HEROES AND ZEROS

As Charles Dickens once wrote, it was the best of times it was worst of times. He was writing about the comparison of London and France during the French revolution.  The full quote is even better:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…, we had nothing before us, we are all going direct to Heaven, we are all going direct the other way.”

This was written in 1859, about the French Revolution which started in 1789. It was revealing then, it is revealing now. The French Revolution inspired in at least part by the American Revolution ended with a very different result. In the United States, following the revolt against England, the adults took over. They realized that they had to create a system of government that would allow good government but also facilitate freedom. They recognized the dangers of monarchy, but they also recognized the dangers of mob rule. In France, the mob took over, uprooting centuries old institutions and replacing them with a chaotic blood bath. Ultimately, this led to a bloody war and a dictatorship under Napoleon.

Over 17,000 people were tried and executed during the Reign of Terror, and no one knows how many more died in prison without trial. The politicians of that day could not stop fighting each other long enough to agree on a compromise that would allow good governance. They were too consumed with hatred for each other. Sound familiar? Napoleon took over because only the military could maintain good order.

Today we are seeing some elements of that play out right in front of us. But there are important differences. Yes, the Democratic Party has seized control of the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. Yes, they are dominated by an angry mob that is focused more on destroying perceived enemies than it is on making things better. They are alienating the very people they desperately need to make this work. By the way, they also want to eradicate Christianity, just like in the French Revolution. The big different is that in France the revolt was against the Catholic Church, which at that time was highly political. Christianity today is not dominated by a church denomination. They have chosen the wrong enemy.

Democrats are impeaching President Donald Trump. This is mostly stupid. It has no chance of succeeding but every chance of generating even more anger and hatred.  Democrats foolishly believe all conservatives are naïve delusional followers of Donald Trump incapable of seeing reality and even less capable of understanding.

The only adults in the room are being screamed at and threatened by the angry mob. Incredibly, while simultaneously impeaching Trump for inciting people to riot, they are doing exactly that themselves. If anyone is paying attention, Donald Trump is the one who is acting with class and dignity, trying to maintain calm. It is his enemies who are filled with rage and are hyperventilating.

Trump said he was working hard to transfer power smoothly to Joe Biden. But instead of accepting that, Democrats have the bit in their mouth, and they are running toward what they consider to be certain victory. But the expression taking the bit in the mouth refers to a horse that is out of control, running away wildly to certain destruction.

We are about to see an impeachment trial that will put this on full display. Democrats will be screaming hatred at Donald Trump, with no evidence. He will be defended by Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz, who will not be screaming and who have evidence. This includes direct quotes from Nancy Pelosi claiming that the 2016 election was rigged, and that Donald Trump was not the duly elected President of the United States. This is very likely to be a very public display of arrogance and stupidity. They may convince themselves that they are right, but they are unlikely to convince very many open-minded people watching.

The good news is that both the heroes and the zeros are self-identifying. The zeros are people like Liz Cheney, Chris Christie, Mitch McConnell, Nicky Halley, and Mitt Romney, although Romney was already a self-identified zero. These never Trumpers are so obsessed with their hatred of Trump to realize they are orchestrating their own destruction. We do not know who the future leaders of the Republican Party will be, but we know who it will not be. They seriously think they are the future of the Republican Party. The future of the Republican Party will be better because it will not include any of the above.

The heroes are people like Josh Hawley, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunez, Ron De Santos, Kristy Noem, Ted Cruz and many more.  They are standing tall and refusing to back down. Ultimately, people will remember who stood up against the madness and who did not.

In the ultimate irony, it is the impeachment of Donald Trump that is most likely to incite violence. He warned us about that, but no one listened. People are already angry and this idiotic attempt to stop Trump from remaining in office for another week is only evidence that Democrats are even more despicable than he was telling us over the last four years. At a time when COVID 19 is raging, our economy is faltering, we are running out of money and our enemies are gearing up to take us on, Democrats are focused entirely on trashing Trump, one last time, on his way out the door.

This anger and the coming violence is not caused by anything said by Trump. He merely gave voice to people who already felt this way but had no voice. He may be gone, but the movement to which he gave voice is far from gone.

The French Revolution also taught us something else. When people are unable to come together and compromise for the better good, the inevitable result is violence. We saw some of that violence last summer. Instead of condemning it and working together with Trump and Republicans to stop this, Democrat leaders just poured gas on the flames of without bothering to verify the facts. They did more than that, they ignored facts. Much of the violence last summer was based on a false narrative embraced by Democrats and their allies in the MSM. As a result, many black Americans really believe there is an unprecedented wave of innocent unarmed black men being shot, for no reason, by racist white cops. At a time when they need to trust law enforcement, they are told law enforcement is the enemy. The truth is always the truth and should only terrify those afraid of reality. As a result of this, we have genuinely angry people demanding things that are not in their best interest. They haven’t improved race relations; they have set them back about 50 years.

We had the NFL, MLB, NBA, and everyone else demanding social justice oblivious to the anger this is causing in those falsely accused of systemic racism. Sadly, some of them are about to show us what real racism looks like. Democrats believe they have all the power, and they are planning on correcting problems that exist primarily in their own deluded minds. In doing this, they are not fighting racism, they are demanding it.

What, exactly do they expect when they tell us all white people are bad and we should apologize for our white privilege. What do they expect when they argue that all Republicans are dangerous domestic terrorists? Most, fortunately, will respond positively, knowing that everything moves in cycles and this is no exception. But they are also triggering extremely dangerous people, some of whom showed up in Washington D.C. last week. They weren’t there because they were listening to Donald Trump, they were there because far too many people weren’t listening to Donald Trump who was speaking for a lot of us.

We are in for a bumpy ride, but it is Democrats who are on the road to self-destruction. They do not control the military or the state and local police. They do not control the courts. This is what will save us from becoming the French Revolution. In the meantime, be sure to identify heroes and zeros so we know where to find the leadership to turn things around when Democrats have completed their rush to self-destruction.

TDM