It’s a good time to be in the pain relief industry. Many Americans are likely experiencing headaches from all their shouting while others are experiencing neck pains from shaking our heads so much. The state of politics in America induces maximum pain on those of us who are paying attention.
As a co-founder of the Federalist Party, I’ve been asked by many recently why I’ve been so heavily focused on helping Republicans win. I’m not a Republican. I believe the majority of GOP politicians are weak, moderate, self-serving, and not fulfilling their promises. We still have Obamacare. Planned Parenthood is richer now than they’ve ever been. There’s very little progress towards a border wall. The tax reform that’s been touted so heavily is a decent tax cut, but far from reform. Budgets that were already through the roof under President Obama are now so high one could hardly see the roof if they looked down from such heights.
No, the Republicans have not done a great job, but it’s a lesser-of-two-evils world for now and their opponents have an ideology that rivals Nicolás Maduro’s on the “Evil Scale.” If I could have put forth viable candidates this election as we’d hoped we could a year ago, my tone would be completely different. Instead, we’re stuck with the unibrow party false dichotomy, but even in this false dichotomy we’re forced to make choices. I choose to oppose the leftist surge.
With that said, I’m going to offer some advice to the Democrats. Hit the brakes on your leftward lurch. You were far enough to the left with Bill Clinton and Teddy Kennedy. You were too far to the left with Barack Obama and Harry Reid. Now you’re plunging into the fiery pits of socialism, communism, and authoritarian fascism with Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. Hit the brakes now. Pull the emergency brake lever. Release the rear parachute. Do whatever you can do to reverse the hard left path you’ve chosen to travel ever since conventional wisdom failed you with Hillary Clinton and the 2016 election.
Now that the advice has been delivered, I can sleep well knowing I didn’t engage in helping the milquetoast Republican Party without at least offering a consoling tip to their competitors. I can now go about the business of aiding in a return to the one thing America needs now more than ever: civil discourse.
Many on the left are pushing against civility. It seems that the passions of the left have ignited, which is good as long as there’s discourse. Without discourse, the fire they light can spread out of control. What’s left is the dumpster fire the Democratic Party has become. Sensible Democrats don’t know whether to jump off the Democratic Socialist train or jump aboard because they aren’t sure whether it can carry them to victory of over a cliff. At this point, it’s still uncertain, as disconcerting as that may sound to those of us who are terrified by the prospects of far leftist victories.
One thing needs to be understood by Republicans and Independents watching the Democrats commit self-immolation. The majority of Democratic voters are not that crazy. The silent majority of Democrats want to talk through differences. They appreciate the lowered taxes they’re seeing and the jobs that are emerging. They don’t like the prospects of an originalist-stacked Supreme Court, but they’re shaking their heads at people clawing at the doors of the Supreme Court just like the rest of us.
The unhinged minority on the far left are ruining the country for everyone. They’re drowning out the sensible voices of polite Democrats, embarrassing themselves in the eyes of most Independents, and drawing amused chuckles from Republicans. But the real harm they’re doing is they’re preventing civil discourse from being the right option in most situations.
Civil discourse would have prompted Democrats to take the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh directly to the entire Senate Judiciary Committee as soon as they seemed credible.
Civil discourse would allow Kanye West to visit the Oval Office without being racially slurred and ridiculed by mainstream media on national television.
Civil discourse would spark an issues-based conversation at a Washington DC restaurant with a Senator and his wife instead of forcing them to leave out of fear for their safety and the safety of other patrons in the restaurant.
The anger that has been channeled by the far left is artificial. That’s not to say their anger itself is artificial, but the way they’ve channeled it is for maximum social media sharing rather than for exacting real change in the way the nation is governed.
They aren’t attempting to change hearts and minds. They’re attempting to get likes and shares.
Did the far left start this? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it was President Trump. Maybe it was President Obama. Maybe it was the Tea Party. Maybe it was Black Lives Matter. Maybe it was white nationalists. Maybe it was #OccupyWallStreet. I’m not here to assign original blame to the far leftists for the anger they feel, but I will absolutely assign blame to them for their actions and reactions. They may not have started us down this road, but they’ve taken their unhinged antics to entirely new level that makes civil discourse nearly impossible.
This election is about more than just control on Capitol Hill. It’s about telling Democrats if they choose to listen to the unhinged far left, and this election year they have, then they will not be given the privilege of representing us.
