After America: Statement on American Political Violence (and How to Reject It)

A statement on the current state of political violence in the United States from the After America team.

Music:
Infados - Kevin MacLeod 

Counterpoint Podcast

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Majestic Earth - Joystock

Transcript

Shawn: 0:33

Hey folks, this is Shawn C Fettig, host of After America. Given the events at the Trump rally in Butler, pennsylvania, over the weekend and the fact that this most recent episode of After America touched in part on how crisis moments can be exploited to political ends, and next week's schedule episode already recorded and ironically focusing on political violence in our American politics, I have decided to take a few minutes to address our current moment head-on. Over the past 10-ish years during the Trump era, when violent rhetoric, othering and dehumanizing of certain people and groups in the United States and actual physical violence have seen a sharp upswing, democrats and others on the left have sounded an alarm. That is true In light of some of the right-wing rhetoric about the shooting, specifically that it was the result of left-wing questioning of Trump's authoritarian tendencies that caused it. It's necessary to clarify that calling this out is not a call to political violence. Trump's behaviors, his language and statements and his policy proposals do undermine democracy. The man said that he would be dictator for day one. Pointing that out is, in fact, legitimate and acceptable political discourse. If you witness a person abuse their partner and that person says they'll do it again, you're not inciting violence when you warn their next partner about it. You're being responsible.

Shawn: 1:59

Inciting rhetoric that specifically targets opponents or people who disagree with you, or just people you don't like, with a call to harm them, on the other hand, is illegitimate and unacceptable political discourse that invites political violence. Sharing memes of yourself killing another member of Congress on social media, as Paul Gosar did in 2021, is justifying political violence. Saying that leadership in another political party should be executed for treason, as Marjorie Taylor Greene said about Democrats in 2019, is inciting political violence. Referring to members of Congress in derogatory names rooted in their religion, as Lauren Boebert has to her Muslim colleagues, referring to them as the Jihad Squad dehumanizes and others people in ways that make them targets of potential violence. And when Donald Trump said in 2016 that Second Amendment, people should act against Hillary Clinton if she were elected. When, in 2018, he referred to some immigrants as animals. When, after former Speaker Pelosi's husband was attacked with a hammer in his home, trump mocked him at a rally and asked how effective the wall around the Pelosi house was. And when he told January 6th rioters to march to the Capitol to fight like hell and take their country back, he was inciting violence in our political arena and violence ensued. Donald Trump was the victim of an attack, and that is unacceptable.

Shawn: 3:24

Political violence is unacceptable. Politics is not warfare. It's a legitimate struggle over ideas and values and policies. Here's where the red herring is. We might be drawn into a false narrative that, since someone took aim at Donald Trump this time, that this is therefore the result of some incitement on the part of Democrats, the idea being that political violence only works in one direction, that if a Republican is targeted then it must be the fault of rhetoric on the part of Democrats, and vice versa if that had been the case. But political violence doesn't work like that.

Shawn: 4:00

When you normalize and mainstream violence as a legitimate part of our political discourse, then you're radicalizing the entire population, and violence then can come from anywhere, from anyone against anyone. Violence becomes normal across the spectrum. It seeps into our communities, our families and our politics. It can transcend ideology. Call out Democrats and liberals if they advocate for violence and call out Republicans and conservatives when they do. Nobody should get a pass and everyone Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the words that come out of our mouths. We expect this of children, so we shouldn't be afraid to expect it of political leadership, and we should reward those who dedicate themselves to responsible and peaceful political discourse and keep from power those who traffic in violence and instability.

Shawn: 4:53

There will be incredible pressure to rally around Trump and the Republican Party as a result of the shooting.

Shawn: 5:00

You are not a traitor if you choose to reject the violence that has become normalized in American society and politics and the candidates that have normalized it over the past 10 years or so.

Shawn: 5:11

Instead, rally around the country and what we want it to stand for no political violence against anyone. Donald Trump, nancy Pelosi's husband, gabby Giffords, gretchen Whitmore, steve Scalise that is American, that is patriotic. Support candidates that have stood against political violence for the entirety of their careers. And so, when you're casting a ballot this year and any year of their careers, and so when you're casting a ballot this year and any year, if violence and safety concern you, you need to take a beat and ask yourself which candidate is calling for retribution, which is talking about opponents and other groups and dehumanizing terms, which is using language that supports and advocates for violence against people, and which candidate isn't doing that has never done that. If you want peace and reconciliation in this country, you need to consider who is more prepared and dedicated to actually accomplishing that. It's not any candidate who's made a political career singularly built on advocating for rage and violence. When you honestly answer these questions, it becomes clear who might give us some peace and who might drag us into some protracted and ugly battle against each other.