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A lawmaker and her husband were murdered. A senator and his wife nearly killed. The suspect had a hit list. And what did we do? We blamed each other. We justified. We spun. Political violence isn’t coming—it’s here. And we’re normalizing it. adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/political-...

Tell me a time in American history when there was no political violence. 60’s assassinations 70’s Weather Underground 80’s John Hinkley 90’s Waco, Ruby Ridge, Timothy McVeigh, Unabomber 2000’s 9/11 2010’s too many to list 2020’s Jan. 6 and lots of other stuff

Also, all violence against Black people is political because American racism has always been a driving force on one side of the aisle or the other.

Also, anti-LGBTQIA+ violence in America is political because it is pushed for relentlessly by Republican politicians and used by the ruling class to divide the proletariat.

School shooters usually have a political motive so school shootings are political violence.

Drug violence is political because it’s the result of the “war on drugs” which we learned from John Ehrlichman before he died was all about using drugs as a cudgel against leftists and Black people.

Oh, and who decided to invade Vietnam and Iraq, to name just two of our disastrous immoral wars? Politicians. Presidents. Lawmakers.

And when you take into account lynchings, slavery and the genocide of Native Americans… there really is no time in American history without political violence.

Adam, I like you a lot and you’ve taken an honorable stance against the current regime and the January 6th insurrection. You and I both love America and the best of what it stands for, despite us having vastly different political beliefs.

But I think your post reeks of privilege and ignorance. Not that you didn’t know any of the examples I cited… quite the opposite. You know the history and choose to ignore it. You’re a smart guy. Read outside your comfort zone. James Baldwin. Noam Chomsky. bell hooks. Howard Zinn.