Islam, the religion of peace, has been shanghaied by its radical fringe.  The American left is going down the same path.

Liberalism struggles to deal with innately malevolent, self-serving human behavior.  It was okay for Neanderthals, but it has no place in modern, enlightened society.  It threatens liberal thinkers and is an obstacle to attainment of their egalitarian goals.  In their postmodern mindset, the seven deadly sins, the id, the yin, though abundantly evident in contemporary human behavior, are products of the environment, not of persistent innate primitive instincts.  As such, the evils of capitalism, racism, and sexism are therefore all amenable to environmental manipulation.  A nurturing government will rein in runaway capitalism with redistributive policy.  Affirmative action, quotas, entitlement programs, and urban renewal will sweep away racism.  The feminist movement will neutralize sexism.

That was yesterday.  More recently, it has become increasingly evident to the left that the id continues to rear its ugly head despite their best attempts to decapitate it.  The irredeemable deplorables – anyone outside the liberal bubble – are alive and well.  Denial of a vibrant dark side of human nature has failed to set them free.  Hillary Clinton was not elected POTUS.  A fascist dictator occupies the Oval Office.  We have not entered the Age of Aquarius.  Unfettered peak liberalism is not the law of the land.  Black Lives Matter!  Income inequality worsens.  Globalization is under siege.  Driven by their self-righteousness, the more ardent disciples of the left can only turn to more aggressive means of casting off their cloak of oppression.

Rhetorical extremism increasingly reigns.  All not worshiping at the altar of left-wing victimization are cast as irrelevant, hateful, unenlightened bigots.  Free speech is routinely censored.  The antifa fascists employ vandalism to silence "hate speech."  Republican town hall meetings are shouted down.  Trump's severed head is held up in effigy.  He is stabbed to death in theater.  Republican congressmen are marked for assassination.

Radical left-wing activists and their disciples in media, academia, and entertainment have opened Pandora's box.  Only they can shut it, but they do not seem so inclined.  Like the moderate Muslims who remain silent in the face of Islamic terrorism, the moderate left seems to be okay with the radical left's violent streak.  It's all the fault of the right, anyway.  After all, the victimized are justified in resorting to any means necessary to vanquish the villains in attaining social justice, just as ISIS is justified in lashing out at American and Western imperialism, the source of all their problems.

Ex-president Obama, in a farewell address in Chicago in January, expressed admiration for restraint shown by outgoing presidents in retreating from the political arena but indicated that he would not stay silent if he perceived a threat to core American values (under the new administration).  Apparently, he feels that censoring of free speech, violence, and attempted murder remain within the realm of core American values.

No red line has yet been crossed.  If and when it is, what then?  History provides us the answer.