The Left’s claim to moral authority gasped its last gasp on Saturday night.
As the country continues to process the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the left has lost the moral high ground it used to condemn his words, and the image of Trump’s bloodied face, fists raised in defiance, after the assassination attempt will remain a historic image for generations to come.
The progressive left has been an insurgent force in culture for decades, and now dominates journalism, education and the law. But this power will not last.
After years of trying to link President Trump to the events of January 6, 2021, it will be impossible to convince the public that left-wing rhetoric had no role in Saturday’s assassination attempt.
In the wake of the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting, Democrats lost the case for putting “people over politics.”
Cries of sympathy ring out in the void
For decades, those on the left have sold the public the image of progressive politics and philosophy rooted in love and compassion, contrasted with the so-called bigotry, hatred and intolerance of their opponents.
This message has increased with the rise of Donald Trump, who has been targeted by the left as a symbol of hate. In one of the most memorable tweets of the 2020 election cycle, Jill Biden tweeted that “decency is on the ballot,” concisely and succinctly contrasting the personalities of the two candidates.
But since the 2020 election, left-wing rhetoric and discourse surrounding Trump has grown increasingly insane. Trump has been the target of ill-conceived critics who portray the 45th president as a would-be dictator, a smear that has become a staple of the Trump administration’s media profile. The New York Times To The Washington PostAmbiguous and often out of context connection Trump’s relationship with the Nazi Party has become so commonplace that it no longer even raises eyebrows.
There are consequences for crying wolf
Hypocrisy has the power to kill power, and the Left is about to face the consequences of its actions.
The progressive left has been an insurgent force in the cultural world for decades, and now dominates journalism, education, and the law. But this power will not last. In a world where criminal political prosecution is the only serious political threat to the Democratic Party, the homogenous echo chambers totally controlled by various forms of leftist thought are already beginning to look increasingly absurd.
The fact that the spiral of left-wing hatred has culminated in an assassination attempt on Trump shatters any illusion of decency that remained in the Democratic Party’s official brand. No one but the most ardent partisans can pretend that we live in a world in which the progressive left values love above all else.
The constant apocalyptic predictions and hysterical denunciations of bigotry, hatred, intolerance and misogyny come at a cost, and today the Left is paying the price. The time for appealing for compassion over hate is over. Hypocrisy no longer works.
Neither an angel nor a devil
As we collectively come to terms with the violence that took place over the weekend, it is imperative, more than ever, that we begin to understand that hatred is a phenomenon that no political party or ideology is immune to. The Left is not a paragon of tolerance. Claiming compassion and love for the downtrodden means little if those beliefs are not coupled with consistent action.
For the sake of our country, Americans must demand that the left adhere to an ethic of compassion. The consequences of exonerating progressives as “good” are now abundantly clear.
Hatred knows no party, and it’s time to start living this truth. Our republic can rise above the ugliness of our historical moment, but only if we can see each other as human beings, not angels or devils.
