Ashli Babbitt was at best a fool, at worst an insurrectionist with the intent to topple the government. In all events, there is no way she was “murdered.” Had the riot not occurred and the protesters merely stood outside the Capitol and shook placards and chanted slogans, nothing would have happened to her. She would be free to play on Facebook and worship Donald Trump.
But she, along with others, crossed an obvious bright red line when they started smashing the doors and windows of the Capitol.
If you smash your way into anybody’s home, or into a building, let alone a government building, let alone the United States Capitol, you are no longer a protestor. You have crossed the line into trespasser, destroyer of property, the breaker of many laws on the books. If you do this as part of a mob, you’re taking your life in your own hands. If Babbitt didn’t realize this, she was stupid. Nevertheless, she’s a hero to the right.
Ashli Babbitt’s mother gets a standing ovation at CPAC. pic.twitter.com/jgkrRQEbKT
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) March 3, 2023
You are judged by the company you keep, is one adage. Another should be, “You are judged by your heroes.” If unthinking, violent Ashli Babbitt, openly breaking the law is your hero, maybe your value system needs some thoughtful consideration.
— Mike Ryerson 🇺🇸 (@m_ryerson75) March 3, 2023
And I have complete sympathy for her mother and I understand how her mother needs to believe the whitewashed version of the facts, which is that her daughter was a hero, executed for her political beliefs. This is not uncommon with mothers who have lost a child who was out in the world screwing up and paid the ultimate price.
I had a friend once whose gun-toting son was killed one night when he went out joy riding with some of his pals. The boys, then 16-years-old, jumped out of the back of a moving pickup truck. One of them emerged with a few scratches, one of them broke his leg, my friend’s son went under the back wheels of the truck, which crushed his chest and killed him instantly. The young man put himself in that position, literally.
Yet my friend rewrote the story to frame it as a drunk driving accident, because the truth that her son was out in the world with a gun in his pocket, in the company of losers, doing dangerous and stupid things was a story she couldn’t live with. And I get that. And I get Babbitt’s mother’s viewpoint.
What I don’t get is how Babbitt has become a right-wing martyr. What noble principle does she stand for and embody? Loyalty to Donald Trump? MAGA above reason? I guess that must be it.
Wasn’t she also military? I seem to recall that. So she certainly would’ve understood being told to stand down by the authority is protecting the capital building.
The same people adore Rittenhouse. No accounting for taste on that side. And isn’t this the side that wants to be able to shoot the hell out of anyone breaking into anything, house, car, the neighborhood?? Suddenly they’re all upset that a rioter got shot when they would have been happy to clear city streets of protesters in the same way? IOKIYAR, I guess.