What do you call a person who uses violence or intimidation in the pursuit of political aims?
If you guessed “terrorist,” you’d be right — unless the terrorist was white. In that case, they’re just a misunderstood shooter with possible mental health problems. Their motives aren’t entirely known, and this person never showed signs of aggression before.
Robert Lewis Dear, 57, is a right-wing extremist who killed three people and left nine wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to National Public Radio, he’s conservative, owns guns and believes abortion is wrong.
Is it a coincidence that a gun-owning, anti-abortion man shot up a Planned Parenthood clinic? Conservative politicians paint Planned Parenthood as a pro-abortion, baby-killing mill. We should be surprised this didn’t happen sooner.
According to Yahoo News, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said he thinks Dear specifically targeted a family planning clinic that performs abortions. In other words, he used violence and intimidation to pursue political aims. He’s a terrorist regardless of whether the media acknowledges it.
Charles Kurzman, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found in a study he conducted that right-wing extremists threaten the safety of our country more than Muslim extremists.
He’s not saying some forms of terrorism are worse or deadlier than others — he’s saying that since 9/11, homegrown terrorism killed more people in the United States than Islamic jihadists.
Still not all conservatives are terrorists. The majority of conservatives aren’t going to shoot people at an abortion clinic. Most people understand that killing is the exact opposite of being “pro-life,” but hateful rhetoric can have unintended consequences.
You can’t put doctored videos on the Internet where undercover freelance reporters get people from Planned Parenthood to “admit” to selling baby parts without some sort of backlash.
Politicians can’t feed into fear-mongering and not expect some people to take extreme measures. To those who don’t do further research, it looked like the government knew about and subsidized selling fetuses on the black market.
Carly Fiorina, Republican primary presidential candidate, apparently doesn’t understand she fed into the buildup.
“This is so typical of the left to immediately begin demonizing the messenger because they don’t agree with the message,” Fiorina said on “Fox News Sunday.”
To be fair, she did call for only peaceful protests against Planned Parenthood but missed the point. Her lies against Planned Parenthood and anti-abortion rhetoric fueled the fire for this shooting.
We can’t have people like this in charge of our country. People who lie for cheap political points shouldn’t run for president.
This mockery against our democracy has gone far enough. If your ideas and opinions can’t be supported with undisputed evidence, you shouldn’t be allowed to run for president.
Cody Sibley is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Opelousas, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @CodySibley.
Opinion: Right-wing extremism caused the Planned Parenthood attack
By Cody Sibley
November 29, 2015
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