Fred LaSor: R.I.P. liberal tolerance

Reporting on another night of rioting in America is no longer “news.” These events are so commonplace and repetitious that we no longer raise our eyebrows and say “this is crazy.” We just accept it as life as usual in Democrat-ruled American cities. Portions of Portland have been burning for two months, but writers for The New York Times and other “reputable” news outlets call the rioters “mostly peaceful” and New York Rep. Jerry Nadler calls riots “a myth.”

Yet when we hear they’re burning Seattle, we don’t need to ask who is lighting the matches or throwing the Molotov cocktails: it’s a left-wing band with one name or another, mostly young, white, masked and throwing frozen water bottles at police as they smash windows of upscale retail stores and paint obscenities on the walls. Their latest tactic is to dress rioters in “civilian” clothes and call the women “moms” and the men “veterans.” Almost all of this is dishonest, but few journalists today care about truth.

This is life in America. Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, all these and more are rocked regularly by bands of marauders who tell us we have to kneel to BLM — an organization that purports to be all about ending “systemic racism” and caring for African Americans. But it’s evident they don’t care about African Americans who are killed by gang-bangers; they only care for African Americans who they can claim are killed by racist police. They call for removing statues, defunding police departments, abolishing courts, and opening jail doors as a way to make up for systemic racism. They don’t explain how defunding police or letting felons free will end racism. If gang members can kill with impunity now, when we have a full complement of police, imagine how they’ll overrun city streets when there are fewer police.

This is all happening in an election year, with one party outspoken in its support for the rioters (whom they insist are demonstrators). I find it difficult to believe that voters will support a political party that wants to give in to the rioters’ demands. Are elections won by supporting lawlessness, destruction and filthy streets? “Vote for me so your cities can be made unlivable” does not sound like a winning slogan.

The most outrageous part of this social movement is its intolerance. Only a generation ago progressives lectured us on the need for tolerance. They led the effort for free speech, gay marriage and gender self-identification. Nike got rich off the slogan “just do it.” Now they want to impose a cancel culture that says if you don’t do what we tell you, we will kick you off social media and destroy your neighborhood, and Nike removes the Betsy Ross flag from their shoes. Political correctness has reached new highs. Liberal tolerance is history.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan reacted to demonstrators in front of her house by tearing down CHAZ/CHOP – the “summer of love” encampment occupying six blocks of prime Seattle real estate. Yet she still claims the civil unrest is because of Trump’s policies. Truth and honesty are prime victims of the demonstrators/rioters, among news media as well as politicians. I watched news coverage on three national networks this week, where riots are routinely called peaceful demonstrations while federal agents are blamed for violence.

Through it all, the unstated theme is “beat Trump.” This is still about the Democrats refusing to accept the results of the 2016 election. They’ve tried everything else, they apparently now think burning the cities will help their candidate more than it will motivate Trump voters. And no one remembers who George Floyd is.