America is presently divided in a number of ways, but fundamentally, it breaks down to what we’ve called liberals on one side and conservatives on the other. There’s no doubt a number of people are aghast at that comment. On one side some liberals would be offended that they are lumped with the far-left extremism preached by AOC or the rest of The Squad who like to call themselves Progressives. On the other side, some conservatives would be offended that they are lumped with the Trump supporters if for no other reason than people on both sides suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Those who suffer TDS don’t pay attention to anything Trump has accomplished. Their adrenaline gushes at the mere mention of his name, their minds close and their bowels open spewing innuendo laced with hatred from every orifice of their bodies. Liberal objectivity is reserved for a select few, and even those analysts who rise above the fray of unfounded epithets that weaponize rhetoric are routinely despised and attacked when their thoughtful conclusions don’t agree with the maniacal rantings of the exceedingly shallow, schoolyard bullies. On the left, reason is a lost art most often replaced by a façade of rationalization used to masquerade ill-conceived notions.
The real division can be described in many ways, and of course, many issues exist from abortion to gun control, poverty, education, and racism, just to name a few, but all that said, the systemic issue at hand is really government control and individual freedom. The debate over whether the two can exist as a duality is likely moot. In reality, the two exist in a delicate yin and yang relationship. The argument then boils down to how much yin and how much yang?
On one side we have individuals and groups who believe, or at least exude the rhetoric of government control even down to your thinking. Whether AOC understands she is a proponent of big government and big government control would have to be asked. Unfortunately, the answer would likely be as incomprehensible as many of her other public assertions. Her minion, The Squad, a group of women of color, preach government control and routinely spew the racist epithet white supremacist to describe groups and individuals on the side of less government control. They use this derogatory term without providing any substantiating facts regarding those accused of actual white supremacy. Ayanna Pressley used it to describe people who had breached the Capitol as well as some of her Congressional peers. Rashida Tlaib has used the term to describe white criminals; she must believe since they are white and criminals they should be stereotyped as white supremacists. Ilhan Omar has used the term to describe Trump. Most recently AOC has proposed funding to deprogram white supremacists because, “The White supremacist cause is futile, it’s nihilist,” she said. Her ignorance is only exceeded by her ego believing she was elected to impose her will on others. She should be sent to remedial education about Nazism, McCarthyism, the Salem witch trials, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution (with a focus on the Bill of Rights Amendments 4 and 5), the Federalist papers, and the meaning of her job title: Representative.
Any American who values freedom whatsoever should be appalled at the words uttered by AOC. If Nancy Pelosi possessed any glint of patriotism, she would censure AOC for even making such an un-American suggestion as to “de-radicalize these people” she apparently believes don’t think right. In a world where we wave the flag of diversity in the form of ethnicity and gender every chance we get, to suggest the government “de-radicalize these people” is wholly unforgiveable as a personal affront to free thinking. She has also requested help creating a list of Trump supporters, another attack on people and their right to free thought.[i] AOC literally believes and has said, anyone who disagrees with her agenda should be silenced. Nothing could more un-American!
And so, this is why America is divided. People like AOC, Yale School of Medicine psychiatrist Dr. Bandy X. Lee[ii], and Nikole Hannah-Jones[iii] a Pulitzer-winning journalist have all talked about deprogramming Trump supporters. Hannah-Jones goes so far as to say they should be “punished” for voting for Trump. It is amazing that a person like Hannah-Jones who undoubtedly abhors stereotyping would so flagrantly lump all the people, all 74 million people, who voted for Trump in one basket and label them as a cult! 74 million is a pretty big cult. How can this country mend the divide when the people who back the President-elect publicly state the people who didn’t vote for Biden are in need of mental help? Her words are incorrigible.
While our country should be trying to preserve individual rights and freedom, end poverty, overcome disease, and revitalize our small business base, there are people, many within the government, making adverse statements about a huge percentage of Americans, statements that are nothing short of the types of discriminatory brainwashing exercised by Nazi Germany over German youth in the 1920s and 30s[iv]. Are the people who propose these types of actions so shallow as to not recognize the ramifications of their words? Are the people who propose such government programs unaware that America is about freedom of thought and that freedom must be protected even if you disagree with the thought otherwise the risk totalitarianism looms just over the horizon? For Heavens sake, didn’t Hannah-Jones ever read about George Orwell’s thought police in his book 1984!?
The Deprogrammers and racists who throw around the term white supremacist and like to think of themselves as the Progressives, need to come to the table where scholars, philosophers, and thinkers come to discuss advancement. They need to come to that table with open minds and objective thinking. America is divided over big government or small government, high taxes or low taxes (a relative term since ratification of the 16th Amendment), government control or individual freedom. If the Progressives could bring that discussion to the table rather than TDS, America could be mended. If Joe Biden could truly moderate, he’d be reveled as The Great Healer of America. Unfortunately, his track record indicates he’s been quick to jump on the bandwagon throughout his 47 years of elected employment rather than provide visionary leadership.
Over the past four years America has witnessed how the government, those elected officials who are deeply embedded in staying elected officials, focused on the ramifications of an outsider sitting in the White House; not the ramifications on the People of America, but the ramifications on their own positions and power. Whether you believe in a wall to help control illegal immigration or you believe in open borders patrolled by guards should shape the discussion, but instead, the Progressives and many other on the left accused the POTUS of racism. Even the Progressives must understand that an open border allows drug, gun, and human trafficking to go unchecked; terrible truths adversely affecting America. But the Progressives turn a blind eye to reality when it doesn’t suit their agenda.
Similarly, the Progressives must understand America first, doesn’t mean only America. While many of his adversaries claimed Trump would get us into a nuclear war with Russia, others procured a fake dossier to accuse him of Russian collusion. The left is willing to use any unsubstantiated accusation to admonish their opposition. They don’t even care if it makes sense. In reality, Trump brought troops home and met with many of our foes to focus on his America first agenda. All the while, the real nihilists like AOC with no regard for the Bill of Rights, want to attack millions of Americans for how they think, a deplorable suggestion.
If people on both sides could begin to discuss the role of American government rather than baseless accusations by the left, we may begin to heal. Right now, the major party concerned with individual rights and protecting those rights is the Republican party. The Democrats, on the other hand, have also recently held a public lynching led by Nancy Pelosi who forced a second impeachment of Trump on America without an investigation, solely based on an accusation, a totally un-American action with total disregard for the People and the Constitution. It is these types of actions that must end. Those with TDS must overcome their malady. Just as an alcoholic must come to admission of their disease, so must those with TDS understand they are driven by hatred rather than clear thought. They must make a personal journey to find their objectivity.
The left presently cannot transcend their hatred and cannot overcome partisan politics. Their continued attack on conservatism with vitriolic rhetoric will keep America divided when the real fight is no different than the Founders faced when they argued about agrarianism versus industrialism, big government versus small government, and government control versus individual rights. Fortunately for all Americans, the founders were sophisticated enough, wise enough, philosophical enough, and strategic enough to envision and empower a solution that allows the Progressives to have a voice in America today. Had the Founders not had that vision, the pro-totalitarian and pro-authoritarian proposals from the Progressives wouldn’t even be heard; an authoritarian state would already exist.
Instead, America has survived as a democratic republic for over 200 years. The left is now threatening those freedoms. They don’t do it out of spite, they do it out of ignorance. The same ignorance that drove racism throughout history now drives racist accusations of white supremacy. Healing begins within every American. Sensationalizing violence as peaceful protests on one hand when perpetrated in the name of police brutality and condemning it on the other when perpetrated by a handful of the 74 million people who oppose big government is wrong. We must universally admit violence when we see it and condemn those involved. Politicians, writers, and doctors must remember the Bill of Rights and remember, words matter. Being a bully who proposes deprogramming as a solution in a free society is no more acceptable than brainwashing German youth to eventually support a government that tried to exterminate the Jews.
I applaud those who understand why the ideas of people who talk of de-programming and use macro-aggressions in the form of name calling are fundamentally flawed. I hope the people who make such suggestions can overcome their TDS and join the free thinkers who cherish diversity, freedom, and individual rights. America will not survive as a socialist, authoritarian state. It will succumb to the same failures that have befallen every other socialist society. The only side protecting individual rights today is the right, the conservatives, who have now become the enemy, but the enemy of what: mind control, de-programming, and the use of racist slurs? Yes, the right is the enemy of government control because individual freedom and rights, and free thinking has been weaponized by the left to rationalize their agenda of government over the People rather than government ordained by the People.
[i] Leftists, Never Trumpers Begin Compiling Lists of Trump Supporters (breitbart.com).
[ii] Psychiatrist explains how to “deprogram” Trump supporters. (dailykos.com)
[iii] Nikole Hannah-Jones Calls For ‘Deprogramming’ Republicans – Truly Times – Conservative News
[iv] Nazi brainwashing started with Germanys youths (culteducation.com)