Post 18 - On AntiFa
AntiFa protesters are the product of a terribly broken political system. A collection of misguided pseudo-liberals convinced by a dishonest corporate media that the legal and rightful president of the United States is a Hitler-esque, illegitimate Russian operative hell-bent on persecuting the marginalized on his march toward WW3. This group of delusional outcasts has banded together in common cause to take on the noble objective of fighting the existential threat of fascism being peddled by Trump supporters. This would be a truly great thing if Trump supporters were really the ignorant amalgamation of bigots and loons they have been portrayed since the very start of the Trump presidential campaign. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Trump supporters are no more than average blue-collar Americans. Americans so fed up with a Washington political class that has spent the better part of the last 30 years enriching themselves, protecting the wealthy, and destroying the very fabric of the American Dream, that voters used their god-given right to insert a metaphorical monkey wrench known as Donald Trump directly into the mechanical heart of the political machine.
The American working class has been decimated in this country. Whether you belong to the Left or the Right, we must be able to agree here. American workers have seen the cost of housing skyrocket, have had their wages stagnate and have had their life expectancy decrease. All of this, while the working class is working harder and producing more than ever. D.C. politicians have been deaf to the cries of this MASSIVE voting block for decades and while they often paid lip service to their needs, little has been done to protect workers from the ravages of unfettered trade deals like NAFTA and changes brought on by the seismic shift toward globalization. This was the single most powerful force driving the populist movements behind both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump during the primary season. It was not racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, ageism, or any other perceived mass bigotry espoused by misguided political pundits and lazy journalists with inherent biases.
I don’t blame AntiFa actors for getting swept up in a cultural hysteria perpetuated by the Democrats to hide their own ineptitude. When ‘liberal’ media outlets spout deranged propaganda in every conceivable form while ensuring their audience that President Trump is a unique blend of incompetent and evil who poses an explicit danger to every vulnerable social group from transsexuals to immigrants to minorities, people are bound to be very nervous at the prospect of that kind of president. Especially when the messages are being received by hyper-sensitive mobs of cowardly people incapable of critical thought and rational self-control like AntiFa has proven time and time again to be.
Make no mistake about it. AntiFa is not only a group of timid cowards with no sense of civility but they also clearly lack any foresight for the consequences of their actions and empathy for their fellow citizen. AntiFa has proudly taken on free speech marchers, opposing political speakers, professors and anyone who supports the ACTUAL president of the United States. They are so certain of their moral high-ground that they fail to recognize the terrifying nature of their very existence. Masked, (much like the KKK) they know their actions are unjustifiable as they maim and harass their political opponents. Armed, (much like domestic terrorist organizations) they hope to prove Trump supporters violent. It is a Twilight Zone scenario where the specter of Fascism in America is only looming because of those who are convinced they are the sole force combating it.
It takes some very special individuals to load up on glass bottles, large fireworks, bike locks, knives and in some cases their own feces, prepare themselves for a street battle against participants of a political march and be certain they are the force of good in America. If AntiFa had the intellectual honesty, moral integrity or social awareness they believed they did, they would look in the mirror, see through the dark sunglasses, low brims and black bandanas and feel the embarrassment that many of us feel for them. The embarrassment that is quickly being replaced by pity and sorrow. I implore my fellow Americans, brothers and sisters united under our common flag, to put aside political differences, disavow violence and move forward to solve our differences as one nation, under god.