Mark Tapson is the Shillman Fellow on Popular Culture for the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
Now that the Democratic Party and its media enablers have unilaterally and pre-emptively declared their empty-suit candidate Joe Biden to be the President-elect, and are eager to move forward with their fundamental transformation of the United States, the obligatory calls for unity have begun.
Biden himself presumed to deliver an election “victory” speech in which he made a plea so hypocritical that it would be comical if it weren’t so outrageous. “Now let’s give each other a chance,” he stated. “It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature.” Maybe that means he will stop referring to Trump supporters as “chumps” and will denounce Antifa violence against them as more than just “an idea.”
Biden went on to unintentionally acknowledge that his supporters have spent the last four years smearing us as fascist, violent, white supremacist deplorables: “And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies,” he urged. “They are not our enemies. They’re Americans.” This statement would seem much more sincere and meaningful if he had declared it at some point in all the time that conservatives were being harassed in public spaces and assaulted in the streets in the lead-up to the election.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama, too, took to Twitter recently to urge Democrats to reach out to Trump voters. This is how she phrased it: “Let’s remember that tens of millions of people voted for the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division. We’ve got a lot of work to do to reach out to these folks in the years ahead and connect with them on what unites us.” Even when calling for reconciliation the left demonizes conservatives as hate-mongers on the wrong side of history who need re-education camps to get their heads straight.
(To clarify: I use the terms “Democrats” and “the left” interchangeably, because the Democratic Party is not “liberal”; it is controlled by totalitarian radicals like the young members of “the Squad” in the House of Representatives. Conservatives are the classical liberals now. The only “liberals” remaining among the Democrats are waking up and #WalkingAway from their own Party’s illiberal radicalism.)
Apart from the fact that it is Michelle’s side that supported (and continues to support) the lies, hate, chaos, and division, we all know what “unity” means to Democrats: total compliance with their globalist, collectivist agenda. As the left’s calls to compile an enemies list of Trump supporters demonstrates, they have no intention of uniting, coexisting, or working with conservatives — only ostracizing, destroying, and eliminating any political opposition once and for all.
No matter whom is ultimately declared the winner of the presidential election, is any semblance of unity even possible? If Biden wins, half the country will consider him “Not My President” and resist his party’s radical agenda. If Trump wins, the other half of the country will consider him “Not My President” and will escalate its violent revolution already underway. Where is the common ground Michelle O alluded to between us?
There is none. There are two distinct Americas today, each side passionately supporting starkly opposed and irreconcilable worldviews.
One side acknowledges that America is imperfect but still takes pride in our exceptionalism; the other side believes America is the villain of history and must be fundamentally remade from the foundations up.
One side wants secure borders, legal immigration, and America First; the other wants open borders, amnesty for millions of illegals, and globalist policies.
One side holds to the principles of the Constitution and our God-given rights such as freedom of speech; the other believes the Constitution is outdated and unwoke, that God is dead anyway, and that free speech empowers fascists.
One side believes in the sanctity of unborn lives; the other considers the unborn a mere clump of cells that can be discarded when inconvenient.
One side rejects a Green New Deal as a big-government boondoggle and socialist power grab; the other frets that the world will end in twelve years without it.
One side rejects government COVID lockdowns and mask-and-social-distancing mandates as dehumanizing, tyrannical and destructive; the other embraces compliance as a loving gesture toward our fellow man.
One side believes fairness means equality of opportunity; the other believes fairness means equality of outcome.
One side believes the news media should strive for objectivity; the other believes objectivity is a racist Western concept and that journalists should reject it and be activists for social justice.
One side believes in reasoned debate; the other believes that words are violence, that there are no universal truths, and that reason itself is an oppressive tool of white privilege.
One side believes political violence is a sign of Third-World lawlessness; the other believes pre-emptive violence against political opponents is self-defense and anti-fascist.
One side believes nothing justifies rioting and looting; the other defends rioting and looting as reparations for slavery, and considers the terms “rioting” and “looting” themselves to be racist dog-whistles.
I could go on, but the obvious point is that on literally every issue facing America today, there is a Grand Canyon-sized gulf between left and right perspectives. There is no way to bridge this divide and bring these two Americas together, not even in a contentious coexistence. Matter cannot exist in the same space as anti-matter. To borrow from the tagline of the 1986 movie Highlander, “there can be only one.” For the country to survive, one of these worldviews must resoundingly defeat the other in the marketplace of ideas, in the halls of power, and if necessary, in the streets.
Does this mean a literal civil war is imminent? No, a civil war is already underway, but only one side is waging it. Video evidence of violence and unhinged harassment against conservatives abounds on the internet. Cells of Antifa shock troops have sprung up seemingly overnight to sow discord and brutalize Trump supporters. We are way past the point where the left will heed tepid pleas for civility; their lust for total power has vaulted them beyond law and order, beyond morality itself when it comes to crushing political opposition.
No one – not a man, woman, child, senior citizen, or disabled person – who openly expresses his or her conservatism or even basic patriotism can be assured of safety from vicious verbal or physical assault anywhere anymore – in the streets, in restaurants, in schools, anywhere. Writing about this normalization of leftist political violence at The Federalist, David Marcus warns that “a step back needs to be taken now.” It certainly does, but those who need to heed that warning have no incentive to do so. They have learned that violence and intimidation work. They have suffered precious little consequence from law enforcement, from the news media, and from their political leaders, so the verbal and physical brutality against conservatives will remain the new normal even if Biden is declared President. (If Trump is declared the winner, everyone knows that all leftist hell will break loose; the rioting and chaos we have seen thus far will be just a foretaste.) Yet the cultural complex of media/academia/showbiz continues to relentlessly promote The Narrative that the right is the violent, fascist threat. And now Joe Biden expects unity?
For the two Americas to find any common ground to work toward unity, they must share at least a few essential points of agreement like a love for country, a respect for law and order, and a shared sense of American identity, among others. But as long as the country is stretched to the breaking point between such ideological, existential, and moral opposites, the two repelling poles cannot come together. There can be only one.
Leave a Reply