Sitting here in Hong Kong with my print copy of The Atlantic, I'm very clear that this is a liberal — maybe uber-liberal — magazine. So I expect a left-of-centre slant. But did Adrienne LaFrance's piece on extremist violence in America have to be quite so partisan? Does balance count for nothing these days at The Atlantic?
Sure, she mentions left-wing violence. In early 20th century United States, she reminds us of the anarchistic violence, the mass-murderous bombings by the Galleanists. Then there's Italy in the 1960s and 70s, the "Years of Lead" (when I lived there, by the way), with its ultra-left bombingly murderous mayhem. In today's United States, she mentions, glancingly, violence by the left-wing Antifa. No mention of BLM. But the real threat today, she says, is not those left wing rioters, but… the Proud Boys! Horrid right wingers!
I'm sat here in Hong Kong, as I was in 2020, with full access to all the world's MSM and all the world's Social Media. I watched the violence that erupted across the US in 2020.
I watched it on CNN and on MSNBC and on BBC and also on Fox (forgive me!).
I was not there in Portland, so I have to go on what I saw. And what I saw was that the violence, not just in Portland, but also in Seattle, in Kenosha, in Los Angeles, in New York, in Chicago, across the country was mostly Antifa and BLM. The Proud Boys may have been there, but they weren't obvious. And you'd think that if they were there, certainly the likes of CNN & Co, would have pointed them out.
I have friends in Portland who took photos of the graffiti. The graffiti I saw in Portland and Seattle was all left-wing and anarchist. "ACAB" (All Cops are Bastards), "Kill the cops" and "Kill a MAGA-man today". "Destroy Capitalism". That sort of lovely stuff.
Yet still, LaFrance concludes the biggest danger is from the right. I would urge her, and The Atlantic, to heed their own advice: to follow the science. Follow the data. Follow the facts.
This has impact. The readership of the The Atlantic is almost all liberal left. They read this and are confirmed in the their belief that it's all the fault -- not just of "far-right terrorists” -- but of all Republicans! And therefore they hate even more on their political opponents. Remember: in his last SOTU, Joe Biden said half the country are "semi Nazis". WTF??
A decent society should allow for political differences, without thinking the opposite party are your enemies.
If each side were more aware of the violence each side does, maybe there's some chance to tone it down.
As it is LaFrance's essay only serves to stoke tensions.
