Not for the first time in the past five years, a Republican member of Congress has been targeted for assassination by an obviously politically motivated individual. In 2017, James Hodgkinson, a Bernie Sanders supporter, attacked Republicans practicing for the annual charity congressional baseball game. Fast forward to July 21, when a man identified as David Jakubonis allegedly attempted to stab Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) during a gubernatorial campaign event. The two assailants were likely motivated, it can fairly be assumed, by the incendiary rhetoric of the left-wing media – or perhaps even elected Democratic Party politicians. If the Lee Zeldin attack does not serve as a wake-up call, the risk of escalation to an unthinkable level of violence becomes a real possibility.
[substack align=”right”]Political violence is a delicate subject to discuss. Surely most Americans would not wish for it, but it is becoming ever more difficult to ignore the left’s apparent fondness for it – or, if not fondness, then at least an acceptance of it as a means to achieve political and cultural ends. And it can hardly be disputed that the political left has always operated on the idea that the ends justify the means. That is one of the principal distinctions between the modern-day left-wing progressive movement and conservatives; the latter group does not believe that its desired outcomes must be realized by any means possible. The former group – the progressive-socialist extreme left – appears to believe that any means are justified.
After his arrest, Jakubonis was released upon his own recognizance, which immediately raised hackles among conservatives but that is the way the system works in the state of New York – even, it seems, for an individual who just attempted to murder a congressman in broad daylight.
Lee Zeldin Attack in Reverse?
Although one would want to believe justice is blind, it is irresistible to speculate what might have happened if someone had tried to kill a Democrat representative in deep-blue New York. How would the establishment media have reacted? What would the White House have said about such a blatant act – and what fate would the aggressor have met? It is interesting to note that every major media outlet – meaning every left-leaning media company – used words like “attempted assault” and “attack” to describe what happened. This is language crafted to play down the seriousness of what the assailant had in mind, which was murder. Nobody decides to stab another individual without an intent to kill that person – or, at the very least, without accepting that the result of his actions could very well be fatal. Thus, by any rational standard, even if not by legal standard, the individual who tried to stab Mr. Zeldin intended to end his life or was at least prepared to accept that the attack would result in his death and, thus, should have been assumed guilty of attempted homicide, pending a fair trial, of course. Instead, Jakubonis was charged only with attempted assault.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (Photo by Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)
While former President Donald Trump is being widely accused of inciting violence in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6, 2021 – even though not a shred of hard evidence has been produced to support that allegation – Democrat politicians and left-wing pundits have routinely spewed incendiary rhetoric against their political opponents. At this point, it is almost embarrassingly cowardly of most elected Republicans to remain silent on the issue of verbal provocation, even as they themselves are routinely accused of that very sin. Some have stood up, to be fair, but most remain unwilling to address this one concern that could lead to dreadful consequences for the nation. The Lee Zeldin attack elicited relatively little outrage, compared with what Americans would have heard if any Democrat had been the target of an assassination attempt.
Perhaps the most repugnant characteristic of DC swamp Republicans is that, to not rock the boat or derail their lucrative political gravy train, too many representatives of the American people are willing to remain silent as their political opponents fan the flames of violence while feigning outrage over the most innocuous comments made by anyone with whom they disagree.
