Forget “We, the People.” According to Democrats, the GOP’s “Commitment to America,” defending free speech (1st Amendment), free exercise of religion (1st Amendment), right to keep and bear arms (2nd Amendment), security from unreasonable search and seizure (4th Amendment), respect the Supreme Court (Article III), ending inflation, restoring affordable energy and accountability – is “extremist.”
As previewed in Biden’s Philadelphia speech, Republicans – all who voted for Trump in 2016 or 2020 – are officially “enemies of the state,” “undermine democracy,” and are “extremists.” In effect, 74 million Americans are now “enemies of the state,” one-party rule preferable to two.
Before we go further down this rabbit hole, understand these are the exact words of a sitting president, Mr. Biden, and a sitting House Speaker, Ms. Pelosi. They are echoed – as cue cards recirculate – by Vice President Harris and Majority Leader Schumer.
The naked idea is, if you have nothing to be proud of, call your political opponent “extremists,” try to inflame them, then claim a need to shut them down, raid their homes, subpoena their private documents, intimidate them, chill them, meet competing ideas with denials, appeals to “democracy,” and ridicule, hoping you can outshout them.
Where does that strategy come from? Radical leftist Saul Alinsky who advocated societal transformation, leftist rules for combat, and said “ridicule is man’s most potent weapon” because “it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.” In other words, you can make them look the way you want them to and then hammer them with raw power.
Some will think this is too much and ascribes too much ingenuity, duplicity, and ill will to Democrats in the White House, House, and Senate – all of whom dread relinquishing power to the popular will, but think about it.
Are the principles articulated by the distilled “Commitment to America,” like the 1994 “Contract with America,” including constitutional fidelity, free speech, worship, and self-defense, a stable currency, limited government, energy independence, and accountable government really “extreme?”
Would George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, or for that matter Abe Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, or Ronald Reagan think so? Not likely, they all spoke plainly for less government, more accountability, constitutional integrity, trust in our institutions, respect for the Supreme Court (even when they lost politically), not to mention lower taxes (including Kennedy, Reagan, and the Founders), not what the Democrats push now.
So, who are the radicals, the extremists, the unhinged gluttons for power, hellbent on federal control of what the Constitution says belongs to the individual, local and state government, taking from “We, The People” for “They, the Powerful?” Just think about it, this is not hard.
So, how do everyday Americans respond to this? If you are a moderate Democrat, thoughtful Independent, or Republican of most stripes, you must step back – and ponder what is afoot. When has a president ever roundly condemned tens of millions of Americans, raided the homes of political opponents, and called the opposing party an “enemy of the state?”
More broadly, ask – is this healthy for a Republic, how representative democracy is supposed to work? Is a “one-party should rule” idea more akin to the former Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and Venezuela, or America? Is open debate bad or good? Is this kind of combat – shutting down opposition voices – constitutionally faithful or closer to an abrogation of the Constitution?
And where does such behavior lead? When one party demonizes the other in such stark, non-logical, purely emotional, plainly provocative ways, no room for discussion, what does that do to civic dialogue? Make it better or worse? What does it do to dignity in the political process, enhance it or place it at risk?
And – as we watch political violence against Republicans rise, without Democrat comment, how do we assess that development? Not only did leading Democrats push political violence – which is anti-constitutional – in 2020 in 200 cities, before and after the Dobbs decision in 2022, but they were shockingly silent last week when a fired-up Democrat ran over a young Republican for “extremism” and another inflamed Democrat shot an elderly woman handing out pro-life literature.
Follow me here. This is more than unhealthy, it is anti-American. To permit an implicit – at times explicit – appeal to anti-Republican violence is wrong, just as anti-Democratic political violence would be. A nod to using any means to silence those trying to keep legally protected rights alive – is profoundly wrong.
When those who advance ideas central to the preservation of fundamental rights, rights enshrined – legally, historically, and politically – in our Constitution, are deemed “extremists,” the Republic is on thin ice. When those trusted to preserve textual liberties look the other way, the Republic is malfunctioning.
The goal right now – among Republicans, and all vilified for support of opposing ideas – is to remain calm, focused, keep your temper, humor, and endure the offense, but then vote firmly to end the careers of those who explicitly, or by nodding consent, believe this kind of behavior passes muster. It does not, should not, and – if we are to preserve the integrity of the Republic – cannot.
If “We, The People” – by just holding ideas opposed to leftist Democrat monopoly power – are suddenly dubbed “We, The Extremists,” then perhaps it is time to reexamine what this new version of Democrats is up to. From where a constitutionally and historically faithful voter sits, things just do not look right.