Boy, things are getting gloomy around here. Fortunately, I have in my metaphorical ethics holster not one but TWO sterling and inspirational Comments of the Day posted in response to Steve Witherspoon’s expression of ( I’m sure temporary) despair by a pair of the form: Glenn Logan and occasional Ethics Alarms columnist Mrs. Q. And here they are, back to back Comments of the Day on the post, “Comment Of The Day: Wednesday Ethics Windstorm,11/11/20: Liars, Knaves, Fools And Birds,”
First, Glenn Logan:
Steve, this is a grim comment to be sure. I doubt if I can elevate your mood, but I will make a couple of observations:
“There are so many openly anti-Constitutional, anti-American, anti-freedom, anti-civility and anti-rule of law things being done and said by political leaders and common citizens across the USA and it’s been going on for so long now that I really am to the point that I truly and actually believe that all the societal signs are showing us that the United States of America is on its way towards some form of totalitarian styled socialism/communism and it will likely happen in my lifetime.“
I don’t totally agree, but I do agree that this is a danger. I am heartened by the resurgence of the Republicans in the house and the conflagration of so much Democratic money attempting to unseat Republican incumbents. The Democrats burned almost 70 million dollars in the senate race in Kentucky alone (against 30 MUSD for McConnell) only for the pleasure of being curb-stomped. McGrath posters and ads blanketed the media and the streets, outnumbering “Team Mitch” 100-1 even in the most conservative areas of Kentucky, and that money might as well have been dropped in a bottomless hole for all the good it did.
That tells me the signal of freedom is still getting out there, and being heard.
The flood of new subscribers to Parler, MeWe and other alternate social media is heartening. The defenestration of Fox News after its sudden left turn is heartening. The bare margin of the presidential election even after rampant fraud and a non-stop 4-year fully-paid-for media campaign commercial for the Democrats is heartening. There are silver linings to be found, dark as the clouds may be.
There is more than just a little hope, but your point is not unworthy — there is also grave danger.
“Biden’s statement’s about unity, Republicans are not our enemies and working together in peace are a rhetorical smoke screen from an empty suit puppet of the extreme political left.“
Even worse, it is totalitarian, a tactic of the old USSR. A call to unity in such a closely-divided and openly hostile electorate is a deadly insult, and a threat of repercussions for failure to conform. It is being rejected, as it should be, as the condescending, offensive, Communist offal it is. The Democrats are the enemy, and no mistake. They must be defeated, and their nascent crypto-Communism rejected utterly.
“At this point looking forward I truly believe that the political right will either be forced to lay down their arms or they will be forced to use them – I really do think it’s inevitable.“
I’m sure we will be given that choice. I suspect, however, the Left will ultimately back down when faced with the reality of open conflict and play for time, hoping we will all tire of the confrontation. It is not a foregone conclusion that they are wrong, but I have to believe they are.
I hope you feel better, but if not, the best thing you, and the rest of us can do, is prepare for the worst and work hard to defend our Republic, praying all the while that armed conflict is but the specter of a dystopian future and not the reality.
And now, Mrs. Q:
Being scared, being mad, being vengeful, and being depressed about this is what our more unhinged members of society want.Don’t give them the satisfaction.
(Bring out the swords because here’s my Pollyanna moment.)
In spite of the incredible depths to which I have seen my fellow Americans go to destroy a President, we know for sure at least 70 million people didn’t buy it. Considering certain factions have the most media, tech, entertainment, schools, and non-profits in alignment with The Agenda, tens of millions Americans gave them the proverbial finger. Against the odds, you can’t deny that’s a lot of people who won’t be told what to do by smug bullies who right now appear to have the most power to persuade.
I do believe we will see doubling down. The popular kids don’t just want Trump gone, they want those who voted for him to experience some sort of consequence. Again this is only the most unhinged…for now. Utopian pursuits will continue to amplify marxist-globalist goals, I suspect. The great kum-by-yah for many will be an even bigger kum-by-no for the rest of us.
However they are starting to see they don’t own minority votes either. As Douglas Murray noted in a recent article on Unherd:
“In the last couple of days, broadcasters on major American networks have claimed on air, on the basis of Trump’s Mexicans comment, that Hispanics have suffered more prejudice than at any point in their lifetimes. The same Hispanics who just voted for Trump in record-breaking numbers.
In some minority demographics support for Trump doubled. That’s great news! In ways, this new conservatism is kinda punk rock. We’ve become the Johnny Rottens of this new millieu. We’re bold enough to say, “I won’t go along and be told how to label myself or how to think about this country.” So now we live our lives with heads up, with humility, knowing we’re not alone.
And you know what? That drives the politically religious left bananas. They hate that for us, politics isn’t the beginning and end of our moral leanings. They hate that we can endure our candidate losing (legitimately or not) and still go on to be happy and free.
It’s okay to be concerned for the future. It’s not okay to let that concern stop us from doing what we can, while we can to help others.
70+ million voters chose to think for themselves rather than let propaganda, accusations, threats and violence stop them from casting a vote for Trump. History shows nothing lasts forever. Those who stay strong and focused pass that on to future generations, even if they suffer in the process.Tears in beers at night lead to coffee fueled purpose in the morning. Grieve. Then get to work on what’s most important: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And don’t let any Baader-Meinhoff personality type take that from you, ever.
If I could I’d give you a big hug Steve.
Ethics Alarms 
Congratulations Glenn Logan and Mrs. Q. on your Comment of the Day.
Your comments were thoughtful, persuasive and very timely.
Thank you Steve. You deserve half the credit for mine for the inspiration. 🙂
Thank you Jack, for the honor. Humbled, as always.
Mrs Q., I’d like to inject your comment directly into my veins. 🙂
I’m sorry I missed it the first time ’round.
Thank you Steve for being our inspiration! I really appreciate what you contribute. Remember you have my email if you ever want to communicate off EA.
Jack for some reason some of my text is in grey. Also thanks for fixing Johnny’s last name to a plural.
Glenn I appreciate your words too. Realistic but hopeful. Thank you!
Nicely done, Mrs. Q and Glenn. Hope springs eternal.
jvb
The comment about Unity reminded me of a quote I like, that I’ve been using as my signature on slashdot for over a decade. “Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions.” It’s from “The Truth” by Terry Pratchett. It resonated the first time I read it, and now that I think about it seems like the proper response to the attempt by Carter to get everyone to work together that Jack mentioned in an earlier post.
Kudos to both of you for those comments. Well said!
Jack, yeah it is a bit gloomy around here these days. But I particularly hearken to one thing Mrs. Q said, that we can endure our candidate losing and go on to be productive and happy. And if we are also a bit vengeful in a couple years if we win back the House, well that’s ok too.
I do believe that Republicans and conservatives will be able to take a loss much better than the Democrats did in 2016 because, well, I think we’re generally a nicer crowd. Which is one reason we’ve let the Democrats run roughshod over us on occasions. But they mistake that for a lack of strength or commitment or will at their peril.
Sooooooo, would you folks vote for Trump if he runs again? I want to say he’d be too old, but…Biden.
A slight change of pace.
I shared an article from the WSJ with my sister, who has been following the pandemic avidly since spring.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/case-for-mask-mandate-rests-on-bad-data-11605113310?page=1
Basically it says that the report last month that if Americans simply wore masks, we could save 130,000 lives over the next four months. Well, apparently the study (another one from the University of Washington) assumed that only half of us are actually wearing masks. However, other polls — specifically YouGov — have found that the rate hit about 80% in July and has been at that level since then. If you use that mask wearing rate, the study founders and only a handful of lives might possibly be saved by a universal mask mandate. That 80% rate seems consistent with what I see when I am out and about.
I thought that this article was a useful indicator that simplistic solutions were not a panacea. However, I was really surprised that it had my sister near despair. What she said was that we (the U.S.) are doing so much worse than the rest of the world, if we’re already wearing masks and a mask mandate would not do much — what hope is there for us. We’re doomed!
No, she was not joking. I don’t concede the premise that we’re doing so horrible compared to the rest of the world. As well, I have much more skepticism about what the scientists have been telling us — and especially the certitude they invariably exude when doing so. She has the utmost confidence that they know what they’re talking about.
An illuminating look at one of the differences between the sides.