A Washington Post Reporter Becomes Unhinged Over Claims That Democrats Are Using Mob Tactics

Screengrab from https://youtu.be/hlMIyae9-ZU

In the aftermath of the Kavanaugh hearings, where the left tried to use physical threats and intimidation to defeat a Supreme Court nominee, the left has become hypersensitive, in fact, nearly snowflake-like, about the use of the word mob. Yesterday, my colleague Brandon Morse posted on the insistence by the left that they don’t use mobs. Here is a reel of Democrat media figures saying the Democrats don’t use mobs.

SUPERcut of reporters telling people to not use the "mob" word cut with video of the mob. pic.twitter.com/o2tgNZMEv5

— Andrew Kugle (@AndrewJKugle) October 11, 2018

But there are dozens of examples, for instance, these via Daily Wire:

Recent examples of mob violence from the political Left includes:

A Democratic terrorist and Bernie Sanders supporter who tried to mass murder GOP lawmakers at a baseball practice in 2017.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) being attacked at his home by his Democratic neighbor.

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) urging people to harass Trump administration officials.

Far-left groups forcing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen from restaurants while they were eating with their families.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker (NJ) calling for people to “get up in the face” of members of Congress.

Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder saying: “When they go low, we kick them.”

Two-time failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton saying that Democrats “cannot be civil” towards Republicans.

Far-left activists pounding on the doors of the Supreme Court during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing.

So when National Review ran an editorial today called A Party of Stalkers:

An angry crowd at a town hall is protest, even when it is vulgar or unruly. Protest is part of democracy. But stalking and assault are not protest. Arson is not protest. The destruction of property is not protest.

This is terrorism — the attempt to instill in people the fear of physical harm or death in the service of a political agenda. This terrorism has been undertaken with the encouragement of Democratic elected officials and party grandees ranging from Senator Cory Booker to former attorney general Eric Holder. It has been justified and minimized by left-leaning media figures such as Don Lemon.

The Left is in the grip of mass hysteria. Unable to get their way through the ordinary democratic process, the Democrats have resorted to extraordinary tactics, from the smear campaign organized against Brett Kavanaugh to attempting to pound down the doors of the Supreme Court. (We’re betting on the 13-ton bronze door.) They now insist that institutions of American government ranging from the Senate to the Electoral College to the Supreme Court are illegitimate because . . . they’re a little unclear on that part, but they are sure that they are not getting their way, and that’s enough for them.

It’s a temper tantrum, true, but a temper tantrum thrown by antifa thugs is a riot.

A screaming mob cornering someone in an elevator is not ordinary democratic discourse. It is a campaign of intimidation, and it should be recognized as such.

It became just too much for Washington Post congressional correspondent Paul Kane:

This Nat'l Review editorial would have a lot more potency if NR owned up to fact that 2010 right-wing anger/mobs played a role in dehumanizing Congress, helping lead to Giffords shooting in 2011. https://t.co/7Nd37igSEg

— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) October 12, 2018

When Giffords was shot there were extreme efforts made by the media and the Democrats to link the peaceful protest by the Tea Party and a Sarah Palin-produced graphic “targeting” various Democrat districts with a bull’s-eye to the shooting. But the Tea Party/Giffords link has been debunked so frequently and in so many places that it is really hard to believe that someone who covers politics for a living doesn’t know it.

In fact, last year the New York Times issued a correction for an editorial inferring such a link as they sought to make a tu quoque argument after a Bernie Boy tried to slaughter the GOP baseball team.

An editorial on Thursday about the shooting of Representative Steve Scalise incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting of Representative Gabby Giffords. In fact, no such link was established. The editorial also incorrectly described a map distributed by a political action committee before that shooting. It depicted electoral districts, not individual Democratic lawmakers, beneath stylized cross hairs.

Re: Criticism of NRO, suggestion that conservatives played role in inspiring Gabrielle Giffords shooting. Anyone who looked at shooter Loughner, watched his favorite movie 'Zeitgeist,' would be hard-pressed to find any coherent political motive. https://t.co/mzftdmAekI

— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 12, 2018

You still wrongly make it seem ambiguous. In reality, her shooter had no connection at all to Tea Party groups. He had actually volunteered for John Kerry, which likewise had no connection at all to the shooting.

He was severely mentally ill and became obsessed with Giffords.

— David Freddoso (@freddoso) October 12, 2018

And this was called to his attention.

Loughner had no discernible political affiliation or motive. He was obsessed with "lucid dreaming" and angry at Giffords for refusing to answer this question to his satisfaction at a previous rally: "What is government if words have no meaning?"

— John Sexton (@verumserum) October 12, 2018

Shouldn’t a reporter know this fact, rather than internalizing liberal mythology?

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 12, 2018

Here's some good reporting on the topic: https://t.co/Qf976LnEJI

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) October 12, 2018

Finally he issued a begrudging retraction:

Sorry. This tweet incorrectly suggested that the tea party was to blame for Giffords shooting. Police never determined a motive for her shooting. https://t.co/rrzwz4Hrp4

— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) October 12, 2018

This is where they remind you that reporters are neutral:

Let me say for the billionth time: Reporters don't root for a side. Period. https://t.co/dhH8eherOR

— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) October 16, 2016

The fact is that it is obvious that the left is not only using mob tactics, it is also extremely sensitive about being accused on using them. This shows a) they know the charge is true and b) they know it hurts them.

Today, the RNC released this ad, it is called “Unhinged Mob”: