We often read about both siderism in our media: the insistence by the punditocracy and many reporters that both sides are equally responsible for the rot in our political system. But there’s often something more pernicious going on: an absurd emphasis on something when one political party does it (that would be the party beginning with “D” or someone affiliated with that party) while worse transgressions by the other side are ignored or minimized. A good example of that phenomenon here, at Eric Boehlert’s excellent blog, Press Run, which documents both siderism almost as well as Driftglass, without th colorful language.
The phenomenon appears to have a more generalized left-right existence. We are fed a constant diet of stories about anti-police protestors being violent, when often those episodes are fairly trivial or, and this goes mainly unspoken, fomented by right wing “outside agitators”, like the teenager who just murdered two people and whose right wing connections are being soft pedaled as I write. At the same time, things like this go unreported or consigned to the back pages:
The far right in Idaho—which seemingly now includes its state Legislature—has a rule: Free speech for me, none for thee. Protesters from the right are welcome with open arms, but protesters from the left get thrown in jail.
That became manifest Monday in Boise when a horde of anti-COVID-19 restriction activists led by antigovernment figure Ammon Bundy broke into the chambers of the Statehouse, shoving their way past state troopers, pounding on doors, shouting and breaking doors and windows along the way, and then invading committee hearing rooms. But not only was no one arrested, state officials decided to accommodate them. It starkly contrasted with the scene a few years ago, when peaceful protesters seeking equal rights for LGBTQ people were arrested en masse for standing silently in the halls of the building.
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Bundy—who has been the primary figure in the far-right resistance in Idaho to pandemic-related measures—led the crowd of entirely maskless protesters at the Statehouse steps, who began chanting “Let us in!” after access to the gallery seating in both Senate and House chambers was restricted to half-capacity and seats quickly filled up. First they shoved their way past Idaho State Police troopers standing guard, then they banged on doors and windows demanding entry past the gallery doors on the fourth floor. One of the men, according to the Associated Press, was carrying an assault-style rifle.
Rather than enforce the rules and eject the protesters, Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke chose to allow the gallery to fully open. Lawmakers on the floor pleaded with the protesters to stop the chants and be respectful. Eventually, the crowd quieted down after all the seats had filled to capacity.
So a crowd of angry white men, some armed, physically attacked police officers and invaded a state capitol and legislative session. Not only did the police do nothing, even when the white folks physically accosted them, but the Republicans surrendered to them, which, I suppose, was entirely predictable. Predictable also was the press response to this outrage, which is a far greater threat to our political system than anything street protestors may have done. Something like this should be a front page story in every newspaper. Needless to say, it hasn’t been. Imagine what we’d be reading in our papers and seeing on our televisions if a gang of black men did precisely the same thing. The press is not just normalizing Trump, it is normalizing all right wing criminality. All of this is unlikely to end well.