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Extremism – against Conservatives?

The Good News | April 12, 2023 | by Catholics for Catholics

From Breitbart News comes the story that on Easter Sunday, Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band guitarist, Steven Van Zandt, sent a tweet calling GOP members “cockroaches.” The Boss’s band-mate went on to call for GOP supporters to be “exterminated.”

On Tuesday of last week, conservative podcaster, author, and filmmaker Matt Walsh spoke at New Mexico State University upon the invitation of The Young America’s Foundation (YAF). The talk, and Walsh’s Q&A interaction with several transgender questioners, have been circulating online. In the standing-room-only event, the 500 plus in attendance witnessed what they expected. The first half of the talk consisted mainly of Walsh methodically addressing gender transitions and “affirming care.” The second half was the underscored yet unreported portion of the evening which contained empathy from Walsh for those caught in the undertow of the trans agenda. He bluntly addressed a victim’s need for truth, compassion, and protection from the despair and self-loathing that must accompany such internal conflict. He also addressed friends and family who encourage delusional thoughts of gender dysphoria. Outside the event, a crowd of protesters awaited those coming and going. Guests of YAF were subjected to offensive chants, outlandish verbal accusations, and spitting. More people were on the warpath outside the building than inside the ballroom.

A few days later, at an event hosted by students at San Francisco State University, female swimmer Riley Gaines was attacked and locked in a room by a pack of militant biological men dressed as women. Her descriptions of the ordeal use words like “ambush” and “being held for ransom.” Gaines is a prominent voice against the agenda of forcing female athletes to compete against men. Of late, her talks recount the discomfort of girls forced to undress in front of the opposite sex and of being exposed to intact males doing the same. To be clear, Riley is probably not the right-wing ideologue that this attack would indicate; she simply spoke against the new pet project of left-leaning activists. That’s all she is guilty of, and video of the attacks attest to her retreat and imprisonment by the mob. No arrests have been made though she has signaled an intention to file lawsuits against the University and her assailants.

Meanwhile, the website “The Gateway Pundit” reports that last week Colorado Springs Police stopped another mass shooting in the late stages of its planning. The website reports it as a conspiracy by another male-to-female transgender would-be a mass murderer. The accused laid out floor plans of a particular middle school, while evidence collected indicates a plan for attacks on three schools. The suspect’s manifesto was found in his room; he idolized mass shooters and expressed hatred for former President Trump and a conservative filmmaker.

A useful microcosm may describe what these national events have in common and what may be causing the hatred. Consider the response to the Walsh event at New Mexico State in the form of an email from Chancellor Dan Arvizu to every student. From Arvizu’s email, “…NMSU policy that the free exchange of ideas… [is] a commitment to excellence…This includes speech that might be offensive or hurtful.” Continuing, “I want to acknowledge that some of the content included in last evening’s presentation was offensive and hurtful to members of our community.” The contrast he provides with his description of the protesters could not be more pronounced: “[The] counter event contained great passion, but also dignity.” The email did not address those spit upon attendees, but it offered on-campus walk-in counseling for any traumatized by the speech. Local News described the event as one “…voicing rhetoric damning the existence of transgender people.” The articles slant Walsh’s podcast and books… “[he] has compared transgender people to animals.” The local newspaper colors those who counter-protested in either a positive light or as a victim of persecution. Those students interviewed admitted that they felt fear or oppression to “be who I am” merely by Walsh speaking on campus. One protester who interacted with Walsh during the Q&A went on the record with the paper, saying that “it reminded me of hearing about George Lincoln Rockwell,” referring to the founder of the American Nazi Party.

Though not forced to come, local politicians elbowed their way into the spotlight surrounding Walsh. One of whom stated that “lives are at risk if any of the language he spews incites any type of violence.”

From the late-night talk shows to local and national news, it would appear that while Conservatives are trying to prove Liberals wrong, Liberals are convincing the public that Republicans are evil. There are wall-to-wall claims that conservative thought is evil, right-wing, radical, homophobic, transphobic, bigoted, and fascistic. And those who have conservative beliefs are painted as backwater deplorable whose gun-clinging war on women is further designed to put black people back in chains. The inevitable result is the radicalization of many disturbed, impressionable leftists intent on shutting down speech. Is it hard to believe that primarily young, impressionable people, already struggling with mental instability, can be weaponized against those traditional voices who are routinely accused of committing a genocidal holocaust? They have been conditioned to believe they are the victims of violence to the point where they feel justified in their hatred.

How much time and attacks are necessary to prove that there is very little tolerance for conservative thought? Conservatives who dare criticize current Leftist ideology receive a buffet of violent backlash from a wide range of media, academia – preschool through college – and agitator politicians. One tweet calling for Walsh’s torture and death has been “liked” over 30,000 times online. Do not doubt that the new Leftist desires to eradicate conservative thought and speech. They can’t yet eliminate the First Amendment, so they develop workarounds. In many ways, they have already succeeded in ostracizing traditional belief as hateful and violent. But these malcontents take it to the street with ugly intimidation.

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