As LU legal analyst Jerome Woehrle observed yesterday, journalists in the U.S. are excusing the theft of white-owned farm lands by the government of South Africa on the grounds that government officials are “democratically elected.” Highlighting the ludicrousness of the argument, Woehrle writes:
No one would defend genocides committed by governments in the New World against Native Americans based on the fact that some of them were committed by democratically-elected governments. Nor would journalists defend even milder violations of rights committed against non-Europeans by democratically-elected governments.
A lesser, though significant, example of justifying malicious acts by calling them “political statements” comes out of a high school in a Sacramento suburb. There a 17-year-old senior became so enraged at the sight of a “Make America Great Again” cap worn by a classmate that she began hurling obscenities and became violent, physically attacking the student and her teacher. She is now facing criminal charges.
According to Sacramento CBS affiliate KOVR, the aggressor, Jo-Ann Butler, grabbed the hat off the head of the student wearing it and slapped her teacher as he attempted to escort her from the room.
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In an interview with reporters, a more subdued Butler insists that “that’s a racist and hateful symbol,” which of course is a matter of opinion. It is unlikely that it is the opinion of the wearer, whose actions are protected by a school policy that permits the wearing of political symbols, as does the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
At one point in the interview, Butler further explains her action. “Maybe just wake people up in some type of way, because it’s not cool the environment our classroom is in.” One might ask whether she thinks the stunt she pulled will make the environment in the classroom cooler.
This incident is the latest in a growing list of episodes in which tolerance-preaching liberals become violent over the mere suggestion of the fact that Donald Trump is president.
