Victim blaming is wrong — unless the victim is a Republican lawmaker, apparently

There have been two high-profile cases recently in which acts of violence have been committed against members of the GOP. In each instance, someone in media has responded either by suggesting the victimized lawmaker and the Republican Party have themselves to blame for what happened, or by trivializing it.

“The attack on Rand Paul by his neighbor reveals a sinister banality of American life that, these days, is often emanating from Donald Trump,” read a tweet published this weekend by the New Yorker.

The Kentucky senator suffered approximately six broken ribs and lacerations to his lungs earlier this month after his neighbor, a registered Democrat, assaulted him on his property in the Bluegrass State. Paul tweeted recently that he is still in a “good deal of pain,” and announced at the same time that he was excited to get back to work in Congress.

Though the senator is the clear victim of a criminal assault, one that may have stemmed from a trivial property disagreement, The New Yorker found a way somehow to make this about the GOP and President Trump.

“The sinister banality of American life periodically moves into view, with a lot of it these days emanating from Donald J. Trump, the person who was elected President, a year ago,” writes Jeffery Frank.

He added, “The attack on Rand Paul, whether over lawn trimmings, compost, the noise of a riding mower, or something still concealed, is a reminder of how easy it is to get worked up, even crazily so, over all sorts of questions … that, in the end, mostly manage to break a lot of coffee makers while dividing Americans.”

Okay.

That’s almost as bad as the time former CBS News anchor Scott Pelley seemed to suggest it was Rep. Steve Scalise’s, R-La., own fault that a deranged gunman tried to kill him and other GOP lawmakers in a (thankfully) poorly-executed politically-motivated assassination attempt.

“It’s time to ask whether the attack on the United States Congress, yesterday, was foreseeable, predictable and, to some degree, self-inflicted,” Pelley said in June, suggesting that both sides are to blame for the shooting.

He added, “Too many leaders, and political commentators, who set an example for us to follow, have led us into an abyss of violent rhetoric which, it should be no surprise, has led to violence.”

And if it’s not blaming the victim, it seems like an all-too-common response in media to attacks on Republicans is to laugh it off, like MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt did Monday while discussing the Paul assault.

Violence is serious. Unless it’s a Republican. Then it’s apparently a bit of a gray area.