Violence Isn’t the Answer…And It Never Was

My heart goes out to the families in Minnesota affected by the recent wave of political violence. The grief, confusion, and heartbreak they must feel are unimaginable. But as I watched MSNBC, I found myself disturbed by more than just the facts of the crimes. Jen Psaki explained to her colleagues that while we might not want to be a society that tolerates political violence, we have to accept that we are one. Her examples included the heinous murders in Minnesota, the “violent takedown” of Senator Alex Padilla, and the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles.

But what she didn’t say spoke volumes.

There was no mention of the attempted assassination of a sitting Supreme Court Justice. No reference to the attempt on the life of a former president and then presidential candidate. Nothing about the wave of property destruction, cars keyed with ideological messages, officers pelted with projectiles, or Molotov cocktails thrown at Jews and police officers alike.

This is the problem. When we excuse violence that fits our politics and condemn only the violence that doesn’t, we give violence a permission slip. We label riots “mostly peaceful.” We justify lawlessness because it's “just a four-block zone.” We compare political opponents to Nazis and fascists and then act surprised when someone takes matters into their own hands. Ask yourself: if someone truly believed their neighbor was the next Hitler, what wouldn’t they do to stop him?

This is the seed we’ve planted. And it’s growing.

There is a crucial difference between being wrong and being evil. Between being right and being good. We’ve blurred that distinction so badly that we can no longer see the forest for the firebombs.

Take Senator Padilla’s dramatic appearance at the Los Angeles press conference. Whether you believe it was spontaneous or staged, the facts are clear: he was not clearly identified, approached with disruption, and was detained by the Secret Service. That’s not political oppression…that’s basic security protocol. Let’s play this out differently.

If I walked into my child’s school on PTA business and, by coincidence, the Governor of Minnesota was giving a town hall in the same building, would I be allowed to storm the stage and shout questions at him? Would my claim that I’m “one of his constituents” protect me? Of course not. I’d be escorted out…and rightly so.

But here’s the twist: Padilla wasn’t randomly in the building. He dropped out of the Congressional Baseball Game the night before to fly across the country for this moment. That’s not a coincidence. That’s choreography. And political theater is fine…if we’re honest about it. But don’t insult the intelligence of the American people by pretending it was anything else.

As for the murderer in Minnesota…he’s a lunatic. A monster. But he doesn’t represent all conservatives any more than the anarchists lighting fires in Los Angeles represent all liberals. The problem isn’t left or right. The problem is the permissiveness. The justification. The silence from our so-called leaders.

We need to stop making excuses for violence…ours or anyone else’s. We need to call things what they are. Stop the theatrics and get back to the table of ideas. If we can’t debate without demonizing, we’re no better than the mobs we claim to oppose.

Let’s raise the standard. Let’s stop playing to the fringe. Let’s reject violence, no matter where it comes from…and start acting like the free people we claim to be.