Left-wing political violence casts shadow on race

It was just two months ago in this space that I dismissed the media frenzy over the possibility of a contested Republican convention as “hype designed to sell newspapers and boost television ratings.” Yet all the noise from that period served to divert attention from the growing problem in the Democratic Party.

While Bernie Sanders continues to expose the lack of support for Hillary among the far left of the Democratic Party, Clinton’s email troubles continue to grow. The possibility that her unsecured emails may have revealed the names of undercover intelligence agents as well as sources and methods is a criminal matter.

You may recall during the George W. Bush years the agonizing saga known as the Valerie Plame affair. When Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage revealed former undercover CIA agent Plame’s identity to the media, Democrats charged it was politically motivated by aides in the White House. A special prosecutor was empaneled, and the investigation and grand jury hearings went on for years. In the end, no one was charged for revealing Plame’s identity.

The current Clinton scandal screams out for a special prosecutor to put the law above politics in an election year, but we’re talking about the Barack Obama administration, which is famous for quashing independent investigations and dismissing questions of impropriety as “phony scandals.”

And while Clinton still attempts to navigate the rocky path to the Democratic nomination, the disturbing spectacle of violence directed at Donald Trump supporters continues to rear its ugly head.

Politically motivated violence first appeared at a Trump rally in Chicago in March where far-left extremists succeeded in shutting down the event. More recently in California, mobs outside Trump rallies burned the American flag while waving Mexican flags. One protester carried a sign that read, “This is Mexico.” I can’t think of a better way to build support for Trump’s goal of deporting illegal aliens and building a wall on the border.

Among those left bloodied and battered after the Trump rally was Juan Hernandez, a gay Latino Trump supporter. You’ll find pictures of his broken nose and blood-soaked clothes online. Had he been a Democrat attacked by Trump backers, Obama would have sent the FBI to arrest every rioter and charge them with hate crimes.

But we haven’t heard a peep from Obama as the violence mounts. Remember too that this was the president who lectured the tea party on civility. Last time I checked, the only violence at tea party events was the beating of a black tea party member by Obama’s SEIU labor allies.

Obama famously told his supporters in 2008 that “if they (Republicans) bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” In 2012 he told Hispanics “punish your enemies.” So much for the civility he demands from others.

Some seek to excuse or diminish the responsibility of these left-wing mobs by blaming Trump’s rhetoric. But the trend toward silencing conservative political speech, even with violence, predates Trump. It has spilled from the college campus to the streets.

Not Trump, but Democrats at all levels of government who fail to take action to reign in these mobs will be to blame if this violence escalates.

The history of the 20th century is replete with warnings about what happens when political violence becomes a tool for one side to use against another. Sadly, those lessons aren’t being taught at universities today.

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 12:22 AM with the headline "Left-wing political violence casts shadow on race."