From May 9 to June 9, the pattern has been strikingly familiar. The rhetoric is the same. The method is the same. Even the excuses are the same.

First comes the incendiary language. Threats that everything will be set ablaze. Claims that institutions will be brought to their knees. Speeches designed not to persuade but to provoke. Then, when disorder erupts, the same voices retreat into innocence. Suddenly, nobody knows who the rioters were. Nobody knows who carried out the violence. Responsibility evaporates.

This was the defence offered after May 9. We were told that those who attacked state institutions were not really associated with the movement that had spent months stoking anger and confrontation. The same argument is now being heard after June 9. Those who fired upon police personnel, we are told, were somebody else. The blame must lie elsewhere. The script has not changed.

The language has not changed either. Abuse, vilification and personal attacks remain central features of this style of politics. Anyone who disagrees is subjected to torrents of insults. Debate is replaced by intimidation. Dissent is treated not as a democratic right but as a personal betrayal.

The targets are familiar as well. State institutions remain in the crosshairs. Every disagreement is framed as a struggle between absolute virtue and absolute evil. There is no room for nuance, no space for legitimate differences of opinion.

The role of overseas activists is another recurring feature. From afar, they cheer on confrontation, amplify........

© The Patriot