Burke: Right’s violent rhetoric getting harder to dismiss

By Tom Burke / Herald columnist

The violent overthrow of democracy in America isn’t a fantasy anymore says the Department of Homeland Security, warning about the threat of “ideologically motivated violent extremists” agitated about President Biden and perceived grievances fueled by false narratives.

Daily, we hear that armed rebellion against all levels of government and the lawful implementation of measures to save lives during the pandemic, such as masking and vaccinations, has moved from anonymous internet chatter to blatant calls to take up arms against school boards, state and local officials, and the federal government.

(And it’s not that it could happen, it has happened: on Jan. 6 we saw insurrectionists violently attack the Capitol, erect a scaffold to hang the Vice President, and people died; there was a plot to kidnap and kill the governor of Michigan; and local officials, including school board members and their families, are personally threatened. And it ain’t just in red states, it happened in Marysville on Aug. 18; and an armed mob moved in to Snohomish last year.

And now there’s polling indicating many are, if not advocating outright violence, threatening violence if their “demands” are not met.

But before we go any further, let’s be absolutely, totally clear on one thing:

All the threats, all the intimidation, all the bull**** are based on lies.

Lies by Donald Trump. Lies by ultra-right wingers. Lies by power-hungry politicians exploiting and building on Trump’s lies. Lies by media personalities clamoring for more money and more influence. Lies by Russia and our other international enemies. Lies by the ignorant or (and I’ll be charitable) the misguided buying into the lies spewed by Trump and corrupt pols and media moguls and Putin and his pals. And, in a very special category, there are the QAnon lies and their impossible package of total insanity.

The lies range from Trump’s Big Lie (his “The election was stolen”); to the lies told by foreign and domestic opportunists about covid, masks, vaccines, Ivermectin and kids and testing and all the other stuff that’s put 750,000 Americans in the grave. And then there’s the lie that our “freedom” is somehow at stake because government is lawfully mandating measures needed to control the pandemic.

Now I am neither ignorant nor stupid about last summer’s racial justice demonstrations or the Seattle “CHOP” fiasco where the city completely mishandled the situation and allowed it to spiral out of control.

But those disturbances weren’t insurrection. There was anger and angst, but the violence sprang largely from opportunistic hoodlums and provocateurs from both sides who turned legit demonstrations into anarchy and, more often, exercises in simple looting and theft. There was no plan to overturn the certification of an election, murder a vice president, or threaten schoolboard members into submission.

Now, about the polling warning we are on the brink of something that could easily spiral out of control:

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) just released data showing a large number of Republicans — 3 in 10 — believe violence might be justified “to save our country.”

But it then establishes that among those who believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, support for justified violence rises to 39 percent.

And among those who most trust right-wing news, it’s 40 percent. (And pollster

John Zogby recently found a plurality of Americans — 46 percent — believed a future civil war was likely.)

For clarity’s sake, PRRI’s data shows 31 percent of American adults wrongly believe the election was stolen from Trump; and 39 percent of them believe violence could be justified, which translates to 12 percent overall — about 31 million American adults — believing, that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”

And if that doesn’t scare you enough, consider U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and her recent statement that while the racial justice protests were “an attack on innocent American people … whereas Jan. 6 was just a riot at the Capitol. And if you think about what our Declaration of Independence says, it says to overthrow tyrants.”

Tyrants? Tyrants?

Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, and Bashar al-Assad are tyrants.

Joe Biden isn’t a tyrant. Nor is Chuck Schumer, Jay Inslee, or the Marysville School Board. They are all legitimately elected officials entrusted with our health and safety.

So who the hell is Marjorie Taylor Green talking about?

It would seem she’s targeting Democrats, moderate Republicans, and independents. And especially Nancy Pelosi, saying about the speaker of the House of Representatives, “She’s a traitor to our country, she’s guilty of treason. And it’s, uh, it’s a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason.”

So if you’re a Democrat, never-Trump Republican, or independent, watch your back. Marjorie Taylor Green and her crew have you targeted for “overthrow.” Or worse.

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.