How do you find common ground with someone who wants you dead?
Well, we could ask Israel. They may not have a good answer; the Israelis are surrounded by people who want them dead, and decades of attempts to arrive at some kind of understanding have failed. The only option that seems open to Israel now is an altered version of the old Bible verse: "Do unto others before they can do unto you." That's a horrible place to find yourself in.
So, as you might imagine, when I came across a piece at The Federalist by writer Hayden Daniel describing this kind of thing, it made my ears perk up.
This week, America witnessed, in graphic detail, two horrendous crimes. This week, we received a very clear illustration that no one is safe from leftist violence, from a national figure like Charlie Kirk to an innocent woman on a North Carolina train.
After the propaganda press nearly succeeded in ignoring the story altogether, America watched the video of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska being stabbed on a Charlotte, N.C. light rail train. The harrowing footage captures her shock and disbelief as she bleeds out on the floor while her killer casually walks away, allegedly muttering, “I got the white girl.” No one in her immediate vicinity lifted a finger to help her as she died.
It was days before the story of Iryna Zarutska drew much attention from the legacy media. Charlie Kirk, thanks to his fame, his tireless effort, and the ire he drew from the left, drew far more and faster media attention, and not all of it was sympathetic to a young husband and father of two who was assassinated while... talking to someone.
Our cities are descending into madness. Iryna Zarutska fled Ukraine to where she thought she would be safe: The United States. She was murdered by a crazed psycho who had been arrested no less than 14 times, who should never have been on the street. She did nothing to provoke any hostility; she was a girl, still in her pizza-joint work uniform, who just wanted to go home. She was failed by the City of Charlotte and by the legal system, arms of a government that exists to protect the liberty and property of the people. People like her.
Now, in the District of Columbia, President Trump has given us a brilliant lesson in how it doesn't have to be this way. He sent in federal agents and the National Guard. Over a thousand arrests, hundreds of illegal guns seized, who knows how many drugs taken off the streets; the nation's capital is now peaceful enough for the regular folks to walk the streets again. And, yes, that's how bad things have gotten, when that bare minimum - being able to safely walk the streets - is seen as a huge improvement. Yes, President Trump showed us how to make our cities safe: Locking up goblins. But the left won't have it. It works; it's been proven to work, but leftist mayors and city councils in other blue cities vow to refuse to cooperate or attempt any such cleanups themselves.
It's almost as though they want it this way.
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And we, on the right, for the most part, react with words. We attempt to engage, to arrive at an understanding.
Remember the summer of 2020? The left reacted to the death of George Floyd - a career criminal - with riots, with lootings, with arson, with property damage in the billions, small business owners ruined, and several people dead. And now, just within the last week, many on the left reacted to Charlie Kirk's assassination with visceral hatred, with unconscionable bile and anger.
How did the right react to the assassination of Charlie Kirk? With prayer vigils. There's nothing wrong with prayer vigils, of course. Just the opposite, they help people come to terms with a horrible act that most of us couldn't even imagine.
But the center is giving way. There are signs that our differences may well become battle lines.
Hayden Daniel writes:
When they say, “This is a new Democratic Party. We’re bringing a knife to a knife fight,” believe them. Do not forget that they push rhetoric that gets public officials shot and enact policies that get innocent people butchered in the streets.
Also do not forget that leftists aren’t content with targeting big names like Kirk and Trump. They’re targeting law-abiding, decent Americans every day — whether through raw state power like we saw under the Biden administration or through the anarcho-tyrannical policies of America’s big cities.
Things are falling apart; the very fabric of society is coming undone. People have had a vague sense that this was so for years, maybe decades. Every year, cities became a little less safe; political rhetoric became a little more violent.
But now it’s undeniable. There is no consensus to be reached with people who actively wish for our deaths and then gloat when some crazed lunatic tries to fulfill that wish. Either the left wins, or we win. The center can no longer hold.
He's right. Day by day, things seem to be slipping away. But it may not be too late. Since Charlie's death, applications for new Turning Point USA branches have skyrocketed. The younger generation, especially young men, is moving to the right. The left seems to be losing ground.
But a beast, we might remember, is most dangerous when it's wounded. As we proceed through this crazy, shifting, socio-political landscape, we must hope for the best - and prepare for the worst.
