p>



<p>Those who did NOT engage in violence on Capitol Hill – and came and left peacefully – can claim patriotism. So can the thousands who have peacefully protested over the years for civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, safe borders, honest elections, opposition to wars, Covid-19 lockdowns etc. </p>



<p>We individually may not agree with all the various causes. But to assemble, speak and protest peacefully – respectful of the rights of their fellow citizens &#8212; makes all of them patriots by virtue of their devotion to the Constitution and the rights of others.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">I am personally offended by those who may have pre-planned to carry out violent protests on Capitol Hill. </h3>



<p>They have damaged the conservative cause. They have enabled the enemies of conservative governance to demonize a political movement of limited government and personal freedom that has its roots in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. </p>



<p>And they have aided and abetted those who would transition America into a top-down system ruled by an elitist class. Those committing violence on Capitol Hill are not conservatives – and they are definitely not patriots.</p>



<p>The same is true of those on the left who have been burning, looting and killing in our major cities. The greatest number &#8212; and the most violent and deadly – of civil disruptions have been associated with the quest for civil rights and equal justice. </p>



<p>And like those on Capitol Hill, the reprobates who hijacked peaceful protests to rampage have done as much harm to the legitimate civil rights movement. Just as the skinheads and neo-Nazis have done to patriotic conservatism. </p>



<p>1960s civil rights leader Whitney Young once said that America does not need coalitions of Blacks against coalitions of Whites … liberals against conservatives … Democrats against Republicans – but rather coalitions of good against the coalitions of evil. ; There is no better time to embrace his wise counsel.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Message to Rioters and Looters
