EJ Montini’s piece, “Arizona Sen. Karen Fann pretends to put out the political firestorm she started,” is an irresponsible screed. Normally I wouldn’t bother addressing something that appears in what now passes for Arizona’s largest daily newspaper, but it is increasingly true that people like Montini will get more and more despicable and dangerous unless we speak out against it.
In his piece, Montini attacks Arizona’s Senate President Karen Fann, and his anger was triggered by Fann condemning those who threaten physical violence and harm against those with whom they disagree. Seriously. Montini decided to use his space in the paper to condemn Fann for her condemnation of people who threaten violence. Regarding threats towards those involved in the audit of the 2020 election, and inspired by recent revelations of death threats received by elected legislators, Fann wrote, in part:
“No matter where a person stands on the audit of the 2020 vote in Maricopa County, or any other matter of public policy, making a threat to a legislator or their family is completely unacceptable. I understand passions run high on the issue of voter integrity, but personal attacks and threats of violence cross the line. It is not a partisan issue; party affiliation doesn’t matter when it comes to personal safety… Differences of opinion should not lead to a breakdown in civility.”
In Montini’s mind, if you support the audit you deserve threats of violence against you or your family and you cannot object to threats. Mind you, Montini doesn’t feel this way if you wanted an audit of the 2016 election. Far from it. Those who ran with the Russia hoax for years remain people he deeply admires and defends. Montini just feels that if you support an audit of the 2020 election, you deserve everything you get.
In what world is that a reasonable, printable position? Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Montini is entitled to his opinion – every idiot is. But he should be held accountable for any action that stems from his endorsement of violence, and his editors, who approve of and pay for his work, should be held accountable both for its fruit, and for the further degradation of our public discourse and its effect on our communities.
Montini says Sen. Fann should be given “points” for “chutzpah,” and none for “ethics or principles or veracity.” As satire, Montini’s works are potentially award-winning. As a serious column they are a dangerous joke. He cannot legitimately assess someone’s ethics, principles, or veracity when a simple reading of his column shows that he lacks all three traits himself.
“Unfortunately, threats like this would not exist if the Senate president and fellow Republicans didn’t ‘Fann’ the flames of alleged election fraud that they know to be untrue, igniting gullible constituents and conspiracy kooks and creating the kind of political firestorm that led to people attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and could lead to further violence at any time.” writes Montini, in an effort to portray the threats as coming exclusively from the right.
Who is he kidding? Anyone who has been involved in politics for any length of time knows it takes nothing for rabidly zealous leftists to not only threaten violence, but to wage it, as we have seen from BLM, Antifa and other groups in various states all over the country. For women, Latinos, and African Americans, who take public positions in support of Republicans, conservative policies, or Donald Trump himself, the threats are vile, relentless, and daunting. And real violence is often not far behind. Montini gets a chuckle out of Larry Elder being assaulted in California for being a black Republican – heck, he makes it clear that he thinks Elder and everyone like him deserves it. But he’s wrong, and like so many other militant leftists, he’s an embarrassment to a movement that barely even pretends to take inspiration from leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. anymore.
Montini, in his waning years, is nothing more than another get-off-my-lawn screaming boomer. His ranting adds nothing to our community conversations and heats up an already overheated atmosphere. The Arizona Republic and our United States Republic will both be better off when he and his ilk realize it and end it.
Any politician or leader who calls for civility and peaceful discourse deserves our praise and protection. It is too bad you won’t read that on E.J. Montini’s part of the Arizona Republic.