It started decades ago in this country; the hammering away at the
notion that ours is a noble and commendable history. From the
demonization of Christopher Columbus and our founding fathers to
the endless recriminations concerning reparations — both moral
and pecuniary — for past sins that are due those who never
suffered directly under them. And now our president has the
uncontrollable urge to apologize for every action by the United
States that may or may not have caused pain to anyone, anywhere
around the globe.
Some of us who take a more charitable view, have tried to explain
this attitude away as an erosion of the concept of American
exceptionalism; but the simple truth is that what most liberals
are selling is a program of national self-hate. But liberal logic
is never lacking in irony. These very same feelings of patriotism
and pride in our heritage that they disparage are, of course,
lauded in others; particularly our Muslim enemies. And it is this
kind of thinking that is finally catching up to them.
That Barack Obama’s
poll numbers have tanked is not news. Considering the cloying
adoration the media have shown him, it’s the speed with which
they’ve dropped that should be cause for alarm for his
supporters. But from the viewpoint of the loyal opposition, the
delicious poll numbers are those that suggest a growing distaste
for some of the pillars of the liberal agenda. A glance at the
latest Rasmussen Reports should send shivers down the spines of
Democrats everywhere.
For the first time, the
number of Americans not buying into the human-caused global
warming canard is greater than those who have bowed to the
near-total propaganda campaign supporting it. Forty-five percent
of us think that labors unions
weaken our country and nearly half think they have outlived
their usefulness. And in a development sure to impact future
elections, a whopping 83 percent of those polled
think that only U.S. citizens should have access to
government healthcare subsidies. And speaking of same, while
opposition to health care reform is now at 53 percent
overall, the shocking number is that 62 percent of independent
voters are opposed to it. So it’s not surprising that Republicans
are gaining in the generic congressional ballot
polling. But why?
I have long contended that the liberal desire to impose socialism
on America is one that must be induced gradually and covertly;
much like Mary Poppins’ contention that a spoonful of sugar helps
the medicine go down. Were its aims not couched in sweet-sounding
terms like “social justice,” “saving the planet” and “it’s for
the children,” Americans would have rejected liberalism’s tender
mercies years ago. Without these niceties, naked ambition can be
seen as it really is: naked.
Because, at its heart, the true goal of “progressives” is the
repudiation of all that this country was founded on; particularly
the right of its people to govern themselves in a way that counts
the protections of private property and personal freedom as
sacrosanct, and is codified under the tenets of natural law as
defined by the Judeo-Christian ethic. And this is why, under the
guise of their decades-long campaign to raise the self-esteem of
our countrymen and especially our children, what has taken place
is just the opposite; at least where it concerns their
citizenship.
They have encouraged us to revile our predecessors as bigoted,
hateful empire-builders, driven by a misguided reliance on
religion; and reduced our defense of freedom around the world to
a pathetic form of misplaced patriotism. They embrace, as Pope
Benedict XVI has
said, “a pacifism that does not recognize that some values
are worthy of being defended and that assigns the same value to
everything.” In a word, they desire to make America into an
unlovely nation by seeing to it that it is unloved.
But self-hate can only go so far before it immolates its object;
itself. And this is what explains the sudden repudiation of the
Obama agenda; too much socialism, far too soon. Again, when
ladled out in tiny portions and sweetened by euphemistic
doublespeak, liberalism may be tolerated by a trusting populace;
one that has always had a good and charitable heart. But after
seizing power so quickly and attempting to rush their radical
agenda through a friendly Congress, the wolf’s fangs are laid
bare as the sheep’s clothing falls away.
Because the thing is, while there are many folks alive who
remember the dismal failures of socialism and its big brother
communism, there are also many prescient young people who are
experiencing it for the first time and have noticed its foul
taste; smothered though it may be in syrupy media pap. It can’t
make too many liberals happy that according to John
Zogby, 41 percent of Americans under 30 now disapprove of the
president’s handling of his job.
It’s often said that George W. Bush’s attempts to reform Social
Security failed because he dared to tread on the third rail of
American politics. But it is the Democrats who are getting the
hotfoot this time; shocked as they are their countrymen are
refusing to accept government control of their lives for their
own good. And for Americans, that is a total expression of
self-love.
