The left has brought forth a new kind of dangerous cuture in the last several years.
It’s called “confrontation culture,” and they’re now victimizing one another with this disturbing new trend.
Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema was recently harassed by activists, who followed her into a bathroom while recording her.
One woman could be heard screaming at Sinema about Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill.
The woman started chanting “Build back better, Pass the bill” when Sinema ignored her.
Apparently the woman felt she could harass Sinema into voting for the bill.
As for Biden himself, his response to the incident was the most telling.
Biden simply said of Sinema’s harassment that it was “part of the process” and that “it happens to everyone.”
CNN has more on the incident, which they now claim has gone too far since it's affecting democrats:
The video is striking: Protesters angry about Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's opposition to the $3.5 trillion social safety net package currently being considered by Congress follow her into a bathroom to make their point -- filming Sinema as she enters a stall.
The video, which runs almost 2 minutes, spends much of its time showing the stall where Sinema is. The senator never engages with the protesters -- verbally or otherwise.Though only uploaded to Twitter on Sunday afternoon, the video has already been viewed more than 4.7 million times. Which, for the people who followed Sinema to the bathroom, will look like success. As will the plaudits they received from some corners of liberal Twitter who are enraged with Sinema's opposition to a higher price tag for a budget bill that contains the bulk of President Joe Biden's major first term agenda items.
While it may look like a victory, it is not one. It is, in fact, a defeat. Because tactics like these -- whether used against Republicans or Democrats -- is confrontation culture taken too far. It is simply not productive to follow an elected official into the bathroom -- videoing all the way -- to make your point. You can wait outside. She can't stay in the bathroom forever.
To be clear: I am not Pollyanna-ish about the nature of political dialogue in this country. Conversations and confrontations that were once reserved for committee hearings and town halls have become de rigueur as members of Congress go about their daily lives in their state or district. And, generally speaking, more citizen engagement and involvement is a good thing for the health of our democracy -- particularly after the cataclysm we all witnessed on January 6 at the US Capitol.
Despite the blurring of the lines between public and private life, a line still does exist. And following someone into the bathroom and filming their stall is over the line. It just is. Common decency dictates that we let people go to the bathroom with the reasonable expectation of privacy. This video was clearly a violation of Sinema's privacy.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema is Harassed by Activists While in the Bathroom
Odd how CNN is just now calling this behavior out...
More telling than anything else was Joe Biden's response.
Biden, who in January claimed that he would fire any of his own staffers on the spot for not treating others with respect, said that the incident involving the activists following Sinema to the bathroom was just "part of the process."
Biden on Harassment of Democrat Senators: "It Happens to Everyone."
Senator Sinema responded to the incident, which she called "unacceptable."
The New York Post has her response:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema slammed an activist organization on Monday, the day after several of its members confronted her in her classroom at Arizona State University and followed her into a bathroom while filming.
While the Arizona Democrat boosted her state’s support for the First Amendment, calling it “vital to our democracy,” she deemed Sunday’s confrontation “not legitimate protest.”
“Yesterday, several individuals disrupted my class at Arizona State University. After deceptively entering a locked, secure building, these individuals filmed and publicly posted videos of my students without their permission — including footage taken of both my students and I using a restroom,” Sinema began in a statement posted to Twitter.
“Yesterday’s behavior was not legitimate protest,” she added. “It is unacceptable for activist organizations to instruct their members to jeopardize themselves by engaging in unlawful activities such as gaining entry to close university buildings, disrupting learning environments, and filming students in a restroom.”
Sinema pointed to her commitment to creating a “safe and intellectually challenging environment” for her students in the past 19 years she has been teaching at the university, claiming that the environment was breached on Sunday.
“My students were unfairly and unlawfully victimized. This is wholly inappropriate.”
“It is the duty of elected leaders to avoid fostering an environment in which honestly-held policy disagreements serve as the basis for vitriol — raising the temperature in political rhetoric and creating a permission structure for unacceptable behavior.”
Sinema noted that she has met with the activist group “several times” since she was elected and voted to “continue engaging with Arizonans with diverse viewpoints to help inform my work for Arizona.”
Video of the incident shows the small group of immigration activists — some of whom indicated they may be here illegally — following the senator through an ASU hallway as they continue to berate her when she enters a bathroom stall.
She told the activists that she had to leave, but they continued to follow her into the ladies’ room, still filming.
One thing is clear here.
"Confrontation culture" has gone way too far.
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