Opinion

One Week Later, Expect More Charlottesvilles

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/

Scott Greer Contributor
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President Donald Trump ended a rough week with a couple of tweets that were awfully hopeful.

In response to large-scale protests in Boston against an alleged “white supremacist” rally, the president showed his support for the demonstrators and hoped it would help the country heal. (RELATED: Boston Free Speech Rally Falsely Branded As ‘White Supremacist’)

“Our great country has been divided for decades. Sometimes you need protest in order to heal, & we will heal, & be stronger than ever before!” Trump said in his first tweet.

“I want to applaud the many protestors in Boston who are speaking out against bigotry and hate. Our country will soon come together as one!” he said in the tweet sent shortly after the first.

While both messages were positive and aligned with the positions of Trump’s many detractors, pretty much nobody bought them. The first tweet was roundly mocked for misspelling “heal” in its first iteration. The second only made Trump’s supporters scratch their heads because he apparently believed there was a white supremacist rally in Boston.

The event Antifa protested was actually hosted by Trump supporters. Its organizers openly denounced racism, and it boasted a multiracial group of speakers.

Maybe the most bizarre aspect of Trump’s tweets was that he was praising people who were protesting him. Many of the Boston demonstrators carried anti-Trump signs and were motivated to come out in reaction to the president’s responses to the violence in Charlottesville, Va.

Trump was adamant that both sides were responsible for the violence that occurred during a white nationalist demonstration in the Virginia city. He also came out in defense of Confederate statues.

Liberals determined both stances to be tacit endorsements of white supremacy, thus explaining why the establishment media and even politicians from both parties attacked the president throughout the week.

But what might have been more ridiculous in Trump’s tweets was his hope that the Boston protests would lead the nation to unite. If there was one thing demonstrated by the large demonstrations that eventually descended into violence Saturday, it is that the nation is far from united.

Charlottesville is one of the most polarizing events to happen to this country in recent memory — and at time when we’ve never been more divided. After seeing the violence, no one came away with a positive view of where America was heading.

A punitive spirit reigned on the Left as liberals looked to make conservatives and Republicans pay for the outrages of the alt-right. Conservatives and Republicans only hoped that they stop being lumped in with white nationalists.

An opportunity for the country to unify around opposing political extremism was quickly dashed when the narrative immediately became that Trump and the GOP are Nazi enablers.

Further division was created when Trump blamed the alt-right and the left-wing demonstrators for the violence. According to the elite consensus, only the white nationalists were to blame, while the Antifa protesters were standing up for a noble cause. (RELATED: Republicans Embrace Movement That Wants To Destroy Them)

In effect, liberals and a few prominent Republicans gave their OK to further violence against suspected Nazis — which explains the aggressive demonstrations in Boston against 40 people rallying for free speech.

Those 40,000 counter-protesters were told they were showing their opposition to racists, except no bigots showed up, as even HuffPost admitted. But that didn’t stop the leftists who the press and politicians lionized all week as heroes from getting violent and throwing urine on Boston cops. (RELATED: Boston Police Chief Praises Officers For ‘Professionalism’ While Getting Hit With Urine Bottles)

Maybe comparing Antifa to the soldiers who stormed D-Day was a bit off.

One of the biggest effects of Charlottesville is the legitimization of left-wing political violence. When even Mitt Romney thinks your brick throwing is a courageous stand against hate, you can rest easy knowing your violence is considered righteous.

The recent explosion of support for Antifa among centrists and liberals was given proof in Boston. Video shows that when the black-masked anarchists arrived to protest against free speech, the crowd of normie liberals roared in admiration.

This is not a good sign for anyone who is to the right of the New York Times editorial board — and maybe not even for that prestigious liberal institution either. The communist-sympathizing Antifa have a very broad definition of who constitutes a Nazi, and solid proof you’re not one still won’t protect you from attack.

The other major effect of Charlottesville is the renewed mania for tearing down politically incorrect statues. In the wake of the violence, the consensus was that all Confederate monuments should come down, with some deciding to not wait for the government to do the razing.

Two days after the chaos in Virginia, protesters illegally tore down a Confederate statue in Durham, N.C., and then spat on it and kicked it. This act of fury against marble was praised by many on social media. (RELATED: Rioter Who Toppled Confederate Statue In Durham May Receive Scholarship)

Calls for taking down statues weren’t limited to ones associated with the Lost Cause. On Saturday, a massive demonstration was held in New Orleans to take down a monument honoring the victor of the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson. In spite of it being a celebration of American victory, the Jackson statue must go because the seventh president was a racist.

This author suggested last week that the standard the Left is setting when it comes to monuments would eventually lead them to wanting to blow up Mount Rushmore. This argument was made to attack leftists’ way of thinking, but it unintentionally inspired a Vice writer to seriously agree with the idea.

While the chattering class embraces the erasure of heritage, the majority of Americans are firmly opposed to the idea and want to keep Confederate statues where they are.

The issue of statues is just another fissure in American society exacerbated by Charlottesville, and it is bound to drive partisan conflict in the years to come.

The main outcome of Charlottesville looks to be greater polarization. Folks on the Left now fully approve of violence, want every monument they may have a hint of racism torn down and are full believers the president is a closet Nazi.

For people on the Right, they see an elite proudly encouraging violence against Trump supporters, liberals hell-bent on destroying history and the dumbing down of the term “Nazi” to the point of being meaningless.

It’s hard to trust the other side when you think they want to literally kill you.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a growing feeling in this country, and it’s hard to dissuade Americans from believing it after this week.

Follow Scott on Twitter and buy his new book, “No Campus for White Men.”