Vast Majority Say Political Climate Encourages Violence

People gather near the scene of a shooting near a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017, where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. was shot during a congressional baseball practice. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

People gather near the scene of a shooting near a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017, where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. was shot during a congressional baseball practice. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A new CBS News poll finds that about three-quarters of Americans, 73 percent, feel the current tone of politics and encourages violence.

As highlighted in a CBS News article about the poll, Democrats are especially likely to say so. Eighty-five percent of Democrats say the current political tone is encouraging violence, while only 68 percent of Independents and Republicans say that’s the case.

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Worse, Americans regardless of political leanings say that the tone and level of civility in our political debates has been getting worse in recent years — about two-thirds of liberals, conservatives and even more moderates feel things have gotten worse. According to poll’s toplines, the partisan divide is similar on this question. Sixty-eight percent of respondents think civility is getting worse — as do 65 percent of Independents, 68 percent of Republicans and 73 percent of Democrats.

This poll was conducted June 15-18, 2017 and has a margin of error plus or minus 4 percent for the entire sample and may be higher for subgroups.

It is surprising that even more people don’t say the civility is getting worse and the tone of political discourse encourages violence. After all, the Democrat Party no longer sees itself as the loyal opposition but rather as “The Resistance,” which cannot help but instill a sense of war and encourage violence. To the older generations The Resistance refers to the underground movement formed in France during World War II to fight the German occupying forces and the Vichy government.

On June 17, 2017 by Lori Hendry published a compendium containing a multitude of examples of the political left’s violent rhetoric and actions. Here is a sample:

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Obama, “If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun“. . . .

HuffPo: Obama Better Start Breaking Knee Caps . . .

Hillary says that she is a “part of the resistance” which is a military term that we all understand.

David Letterman makes a “joke” about the rape of Sarah Palin’s 14-year-old daughter and watch as NBC’s Matt Lauer defends Letterman. . . .

“Rape Melania” had become so popular among the left on Twitter that “Rape Melania” even made it to the Twitter Trending list on November 13, 2016.

You get the idea.

It isn’t that hard to see how it came to pass that Jim Hodgkinson took a rifle, drove from Belleville, Illinois, and proceeded to gun down Republican Members of Congress practicing for a charity baseball game.

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