{"id":1719,"date":"2017-07-12T13:27:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T17:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2017-07-12T13:27:21","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T17:27:21","slug":"left-will-continue-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2017\/07\/left-will-continue-win.html","title":{"rendered":"Why the Left will Continue to Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

That the Democrat Party holds fewer political offices now than at any time since the 1920s does not mean that the left <\/em>is losing.\u00a0 Conversely, just because Republicans have been winning elections does not mean that the right <\/em>is winning.<\/p>\n

As I show in my book, Misguided Guardians: The Conservative Case Against Neoconservatism, <\/em>the GOP is not now, nor has it ever been, a right-wing or conservative party.\u00a0 Its rhetoric to the contrary aside, the GOP is every bit as much in favor of a centralized, administrative state as is its Democrat counterpart.<\/p>\n

Nor is it for the sake of a right-wing agenda that neoconservative Republicans exploit this state power.<\/p>\n

However, it is not my point here to revisit the multiple respects in which the neoconservatism of the GOP reveals itself to be a species of leftism. The point, rather, is to caution conservatives, libertarians, and others on the right against allowing themselves to be deceived into thinking that as long as the Republican Party continues winning elections that the right <\/em>is winning.<\/p>\n

In fact, culturally speaking, the left has been crucifying the right for decades.\u00a0 Donald Trump\u2019s presidency notwithstanding, it is still winning.<\/p>\n

Tragically, I recently realized that leftists will continue to win the cultural war\u2014at least as long as leftist and non-leftist Americans remain citizens of one and the same country.<\/p>\n

My reason for this verdict is basic enough:<\/p>\n

Those on the \u201cthe right,\u201d or at least those on \u201cthe right\u201d who are in positions to make the kinds of changes that need to be made in order to defeat the left, simply don\u2019t have it in them to do so. \u00a0For as difficult as it is to reckon with this ugly truth, face it we must.<\/p>\n

First, \u201cconservative\u201d publications and pundits are constantly, and correctly, informing us that the massive leftist, anti-Trump demonstrations and rallies that have unfolded around the country over the last six months or so are financed by such millionaires and billionaires as George Soros.<\/p>\n

Though they don\u2019t expressly say it, these spokespersons for \u201cthe conservative movement\u201d treat this fact as if its immorality is axiomatic.\u00a0 Yet not only is its wrongness not self-evident; I fail to see how it is wrong at all.<\/p>\n

There are \u201cconservative\u201d millionaires and billionaires, some of whom speak for several hours a day every week day on the radio and on television. Within no time, they could raise exponentially more<\/em> than what would be required to subsidize and organize rallies and protests that would be at least as large as those that Soros and his comrades have been funding.<\/p>\n

As I type this, at the grassroots level, some folks on the internet are trying to assemble \u201cMOAR\u201d\u2014\u201cMother Of All Rallies.\u201d\u00a0 The latter is supposed to be held in Washington D.C. on September 16. It is a pro-Trump, pro-America rally to which the organizers hope to attract over one million attendees.<\/p>\n

This One Million Deplorable march is something that our \u201cconservative\u201d millionaires and billionaires could help along.<\/p>\n

But there is no indication that the mere thought of undertaking such a venture has ever even entered their minds.<\/p>\n

Beyond this, these wealthy, influential \u201cconservatives\u201d never so much as draw attention to those grassroots patriots who have been taking to the streets, at considerable risk and financial cost to themselves, organizing their own pro-America, pro-Trump, pro-\u201cFree Speech\u201d rallies. \u00a0These rallies the patriots have held in liberal bastions throughout the nation.\u00a0 They have often been outnumbered and threatened, but they persevere.<\/p>\n

Big-named \u201cconservatives\u201d say\u2026nothing.<\/p>\n

Second, when Sean Hannity was in the crosshairs of the left, a couple of lesser known, former radio hosts decided to \u201cfight fire with fire\u201d by establishing Media Equalizer, a site that regularly releases the contact information of all of those companies that sponsor left-leaning media figures. Hannity expressed his appreciation, but insisted that he still opposed \u201cboycotts.\u201d<\/p>\n

This stated opposition to boycotts is typical among \u201cconservatives,\u201d particularly those who, like Hannity, depend upon sponsors for their living.\u00a0 However, what, we must ask, is morally objectionable about a boycott?\u00a0 How is it impermissible to unite with like-minded consumers in issuing companies that sponsor offensive programming an ultimatum to either drop their sponsorship or risk going out of business?\u00a0 People are free to either participate in the boycott or not.<\/p>\n

Hannity brought some attention to the founders of Media Equalizer initially. \u00a0Since then, though, neither he nor any of his colleagues have sought to remind their vast audiences of this invaluable site.<\/p>\n

As long as our well-positioned \u201cconservatives\u201d refuse to \u201cfight fire with fire,\u201d the left will persist.<\/p>\n

Third, Trump supporters and those merely suspected of being Trump supporters have routinely been violently attacked for well over a year.\u00a0 Fortunately, they have learned to fight back and, in some instances, they have turned the tables on their attackers and beaten them.\u00a0 Still, the hostility toward Trump-supporters by the ever-proliferating \u201cAntifa\u201d (\u201cantifascists\u201d) and others remains toxic to the body politic.<\/p>\n

The giants of \u201cthe conservative movement\u201d say little to nothing about it.\u00a0 Much less do they offer to help assemble a network of Constitution-loving lawyers, say, attorneys that will be on the spot in the event that conservative street activists need them, or who can file lawsuits against the politicians of those cities that order the police to stand down as leftist terrorists destroy property and attack those with whom they disagree.<\/p>\n

This network of lawyers could also sue the police departments <\/em>of these \u201cprogressive\u201d oases for failing to uphold their oath to \u201cprotect and serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

If, though, our big league \u201cconservatives\u201d helped to finance and promote pro-American rallies, much of this violence against Trump supporters wouldn\u2019t exist, for their influence would insure astronomical turnouts that would render this violence futile\u2014if not suicidal for those who tried to perpetrate it.<\/p>\n

This list of recommendations is not meant to be exhaustive. \u00a0It is meant to show that the most prominent representatives of \u201cthe conservative movement\u201d aren\u2019t doing nearly as much as they could and should do to insure victory over the left.<\/p>\n

While it is undoubtedly important to draw attention, as these \u201cconservatives\u201d do, to the left\u2019s outrages, unless this service is supplemented with other measures, with action<\/em>, it begins to sound like whining and nagging.<\/p>\n

The whole, \u201cthe left applies double standards when judging us\u201d line, though true, becomes old.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Unless the standard operating procedure of the official \u201cright\u201d changes and they begin to truly fight fire with fire, the left will continue moving along.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That the Democrat Party holds fewer political offices now than at any time since the 1920s does not mean that the left is losing.\u00a0 Conversely, just because Republicans have been winning elections does not mean that the right is winning. 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