On October 18th, 2018 Sean Hannity, while introducing Rush Limbaugh declared that “Democrats and the destroy-Trump media” were “cheerleading for dangerous mob-like behavior.” Over the course of the hour-long segment Rush and Hannity agreed that Democrats and the mainstream news organizations were part of a plot to destroy America that would likely end in violence. Less than a week later, bombs began showing up addressed to Democratic politicians and mainstream media figures.
The "Fair and Balanced" news network was not shamed into apologizing for Rush and Hannity's shockingly irresponsible yellow journalism (what are you, new here?) On the contrary, Fox News instantly doubled down, presenting a breathtakingly unified message. Not only are these victims of terrorism responsible, due to their uncivil rhetoric, for these attacks against them, but the anti-American statements made by these nefarious malefactors - again, we’re talking about the people who received the bombs, not the people who sent them or the people who are cheering them on; please try to keep up - constitute a legitimate causus belli. If the Democrats, CNN, and the rest of the Trump-hating left don’t stop criticizing the President, who can blame the fed-up everyman who might be moved to send a few mail bombs to reporters, shoot down a couple Democrats in the street, or ram his car into a crowd of hippies?
Fox News just declared war on the Democratic party, the news media, and ANYONE who is standing up to the administration. This is not a drill. It is not a metaphor. Have you retweeeted a message that used the #RESIST hashtag? Liked an anti-Trump Facebook page? Checked in at a Democratic party event? You are now a legitimate target for right-wing violence. So says the President and one of the country’s largest media conglomerates, using obviously coordinated language and imagery.
One perfectly rational response to these attacks is fear, but we must not allow ourselves to be cowed by fear, for that is what these terrorists want. Fortunately for us, many in our country are used to this fear. Their bodies have been on the line for years. It is white people, who have operated too long in a mistaken belief that our whiteness would protect us from white supremacist violence (a fantasy that somehow survived Oklahoma City and a host of other "colorblind" right-wing terror attacks), who must now find within us the reserves of bravery required to truly join the struggle.
No, we don’t get to lash out in retaliatory violence just because we may finally bear the sting of white supremacist rage the way our black and brown brothers and sisters have borne it for hundreds of years. We cannot fight back with violence because we cannot win with violence. They have the knives, the bombs, the tanks, the guns. We only have our voices, our bodies, and our votes. It’s not much, but these are the tools of the resistance and they have always been enough to carry on.
We must march forward, together in peace and solidarity, toward what future may come. The rest is out of our hands.
See you on November 6th.
The "Fair and Balanced" news network was not shamed into apologizing for Rush and Hannity's shockingly irresponsible yellow journalism (what are you, new here?) On the contrary, Fox News instantly doubled down, presenting a breathtakingly unified message. Not only are these victims of terrorism responsible, due to their uncivil rhetoric, for these attacks against them, but the anti-American statements made by these nefarious malefactors - again, we’re talking about the people who received the bombs, not the people who sent them or the people who are cheering them on; please try to keep up - constitute a legitimate causus belli. If the Democrats, CNN, and the rest of the Trump-hating left don’t stop criticizing the President, who can blame the fed-up everyman who might be moved to send a few mail bombs to reporters, shoot down a couple Democrats in the street, or ram his car into a crowd of hippies?
Fox News just declared war on the Democratic party, the news media, and ANYONE who is standing up to the administration. This is not a drill. It is not a metaphor. Have you retweeeted a message that used the #RESIST hashtag? Liked an anti-Trump Facebook page? Checked in at a Democratic party event? You are now a legitimate target for right-wing violence. So says the President and one of the country’s largest media conglomerates, using obviously coordinated language and imagery.
One perfectly rational response to these attacks is fear, but we must not allow ourselves to be cowed by fear, for that is what these terrorists want. Fortunately for us, many in our country are used to this fear. Their bodies have been on the line for years. It is white people, who have operated too long in a mistaken belief that our whiteness would protect us from white supremacist violence (a fantasy that somehow survived Oklahoma City and a host of other "colorblind" right-wing terror attacks), who must now find within us the reserves of bravery required to truly join the struggle.
No, we don’t get to lash out in retaliatory violence just because we may finally bear the sting of white supremacist rage the way our black and brown brothers and sisters have borne it for hundreds of years. We cannot fight back with violence because we cannot win with violence. They have the knives, the bombs, the tanks, the guns. We only have our voices, our bodies, and our votes. It’s not much, but these are the tools of the resistance and they have always been enough to carry on.
We must march forward, together in peace and solidarity, toward what future may come. The rest is out of our hands.
See you on November 6th.
