Hatred and calls for violence are so normal now on the left – even among celebrities who just by being famous carry weight among many – that few if any prominent people bother to condemn them.

A shocking silence on the left greets the news that a major conservative media figure is under a death threat taken very seriously by law enforcement. The attempted assassination of a large group of Republican congressmen on a softball field that seriously wounded Steve Scalise ought to have been a wake-up call but wasn't. The fact that the name of the would-be assassin, James Hodgkinson, is not widely recognized betrays the degree to which the media have suppressed the incident from public consciousness.

Now comes news from the Washington Times of a threat to talk show host Michael Savage taken so seriously that the he has moved to a "changed location." Cheryl Chumley reports:

City, state and federal agencies are taking a look at a vicious, hateful email sent [to] a restaurant frequented by talk radio icon Michael Savage that threatens to shoot up the establishment if he's not denied future service.

Superficially, this is aimed at preventing Michel Savage from patronizing a favorite restaurant, which is now a well accepted tactic on the left, though usually accomplished by harassing conservatives or public officials while dining. This threat of mass casualties is different in kind, because it could deny service to the targeted person in addition to potentially killing many bystanders.

The email itself is utterly vile:

Portions of the email sent to the restaurant state, in all caps, "I DEMAND THAT YOU REFUSE TO ALLOW MICHAEL SAVAGE ... IN YOUR F-ING RESTAURANT AGAIN. HE IS A RACIST WHITE SUPREMACIST PIECE OF S--- ... DONT WANT TO LISTEN TO ME? WELL I GUESS YOURE ALL GONNA F------ DIE THEN CUZ I AM WAITING FOR THE M----------- AND I WILL WAIT AND WATCH YOUR F------ BUSINESS AND WHEN I SEE HIM GO IN THERE IM GOING TO START SHOOTING EVERY BODY I CAN FIND."

The suspect then gets very specific.

"I OWN 3 GUNS AND I CAN DO SOME SERIOUS F------ DAMAGE," the email went on. "I WILL KILL AS MANY OF YOU RACIST-SUPPORTING/ENABLING WHITE SUPREMACISTS AS I F------ CAN." ... "PEOPLE WILL F------ DIE," the email messenger wrote. "IM GOING TO KILL THAT F------ CRYPTO JEW BUT IF YOU DONT WANT YOUR WHOLE BUSINESS TO TURN INTO A F------ SHOOTING GALLERY AND YOUR CUSTOMERS TO GET CAUGHT UP IN THIS YOU BETTER KEEP HIM OUTTA THERE OR ELSE ... YOURE ALL GONNA F------ DIE UNLESS YOU DO WHAT I F------ SAY. ILL REALLY MAKE U F------ FAMOUS." So far as both a Duckduckgo news search and a Google news search reveal, no left wing politician or media figure has spoken up against this hideous threat. Perhaps they, too, are so full of hatred for those who oppose them that they are fine with threats, and maybe even death for their ideological opponents. This is shameful. Maybe today will bring a wave of condemnation, but I am not holding my breath.

Right now, actress Ellen Barkin is calling for the rape and death of a comedian of whom she disapproves. She already has called for the assassination of President Trump and "endorsed a Tweet calling for Republicans to die via Hurricane Isaac." None of this appears to have damaged her career, and she currently appears on air in a TNT series. A couple of decades ago, the debut of the AIDS threat led to a wave of propaganda proclaiming, "Silence = Death." Today, with political violence rising, the same could become true here.



Image source: Pexels.com.

The stakes could not be higher, and not just for Michael Savage. Normalizing political violence never leads anywhere good. The Nazis rose to power on the effective use of violence against their opponents, at rallies and by assassination efforts. Japan's Taisho Democracy was killed by military officers assassinating political foes, in a period that historians have dubbed "government by assassination."

So, as Chumley suggests, it is time for change on the left:

Maybe now the Nancy Pelosis of the country and the Maxine Waters[es] of the nation will start to understand that calls for summers of resistance and cries to confront conservatives – particularly those tied to this Donald Trump administration – in the streets, in restaurants, at their homes, are all examples of uncalled-for rallies that can indeed spark the mentally unstable or viciously partisan to actually get physical?

If you think that it can't happen here, you're kidding yourself. And if you think that an unanswered wave of actual violence won't provoke counter-strikes, you are also living in dreamland. So Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, and all the others clamming up when a conservative is targeted ought to think twice about remaining silent. If this continues, everyone loses.