Another in an ongoing series:
Dear Senator McCormick;
I'm a constituent and I'd like to ask you a few questions, Senator. I'd like to ask you about the reaction on the right to Charlie Kirk's assassination.
Let me go on the record to say that political violence has no place in our society and that Kirk's murder should never have happened.
The New York Times reported:
President Trump and his top advisers are escalating their attacks on their opponents in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, placing the blame for political violence on Democrats alone and signaling a broad crackdown on critics and left-leaning institutions.
Steve Bannon said it was time to "blowtorch" the nation's universities and it's time to start arresting people for pushing a "leftist ideology."
NBC News reported:
A website seeking to collect examples of people celebrating Kirk’s killing in order to get them fired from their jobs sprung up quickly, and by Friday, it said it had received more than 20,000 submissions. “This is the largest firing operation in history,” the website stated.
A.J. Bauer, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Alabama who studies conservative media, said such language threatens to inflame a nation on the edge because some people on the far right may interpret it as permission to carry out attacks on those they perceive as disloyal.
Senator, you've responded a number of times to this blog so you know it exists. Am I in danger of being arrested? Am I in danger of being fired for being disloyal? Is any of this a good idea?
In the mean time, I'd like you to address the right's relatively tepid reaction to these examples of political violence (this is also from The Times):
Melissa Hortman, the former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, was killed in June; Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania was the victim of an arson attack on his home in April while he and his family slept; Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was violently beaten inside his home in 2022 by an intruder who was targeting Ms. Pelosi; and 13 men were arrested in 2020 for plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
Do you agree with President Trump that the problem of political violence comes entirely from the left?
And finally, while (as stated above) political violence must never be tolerated and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, political speech is still protected by the First Amendment, right?
I'll await your answer, Senator.
As always, whatever answer I get, I'll post it here.
