Rooting for bad things to happen to your adversaries isn't unusual. But when Rush Limbaugh said "I hope he fails" about incoming President Obama in 2009, leftists like talk show host Stephanie Miller suggested he should be executed for treason.
Now, people are talking about vandalism against Elon Musk's Tesla vehicles and dealerships, and crowds cheer and laugh as the Tesla stock price sinks. The double standard is obvious, with the Left switching from Obama is like God to Trump (or Musk) is like Satan.
On Saturday morning, CNN weekend host Michael Smerconish called out The Daily Show (and its whooping audience) for enjoying the attacks on Tesla. On Saturday evening came CNN's news-based "comedy" show called Have I Got News for You. Host Roy Wood Jr. played a clip of CNN host Kaitlan Collins underlining that Musk is donating to GOP members of Congress who back impeaching the activist judges who are overruling Trump’s moves. They don't have the 67 votes in the Senate to remove any Democrat judge. But this is the state of CNN comedians:
AMBER RUFFIN: “When do we riot? When do we — ” (Cheering and Applause)
MICHAEL IAN BLACK: “Here’s what I’ve been doing: I’ve been going around to random Tesla dealers and just lighting cars on fire.” (Laughter)
The joke was it's something you shouldn't say you did, like a public confession. But imagine laughing at Planned Parenthood clinics closing, and then making jokes about rioting or burning down an abortion clinic. We can guess CNN would think that was not just unfunny, but dangerously extremist.
Over at NPR, Bobby Allyn, a reporter specializing in social media and now especially on Musk, did a sympathetic piece on environmental activist Valerie Costa, who received negative tweets and threats for pushing what they call the Tesla Takedown. Musk called her out and suggested she favored violence. Allyn wrote: "There have been a spate of arrests linked to violence against Tesla facilities. Authorities have not said any of the acts were coordinated. Musk's posts on X, Costa said, not only amplified false theories about who is behind the protests, but also conflated peaceful protests with the violent acts. That is deeply alarming, she said."
NPR and other liberal media outlets would not acknowledge anyone inside or outside the Capitol engaged in a "peaceful protest" on January 6, but when the target is associated with Trump and firing federal bureaucrats, the entire attitude changes.
At least NPR (in a separate story) and the AP sought out "experts on domestic extremism" to assess whether the attacks on Tesla qualified as domestic terrorism. This was clearly vandalism and violence meant to intimidate people out of buying or keeping a Tesla, so the T-word fits.
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