On the old Saturday Night Live, Ruth Buzzi would play a visiting news commentator expressing an opinion that was totally wrong. When the anchor character would correct her misunderstanding, she would simply say, “Never mind.”
We are seeing a lot of that lately on the left-wing news – except they do not say “never mind.” They simply drop the subject – or even worse, they continue to express the debunked opinion. We saw that big time with the phony Russian conspiracy theory nonsense.
One of the oncoming examples is the reporting and opining about the dangers of Republican activists rising in mobs of violence – hellbent on insurrection and an ongoing coup attempt.
We first must understand that the initial insurrection narrative that permeates the anti-trump, anti-Republican news agencies is already a gross inflation of the actual riot. But at least that had a semblance of reality.
What followed was a constant warning that those on the right were poised for a violent uprising at the least provocation – or at the command of President Trump. And on each occasion, nothing of significance happened.
You will recall on the first anniversary of the Capitol Hill riot, it was predicted by the media that thousands of rabid Republican insurrectionists would descend on the Capitol to take over the Hill. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spent millions of taxpayer dollars to erect fencing and called in the National Guard – leaving the question of why she did not respond appropriately to the warnings on January 6, 2021.
Approximately 200 Trump supporters arrived with permits in hand to hear a few speakers. After a couple of hours, they dispersed without incident. Did Pelosi overreact, or was the show of force designed to give credence to the Democrat false narrative of pending doom?
It was also predicted that, on the same day, thousands of Trump folks would rise up in the cities in violent protest. The warnings were part of the left-wing news for days ahead of the anniversary. Apparently, a few people showed up in a few locations to peacefully protest. Those few “mobs” rarely numbered more than 20 people.
In checking the various news outlets the next day, no one said “never mind.” In fact, the fearmongering narrative of latent violent protests continued as if the past had no meaning. There was predicted violence associated with the trials of the Proud Boys. Again nothing.
For months, we have been warned of violence if Trump was indicted. The more extreme left-wing commentators even predicted civil unrest exceeding the Capitol Hill riot.
Despite the lack of evidence – none of the “chatter” that would be necessary to organize a major protest and the lack of any travel plans to New York City – the city, state, and federal governments made elaborate and expensive protective arrangements — $200 million worth. As a defense, they constructed the Great Wall of China to protect against a possible panda attack.
Of course, nothing happened – and as I have predicted in the past, nothing was going to happen. There is no insurrectionist movement. No coup plotters.
As a backup, the left reports a lot about threats against public officials. They currently focus on the Manhattan District Attorney and the judge in the Trump case. There are two things to keep in mind. Reporting death threats increases them. I learned that when I did public relations for the Sears Tower. As the world’s tallest building at the time, we got bomb threats on a regular basis. We never announced them because we would get more of them – and we did not evacuate the building because we would be doing that every other day.
Virtually all major public figures get threats. You can bet that Trump gets them … President Biden gets them …senators get them … governors get them. Public officials on all sides get them. Even judges get them. The overwhelming majority of threats are never acted upon – or even intended to be acted upon. That is how some folks vent anger – inappropriate as it may be.
I have no doubt that officials like DA Alvin Braggs get a spike in threats when they are the subject of increased and controversial news coverage. Law enforcement is trained in determining serious threats and idle threats – and they are very effective in dealing with both. On rare occasions, threats result in arrests – as in the case of the attempt to kidnap the Michigan governor.
The left-wing news platforms contribute to the problem by reporting more on threats to progressive figures — and elevating criticism to threats for political purposes. Pointing out Braggs’s previous statements against Trump or the deep Democrat ties of the judge and his family are NOT threats. In a case in which I was involved, I recall being criticized for publicly accusing a Chicago judge of anti-Asian bias. He was eventually sanctioned for … anti-Asian bias.
Thousands of folks turned out on the day of Trump’s indictment. They were not violent – although some on the left harassed FOX News crews. But even that was minor. Those who took to the streets could be described as two groups – those waving Trump flags in Florida as he departed Mar-a-Lago and a lot of folks in New York that seemed more curious than partisan. There were no clashes – no violence. None. Pretty remarkable in view of the pre-indictment predictions.
I do not see any of the violence that the anti-Trump media predicts – and even provokes. Having lived through the 1960s Days of Rage when real terrorists were running amok – when a President, a senator, and a civil rights leader were assassinated … a presidential candidate was wounded and permanently crippled … a Pope was shot … students were killed on campuses by bullets and bombs … and major portions of cities went up in flames – I can see the difference between real violence and fearmongering about violence for political purposes.
Methinks it is time for Democrats and the left-wing media to put a “never mind” to their narrative about right-wing violence and the fantastical ongoing coup attempt.
So, there ‘tis.