By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--June 3, 2016
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"You were asking for it." It's the ultimate 'blame the victim' line, and it's been used in an attempt to excuse everything from theft, to Rape, to Murder. If you didn't leave it out, it wouldn't have been taken. If you didn't insult that guy, he wouldn't have punched you. If you didn't dress 'all pretty' the rapist wouldn’t have pounced.
Now, Sam Liccardo - the Hillary-supporting mayor of 'sanctuary city' San Jose - is employing that argument in an effort to absolve violent rioters of wrongdoing."Our police officers have done an extremely courageous and professional job so far," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo told The Associated Press by phone. "We're all still holding our breath to see the outcome of this dangerous and explosive situation." The mayor, a Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter, criticized Trump for coming to cities and igniting problems that local police departments had to deal with. "At some point Donald Trump needs to take responsibility for the irresponsible behavior of his campaign," Liccardo said.For progressives, the "irresponsible behavior of his campaign" basically amounts to "speech we don't like." They despise Trump's opinions, his words upset them, and they're lashing out in an effort to silence the candidate and his supporters. The excuse is: If he didn't say the things he said, we wouldn't have to punch people, destroy cars, and burn stuff. Remember, via CNN, this is what went down in Liccardo's city:
Protesters jumped on cars, pelted Trump supporters with eggs and water balloons, snatched signs, and stole “Make America Great” hats off supporters’ heads before burning them and snapping selfies with the charred remains. Several people were caught on camera punching Trump supporters.By blaming Trump for the despicable rage-based actions of the rioters, Liccardo is essentially arguing that the rioters - who spent the night carping about how California should still be part of Mexico - are simply too stupid or too out of control to fight speech with speech. It's not a new argument. We've heard progressives make it before - when they were demanding free speech limits in the wake of shootings at a Mohammed cartoon exhibit.
“Fighting words is the idea that you are saying something that is so offensive that it will lead to an immediate breach of the peace,” Szmer explained. “In other words, you are saying something and you should expect a violent reaction by other people.” The exhibit of cartoons in Texas might have crossed the line, Szmer said. “I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect what they were doing would incite a violent reaction,” he said.So remember, folks:That guy at the top of the page covered in blood? He had had it coming. If you're walking around San Jose, minding your own business, and some thug descends upon you; don't start whining. You were probably asking for it. If you hadn't enraged your attacker with your 'irresponsible behavior,' you would have been fine.
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