According to a column written by leftists Peter Leyden and Ruy Texeira, America is hopelessly divided into two opposite camps, camps which have become so polarized that there is no common ground or possibility of compromise between them. I agree with their thesis.
The chasm between them is created by the stark differences in their view of the world. One camp – constitutional conservatives – believes in the Bible as the Word of God, it believes in religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, natural marriage, the nuclear family, free market capitalism, lower taxes, less regulation, local control of education, secure borders (including a wall), a strong military, originalism in our jurisprudence, and proud, unabashed allegiance to the Republic.
The other camp – I call them “regressives” because they want to take us backwards instead of forward – believes in virtually none of those things. They booed God out of their political party in 2012, punish Christians who run their businesses according to Christian values, vote unanimously and repeatedly for the continued butchery of babies in the womb, support the radical LGBT agenda of sexual deviancy, want governmental control of everything from education to the economy, believe in amnesty and open borders, and celebrate judicial activism as well as disrespect for the flag and the Republic for which it stands.
The differences are so vast, Leyden and Texeira argue, that comprise is now impossible. “[They are] already at odds through different political ideologies, philosophies, and worldviews…They see the world through different lenses, consume different media, and literally live in different places.”
The result is that our nation is now locked in what they call “A New American Civil War.” It’s a civil war of values in which ballots and not bullets are the weapons, but it is a war nonetheless.
They argue, persuasively in my view, that, “At some point, one side or the other must win — and win big. The side resisting change, usually the one most rooted in the past systems and incumbent interests, must be thoroughly defeated — not just for a political cycle or two, but for a generation or two.” (Emphasis mine.)
This cultural and political war must be won at the ballot box. It’s only natural that we call intensely contested states “battleground states,” because that is indeed what they are. This battle, this war, must be won decisively, either by conservatives or regressives. And it must be won, not just for one or two political cycles (say, 2016 and 2018), but for one or two entire generations.
In Step 1, conservatives selected their general in 2016, and he led his troops to a clear victory in the presidential campaign. Now he is seeking to lead his troops to victory in the first major battle of this civil war, the 2018 mid-term elections. If constitutional conservatives will rally behind their general, as flawed as he may be, they can win a decisive victory on November 6. Their goal in this skirmish is to maintain firm control of the House and the Senate.
The goal then in 2020 will be to politically decimate the opposition, to so thoroughly trounce them that it will be decades before they have the strength to win another battle. As far-fetched as it sounds, it can be done. And it has been done at the state level.
My adopted state of Mississippi has become virtually a one-party state, with only one statewide office held by a regressive. The candidate who is taking on constitutional conservative Chris McDaniel in the senate race had to switch parties in 2008 (after voting for Hillary Clinton) to have any chance to win a statewide election. (The president endorsed her, I believe, based on bad information from establishment types in state government).
My home state of Idaho has a legislature that is 75% Republican/conservative, and has been for years. Democrats/regressives are a forlorn and lonely bunch in the Gem State, with but only the slimmest hope of ever regaining political power at the state level.
What has happened in Mississippi and Idaho now needs to happen in all of America. We completed Step 1 in 2016, by choosing a field general who has protected the sanctity of human life, protected religious liberty, reduced taxes and regulations, strengthened our military, given us two originalist judges, and is focused on reducing illegal immigration and increasing border security.
And he is a fighter. Abraham Lincoln got increasingly exasperated as the Civil War dragged on because he could not find a general who would engage the enemy instead of just drilling on the parade ground. Well, conservatives, for the first time in a generation, we have a leader who fights. The president is the Ulysses S. Grant of today’s conservative movement. He knows how to fight, he knows how to take the fight to the enemy, and is undeterred by having to engage the enemy virtually single-handedly because he has so few lieutenants in his army who have the testosterone to engage the adversary.
Step 2 in this long campaign is to win on Tuesday. It is critically important that the general’s army hold the field. The troops can use these next two years to build a border wall, reduce illegal immigration to zero, eliminate birthright citizenship (follow your leader, boys!), and completely defund Planned Parenthood.
Step 3, target date 2020, is the complete decimation of the regressive movement. It will be time, building on the momentum of 2018, to utterly vanquish the political left and turn this nation, at least for a few shining years, into a one party nation governed by constitutional conservatives at every level of government.
Leyden and Texeira are right. One side or the other must win and win big. If only one side can win, I say it might as well be us.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Northwest Connection.)
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