Trump Rally Triggers the Republican ParsonsNever Trumpers pander to the Left’s totalitarian rules for speech.
July 22, 2019
Bruce Thornton Bruce Thornton is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.Immediately following last week’s “go home’ presidential tweet, a chant erupted at a Trump rally in North Carolina that suggested, “Send her back,†referring of course to Rep. Ilhan Omar. Trump himself a day later sort of walked back the chant, supposedly under pressure from the Party establishment and his wife and daughter. Would that instead he had used the opportunity for a lesson in the First Amendment, which protects both the chanters and Omar’s vile anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, which are much more dangerous and consequential than a hyperbolic chant typical of such rallies events.
There’s no need to dwell on the hysterical response of the left. After three years of question-begging epithets like “racist,†such reactions have become political white noise for all but the cult faithful. It’s the Republican NeverTrumpers who need, once again, to be exposed for their virtue-signaling dudgeon that is music to the Dems’ ears. A catalogue of tweets put together by the Intelligencer provides some examples.
Most of the twitter responses typically come from a belief that transient words that do not lead to actions have some occult power to determine future behavior. Yet many commentators use hyperbolic epithets that, given the long history of much nastier political speech in America, drain the words of any specific meaning. If Ben Shapiro is going to call the chant “vile†and “disgusting,†then what does he call Omar’s anti-Semitic slurs? “Vile double-plus� It’s the same indiscriminate use of words that has made “racism†into the go-to slur for the left, having been emptied of any precision and accuracy, and now nothing other than a bundle of nasty connotations suitable for any occasion.
Ditto for Guy Benson, who tweeted, “I am sickened by the hate-laced ‘send her back’ chants. Shame on every person who participated.†Again, what language will Guy use about Omar’s “sickening†and “hate-laced†rhetoric? Whose speech is more consequential: ordinary, anonymous citizens at a political pep rally, whose chant cannot and will not be carried out, or a Congresswoman who is currently setting the agenda for the Democrat Party, which if returned to power will implement policies putting Israel at risk and further legitimizing anti-Semitism? That would truly be shameful for this country.
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https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274389/trump-rally-triggers-republican-parsons-bruce-thornton
