No, no one needs to tone down their political rhetoric
Every newsworthy event prompts a narrative from imperial media and the Trump assassination attempt was no different. Rather than do what journalists purport to do, which is subject public officials to the blinding light of scrutiny, they immediately went into narrative mode. And the narrative chosen for this event was clear: free speech is dangerous.
There are various strains of this message. Some particularly TDS-affected propagandists have tried to blame Trump himself for the attack, saying it was his “extreme” political rhetoric that “raised the temperature” and somehow resulted in a 20-year-old malcontent deciding to shoot him.
Republicans dismiss this theory, of course, saying it has been the left’s nonstop demonization of Trump for the past eight years that drove the shooter to murder and drove thousands of more “mostly peaceful protestors” to loot, pillage, and occasionally assault or kill innocent people.
While the Republican version is more superficially plausible, it still rests upon the same assumption: that people using nothing more than words are somehow responsible for the immoral actions of others. This false premise cannot be allowed to stand.
Every individual is responsible for his own actions. Once you abdicate that position and place the responsibility for one person’s actions on another’s words, you no longer have a free society. You have agreed in principle that people in general cannot be allowed to be free; that there are some words or phrases they must not be allowed to hear. Thus, there are some words and phrases others may not be permitted to speak.
For all their talk about “democracy,” this has always been the fundamental premise of the progressives. They believe most people are incapable of self-government. They were much more explicit about it during the early Progressive Era when they were openly eugenicist. Today, those same instincts are simply clouded in euphemism and doublespeak.
They are all for “free speech” if it doesn’t threaten their rule. They are all for “democracy” as long as the right leaders are elected (here as well as abroad). Consider how absurd it is to suggest “democracy” must be saved from the candidate who gets the most votes. They say it and many still nod their head in agreement.
They don’t really believe the commoners are capable of managing a single aspect of their own lives. All must be “regulated” by the elite. And there is nothing more vital to regulate than what the commoners are allowed to hear, say, and think. This is why the media come on so strong and why people are deplatformed on the internet. Compelling the right thoughts is literally the entire basis of the establishment’s rule.
Enough people thinking the wrong thoughts could end it overnight.
Republican Speaker of the House and faithful servant of the empire (although he was supposedly elected to be the opposite) was quick to appear on The Today Show to confirm bipartisan support for suppression of political speech, saying, “We’ve got to turn the rhetoric down, we’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country. We need leaders in both parties, on both sides, to call that out, and make sure that happens, so that we can go forward and maintain our free society that we all are blessed to have.”
Johnson went on to call out Democratic politicians and media for their vilification of Trump, but the message was clear: political speech outside the limits the ruling class is comfortable with results in violence by the great unwashed. The authoritarian left has been beating this drum throughout the Trump era and now the Republicans have cause to join them.
They even have Trump going along, as he did with every imperial initiative during his presidency. Trump told The Washington Examiner he has thrown away the speech he intended to give at the Republican National Convention this week in favor of a completely new one calling for “national unity.” His original speech, he said, was going to be a “humdinger,” meaning full of his usual “inflammatory” rhetoric and pointed criticism of Biden and the so-called Swamp.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Tom Mullen Talks Freedom to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.