Why highlight the Left's worst actors in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy? Because (a) they're egregious statements that deserve public shaming, especially with victims still recovering from their wounds; (b) they're only a level or two more repugnant than the highest-ranking Democrat in the House kinda sorta blaming Republicans and Fox News for the shooting spree by a guy who hated ... Republicans and Fox News; and (c), based on the Democrat-established rules of the road, national Republicans must always answer for the nasty, dumb, or controversial things anyone in their party or movement says, even if they're lowly staffers or non-politicians. And thus, in the wake of a Nebraska Democratic leader expressing amused delight at NRA supporters getting shot up, here's a New Jersey party operative -- whose influence and stature does seem, it must be said -- being absolutely disgusting:
We are in a war with selfish, foolish & narcissistic rich people. Why is it a shock when things turn violent? #HuntRepublicanCongressmen
— James Devine (@James_J_Devine) June 14, 2017
Interesting that @FoxNews 'debunked' @SarahPalinUSA's @GabbyGiffords crosshairs, despite IT's A FACT that inspired me to #HuntRepublicans pic.twitter.com/qIRCZwTRG6
— James Devine (@James_J_Devine) June 18, 2017
This lunatic is blaming the GOP as the aggressors, of course, implying that Scalise deserved what he got as a 'racist,' as evidenced by a debunked smear. But this guy is a big fan of debunked smears, it seems, tripling down on the Sarah Palin/Gabby Giffords 'crosshairs' map lie -- which as Allahpundit notes, required him to cut out the electoral context of Palin's graphic, and ignore the established fact (verified not only by Fox News, but also the Washington Post and others) that the bullseye graphic over Giffords' seat had absolutely nothing to do with her shooting. Then again, this anti-Right myth was so pervasive that the New York Times ran with it again last week, only to be forced to walk it back under intense criticism. In case you're wondering, New Jersey Democrats have been disavowing these tweets:
"The only response I would have is that I abhor all violence and there is no place for violence in American democracy, " said Kevin O'Brien, the newly elected chairman of the Rahway Democratic Committee. A state Democratic official disavowed Devine's tweets Thursday. A spokesman for New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chairman John Currie said the organization "is in no way associated with Mr. Devine's hashtag.'' "We reject incitements to violence and deplore such sensationalism," said the spokesman, Matt Farrauto.
"Sensationalism" is an...interesting way of faming Devine's explicitly pro-violence tweets and hashtag. I'm firmly on-the-record against blaming political speech for nutters' violent acts, but the macabre celebrations, victim blaming, and perverse identity politics from certain precincts of the Left are despicable. And to those 'conservatives' who believe the best ticket forward is to mimic their opponents' most, um, deplorable behavior, I strongly dissent:
Don't become the mirror image of what you oppose/abhor. But if you do, don't drag the rest of us down in your soulless race to the bottom 4/
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 19, 2017
Join the conversation as a VIP Member