Americans Have Become Fratricidal

From Chad Pecknold at The Catholic Herald:

Augustine criticized everything about Rome, and he never gave any policy proposals to the Senate. He criticized Roman fertility cults which emasculated men, prostituted and debased women, and generally tended to cut people off from the source of life itself — both in natural and supernatural terms. Like Philip Dick’s insight into the human soul in “The Minority Report,” Augustine sees the impulse towards murder as fundamental to Rome’s malaise. Behind all of Rome’s spiraling moral decline, Augustine concludes, stands a primordial murder. Rome was built on a fratricide — Remus and Romulus, the twin brothers who founded Rome, argued over the founding of the city, and Romulus killed his twin brother, and named the city for his own glory (Roma). 

Rome didn’t have a gun problem, but they had the same problem we have in America: we are fratricidal. And that is not owing simply to something in the founding of Rome or America, but a fratricide prior to every nation, namely Cain and Abel whom Augustine calls “archetypes” for the city whose walls are “dripping with a brother’s blood.” (Read more.)

Castro's doxxing is an example of the hate that has taken over. From The Federalist:

On Tuesday, Democratic Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, who chairs the presidential campaign of his twin brother Julian, tweeted the names and employers of more than 40 San Antonians who maxed out their donations to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Mind you, the federal maximum is $2,800 per individual, so we’re not talking about nefarious millionaires and billionaires or political activists or public figures. The congressman doxed a bunch of retirees and business owners whose only sin was displeasing Castro.

The congressman claims he is targeting voters who “are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders.’” First of all, if Castro disagrees with his fellow Texans on whether illegal immigrants are “invaders,” he is free to try to change their minds. Instead he decided to sic every unhinged progressive activist in Texas on these businesses, which, one imagines, employ and serve plenty of people in his community that don’t even care about politics. 

Then again, Castro has no clue if those he singled out support Trump’s rhetoric on immigration or even if they support his position on the borders. Maybe some of his victims maxed out because they’re happy with the unemployment rate or like GOP’s tax policy. Or maybe they see the election as a binary choice and prefer a demagogic president to a leftist congressman who feels comfortable doxing his own constituents? Who knows? Not that it really matters, of course. I may believe that Castro is a lightweight authoritarian, it still doesn’t mean I should post his family’s business addresses on Twitter. 

Democrats like Castro have adopted a political zealotry that rationalizes virtually any tactic they deem is necessary to fight Trump. This, I guess, now includes intimidation. The purpose of tweeting these names wasn’t merely to bully those who have already donated to Trump’s reelection, but to warn anyone in his district thinking about contributing to consider potential retaliatory public attacks on their businesses (or worse.)

Leftist groups have become quite adept at destroying the lives of those who back causes they dislike. Most notably there is the case of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, who had the audacity to dissent from prevailing opinions in California. While Eich can weather such an event, I wonder what the Texans on Castro’s list will do if their businesses go under? All for the sin of expressing a political opinion. It is true, as some readers will no doubt point out, that anyone could look up these names, as they are a matter of public record. That’s a problem, indeed. For one thing, campaign finance laws are meant to keep politicians honest, not to be used as Enemies Lists by politicians. But Castro, who has a far bigger megaphone than most, makes a strong case for expanding anonymity in political speech. (Read more.) 

And the accusation of "racism" has become overused. From The Hill:

When I was Manhattan Borough president and president of the New York City Council, I asked him numerous times to help black or Hispanic groups, and he always came through, many times without publicity. When a hurricane ravished Puerto Rico in the mid 1980s, I asked many big companies to give various forms of assistance — but the problem was how to get all of this aid down to Puerto Rico. I called Donald Trump, and he provided us with a 727 jet to take all of the donated material down to the island, and he didn’t ask for any publicity for that generous act. 

My friend, Rev. Floyd Flake, the minister of the largest black church in Queens, asked for some help for his senior center. Again, I called Donald Trump and he wrote a big check. One day I met an African American woman on the street with her two adorable young kids. She was homeless, and I gave her some money — and then asked Donald to get her into some low-income housing in Queens. He came through, and did so without any fanfare. 

When President Trump recently attacked Congressman Elijah Cummings(D-Md.), he was not doing so because Rep. Cummings is black but because the president is a counter-puncher. And he is right that Cummings has been a congressman for 22 years and that Baltimore, part of which is in his congressional district, is a mess. The city has gotten worse during his tenure: more poverty, more drugs and more crime. The president is honest and doesn’t parse his words, like most politicians, and that drives the media crazy. But his honesty is refreshing, and he is usually right, if not always diplomatic. 

African American and Hispanic unemployment under his presidency is the lowest it has been in 60 years. The president pushed through criminal justice reform and has created empowerment zones that help economically distressed communities — and their poorer residents — through tax incentives and grants. In short, he has done more for minorities in three years than President Obama did in eight, and he deserves credit instead of rebuke. (Read more.)

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