The old principle of "we do not negotiate with terrorists" was not only based on the obvious fear that negotiating would breed more terrorism. It was based on the understanding that terrorists crave political legitimacy above all else.

Terrorism is a manifestation of anti-civilization. It needs a foot in the door to become effective. Civilization's defenses can only stand strong while it absolute rejects barbarism. Once barbaric ideals gain legitimacy within the walls, even the strongest walls will crack.

Political violence, in any form, is barbarism that must be rejected absolutely and entirely. Not a shred of legitimacy should be granted to those who employ it. We used to understand that, but now our media and political elites are obsessed with "understanding grievances."

The toughest part about rejecting political violence is maintaining the willpower and discipline to reject those "grievances" and firmly state "the cause" is a non-starter as long as violence continues. There must be no discussions of any kind while there is blood in the streets.

It's important to separate the violent extremists from non-violent people with sincere differences of opinion, because those "moderate" ideological fellow-travelers are the most easily tapped source of political legitimacy for terrorism. We see this constantly around the world.

The worst possible state of affairs for any civilization is to allow "extremist" and "moderate" wings that share the same ostensible beliefs to develop a stable political relationship. It's the fastest route for political violence to gain legitimacy. Arguably it's the ONLY route.

Once you start down the path of conceding that SOME causes are so righteous that they justify violence and vandalism, or that "extremists" resorting to violence has no negative effect on the "moderate" wing of the movement, you're starting a political violence arms race.

Only by rejecting violence absolutely - only by insisting that the laws apply equally to everyone, that all causes must engage solely in persuasion and never in coercion - can you prevent moderates, especially young ones, from slipping into extremism.

It's important to draw the line well south of physical violence and murder. Indulging property crimes and giving "space to destroy" begins the process of legitimizing violent extremism. Teaching any movement that its cause transcends the rights of others is dangerous.

That's how the cancer of anti-civilization grows: the rules are exposed as a sham. They don't apply to some groups and causes. Rights are not universal and "justice" is imposed by the strong through force. Civilization proves barbarism's point by refusing to fight it.

Once you give violent extremists a shred of legitimacy, once you give them a seat at the table alongside those who did the hard work of persuasion while playing by all the rules, you crack open a door that will never close. Extremist movements are NEVER satisfied, by definition.

Other movements will become violent too, once the precedent of rewarding violence with political legitimacy is set. The most common outcome is a one-party system in which extremist groups fight for influence within the party.

The party friendly to violent extremism becomes a vending machine for political legitimacy. Its offices and endorsements will be bought and sold. All other parties are marginalized because they aren't willing to form street armies and fight bloody battles for power.

We need to reject that process utterly, right now, while it's still fairly early. We've already seen how corrupt Democrat officials make it possible for vandalism and violence to flourish in their cities. You do NOT want that party gaining the power to do it nationally.

Violence is the ultimate political force multiplier - the means for a small but committed group to impose its will on the majority. Once an established party gets a taste of victory from using that force multiplier, it will NEVER STOP. Giving them that victory is suicidal.

Look at the Democrats in every word they utter, every platform plank, everything they do, and you'll see they have become entirely comfortable with using force to accomplish their political ends. They have little patience for persuasion and none whatsoever for resistance.

Today's street violence is just the next logical step for them. They've been using government power to socially engineer America for generations; now they've got shock troops marching through the streets and they're promising cities in flames if they lose the next election.

It's a natural progression, a natural degeneration, and you'll notice it's especially pronounced in one-party Democrat cities. It all begins with legitimizing extremism and accepting violence as a valid political force from favored groups. Stop it now, while you still can. /end