WTF are people protesting outside the DNC???

[Jedi Guy]

111. The effect of your posts, for all practical purposes, is to have wave away the violence as someone else's doing.

Yes, right wing provocateurs committed some of the violence, probably the worst of the violence, but that neither excuses nor absolves those on the left who committed other, perhaps less egregious acts of violence. Whenever violence flares up that might have been committed by someone on the left, saying, "Well, remember that those dastardly right wingers did the worst of it last time" is tacitly denying that people on the left might be responsible this time and minimizing it if they were.

In my opinion, that's a facile and frankly dangerous response. If we deny or minimize the things people on our side are doing wrong, that's not helpful. We should be able to admit and call out when people on our side of the fence have done something wrong, without regard to whether someone on the right has done something equally bad or worse. I'm not a fan of giving someone a pass just because they're on my team.

On balance, I'm inclined to doubt right wing provocateurs were involved in the violence outside the DNC. The "pro-Palestinian left", for want of a better label, is extremely passionate about that position. It's an issue that is capable of provoking, and often does provoke, an extremely visceral response. Humans being what they are, that visceral response sometimes leads to violence without needing a provocateur to throw the first rock and manipulate the herd into violence.