abelard
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completely agree that violence is still generally counter-productive.
but i think it's a misreading of the political situation today. Americans didn't identify as partisan in the same way back then. liberal or conservative were not yet synonymous with Democrat or Republican. today, there are very, very few people who haven't already made up their minds, for good, no matter what happens.
and political violence in the US today is actually negligible compared with the 60s and 70s, when cities literally burned to the ground. it just feels that way because of social media. reactions are more spontaneous and intense, but much more fleeting. and we are all much more precious now, right and left. Rod Dreher, for example, is not even half-a-shameful-erection in to the latest panicky dispatch about men in the girls' room before he's grasping for the smelling salts and crying out for
you (as in "one") can find the similar examples of just about everything the left gets accused of carried out by the right, and nobody really cares, who didn't already.
in light of Berkeley, check out the Wisconsin legislature's unshakeable commitment to free speech and unfettered campus discussion of challenging ideas, even those which we may not agree with:
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...ersity-stands-by-problem-of-whiteness-course/
or perhaps i'm wrong, and conservatives would have nodded approvingly had the pretend Berkeley anarchists only armed themselves to the teeth with automatic weapons and occupied the entire campus, instead of just shouting and shoving. like they did for these intrepid freedom-fighters!
remember these brave patriots?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Malheur_National_Wildlife_Refuge
did any Republicans switch parties because they were so horrified by Dylann Roof's political violence? (since we're going to hold the entire "left" responsible for the same morons in black pyjamas who've shown up to smash things at every demonstration of any kind since Seattle 1999).
did any of you, "the right," in all of your snowflakely "multitudes" change your minds at the polls because you recoiled when Elliot Rodger took his protest against political correctness too far? these things don't affect us politically like they once did.
there's barely any point left in demonstrating lies and hypocrisies, because within the safety of each sides' camps, there aren't enough people who care to meaningfully consider them when presented. on this site, you can see conservatives, without the faintest trace of self-awareness, accusing democrats of "lies" and "obstruction." and no doubt if you try you can find lefty posters on here who've said something equivalent.
as usual, the Republicans were much more prescient and cunning than the Democrats about all this, and they accordingly phased out the strategy of appealing to "swing states" in favour of rallying the tea-partying shock troops. these days it's about mobilizing voters rather than changing their minds. and it's easier when your party has no qualms about cheating.
of course, the Dems have a significant advantage in raw numbers, but there's the electoral college, and, especially, redistricting, and citizens united, and voter suppression, which will all absolutely skyrocket under Trump. it's far-fetched to think that Americans won't have elections in four years time, but a fairly safe bet they'll no longer have truly fair ones. at the state level, by international standards, this is already well established (http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/12/27/14078646/north-carolina-political-science-democracy)
and as usual, Democrats keep on expecting that all they need to do is appeal to Republicans' sense of decency. "if only we could just expose the hypocrisy and cheating and lies, they would surely have to relent! surely!"
anyhow, whatever party you support, it should be pretty depressing that America has got to the point where Trump can have the week he just had, and about 45% of the voting population finds ways to justify acting like none of it even matters.
