Michael Dorstewitz complained in an Oct. 6 Newsmax column:
We’ve heard a lot of talk lately, but no actual communication — no debate, no exchange of ideas. It’s been mostly name-calling — the sort of thing that nearly led to President Trump’s assassination, and got Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk murdered.
The idea of resorting to name-calling your opponent and his supporters took root with President Obama, when he dismissed small-town “flyover country” conservatives.
“It’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,” he claimed.
But it really took off in 2016, when then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton put half of her Republican opponent’s supporters into what she called her “basket of deplorables.”
[…]Today, Republican candidates are typically called fascist or dictator, and compared to Hitler, Stalin, or Mussolini.
If you repeatedly call someone Hitler long enough, someone will eventually decide to save the world and kill Hitler.
One would think that after an attempted assassination, the country would take a step back and reconsider what they’re doing. But it’s been the exact opposite, according to Chuck DeVore, of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF).
Curiously missing from Dorstewitz’s list of supposedly Democratic-caused events: the 2021 Capitol riot, a much more recent even than Obama’s 2008 statement. That’s because he’s totally cool with the riot and its aftermath:
- A few weeks after the riot, Dorstewitz complained about the fence erected in its aftermath, denouncing it as “an ugly blot on the landscape, with 12-foot fences topped with razor wire, guarded by thousands of armed troops.”
- In a May 2021 column, Dorstewitz grumbled about “domestic violent extremists” cited by Democrats by playing whataboutism: “CNN mentioned the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, both considered right-wing groups but associated with relatively little violence. Missing are Marxist groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, which have inflicted billions of dollars in property damage, and are responsible for multiple deaths and injuries.”
- Dorsrtweitz groused in a July 2021 column: “No one is arguing that what the January 6 rioters did was noble or even smart. It was disgusting. But the rioters carried no weapons, set off no bombs, and one of the protesters was the sole homicide victim: an unarmed female U.S. Air Force veteran, Ashli Babbitt, who posed no threat, but was nonetheless shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer lying in wait. Once again, what’s the Biden Justice Department hiding from the American people?”
- Dorstewitz spent an August 2021 column complaining that Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd was exonerated in the death of Ashli Babbitt, huffing that “Capitol Police enjoy special privileges not shared by officers serving other agencies. … Any other officer working for any other agency under similar circumstances would have been indicted by now, and have been given a public trial., and adding, “it was no insurrection. It was disturbing, it was frightening, and yes, it was wrong. But it was also “Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour” — or in this case, three hours.”
- In a March 2024 column, Dorstewitz repeated the lie that the Trump administration “requested National Guard troops to protect the Capitol when the electoral vote was counted and certified by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021,” citing the testimony of the highly unreliable Anthony Ornato. He concluded: “The incident offers one more reason that Republicans have to retain House leadership, take over the Senate, and secure the White House on Nov. 5.”
- Dorstewitz used an April 2024 column to tell the sob dstory of “praying grandma” Rebecca Lavrenz, who was punished for her role in the riot, stating that “she didn’t damage any property, she didn’t take any ‘souvenirs,’ she neither harmed nor threatened to harm any police officer or member of Congress.” In fact, Lavrenz has attacked the police officers working that day and does not dispute that she committed crimes, which makes her demands for money to offset her legal expenses look not unlike a grifting operation.
- A December 2024 column by Dorstewitz made a big deal out of “confidential human sources” allegedly taking part in the riot, adding, “that’s why we need an outsider like Kash Patel to run and clean out the bureau.”
Sure sounds like Dorstewitz cares more about defending the Capitol riot than denouncing it. That makes hin a less-than-reliable observer.