Both Sides Are Awful and That Needs to Change, Part II

It’s 2018 and everything is awful. The world is not devoid of “good guys,” but it has become harder and harder to pick them out of a lineup.

This is also not a “left” issue or a “right” issue. Both sides of the spectrum are equally horrid.

For your consideration, I have two examples (out of so many) to offer.

First, let’s consider Michael Miselis.

Miselis is a UCLA doctoral student, with U.S. security clearance to work on sensitive research projects for a top defense contractor, Northrup Gromman.

To hear this alone, you’d probably get the impression that Miselis is a dedicated professional, an upright citizen, and the kind of person that is a credit to his community.

As with anything, it pays to reserve judgment and get all the details.

Miselis has also been uncovered as a violent, anti-Semitic, racist thug, who was front and center last year at the violent Charlottesville, Unite the Right rally in August.

ProPublica, along with Frontline have actively been seeking the identity of some of the white supremacists at the center of much of the violence and chaos that happened that day.

The Rise Above Movement, a Southern California group that expresses contempt for Muslims, Jews, and immigrants, became a focus of that effort. ProPublica and Frontline were able to quickly identify a number of the group’s leaders, and find evidence that put them in the middle of violence in Charlottesville and Berkeley, California, among other places.

But one seeming member of RAM was harder to nail down. In video shot in Charlottesville, a bearded, husky man is seen in a red Make America Great Again hat with his hands wrapped in tape that came in handy for the brawling that occurred that day. During one encounter, the unidentified man in the red hat pushed an African-American protester to the ground and began pounding on him, video of the episode shows; moments later, a known RAM member choked and bloodied a pair of female counterprotesters. The possible RAM member also had turned up in video shot during hours of combat at a Trump rally in Berkeley, as well. Wearing protective goggles to ward off pepper spray, the man fought alongside RAM members, wrestling one protester to the ground and punching others.

Ultimately, ProPublica and Frontline determined the man in the violent footage was Miselis, a 29-year-old pursuing a Ph.D. in UCLA’s aerospace engineering program. Miselis was identified using video footage and social media posts, and reporters confirmed his identity in an encounter with him outside his home. In interviews, a number of California law enforcement officials said Miselis was a member of RAM.

At the 2017 Berkeley riots, Miselis was present and prepared, complete with goggles to protect his eyes from any pepper spray.

So how does someone with that kind of documented history retain any sort of government security clearance?

Something in the age of Trumpism has encouraged things once hidden to come to the surface. What was once too ugly and indecent to entertain in our society is going mainstream.

That’s not a good thing.

Just to be clear, it’s not everyone on the right. I’d say Miselis and his ilk are still the worst extreme. The fact, however, that Northrup Gromman apparently know of his membership in a violent racist gang and have allowed him to remain employed is a problem.

Before the left begin patting themselves on the back and congratulating themselves on taking the high ground, however, I’d have to caution them to dial it back, lest someone start keeping score.

Without even going into the rhetoric of some of their party leadership, such as the canonized former President Obama and current crazed Representative Maxine Waters, with talk of getting in the faces of those they have political disagreements with, let’s address some of the self-righteous bullying from the left.

Earlier Thursday, the world was treated to video of a particularly obnoxious cretin by the name of Kino Jimenez.

Jimenez, reportedly a part-time bouncer at a Texas bar called Rumble, approached a group of teenagers at a San Antonio, Texas Whataburger, apparently, because he couldn’t take the fact that one of the kids was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.

I get it. The hat stirs up some negative feelings in some people.

Jimenez, however, is an adult. These were 16-year old kids, so no matter what his feelings about the hat, the actions taken by Jimenez, as caught on video, were despicable.

Scratch that.

You openly attack a child, you’d have to slither up several rungs to get near the heights of despicable.

You can see what happened with Jimenez here.

https://twitter.com/yougangnamstyle/status/1014696290146570240

The results of the subsequent outrage came first from the management of Rumble, who issued a statement firmly condemning Jimenez’s actions and announcing that he was no longer employed with the company.

http://twitter.com/JoniePEI/status/1014740561008267264

Good for them.

The hope is that what occurs next are criminal charges for assault and theft. He’s a criminal and deserves not only to lose his job, but to be subjected to the full penalty of the law.

So what is the difference between Miselis and Jimenez?

Not a thing. They’re both born from the same seed: Hate.

This is a societal problem, and we are far past the time that both sides need to be dug up by the roots and cast out of power.

I would encourage everyone to begin giving serious consideration to third parties, their platforms, and the rules in your state for getting these parties included on the ballot.

It’s time for a changing of the guard.

What’s more, however, it’s time to truly search ourselves. How do we approach opposing viewpoints? How beholden are we to party politics over civil discussion?

If you want people like Miselis and Jimenez to go away, make sure you’re not guilty of feeding the beast.