The Patriot Post® · Since When Did the Assassination of a President Become Tolerance?

Kathy Griffin’s recent publicity stunt in which she “jokingly” showcases Donald Trump’s decapitated head wasn’t just gratuitous and, to quote a phrase Hillary Clinton used to belittle Trump supporters, “deplorable.” It fundamentally underscores the scary devolution of American values and human decency. Griffin admitted to having “crossed the line,” but only after a flood of complaints. Nor is she alone in advocating death to express dissatisfaction with political leaders on the opposite side of the aisle.

For example, New York’s Public Theater is currently producing a well-known Shakespeare play, “Julius Caesar,” only the characters are modernized to represent people like — well, Donald Trump. In fact, Trump is assassinated in this version, too. And it’s drawing endorsements from pundits like Fareed Zakaria, who trumpeted it as “brilliantly interpreted” and “a masterpiece.” If there’s any consolation, at least two companies — Delta Air Lines and Bank of America — have the common decency to cancel funding. But most will probably continue their sponsorships as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

Recall that in 2013, the Left went bonkers when the Missouri State Fair jabbed Barack Obama by using a rodeo clown to parody him. It certainly wasn’t the most appropriate attempt at humor, but it didn’t rise to the level of assassination promotion, either, which is what “Trump Humor” has become today. The Left justifies this behavior by taking issue with Trump’s ideals, which they bemoan as “non-inclusive.” But most of us can remember a time when even leftists said “enough.” Hypocritically, they would still today — but only if Obama was the one being assassinated (or merely depicted as a clown). Sadly, the push for “tolerance” has transcended incompetence.

The New York Times has a piece on the matter titled, “How Outrage Built Over a Shakespearean Depiction of Trump.” It states, “All over the country, from Oklahoma to Oregon, theaters have been staging ‘Julius Caesar’ this year as a way to chew over politics, power, democracy and authoritarianism at a moment when a populist leader with a fondness for executive power has moved into the White House.” Of course, what the article completely disregards is that no modern president exploited executive power to the extent Obama did. Moreover, just-as-infuriated conservatives didn’t respond with such forthright, wishful demonstrations of the president’s assassination. This is an important distinction — one that flips the “leftism is tolerant and inclusive” mantra on its head.