I finished reading an editorial in the Wall Street Journal (unfortunately behind a paywall)  a few minutes ago and while overall excellent, a couple of things struck me as incorrect. One is a current talking point of the left. “The KKK may have been founded by Democrats, but it’s embraced by the Republicans these days” is what a very liberal friend of mine said a few weeks ago when we were discussing racism.

He was, however, unable to cite a single instance where a Republican had embraced anything of the sort. He also was unable to say anything except “That’s old news.” when I pointed out the racist enabling language by the former President/Vacationer in Chief.

Second, I think that the President’s Saturday statement decrying violence by all sides in the current political upheaval (it’s not a debate any longer) was not “too weak”, but was a call for calm on all sides. This latest case is correctly being investigated as domestic terrorism, but the problem is that prior acts such as the riots in Berkeley and other places haven’t been looked at as such.

That the police and National Guard were told to “stand down” is a national disgrace, but one that isn’t confined to Charlottesville. It’s not the first time in over two decades that this has happened. In Baltimore just last year the Mayor ordered the police to stand down so that the rioters had space to destroy property. Giving in to thuggery by anyone is bad for civilization.

I hate that this comment is probably right, but I’m afraid that it is.

We don’t like the new rules – I’d sure prefer a society where no one was getting attacked, having walked through the ruins of a country that took that path – but we normals didn’t choose the new rules. The left did. It gave us Ferguson, Middlebury College, Berkeley, and “Punch a Nazi” – which, conveniently for the left, translates as “punch normals.” And many of us have had personal experiences with this New Hate – jobs lost, hassles, and worse. Some scumbags at an anti-Trump rally attacked my friend and horribly injured his dog. His freaking dog.

Will the country dissolve into another Civil War, only this time divided not by North and South, but Left and Right? I hope not because the extremes of either side are not places where I want to live. Political violence of the type we’ve been increasingly seeing over the past several years is not only not the way things are done America, they are anathema to the democratic republic which we are meant to be.

I hope that the Department of Justice will investigate all cases of political extremism that exhorts or results in violence, no matter who is involved.

The driver that allegedly committed the murder is in custody, but that should be the beginning, not the end of the investigation. Violent attacks by anyone at what is supposed to be a peaceful political rally should not be tolerated and should be aggressively prosecuted by state and federal law enforcement agencies.

THAT is what I want the President to tell us is going to be his policy. Debate, yell, hold up stupid signs, sing silly slogans, wear idiotic costumes all you want, but any sort of violence should be stopped by the police immediately and the perpetrators prosecuted.

The only way that this political violence will be stopped is if it’s not tolerated no matter who is doing it.