On Promises and Protests

            Hillary Clinton promised that civility would return to the political arena after Democrats regained power in Congress. Well, what happened? No sooner had Democrats learned that voters had given them control of the House of Representatives, their incoming committee chairmen Richard Neal, Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, and Maxine (“Impeach-Impeach-Impeach”) Waters declared all-out war on the president, his family, his administration, even Justice Kavanaugh. So much for Hillary’s promise of restored civility.

            Meanwhile, election results did not produce a Democrat-like response from Republicans: there were no tears, no predictions of Armageddon, no vows to move to Canada, no mob protests in the streets, or banging on Supreme Court doors. Oh, but there was a banging on a door, the front door of Fox News talk-show host Tucker Carlson’s home. A masked mob outside spry-painted an anarchy symbol on his driveway and shouted, “We will fight. We know where you sleep at night. Racist scumbag leave town. We are outside your home. Mail bomb.”

            This was not a peaceful gathering of protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. It was a threat to Carlson’s life and the life of his family. It was a criminal act. Police were called to the scene, but made no arrests, although authorities promised to investigate. A promise is not enough: if the protesters are identified, they should be arrested and prosecuted for what this was, a hate crime. And the guilty should carry this black mark on their record for the rest of their lives as an example for those who would terrorize people for their political beliefs.

            To their credit, most of the left-wing Trump haters in the media voiced their support for Carlson. Trump critic Stephen Colbert called the protest right: he called it “monstrous cowardice.” I did not see any report of comments from Maxine Waters.