^^^^^

BLM has a lot of variety so I hesitate to call them a violent group. Antifa openly defines itself by violence.

Are you saying that only Antifa members were part of the violence? Maybe in a lot of cases it was people whose emotions just boiled over after hours and hours of constant vitriol being tossed back and forth.

Heck, if I was 25 and had been there I would have been throwing punches eventually.

No and that's a really stupid way to interpret what I said, even for you.

One is a larger bag of **** of an organization, agreed.

I'm speaking in general to those (looking at you Goofle) who spout stuff like "I hate both sides".

Ineffectively.

Let's review

So what I mean here by using the qualifier of playing a role in the violence is that the opposition was not entirely made up of people prepared for violence, but the ones that were were members of Antifa. They are a gift to the right with their counterintuitive violent methods and the way that liberals view the political violence with a wink and a nod drives people away from identifying with that group. I would think you would find that as concerning as I do.

The sides are not equally responsible for the violence and did not participate in equal numbers, but that doesn't mean that one side is all evil bad guys and the other is all innocent and fair heroes. Political violence will always be abhorrent and if you think otherwise then your opinion is fueled by partisan irrationality. That is an inarguable fact.

(Not that I agree with calling dangerous language violence but) wouldn't responding to that with violence be succumbing to their level?

Ftr, I have no idea how to resolve the rise in this political ideology, but I don't think that violence is the right answer. Years ago, I might have said that sunshine is the best disinfectant, but I feel like the current state of the digital age has turned that concept into a thing of the past.

I don't think otherwise. Again, just countering broad brush statements about "the other side". I've watched a hell of a lot of the video coverage of the events and seen a lot of interviews of people from that side, and while there were definitely small pockets of folks who looked like they came looking for a fight, the overwhelming majority looked liked just regular folks.

When the worst part of the fighting broke out a lot of those folks got caught up in it. Heck, at one point an older guy with grey hair and a button down dress shirt gets pushed into the fray and ends up on the ground.

No way anyone can justify saying "both sides were equally wrong". ****ing Hannity starts his broadcast Tuesday night with "President Trump finally sets the record straight on Charlottesville".

Would it be considered political violence if I ever saw him on the street and walked up to him and broke his nose????

Yes. And the ones who came for violence are called Antifa. This is what I've been trying to convey to you ever since you asked "what do you call the other side?".

Cool. I've not said that though.

10000000000%

About 12 years ago there was a Nazi demo with around 200 Nazis here and there was a counter demo with about 3000 participants. The cops tried to separate them and us counter-protesters, but me, my then-girlfriend and 2-3 other friends managed to go around the cops and witnessed a scene where a dozen or so Nazis were encircled by counter-protesters and ****ing savagely kicked and beaten with everything they could grab (stones, planks, some discarded boxes).
Now I can't say I'm particularly sad when a Nazi gets a bit beat up, but the savagery of mob mentality is pretty damn disgusting and scary.
Not taking sides here or anything, just a story I remembered