Watch Your Tongue

For John, BLUF:  It should be a "No No" for people to publically call for the assassination of a President or Presidential Candidate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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New York Times Columnist Promotes Political Murder

Here is the sub-headline:

A study in dangerous cluelessness

From Bravo Blue, by Attorney John A Lucas, 10 July 2024.

Here are two key paragraph from the article:

A more recent example of this homicidal fixation was on display in an interview of a New York Times columnist, John McWhorter. He appeared on June 28, on The Glenn Show which is a podcast by Brown University economics professor Glenn Loury. McWhorter, who is a regular Loury guest, had appeared on an earlier episode when he said that someone should kill President Trump. Although McWhorter sprinkled his June 28 comments with half-hearted regrets, he essentially doubled down on his earlier comments, saying only that he should not have made his statements publicly and promised that “I’m gonna say it again.”

McWhorter is an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University and a regular New York Times columnist. Most of his Times columns discuss the use of language and words. Think about that as you listen to and read his words about his desire to see President Trump murdered.

Professor and New York Times Columnist John McWhorter has called for the assassination of Donald J Trump, to prevent him from again becoming President.  This is a question of acceptability at two levels.  The first level is that of the Secret Service.  Is this something that the Secret Service needs to take seriously?  I would think that had I uttered those kinds of words and the Secret Serice became aware they would take it seriously, as should the rest of us.  Threatening the life of a President or Presidential Candidate is unacceptable.♠

At another level there is the question of civil society accepting this kind of talk.  As the Author points out, at The New York Times the Newsroom forced out an Editor for allowing an Opinion Piece by a sitting US Senator, Tom Cottom, to go to print.  Why not a ssimilar response to a suggestion by an opinion writer that someone assassinate Candidate Donald J Trump?

It is one thing to call for the President to stand down or for him to face the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, or to say the President, or a Candidate is not fit.  That is all legitimte.  It is wrong to suggest physical harm or violence against a President or a Candidate.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Which is why I find it so strange that the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, does not provide security for Independent Candidate Robert F Kennedy, Junior.  Is the assassinatoin of his fsther, a Presidential Candidate, by Sirhan Sirhan, not informing their thihking?