Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

It’s amazing how those on the left refuse to change their tactics, despite the fact that it may cost them the next two elections. One of my suggestions was to distance themselves from extremists, such as Antifa. So far, I haven’t heard any politicians on the left voice any support for this violent organization, but I have heard certain leftists in the media defend their actions. One of them is Vox, an online left-wing propaganda center that masquerades as an education organization. They actually had a segment where they went out of their way to defend Antifa, by trying to convince us that not everybody in that organization is a violent thug. This is something that I find downright comical because violence is part of their whole mantra. The entire reason why this organization exists is to silence all forms of speech and expression that doesn’t match their ideology by any means necessary. The one thing that you can say about Antifa is that they have been upfront about their intentions.

I would say that the most blatant supporter of Antifa is CNN. Just when I thought that this network couldn’t possibly lower its journalistic standards any more than they have since Trump got elected, their pundits have tried to justify Antifa’s actions by labeling them as an anti-hate group fighting against white supremacy. They had a segment similar to the Vox video, where they tried to portray Antifa in a sympathetic light by trying to convince us that not everybody in the organization is a violent extremist, while portraying their opponents as white supremacists. My favorite part of that segment was when they showed how certain Antifa members expose the private information of their opponents to the public, instead of using violence. What the good people of CNN failed to tell their audience about this tactic known as doxing is that it makes people easy targets to the extremists who do use violence. I have actually heard of several libertarian Youtubers, who have had their families threatened and their property damaged after they found themselves doxed by angry leftists.

The worst of the CNN bunch has been Chris Cuomo, who showed an amazing degree of mental gymnastics by talking out of both sides of his mouth. First, he tries to tell us that the turnout for the so-called white supremist side was extremely low for the Unite the Right 2 event that took place in Washington DC. I would say that since only twenty-four of them showed up, the turnout for the White Nationalists was almost nonexistent, especially among the thousands of radical leftists who showed up to this event. What Cuomo doesn’t tell you is that white supremist groups have been in decline for decades, so even on a good day for white supremacy, you may see a couple of hundred at a rally. It’s also pretty evident that after the fiasco that occurred during the first Unite the Right rally, you probably aren’t going to see too many self-respecting right-wingers show up to this event. Also, I have heard some speculation that certain members of the Alt-Right had set this event up to seem like it was a bust for White Nationalists, just so they could watch Antifa members attack police officers and innocent property owners when they had no “Nazis” to fight. If this was their plan, then it was executed beautifully because that is exactly what Antifa did. They even roughed up a few reporters in the process.

Of course, Cuomo had to mention the young protestor who was killed when a man plowed through a crowd of leftists who were blocking the road during the riot that took place in Charlottesville. Cuomo omitted the little detail about how the driver accelerated through a crowd when an Antifa member pulled a gun on him. So, the death of the protestor is on Antifa’s head and not on any member of the so-called Alt-Right, but you would probably be asking too much of CNN to start showing journalistic integrity at this stage. Though the worst part of this segment was when Cuomo said that while he couldn’t justify the violent acts committed by Antifa, he said that not all violence acts are the same. He said that the violence committed by White Supremists is much worse than when it is committed by Antifa. Why? Because Antifa is the side that is fighting against hate, so their actions aren’t as reprehensible. Cuomo then brings up the old press conference where Trump condemns the violence committed by those on the Alt-Right and Antifa during the Charlottesville riots. Of course, he says that Trump was wrong when he said that there was an equivalency between the two sides.

This is where I am going to agree with Cuomo, though for completely different reasons. Trump was actually being generous when he equated both sides because I actually thought that one side had acted far worse than the other. While I wasn’t particularly fond of the idiots waving tiki torches and babbling nonsense about how Jews will not replace them, at least when they were being foolish they were doing it peacefully, unlike Antifa who showed up with baseball bats and homemade shields. We could try to enlighten Cuomo about the virtues of the Non-Aggression Principle, but that would probably go right over his head. Sorry, Chris, but whoever throws the first punch is the one who is in the wrong. Cuomo then tells us that by condemning the actions of Antifa, we are encouraging hate.

First of all, white supremacy is a concept that has been losing so much ground in the Market Place of Ideas that it now sits on the edge of a cliff. Not to mention that Antifa pretty much labels anybody who is the right of Stalin a Nazi. This includes conservatives, Republicans, Trump supporters, libertarians and even flag waving patriots. These are also the same people who have no bones about attacking women, police officers, innocent property owners and even disabled veterans, just so they can silence speech that they don’t like. Hell, Antifa even attacked CNN’s colleagues from CBS, yet Chris Cuomo and other members of that same media outlet have gone out of their way to defend these savages. Not only does it make CNN look bad when they defend these nutjobs, but it’s not really helping the left’s cause. I know that there are many on the left who believe that suppressing the speech of their opponents gives them a leg up in the Market Place of Ideas. In reality it’s doing the exact opposite. I am pretty sure that they aren’t too many people who would watch a video of a bunch masked men beating on an old military veteran in a wheelchair and say, “You know what? I bet it’s these guys in black who have the superior ideas.” That is why the left is losing ground. As I have said before, if they ever hope to become victorious in the battle of ideas, they need to stop supporting those who are making victory impossible for their side. Of course, the left would never heed such advice. Since the left is so tribalistic they will support any extremists on their side, even if it works against them in the long run. There is nothing like self-sabotage from your opponents to make life easier for your cause.