UPDATE October 4, 2022:
Don’t let Democrats threaten you into giving up your most fundamental freedom.
In a January 4, 2021 floor speech Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reminded his House colleagues:
A tenet of socialism is to silence all opposition.276
Sixteen days later America watched a far left, radical president take the oath of office. The consequences for protected First Amendment free speech are a chilling reminder of how quickly our most fundamental freedoms can be placed in jeopardy.
With Biden and the Democrats in charge we’ve seen unprecedented attacks on free speech. We were threatened with a White House “Disinformation Governance Board.” Parents were targeted for voicing their opinions about their kids’ educations. The nation is subjected to Nancy Pelosi’s neverending, Soviet-style January 6th Kangaroo Court complete with arrests of prominent Republicans and prime time media coverage. Tens of thousands of new agents will be hired for an IRS with a past history of anti-conservative bias. “MAGA” Republicans were branded extremists and repeatedly attacked as America’s enemies:
And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.277
They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.278
MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.279
This is the kind of rhetoric we hear when a nation is building up to war. Rarely, if ever have we heard an American president speak of our fellow citizens as if they are enemy combatants. Is this what Democrats and the White House are contemplating, war against our own people with a politicized Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and FBI leading the charge?
Biden lap dog Pelosi amplified the president’s reprehensible Soul of America speech:
In the Congress and across the country, extreme MAGA Republicans are orchestrating a sinister campaign. From criminalizing women’s health care to ending Social Security and Medicare to undermining our elections, the GOP is working to turn back the clock on many of our most fundamental liberties while fanning the flames of violence and division.280
Despite obvious hate for the Democrat Party’s opponents, the president tried to pass off his inflammatory remarks as unity-inspiring:
That’s why tonight I’m asking our nation to come together, unite behind the single purpose of defending our democracy regardless of your ideology.281
In fact, he is trying to unite left wing America against Americans. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) summed up Biden’s Soul of the Nation remarks with one short sentence:
Biden’s disdain for those who disagree with him was on display as he demonized his fellow citizens.282
We can live with being demonized, but how many prominent conservatives are willing to spend their days waiting for the Biden administration’s knock at the door? Disagreement lies at the core of protected free speech rights, but now public disagreement is not only punished by media platforms, after the FBI raid on pro-life activist Mark Houck we have every reason to question whether free speech is becoming too onerous a freedom.
During a speech last Sunday the president made a curious appeal:
We’re in a situation where, you know, the American people don’t agree on a whole lot of things, but they do agree on basic fundamental freedoms.283
Our freedoms don’t get more fundamental than free speech. How many Americans are willing to give up this First Amendment right with their tacit endorsement of Biden and the Democrats campaign against political dissenters? We’re about to find out. If the anti-First Amendment crowd prevails, this is another freedom you won’t see again for a very long time.
UPDATE October 17, 2022:
Weakness is on midterm ballots: how many Americans will hand over their freedoms to Democrats?
Not that long ago, a socialist climate extremist like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) would have been laughed to the curb. Electing a John Fetterman or Mandela Barnes would have been unthinkable. Now these far-left candidates not only have enough support to run for office, they stand a good chance of joining AOC, Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and other activist progressives on Capitol Hill, assuming voters are duped into keeping them in office.
History teaches us that left-wing party elites benefit from socialism. If anything, they profit while the lives of those they govern deteriorate. This is an economic model that does what the left warns about to get elected: it empowers the already powerful at the expense of the herd.
A September 2022 Pew Research poll shows that 36% of Americans view socialism somewhat or very positively while only 57% have a positive view of capitalism.284 These are troubling numbers for a capitalist, free market economy that made America the most powerful nation on earth before it took a nosedive after radical leftist Joe Biden and the Democrats took over in 2021.
In many nations the people are not strong enough to mount a defense against a socialist takeover. That’s not the case in America. We hold elections. Voters have a choice. Often, radical candidates tell us precisely what they plan to do. Americans vote for them anyway and then act surprised when our lives get progressively worse like they have under the Biden presidency.
Being weak and irresponsible make it easy to buy into the lie of a better life moderated by government. Despite the Democrat Party’s abysmal track record when it comes to helping those they claim to own like the residents of depressed inner city communities, not only has pandering to weakness paid off, it enables the party to choose candidates that are increasingly radical even by progressive standards.
Voter support for radical leftists shows just how successful Democrats are at exploiting weakness and promoting false, big government paternalism. They know that weak people agree with their betters. They do as they are instructed. They believe what they are told. They gratefully accept what their government allows them to have. The Democrat party is more than willing to oblige with everything from guaranteed income proposals285 to plans for universal health care.
Democrats are ready to assume control of our lives. All we have to do is invite them. Their midterm messaging panders to weakness and the refusal of too many Americans to accept responsibility:
If you don’t want to pay back your student loan, you don’t have to.
If you commit a crime you don’t deserve to be locked up, especially if you are not white.
If you don’t want the responsibility of being a parent, just kill your baby before it’s born.
The government will guarantee your financial security when you retire.286
If you are a person of color, the difficulties you experience in life are caused by racism.
If life is too expensive, it’s because successful Americans don’t hand over their fair share.
If you don’t want to work, the government owes you an income.
If the government says that it’s OK to ply children with puberty blockers and to mutilate their bodies it’s because government health experts know best.
How your children are raised and what they learn are the government’s problems, not yours.
If you are in the country illegally, it’s America’s fault for not making life in your home country better or making you a citizen in ours.
Most important, anyone who disagrees with what the government says is best should be silenced. Sometimes that means relying on the Democrat Party’s Big Tech and mass media enablers. Sometimes it means relying on harsher measures like wielding the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and the FBI.
That last one is especially troubling because weak, irresponsible people need to be controlled and dissenters must be silenced. Freedom is a burden. It requires independent thought and that’s risky because you don’t know what might happen. From the left’s perspective it’s better to forgo individual liberty and convince the people that federal control of issues like abortion is preferable to the people in each state making the decision with their vote.
Freedom is a challenge. Living your life on your own terms and at your own risk is a lot harder than living it on Democrat Party terms that only require us to sit back as passive observers to whatever life wiser politicians decide we should live and whatever beliefs we should hold.
Weakness is the real issue on midterm ballots this year. Abortion, crime, inflation are just window dressing. The question is whether Americans want a government that will forbid dissent, force responsible Americans to pay for those who are weak, irresponsible, and even criminal, and turn success in life into a funding mechanism for what seems a lot less like a federal budget and a lot more like a massive federal slush fund for the enjoyment of the Democrat Party.
UPDATE October 21, 2022:
Pelosi makes ridiculous claim that Biden values America’s independence.
As important as the freedom of the individual is to America, the freedom of our nation is arguably even more important. If we are dependent on other nations, then they have a role in the decisions that govern our lives and our people are not free.
During a tour of a Michigan battery company on Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi offered her thoughts on what the president values and what he’s done to secure America’s independence:
I’m going to just say how excited President Biden would be to see what is happening here, not to speak for him, but to speak for his values. Because he’s always about declaring our independence as a nation, in terms of the supply chain and being resourceful in how we do that.287
If the White House has any values except those dictated by far-left progressives, independence is not one of them. On Biden’s watch we couldn’t even keep store shelves stocked with formula without relying on other countries to feed our hungry babies. Pelosi is babbling unbridled partisan fantasy that is completely false and yet so many Americans buy into it that the outcome of the November midterms is by no means certain.
Handing America’s energy independence to the mind of half-bright climate extremist AOC was a really terrible plan for what could have been an intelligent transition to clean energy that preserved our nation’s freedom and independence. Democrats bought into her socialist nonsense hook, line, and sinker. Biden did what he was told. 21 months later we’re begging other countries for the resources under our feet because far left progressives say Americans can’t have what’s ours.
If that isn’t bad enough, we don’t even have a territorial boundary at our southern border. A free and independent America, it seems, is antithetical to Biden’s values and our independence.
This is not a regime that values freedom or independence. Instead, we are marching down the road to dependence that presents a massive national security risk thanks to a president who talks global thermonuclear war and military intervention in Taiwan while he drains our Strategic Petroleum Reserve and ensures that domestic energy production, an absolute necessity for our military, is hamstrung by left-wing idiocy.
Not to worry, says our president. Taxpayers should be happy that depleting our SPR gives us the opportunity to restock at a lower price. Biden lap dog Pelosi robotically recites insulting White House propaganda that inflation in other countries somehow means that high inflation that hurts people here isn’t so bad:
The cost of energy. Today, he’s releasing more money from the SPR, more oil from the SPR, to lower the cost, recognizing that inflation is a global phenomenon right now in many countries that have a higher inflation rate than we do here.288
At least she didn’t blame Putin, which is the first thing Biden did when he announced his newest scheme for our energy dependence.
For the first and perhaps only time, I’m giving Karine Jean-Pierre credit for having the honesty to be completely tongue-tied while trying to explain why energy policies that turn us into a beggar nation are a good thing:
So, he has made it very clear. He wanted to make sure that we lower the prices for the American people. We have seen — we’ve seen independent analys- — and analysts have said the actions that this President took — this historic action that the President took has worked. And so, he’s going to continue to deliver.289
Pelosi took it a step further and rubbed our noses in our dependence with a remark during her tour about “keeping America number one.”290
What does being Number One mean? It means the Saudis sent America’s president packing with his tail between his legs after he begged them for oil. Then, being Number One meant a similarly denied appeal for a one-month delay in the announced OPEC+ production cut to save the Democrat Party’s hide in the upcoming midterms.
This kind of historic weakness does not make America independent. It makes us dependent and vulnerable.
In a friendly MSNBC interview a gaslighting Pelosi alleged that Biden’s creation of 9-10 million jobs is responsible for inflation. She also made a shockingly hypocritical appeal for America’s freedom:
I think it’s a tragedy for our country that people don’t value the vision that our Founders had about a democracy, what our men and women in uniform fight for, about freedom and our democracy, here and other places in the world and, again, what that means to our children.291
The takeaway? It’s the fault of everyone except Democrats that America’s freedom and independence is corrupted by progressive socialist policies that make our nation energy dependent while an authoritarian, bordering on autocratic White House intimidates the American people and makes us less free and more fearful of our left-wing government.
This is what comes from the values Pelosi and Biden endorse. It has everything to do with Karl Marx and the greed of Democrat Party elites who will benefit at our expense and nothing whatsoever to do with our Founders, who valued independence and freedom for their new nation above all things.
UPDATE October 30, 2022:
Every time a Democrat says MAGA, they are discriminating against you and taking away your freedom.
The president took our political discourse to an entirely new level when he called Republicans semi-fascists. After he objectified conservatives, justified discrimination, and made us an object of national hatred and scorn, his press secretary amplified the message:
When we talk about our democracy, when we talk about our freedoms, the way that he sees it is the MAGA Republicans are the most energized part of the Republican Party. That extreme — this is an extreme threat to our democracy, to our freedom, to our rights. 292
Americans heard that Republicans who believe America should be great are our #1 enemy.
This is entirely consistent with the administration’s warning that domestic terrorists, which eventually included parents, are the biggest threats we face even while illegals on the terror watch list spilled over our unprotected border.
This is outrageous. This is wrong. This is un-American, yet few are calling out Democrats for promoting ideologically-motivated discrimination. A fawning media, Big Tech, and Nancy Pelosi’s sham January 6 tribunal make this dangerous charade appear legitimate, when in fact it is flagrant discrimination of the most toxic kind.
Stereotyping is a hallmark of racism and discrimination. This fact is not lost on Karine Jean-Pierre:
They just don’t respect the rule of law. You’ve heard that from the President. And, you know, they are pursuing an agenda that takes away people’s rights, so — which is what the President said last week on Thursday. You all heard him. This is what the President said yesterday. And that’s what he’s going to continue to say.293
“They” speech is a classic propaganda tool for a government that wants to objectify a group of people. The president showed us how it’s done when he channeled Mussolini in a prime time speech that further objectified Republicans:
And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.294
That speech was a frightening evolution in our political rhetoric. Thanks to a media concerned primarily with keeping Democrats in power, it was not reported for what it was: the frank targeting of Americans based on their beliefs.
This kind of hateful public discourse would not be tolerated if the enemy was an ethnic or religious group. Since the attacks focus on political beliefs, they are not recognized for the dangerous escalation of discrimination against conservatives that they most assuredly are.
This discrimination extends to our legislative bodies and stamps out any nod to bipartisanship. According to The Hill, Congresswoman Myra Flores (R-TX) reports she was denied membership in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and that the group justified their action in part because of her “Extreme MAGA values.”295
This is emblematic of the Democrat Party’s new America, a place where discrimination is justified despite our First Amendment, effectively nullifying our most fundamental rights. The freedom of speech is moderated and even punished with violence from the left. Our FBI and Justice Departments are so politicized that for the first time in our memories, we fear what we say, post to social media, or commit to print.
An extreme threat to America’s democracy, freedom, and rights needs to be snuffed out. According to Democrats, that threat is us. We’ve seen autocrats drag nations down similar paths throughout history. The results are inevitably catastrophic.
America is better than this. No matter how determined the Democrat Party is to hold on to power, gutting the basic American freedom to hold political views contrary to the party in power is not worth the price. There will be pushback when power shifts, and each time this happens the result will be more extreme and pose a genuine threat to our democracy.
276“McCarthy Delivers Floor Speech on Preserving the Motion to Recommit.” republicanleader.gov. January 4, 2021. https://www.republicanleader.gov/mccarthy-delivers-floor-speech-on-preserving-the-motion-to-recommit/, retrieved October 4, 2022.
277“Remarks by President Biden on the Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation.” whitehouse.gov. September 1, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/01/remarks-by-president-bidenon-the-continued-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-nation/, retrieved October 4, 2022.
278Ibid.
279Ibid.
280“Pelosi Statement on President Biden’s Address on Defending Democracy.” speaker.gov. September 1, 2022. https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/pelosi-statement-on-president-biden-s-address-on-defending-democracy, retrieved October 4, 2022.
281“Remarks by President Biden on the Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation.” whitehouse.gov. Op. cit.
282“Smucker Responds to Biden’s Speech.” smucker.house.gov. September 2, 2022. https://smucker.house.gov/media/press-releases/smucker-responds-biden-s-speech, retrieved October 4, 2022.
283“Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards.” whitehouse.gov. October 2, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/10/02/remarks-by-president-biden-and-vice-president-harris-at-the-congressional-black-caucus-foundations-phoenix-awards/, retrieved October 3, 2022.
284 “Modest Declines in Positive Views of ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ in U.S.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. September 19, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/09/19/modest-declines-in-positive-views-of-socialism-and-capitalism-in-u-s/, retrieved October 16, 2022.
285“Rep. Omar Introduces Guaranteed Income Bill and GDP Alternative Legislation.” omar.house.gov. July 30, 2021. https://omar.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-omar-introduces-guaranteed-income-bill-and-gdp-alternative-legislation, retrieved October 17, 2022.
286“Pelosi Statement on New Increase in Social Security Benefits.” speaker.gov. October 13, 2022. https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/101322, retrieved October 14, 2022.
287“Transcript of Pelosi Remarks During Tour of Our Next Energy (ONE) Facility.” speaker.gov. October 19, 2022. https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/101922, retrieved October 20, 2022.
288“Transcript of Pelosi Remarks During Tour of Our Next Energy (ONE) Facility.” speaker.gov. October 19, 2022. https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/101922, retrieved October 20, 2022.
289“Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, October 19, 2022.” whitehouse.gov. October 19, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/10/19/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-october-19-2022/, retrieved October 20, 2022.
290“Transcript of Pelosi Remarks During Tour of Our Next Energy (ONE) Facility.” speaker.gov. Op. cit.
291“Transcript of Pelosi Interview on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports.” speaker.gov. October 18, 2022. https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/101822, retrieved October 21, 2022.
292”Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, August 31, 2022.” whitehouse.gov. August 31, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/08/31/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-august-31-2022/, retrieved October 30, 2022.
293Ibid.
294“Remarks by President Biden on the Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation.” whitehouse.gov. September 1, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/01/remarks-by-president-bidenon-the-continued-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-nation/, retrieved October 30, 2022.
295Bernal, Rafael. “Texas Republican says she was denied membership in Hispanic Caucus.” thehill.com. October 27, 2022. https://thehill.com/latino/3707920-texas-republican-says-she-was-denied-membership-in-hispanic-caucus/, retrieved October 30, 2022.
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People do not understand how the Democrats and the Obama administration are slowly strangling the very freedoms that the Revolution was fought for. The facts are clear when you see the Constitution being trampled on by Obama, and then realize that he could not pass a gun owner background check, which is why he has sealed “ALL” of his records.
If congress were to pass any new legislation on background checking it must include the requirement that “ALL” politicians running for public office must “PASS” those requirements or be disqualified.
As it stands right now, Obama could not ” PASS” a standard FBI check from the details that were written in his book, which is why his certification was challenged. The judges that had cases before them refused to hear the arguments and thusly dismissed those cases. What gutless wonders we have in the justice system including the Supreme Court.
Obama is tearing our nation apart. and he is banking on the ignorant that don’t pay attention. obama has a shady past and i am not convinced that he is a true citizen of the united states. If you vote democrat you are voting to end america as a freedom country. Obama is taking it all away and people are not paying attention. when it’s gone and you are under the control of a dictator you will wish you had paid attention. but this country has been under attack before obama but now it’s speeded up so much it will be a miracle if we can keep it
We’ll find out next week how well people are paying attention, won’t we, Sandy? I agree, it’s pretty amazing that no matter how bad things are or how misguided the actions of public officials, they still manage to convince people to support what they do. Watch what happens in the Illinois governor’s race next week. If Pat Quinn wins, it’s a pretty good sign that we are truly lost.
freedom from harm is not a reasonable freedom. Freedom from unjust aggression is reasonable, and the primary reason for government.
Thanks for your remarks, Ed. Interesting how some of what’s happening now at the hands of government could be considered unjust aggression, like the searches they conducted in Rhode Island looking for New Yorkers. It’s difficult to know where to draw the line between government overreach and the public interest, but that was quite a line to cross.
Obama signed a bill to allow the media to profess false narratives for the peoples ow good HR4310
Joseph Goebbels would be so proud.
I don’t know if the intention was to turn lies into the sole means of communicating with the people to the complete exclusion of the truth, but it has certainly paid off for Democrats and the White House.
Wow, the RWNJ is strong with this one.
I’m listening, John.