I saw several different articles covering this story earlier this month:
…trends in public opinion that we’ve been tracking provide strong grounds for concern. Our research…shows an upswing in…the number of Americans—both Democrats and Republicans—who said they think violence would be justified if their side loses the upcoming presidential election. This growing acceptance of the possibility of violence is a bipartisan movement. Our data shows that the willingness of Democrats and Republicans alike to justify violence as a way to achieve political goals has essentially been rising in lockstep…
Why does it surprise anyone that more Americans now support violence to achieve their political ends? Their “leaders” have been espousing and practicing this exact belief for centuries against at least some targets, and since the late 19th century against the majority. All prohibition and other “consensual crime” is the use of violence to promote purely-political ends. Where there is no violence or violation between the parties in a transaction, the state has NO legitimate excuse for the use of violence to suppress that transaction. Sending armed thugs to attack peaceful individuals because the “leaders” dislike their peaceful acts is, by definition, “violence as a way to achieve political goals”. And when “leaders” have done something for over a century, why is it a shock when their “followers” follow? Frankly, given the propaganda about “democracy” and “equal protection under the law” Americans are all fed since childhood, it’s a wonder it has taken four or five generations for the followers to absorb the real American ideal embodied in prohibition and policing: “Might makes right”.
