Yes, this was horrific. But as ever, Trump relies on his "instant outrage cycles" -- to make his base forget about. . . all other rational thoughts -- and lived experiences. [Do recall that multiple Democratic Minn. state legislators, including the Speaker of that House -- were gunned down just in June 2025. Their spouses were shot as well. Two dead, three injured in a very well-planned multi-stop assassination run. The shooter was plainly pro-MAGA; and ex-military. But Trump will never cop to ANY of that.]
The Economist, on the other hand (unlike Trump's DoJ), has collected an impressive array of independent studies. All fairly recent. All backing the same conclusion -- either the violence is about equally distributed among left- and right-. . . or it tips slightly toward more violence (if non-lethal) coming from the far right.
Do read it all, in The Economist ($$, subs. req.)
. . .President Donald Trump, who has himself been the target of gunmen, pinned the blame on rhetoric from the “radical left”. Assessing political violence in America is inherently subjective: analysts must determine which forms of violence count as political and assign ideological labels to attackers or victims. But the studies and datasets available. . . largely suggest that the killing of Mr. Kirk is not representative of broader trends. . . .
Based on the best available evidence, right-wing political actors appear to commit more of the modern political violence in the U.S., and their acts tend to be more lethal, compared with left-wing actors. That doesn’t mean the left never commits political violence -- there are cases -- but in aggregate, frequency and severity are higher on the right in many recent datasets. . . .
And that is all before we look carefully. . . at the events of January 6, 2021.
That was a thousands-strong far right insurrection mob, attacking police -- and our Capitol, itself. Thwarting the peaceful transfer of power.
Trump cannot pardon or commute away. . . what we all saw -- and what was captured on video-tape, and admitted into evidence in hundreds of felony trials. He cannot erase history, try as he might. Out -- I wish only a peaceful memorial for the Kirk family (inlcuding toddlers). But after that, we will put the lie to all she too spouts. [She may well be the more violent hard right frother of that couple, indeed.]
नमस्ते
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