Will County Gazette

A Republican Party official said the plain truth is, Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) is a product of his time.

Dale Fontana, a GOP precinct committeeman, said it is sad but not surprising that Casten, a Democrat in his first term representing Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, did not denounce the words of Hadiya Afzal over an online video of a law enforcement officer being struck by a flying object.

Afzal won a narrow primary victory to become a Democratic Party nominee for the DuPage County Board District seat. On July 26, she tweeted a comment on the video of a Portland officer hit in the face by a projectile.

“I’ve been watching this on repeat for 15 minutes and laughing every single time,” Afzal posted.

Afzal’s first reaction was to say her words had been “taken out of context.” But then she apologized and dropped out of the race.

"As a young activist, I made the decision to run for office in DuPage County Board District 4 to bring progressive policy changes for the community I grew up in and care deeply for," she wrote in departing from the race. "I posted a personal tweet regarding the protests in Portland, Oregon. My post was in poor taste and doesn't reflect the values I was raised with and hold dear. I do not support or condone violence in any form. I appreciate and support the role that law enforcement plays in keeping our communities safe."

Although many people, both Democrats and Republicans, condemned the comment, Casten remained silent. Fontana said in these times, that should not be a shock.

“In a world previously governed primarily by reason, it would not be illogical to expect that Rep. Casten should obviously call out conduct such as this regardless of party affiliation,” he told Will County Gazette. “However, one must constantly remember what zeitgeist and time in history we find ourselves in, and what are the overarching goals of the players involved. Failure to place the current actors into their exact real ideological categories guarantees that everything done here will not be properly understood.”

Fontana said in his view, both Afzal and Casten are adhering to their party’s stances.

“Sean Casten is a member of the Democratic Party," he said. "As we stand right this moment, this party is almost entirely anti-American, anti-Western civilization, anti-Judeo/Christian, anti-European [white], pro Muslim-socialist alliance, and totally embracing of Marxist concepts and principles. Every subsidiary organization and racket which comprises the Democratic operation from media to elected officials to individual reactionary groups are Marxist in nature, period. The remnant old Democratic politicians that once brought forth support from various labor concerns now represent a mere 10% of the party.”

Fontana said the freshman congressman has revealed who he is and what he believes in and added that Casten's lack of outrage over the controversial tweet just amplifies it.

“Against that background, Casten sells his soul to the reality of who runs the party, which says enough about this man personally or anyone else faced with this situation,” he said. “Maintenance of power is all that matters. Securing the support of even the most reprehensible of people within this party is paramount to the one and only goal this person has:  The maintenance of political power.

“Therefore, it is totally illogical for anyone, especially those of the conservative persuasion to expect any sort of contrite and responsible reaction from Rep. Casten or anyone else in this hideous party,” he said. “And conservatives in particular, with their serious weakness in properly identifying the country's [and their] enemy and in recognizing that enemy's characteristics and goals make the fatal mistake of not realizing the gravity of the threat to this republic.”

Fontana said he hopes this serves as a clarion call.

“As it stands right now, there are too many people who are still way too comfortable about things. And when that happens very bad changes can occur in the blink of an eye,” he said. “Showing the lack of resolve to defend property, citizen rights, law enforcement and just simple civil decency is an open and loud invitation to the enemies of this nation to ratchet up the destruction and attacks. If this is not stopped by year's end at the latest, it will degenerate into an open civil war and the loss of everyone's freedoms."

He added, “To back that up historically, I make mention of 20th Century Germany and the rise of Adolf Hitler. While initially espousing the correct themes of removing the horrible injustices visited on the German people by the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of World War I, this movement morphed in a very short time into a tyrannical monstrosity, while beginning defensively. Back then news of events moved much more slowly. Now, with technology being what it is, events can progress quickly and dangerously.”

He said it’s crucial to be aware of this and the potential consequences.

“The upshot of this is plain: Put your head in the sand at your own risk,” Fontana said.