First of all, some perspective on polls. I have had some experience with polls and pollsters during my time in the media. The results of any poll are dependent on, among other things, the demographic contacted, the number of people polled, the questions that pollsters ask, and the way they phrase those questions. And it is not unheard of for organizations to conduct polls to obtain a desired result. So it is always wise to take the results of any poll with a few shakers of salt.
Be that as it may, if the information about a recent poll that the Daily Mail highlighted is at all indicative of the prevailing progressive mindset, we have a problem on our hands that outstrips the November election.
According to the article, Eric Kaufman, a UK-based academic who is currently a professor at the University of Buckingham, conducted a snap poll of "a few hundred people" five days after the attempt on Donald Trump's life. The results from left-wing respondents were sobering, if not downright terrifying.
Under the heading, “Progressive Democrats Far More Likely To Wish Trump Dead: Democrat Voters Who Wished Trump Shooter Hadn’t Missed by Agreement With ‘White Republicans Are Racist,’” Kauffman's poll said that 0% of Leftists strongly disagreed, 15% did not agree or disagree that the shooter should not have missed. But, according to the poll, 71% of the Progressives queried said they strongly agreed that Trump should have died from the assassin's bullet.
Kauffman commented that the results show a growing partisan asymmetry in the U.S., adding that "The Left is more prejudiced against the Right than vice versa.” Kauffman also noted that the survey reflects an attitude among the Left that conservatives are not just wrong but evil. He stated that the Left uses "catastrophizing language" employing words like “white supremacy,” “fascism,” and "danger.” He added, “Given our new politics of identitarian sacredness and moral absolutism, we should not be surprised to see a rise in political extremism.”
Again, it is essential to remember that multiple factors can affect the results of a poll. On the other hand, the results do not seem that far-fetched, given not just the news from the last decade. The seeds that colleges, universities, and even grade schools and high schools have sown have taken root and blossomed. The work of the media and social media giants, wealthy elites, and the nightcrawlers on X, Facebook, and TikTok has had the desired results. And the messaging from the White House about "Mega MAGA Republicans," as just one example, has been successful.
If we are to believe the data this poll provides, and empirical evidence suggests that it should, the Party of Tolerance is not just intolerant; it is quickly morphing into nothing more than a violent mob. It has been on that trajectory for some time, but it is frightening to think that the bloodthirsty mentality is as pervasive as the data would indicate.
As naïve as it may sound, as an ex-lib, I had always harbored a slight hope that when progressives went off on an unhinged rant, they were simply being hyperbolic. It would appear, however, that those on the Left are giving themselves over entirely to the lizard-brain part of their psyches and are on the verge of abandoning any remaining vestiges of common decency and humanity.
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