Bryan Sanders’s friend donned a Ku Klux Klan hat before both of them were ejected from a Donald Trump rally in Arizona, with Sanders getting a beating from an angry African-American Trump supporter on the way out. Sanders explained his actions by saying he was “protesting Trump’s fascism, his racism, his lies, his women-hating.” Just before the rally, leftwing protesters blocked the road leading to the rally to prevent anyone from hearing Trump speak. Ten days earlier, a coalition of leftwing groups and free-lance leftists managed to shut down a Trump rally in Chicago. Some were carrying signs characterizing Trump as Hitler, others shouted “Bernie! Bernie!”—showing support for extreme leftist candidate Bernie Sanders (no relation to Bryan).
Only leftists would miss the irony in their actions: preventing people from hearing someone else speak because you disagree with that person’s views is more fascistic than anything Donald Trump has ever said. It’s the kind of thinking George Orwell warned us about: 2 + 2 = 5 if the state says that 2 + 2 = 5. Therefore, preventing others from attending a speech is not fascistic, if doing so promotes the leftwing cause.
The left is big on protests, demonstrations, boycotts, blockades, sit-ins, etc. They are not big on the democratic process, i.e., voting, unless their candidate wins. That’s another sign of the left’s totalitarian tendencies.
Before the 20th century, protests and demonstrations were what people resorted to when the democratic process was not available. In Europe in 1848, revolutions and protests for more liberal and nationalistic policies sprung up all over the map—Paris, Rome, Vienna, Budapest—but were noticeably absent in two big countries: Russia and England. The protesters’ demands generally were for greater freedom and more participation in government. With the outdated monarchies and aristocratic systems of the time, ordinary people found no way to air their grievances other than protests that often turned into riots. Imperial Russia, however, did not have any large demonstrations because the powerful state apparatus snuffed out any such activities before they could blossom. In England, by contrast, large protests never took place because voting, and the chance of having one’s views represented in Parliament, served as a way to vent off the public’s grievances.
Not so today. In the US, and in many other Western countries, all the democratic institutions in the world are not enough for the left. Free to vote for whomever they please, free to file petitions or lawsuits, with complete control over the mainstream media, the left still resort to protests or demonstrations whenever the majority of American people disagree with them. It is their way or the highway. When some Americans found the concept of “gay marriage” illogical, the left swung into action, boycotting businesses (Chick- fil-A), destroying careers (Craig James, Brendan Eich, et al), threatening to boycott states (Indiana). Don’t want illegal aliens swarming into your country? Think again. Donald Trump gets the full force of the left’s hatred for the simple reason he wants to stop and reverse the invasion from south of the border.
And then along with threats, demonstrations, and violence, the left follow up with what George Orwell called Newspeak, the officially-sanctioned vocabulary, what we usually call political correctness. If you disagree with the left on any topic, you are a fascist or a racist. Do you think marriage is between one man and one woman? You are a fascist. You don’t want millions of illegal aliens pouring over the border? You are a fascist and a racist. Et cetera.
An example of Newspeak was the BBC’s coverage of the left’s attacks at Donald Trump events. Instead of calling them what they were, the BBC referred to the “Violence at Donald Trump rallies,” as though Trump supporters were running amok, rampaging through the streets, beating up innocent bystanders. Missing from the BBC report was the crucial element about leftists creating the havoc, except to say that Trump blamed Bernie Sanders supporters. By contrast, I’m pretty sure the BBC would not use the expression “Violence at Sanders Rallies” and suggest that old Bernie was promoting violence, if Trump supporters were to show up at Sanders’s rallies trying to rush the stage, provoking the crowd by carrying signs depicting Bernie as Hitler, and possibly hitting the old socialist with a tomato. 2 + 2 = 5. The left are hypocrites.
There will always be people like Bryan Sanders and Bernie Sanders around, and a leftwing media to sing their praises. On March 21, leftwing protesters showed up in front of the Pro-Israel AIPAC event to protest Trump’s appearance there. Of all things, the left compared Trump to Hitler because he is a staunch supporter of Israel!
Fortunately, the American people are beginning to wise up to the left’s tactics, just as the Soviet people did. A large part of Donald Trump’s support exists, arguably, because he doesn’t accept political correctness and he pushes back at the left. That’s also part of the reason the left hates him, and the more he succeeds the more they are likely to resort to fascist tactics.