Michael Medved: Demonizing, Dehumanizing the Opposition

The context of the brutal assault in Alexandria, Virginia that wounded Congressman Steve Scalise sends an important public message: our elected representatives may wield enormous power but they’re still ordinary Americans who enjoy getting up early on a bright Spring morning to practice for things like a charity baseball game. The crazed shooter had been so warped by hateful leftist propaganda that he couldn’t recognize the obvious humanity of his victims: he asked about party affiliation, and when told they were Republicans he was ready to kill. This time the targets were conservatives and the assailant was a self-styled “progressive,” but both sides have indulged the recent toxic tendency to demonize and dehumanize opponents. The idea that disagreements over health care, taxes, and foreign policy are enough to justify violent assault is repugnant and profoundly un-American. President Trump sounded the right note when he asked the nation to respond to such hatred by coming together for the common good.