In the aftermath of 9/11 — the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil — the country was united. We all agreed that terrorism — the use of violence to stoke fear and intimidation to achieve a political or ideological goal — is bad. But in the years since, what should be an obvious accepted truth within any civilized nation has been diluted with doses of supposed nuance, irrelevant context, and shameless political bias.
We saw it in 2020, when hordes of masked criminals took to the streets to “protest” the death of George Floyd (and the subject of racism more broadly) by looting stores, destroying cities, and assaulting law enforcement. But then, at least the American Left — safe behind their security guards and perimeter fences — was subtle, fueling the violence by rebranding it as simply “fiery, but mostly peaceful.”
And during the Biden administration — elected (in part) thanks to the chaos that erupted across the nation under the banner of BLM — everything except terrorism became terrorism, and terrorism was suddenly bad again.
Even the phrase “stochastic terrorism” — where political rhetoric was blamed for the violent actions of others — was everywhere, as long as it applied to Republicans. Meanwhile, we were also told that the numerous assassination attempts against President Donald Trump had nothing to do with the media’s yearslong attempt to label then-candidate Trump as Adolf Hitler 2.0.
And now that Adolf Hitler 2.0 is in office again, both the gloves and the masks are off. Across the nation, we’ve seen an explosion of open support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah — along with definitionally genocidal chants like “globalize the intifada,” “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and the fan-favorite “kill the Jews” — while politicians such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer cower in the background and call on university administrators to avoid talking to Republicans. Meanwhile, another bizarre trend is being celebrated by the supposedly anti-terrorism Left: the vandalism and destruction of Tesla vehicles.
Why? Because Elon Musk is … Adolf Hitler 3.0?
Even the audience at The Daily Show — the moral arbiters of both comedy and morality — cheered and applauded when they witnessed a montage of Tesla dealerships bursting into flames.
Whether it’s burning down cities while chanting “Black Lives Matter,” forcing Jewish students from college campuses while calling for their deaths, or setting fire to electric vehicles to protest a member of the federal government, the objective is the same: to leverage violence to intimidate opponents into silence or submission in order to drive home a political agenda.
That’s called terrorism.
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This is not just an escalation. It’s an uncovering of the truth: that the American Left is happy for violence to be used to achieve their political goals. Worse, they’re now happy to admit it.
Unless we reject this anti-American barbarism with every ounce of our being, and combat it with the relentlessness it deserves, all we are doing is guaranteeing that their violence will be rewarded, which — like “real” terrorism — will only bring more terrorism.
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist, speaker and podcast host. You can find him on Substack, and follow him on X at @ighaworth.