OPINION:
Think of the violence on Capitol Hill that left several dead, some injured and scores more in terror — and was perpetrated by those of the ideological right. Even if that’s untrue — even if it were to be found sometime down the line that all the violence traced back to the ideological left — fact is, right now, in the present, when it matters most, perception is: the violence came at the hands of the ideological right.
Now the left is using that reality to undercut America’s entire system of individual liberties.
And this is why the ideological right must always maintain near-superhuman discipline to stay calm, stay peaceful, stay away from any violent surge. No matter what.
Violence plays into the hands of the left by giving them a high horse on which they can sit and blare down condemnation upon this ’disgusting, vile, violent, gasp, right-wing batch of deplorable.’ Or whatever similar suitably condemning phraseology fits the mood of the moment.
Violence is not only morally reprehensible — and therefore unfit for those of conservative persuasion who also identify as Christian, or religious, or possessed of faith in a higher power. It’s illogical and unsustainable. You can’t fight City Hall forever. And besides, fighting City Hall doesn’t always automatically equate with fighting the enemy.
Most of America’s enemies right now are hiding behind curtains, darkly, plotting and carrying out their anti-American machinations, slyly. How else to explain why they oh so hated, oh so despised President Donald Trump? He wasn’t just the great disruptor in chief; he was an oh so bright flashlight on so much that was ailing America that, truth be told, too many in America didn’t even realize an ailments.
But violence?
Violence only serves if the intention is outright, long-term, declared war. Are conservatives ready to make that commitment right now? Are we honestly at the stage of an American Revolution against ourselves? No. Probably not.
So if not, consider this, from an Open Culture quotation then summary of one point from deceased leftist activist Saul Alinsky and his “Rules for Radicals” — the well-known manual of today’s radical collectivist: “’If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.’ Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.”
And guess who the underdogs in the Capitol Hill violence have become?
The Democrats.
The Democrats and the outraged leftists in the media who have been able to take this negative and turn it into a political positive for their side.
The Democrats and their outraged leftists in the media and their globalist-minded partners in Big Tech.
The Democrats have been able to paint themselves as the victims — the victims of a racist president, the victims of a batch of deplorable KKKers who support the president, the victims of a vast right-wing conspiracy to divide the nation and conquer its little people, the very little people Democrats claim to love and represent. The Democrats and their leftist friends in the media and their leftist allies in Big Tech have managed to paint themselves as the great saviors of America, rising from the heaps of Trump ashes to save America’s citizens from MAGA mayhem.
“CNN’s Don Lemon: Trump voters are on the side of Klansmen,” Fox News wrote.
“U.S. Capitol protesters, egged on by Trump, are part of a long history of white supremacists hearing politicians’ words of encouragement,” The Conversation wrote.
“Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says banning Trump was the ’right decision,’” CNET reported.
“AOC,” NBC News wrote, of socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “says she feared for her life during Capitol riot: ’I thought I was going to die.’”
Forgotten, of course, are all the victims of Black Lives Matter and antifa rallies and anti-police protests and outright community takeovers. Forgotten, of course, is the fact that Trump himself called for “peacefully and patriotically” marching to the Capitol the day of electoral ballot counting.
Forgotten. On purpose. It’s the strategy of the left.
“’Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it,’” read another Alinsky principle, quoted by Open Culture, which then in turn offered this summary: “Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.”
Trump’s been silenced by social media.
Trump supporters are facing similar silencing by social media, with Twitter’s Jack Dorsey even promising of more and more such silencing to come.
Parler, the alternative to Twitter that would’ve given space to Trump to express his viewpoints and counter the narrative and lies of the left, has been silenced by Amazon, booted from its web hosting platform.
The support networks have been cut. The isolation of the targets is ongoing. The creation of underdogs to present to the public for sympathy has been done.
The left can turn a blind eye to its own violent tendencies because the left is largely immoral and because the left has the media in its pockets and because those on the left think their communist ends are justified by any and all means. The left is secular and godless and doesn’t have to worry about any coming accountability, save for what takes place in the physical world. And they feel confident in their ability to lie their way out of that.
Conservatives cannot afford to misstep and allow emotion to bring about violence. It only gives the left more fire.
It only plays right into the Alinsky-loving playbook of the left.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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