It seems some questions were raised by my piece on AT this Thursday. 

Two points specifically, and then I'll move on to Antifa's planned "protest" for today, and how (in my mind) there are two outcomes.

I wrote that there is and was "rhetoric from both sides, ratcheting up to a fever pitch."  Some took this to mean that conservatives share equal responsibility, or blame, for the heated rhetoric.  This is absolutely not the case.  The left are instigating both rhetoric and physical violence, but we, in response to this instigation, are increasing the tenor and tone of our rhetoric in response.  Good, bad, or indifferent, this is a truism.  Anyone who took this sentence to mean that we share equal blame for rhetoric, please accept my apologies.

The second point, and more pressing, is how some took my appeal not to play the left's game as somehow akin to surrendering to the left's actions or laying down arms.  Again, not the case.  We are in a war, but we are in a war for hearts and minds.  Sure, we are significantly more heavily armed than our opponent, but again, we must be cautious not to allow the left to make hay of our missteps.  The left dominate the media and will frame any and all events to serve their narrative.

Sun Tzu wrote:

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.

One win.  One loss.  There were two battles that played out this past summer, to two very different outcomes: Berkeley and Charlottesville.

With Berkeley, in response to a Peace March/Prayer Vigil, Antifa goons swarmed the campus and beat up innocent marchers.  This event was universally decried, with scorn from Democrat politicians lasting about a week.  A win for the good guys.

At Charlottesville, action by white nationalist Nazis resulted in the death of an innocent social justice marcher (/s).  While it is my opinion that all the parties involved in this charade were leftists, the result was a media uproar equating legitimate conservatives with neo-Nazis.

Today's – ahem – "protests' will likewise result in one of two outcomes.  While we hope that Antifa will overplay its hand and expose itself for the terrorist goon squad that it is, take caution that the group doesn't use this event as a ruse to get one or more of us to overreact.  It would not surprise me in the least to see the left sacrifice a few of their own in order to craft a narrative that serves their ends.

We are in a war, and we are fighting on two fronts: radical leftism and the media.  Fight we must, but be vigilant of the wily schemes of our enemy.