We’ve been hearing a lot about “right-wing violence” lately. If we’re to believe our moral, ethical, and intellectual betters, there’s a Klansman on every street corner and a Nazi under every bed. There’s nothing more terrifying than a “white nationalist” who lives in his mom’s basement, which is why it’s okay for feral Antifa children to beat these guys up and drench them with balloons filled with piss. It’s “self-defense.”
But what happens when an act of violence is irrefutably motivated by left-wing ideology? What happens if, for example, a Bernie Bro named James T. Hodgkinson shoots at a bunch of congressmen for the explicit reason that he hates Republicans and wants them dead? How do we fit that into the preferred narrative?
We can’t. There’s no way. So we just leave it out entirely. Kristina Peterson, WSJ:
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) is relearning how to walk after being shot at a congressional baseball practice earlier this year, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said…
“It was very emotional for us,” Mr. Ryan said at the end of the town hall held in his Wisconsin congressional district. “He has a long road ahead of him, but he’s going to be OK. His body’s healing.”
Mr. Scalise has undergone multiple surgeries after being shot in the hip on June 14 and was readmitted into the intensive care unit in early July due to infection concerns. He is now in rehabilitation and undergoing extensive physical therapy, Mr. Ryan said.
I’m glad Rep. Scalise is on the mend. But as I read that WSJ story, I can’t help but notice there’s no mention whatsoever of who shot him, or why. He’s recovering after “being shot.” Passive voice. A gun went off and a bullet hit him. No other details.
Who was the shooter? What was the motive? Did it just happen on its own, somehow? Is this normally how the WSJ reports on politicians who’ve been shot?
If James T. Hodgkinson had been a Trump supporter who shot and almost killed a Democratic congressman for political reasons, he’d be the most infamous man in America. But now, just two months after his attempt to murder a group of Republican lawmakers, he’s not even worth mentioning.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think the press is sad that Hodgkinson didn’t succeed.
