Mugging Lady Liberty And Dividing America. Who’s At Fault?
Over the past few years, there has been extensive commentary about “polarization.” This has come to mean the dividing up of America into more and more extreme views on political, social, and cultural matters.
The divide seems to be getting wider and wider. Not only does this make political compromise much harder, but it is also dividing families and colleagues. In some families and social circles, it is becoming increasingly obvious some subjects can’t be breached, some news channels cannot be viewed, and some beliefs cannot be espoused without somebody taking great offense.
Some commentary suggests the country is even drifting towards a civil war. A recent movie, which often represents social trends, posits a kinetic war between Americans, like the 1860s.
The usual narrative follows a line that suggests both sides on the political scale are becoming more extreme. This is the story from the mainstream, state-controlled media.
The Tiki torches of Charlottesville and the January 6th Capitol riot are often cited as evidence. The two years of constant rioting by BLM, the ongoing campus protests by pro-Hamas students, and the picketing and harassment of Supreme Court Justices by Left-wing mobs, often get little mention. The fact that government agents may have been involved as agent provocateurs also gets little mention. And of course, Donald Trump’s mean tweets are cited as cause for the coarsening of our political dialogue.
What is obvious just from observation, is that the Left in this country is largely the aggressor. Whether it be George Floyd rioting, BLM rioting, Pro-Hamas rioting, or obnoxious pride parades, most of the racism, man-hating, banning, and canceling, is coming from the left.Â
Maxine Watters suggested the agitators should get “in the face” of those they oppose, and so they have.
It is the Left that is turning corporations into vehicles of social change through ESG, DEI, CRT, and just plain hectoring of their clients and customers.
Also forgotten is the reaction to the election of Donald Trump. You might remember the serious rioting that occurred, the church in Washington burned down near the White House, and the subsequent need to take the President to the safe room within the White House.
Beyond that, there was “the resistance.” After Democracy had spoken and Trump was elected, rather quickly protests were formed: the pussy riots, comedians with the bloody head of Trump, stage plays where he was assassinated, and the attempt by intelligence agencies to overthrow the President through bogus impeachment (twice), lawsuits, bureaucratic rebellion, and criminal prosecution of all those close to Trump.
In short, those loudly claiming fealty to “democracy” were the most active in attempting its overthrow. Those who push confrontational politics stare in wonder why they are despised.
In terms of political dialogue, how can “mean tweets” be compared to calling the entire nation racist in both its origins and in present practice? Which inflicts the most long-term damage?
But just in terms of political rhetoric, both sides are dishing it out. Recently, Nancy Pelosi, of insider trading fame, called the Republican Party and Trump a “thug cult.”
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me” is the older wisdom, but teaching generations of children to hate their nation is quite harmful. Which side of the political spectrum did that, and is engaged in doing it today?
It would be fair to say the Left has been the aggressor, that violence from their side has been much greater than from conservatives, and that like Kamala Harris, the highest political figures within the Democratic Party endorsed violence and bureaucratic rebellion against a duly elected President. Republicans widely condemned January 6th, although many believe it has been blown way out of proportion.
But besides this anecdotal information, we now have interesting polling data from Gallup.
What their recent work shows is that Republicans and independents have largely stayed stationary over the last 20 years while Democrats have moved to the extreme Left. While the entire report is worth reading, here are a few snippets of summary:
“The overall increase in liberal views on both social and economic issues is driven exclusively by Democrats.
When comparing this year’s figures with measures taken 10 and 20 years ago, Democrats’ liberal identification on social issues has increased by 30 points from 2004 to now. On economic issues, Democrats’ liberal identification has nearly doubled.
Meanwhile, Republicans and independents are no more, and no less, likely to identify as liberal on social or economic issues than they were in 2004 or 2014.
Independents’ ideological perspectives are nearly exactly what they were in 2004 and 2014. They remain most likely to say their views on both kinds of issues are moderate.
Republicans have become more conservative on social and especially economic issues. They are somewhat less moderate than in the past on social issues and are half as likely now as in 2004 to express moderate views on the economy. As was the case in 2004, few Republicans identify as liberal on either kind of issue.”
Near the end of the Gallup report, they provide this summary:
“Compared with 2004 and 2014, Republicans have become more conservative and Democrats have become more liberal in their views on both social and economic issues, but not at the same rate. The growth in liberal views among Democrats has outpaced that in conservative views among Republicans, which were already the dominant position among the latter group. As the ideological makeup of political independents has remained steady, the liberalization of Democratic views has altered the national averages on both social and economic issues.”
Earlier polls show that either Bernie Sanders has had a major impact on the party or he is reflective of a major shift. About 75% of Democrats say they would vote for a socialist.
For years, Democrats avoided the term socialism because of Soviet Russia, but with growing confidence, they now embrace it.
Thus, both anecdotal observation and polling data show that Democrats are primarily the aggressor, creating a polarized country. Like Obama said, they want to fundamentally change the country.
As the experience of comedian Bill Maher suggests, he has stayed where he was (an old-fashioned liberal) while Democrats have swung to the extreme Left. As he puts it, he did not leave the party, the party left him. The same story is told eloquently by Tulsi Gabbard.
It is the Democrats who want to force men into women’s bathrooms, abolish borders, support reparations, want the state to discriminate against whites and Asians, force redistribution of wealth, want to regulate the economy into the ground because of “climate change,” want unrestricted state-funded abortions, war with Russia, betray our ally Israel, Covid Lockdowns and forced vaccinations, abolish bail and prisons, want to deny parental rights, want to destroy the institutional integrity of the Supreme Court, the Electoral College, and the Senate filibuster.
They constantly say our country is racist and illegitimate (1619 Project) in both its Founding and institutions (systemic racism). They also don’t seem to mind violating most of the Bill of Rights because they claim the Constitution was written by white slave owners and is outmoded. Wasn’t it Ruth Bader Ginsberg who said she liked the South African constitution better? How is that going for them?
Oh, and let’s not forget higher taxes, inflation, a crime wave, and war as a result of their policies.
If conservatives or independents object either to their philosophy or the fruits of their policies, this is regarded by the media as “polarization.”
We now have both anecdotal and good polling data that shows the willingness of the Democrats to assume extreme positions, and then attempt to force others to accept their extreme positions, is the primary agent in causing polarization in America.
The use of force is a big factor in dividing up America. Citizens can no longer trust their school teachers or administrators, can’t trust the value of their money, can’t feel confident in free and fair elections, and have lost all confidence in public health authorities. Most of this is because the Democrats insist on cramming their ideas about sex, family, money, gas stoves, EVs, down the throats of their fellow citizens who want to make their own decisions about such matters.
When “the personal becomes political,” you can expect both a personal reaction and a political one.
This is an important election coming up. Objecting to what Democrats and Progressives are doing is not sufficient. You can hold an opinion all you want, but unless you act, it does not mean much.
When one side is the aggressor, and the other side does not fight back, how do you think the struggle will come out?
That means conservatives, libertarians, and independents, despite minor disagreements on policy, must act together to defeat the Democrats at every level of government. Only then, will the Democrat Party, for its survival and relevance, turn against the extreme Left which has taken over the party.
That means you need to donate money, volunteer to help and get involved, and show up to vote. Those who support the principles of the American Founding face an entrenched, well-funded, and aggressive political opponent.
If we are passive in the face of extremist political action, the extremists in the Democrat Party will win, it is just that simple.
