Rachel Maddow did something remarkable on her show last night -- she actually blamed violence committed by anti-Trump protesters on violent anti-Trump protesters. Then she quickly reverted to form.
For MSNBC's marquee host to make such an unexpected admission means that liberals are clearly more worried about the presidential campaign than they're letting on.
First came the shocking polls that found presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump running neck and neck against likely Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, after months of conventional punditry predicting Clinton beats Trump in a blowout. Then there was that raucous Democrat state convention in Nevada that laid bare the toxic divisions between Democrats as Bernie Sanders vows to battle Clinton all the way to a potential powderkeg of a national convention.
This week the unsettling trend continued -- violent protests staged by leftist agitators outside a Trump rally in New Mexico. While some in the media predictably blamed Trump, Maddow apparently decided it was time to state the obvious --
MADDOW: There were interruptions of Donald Trump by protesters inside the convention hall there last night. There were also some significant and violent protests outside the event. Uh, I do think it's worth differentiating between the kind of violence we have seen inside Trump events earlier in his campaign this year and the kind of violence we're now seeing by anti-Trump protesters outside his events.
One being far worse and not just "different" than the other, which Maddow cannot bring herself to acknowledge --
MADDOW: It's not like there's any one knowable group that's organizing these instances of violence outside Trump events, so it's hard to know how they are going to be curtailed.
And rest assured, we here at MSNBC will do everything in our power to ensure that those organizing these protests remain unknowable to the public --
MADDOW: But at some point the organized opposition to Donald Trump is gonna have to come up with a way to try to stop violence at anti-Donald Trump protests to try to channel the legitimate vitriol and upset that he has aroused into non-violent and more constructive demonstrations.
And the reason this needs to happen -- drum roll please --
MADDOW: And that may or may not be the responsibility of the Democratic electoral campaign against Donald Trump, but as the Democratic primary comes to an end and the division becomes clearer between the two sides in this race, Donald Trump and not-Donald Trump ...
As it becomes clear which of the two sides so frequently resorts to violence --
MADDOW: ... the Democratic side is going to start getting blamed for these violent protests and they are going to have to engage constructively somehow to try to stop this stuff from happening.
Ah, so that's why. Not because mayhem as a form of protest is inherently wrong. Not because people's lives and property are being put at risk. Not because of greater demands on police with crime on the rise now that liberals have turned every arrest into a potential career-ender for every cop. Not because municipal budgets are tight and taxpayer money is being squandered to quell riots.
No, Maddow's concern here is singular -- Democrats are "going to start getting blamed." And if the connection between violence and and the left becomes indelible, as was the case in the annus horribilis of 1968, it won't matter who the Democrats nominate. If they can't control the moonbats in their midst, voters won't trust them with the country.
Rest assured that Maddow's anxiety over this won't last long and will lapse at some point in November.
