A little over a month ago, our editor, Paula Bolyard, sent me a message. Someone had emailed PJ Media with what amounted to a death threat, aimed at me over a piece I had written about ICE. This may not have been a “first” for Salem or Townhall, but it was definitely a first for PJ Media and me. I passed the email along to the local authorities and placed a call to the FBI.
The piece itself was pretty vanilla, and I am by no means the most controversial writer in the PJM stables. I leave the good rants up to KDJ. So, I was surprised that the article would elicit such a tantrum. Several people chalked it up to the knee-jerk rantings of an immature, unsocialized lunkhead who lacked any critical thinking skills or impulse control. Then I got angry that some low-brow cretin would threaten me and, by extension, my family. But there seems to be a lot of that going around these days.
I grew up in southern Ohio, spent days in Cincinnati at Riverfront Stadium, the Children’s Museum (which used to feature its own cave complete with waterfalls and bottomless chasms), the zoo, a great art museum, and some of the best restaurants around. A trip to Cincinnati was a treat. Even in my post-grad days as a delivery driver, I welcomed runs to the Queen City because I could have lunch at Camp Washington Chili. For some reason, Cincinnati is (or was) known for its chili. And they did make good chili down there.
The last time I was in the Buckeye State, it was for my wife’s family reunion. I had no desire whatsoever to leave northeast Ohio and head southwest to see my hometown or Cincinnati. For one reason, we weren’t there to tour my old stomping grounds, and two, I saw how those places were degenerating when I left home decades ago. So the recent events following the Jazz Festival did not surprise me in the least. But about the time I thought that the situation could not get any more rancid, I learned that Holly, the woman who was knocked out cold on the sidewalk, had to go into hiding and hire a security team.
We have been told that the hostilities started over the use of the n-word. As far as I can tell, Holly did not instigate anything and did not utter the word in question. She stepped in to try to break up the fight. In addition to life-altering injuries, she now has to worry about her safety after the fact. Why? If I had to guess (and it is only a guess), it is probably because she received threats from the anonymous, cowardly howler monkeys similar to the one that I received via Paula. Despite her peaceful intentions, Holly’s infractions seem to be that she was in the wrong place, on the wrong side, and if we are to be painfully truthful, the wrong race. And that is something that internet monsters of all colors are more than happy to seize upon. If I were a betting man, I would wager that there are more white progressives harassing this woman than anyone else.
Of course, not every sociopath on the public spectrum bothers to cloak their identity. Consider the case of a public school teacher in Baltimore. He is under investigation for allegedly singling out Jewish students in his class and threatening to go “all Nazi” on them. The teacher even followed the threat up with Nazi salutes. This prompted the other students to taunt the Jewish students with Nazi salutes, say things such as “six million was not enough,” and “We should call Hamas and have them come here.” And then there were the incidents of Nazi graffiti.
That is inexcusable, and frankly, swift kicks in the rear end should be administered all around. But the students have no idea what goes on in geopolitics or the bloody history of the Third Reich. They have been conditioned to follow the herd, and their cohorts and the internet have taught them that outrage and cruelty constitute the coin of the realm. In their world, Jew-hating has become cool, and in their desire to be socially acceptable, they will gladly become monsters. A generation has been raised to follow the herd, even if the herd leads them into a volcano.
It is no secret that protesters, rioters, and people who scream at steering wheels are never seen holding clothing or food drives, donating blood, repairing damaged homes, or even picking up trash while walking through the park. Selfless acts are worthless to someone whose world revolves around themselves and who finds self-actualization through performative tantrums and acts of violence. Threats, vandalism, and chaos are all they need to see themselves not just as agents of change, but members of an elite class of people: the righteously outraged. Why build something when there is so much catharsis to be had through destruction?
And so, we will continue to see outrage, death threats, and insanity. But as the late Paul Harvey once said, “Self-government won’t work without self-discipline.” The agents provocateurs will be more than happy to let the country become populated with feral activists, purveyors of social media inanity, and adults who, if I read the news correctly, have turned to sucking on pacifiers to relieve stress. Once people have tired of the chaos, someone will gladly step in to restore order. It has happened before, you know.
I, for one, welcome our new overlords. Sure, they’re probably going to stand me up against a wall and shoot me, but it beats buying a pacifier.
