The day the leftist lie died

The leftist claim to moral authority drew its last breath on Saturday night.

As the country continues to process the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the left loses the moral high ground from which it condemned Trump’s rhetoric. The image of President Trump’s blood-stained face with fist raised in defiance following the assassination attempt will be a historic image for generations to come.

The progressive left has been an insurgent force in culture for decades and now dominates the realms of journalism, education, and law. But this power will not hold.

After years of straining to connect Trump to the events of January 6, 2021, it will be impossible to convince the public that leftist rhetoric played no role in Saturday’s assassination attempt.

Following the shots fired in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Democratic Party lost its argument alleging a commitment to “people over politics.”

Cries of compassion ring hollow

For decades, those on the left have sold the public on an image of progressive politics and philosophy rooted in love and compassion. This has been juxtaposed against the supposed bigotry, hatred, and intolerance of their opposition.

This messaging increased with the rise of Donald Trump, a man the left targeted as the epitome of hatred. In one of the most memorable tweets of the 2020 election cycle, Jill Biden tweeted “decency is on the ballot” as a succinct, pithy way of contrasting the character of the two candidates.

Since the 2020 election, however, leftist rhetoric and discourse surrounding Trump have become increasingly unhinged. He has been the subject of endless ill-conceived critiques portraying the 45th president as a wannabe dictator. Such libel has been a staple in media profiles from the New York Times to the Washington Post. Tenuous, often out-of-context connections between Trump and the Nazi Party have become so normalized that they no longer raise an eyebrow.

Crying wolf will have consequences

Hypocrisy has a way of killing power. The left is about to meet the consequences of its actions.

The progressive left has been an insurgent force in culture for decades and now dominates the realms of journalism, education, and law. But this power will not hold. The homogeneous echo chambers, thoroughly controlled by various forms of left-wing thought, already appeared increasingly absurd in a world where politicized criminal charges are brought against the Democratic Party’s only serious political threat.

The fact that the spiral of leftist hatred has culminated in an attempt on Trump’s life shatters whatever illusion of “decency” remained attached to the Democratic Party’s public brand. No one aside from the most zealous partisan can pretend as if the progressive left lives in a world where love is its highest value.

Constant apocalyptic predictions and hysterical accusations of bigotry, hatred, intolerance, and misogyny come at a price. And today, the left’s bill came due. Gone are the days of calling for compassion over hatred. The hypocrisy can no longer hold.

Neither angels nor demons

As we collectively process the violence of the weekend, now, more than ever, it is essential to begin to understand hatred as a phenomenon from which no political party or philosophy is immune. The left is not a beacon of tolerance. Claiming compassion or love for the downtrodden means little if this belief is not paired with consistent behavior.

For the sake of our country, Americans must demand the left live up to its ethic of compassion. The consequences of giving a free pass to progressives as “well-intentioned” are now abundantly clear.

Hate knows no political party. It is high time we began to live out this truth. Our republic can rise above the ugliness of our historic moment, but only if we are able to view one another as neither angels nor demons but rather human beings.