OPINION:
CHICAGO — An interesting thing happened on the way to the formal nomination of Kamala Harris as the Democrat Party’s pick for president — namely, the DNC made a play for conservatives’ bread and butter by scooping up the rallying call, “Freedom!”
Gentlemen, start your gaslit engines.
The devil here is really in the details — or, in this case, in the definition. By “freedom,” Democrats actually mean “control.” They only want those freedoms they can control.
“The Democratic Party is Now the Real ‘Freedom’ Caucus,” The New Republic wrote a couple of days ago.
“It’s by far the most resonant word in the American political discourse — and for decades, Democrats let Republicans own it,” TNR went on. “No longer.”
Everywhere you look, Democrats are talking up freedom. Harris has a campaign ad where she says, “[W]e choose something different. We choose freedom.” Abortion rights protesters, and abortion providers passing out the free abortions at the DNC, say it’s all about freedom — all about female freedom to choose. They’re singing songs of freedom.
“Beyonce’s ‘Freedom’ Helps Kick Off the DNC in New Kamala Harris Ad,” Rolling Stones wrote.
It’s almost as if the American people are supposed to forget this same party, for the last few years, worked hand-in-hand with tech giants to control, stifle and censor posts on social media deemed inappropriate. And just as Dems have a different definition for “freedom” as something that is entirely opposite of freedom, so, too, they have an alternate take on “inappropriate” — it’s actually code for “conservative.”
Democrats need their own dictionary.
They twisted the definition of “patriot” to mean those who obeyed the government’s push to take the COVID shot. They twisted the definition of “Christian nationalist” to mean intolerant racist. They twisted the definition of “vaccine” and “vaccination” to mean something that might, maybe, possibly slow the spread of a disease or virus, rather than something that does slow or stop its spread.
The rest of America can’t keep track of all these new phrases and words.
So just as a quick primer, this is “freedom” to today’s Democrats — who, by the way, are really more like Marxists and communists — but who call themselves progressives and democratic-progressives: Freedom is the right to end lives in the womb. Freedom is the right to light things on fire and destroy properties and intimidate citizens in the street. Freedom is the right to demand parents cede their authorities to teachers who can then tell little boys it’s OK to pretend to be little girls and go in the female dressing rooms. Freedom is the right to shake male body parts in front of toddlers and adolescents, so long as the shaker of the male body parts is dressed in drag.
Freedom is the right to use the judicial system to go after political opponents and tie up their time and dollars to fight back baseless and fabricated charges. Freedom is the right to order citizens to stay home, stay out of work, stay off the streets, stay out of public places, stay out of church, stop singing in church, stop sending kids to school and more, all in the name of public health and safety — and freedom is also using police to harass, chase, handcuff and arrest those who dare step outside their homes without the government-ordered masks upon their faces.
Freedom is the ability to lie with astonishing brazenness about inflation rates, economic matters, prices and jobs; to claim prosperity with the lips while holding in hands the very documents and very data showing downturns and recession.
Freedom, to Democrats, is what they want it to mean.
“How Democrats at DNC are seizing on ‘freedom’ theme after years of GOP monopoly,” ABC News wrote.
From ABC: “The word ‘freedom’ is seemingly on the lips of every attendee and speaker. … Audience chants of ‘USA!’ Puncture speakers’ remarks as they wave signs saying the same. … And musician Jason Isabel performed the country hit song ‘Something More Than Free.’”
Got that right.
Freedom, to Democrats, certainly is “something more than free.” It’s bondage. It’s bureaucratic dictates. It’s government-granted freedoms instead of God-given freedoms. It’s the opposite of what the Founding Fathers meant when they talked in the Declaration of Independence about how individual inalienable rights come from the Creator.
The convention center may be filled with happy chants that ring of the American spirit and sing of patriotic liberty. But when Democrats talk freedom, they mean something different. They mean freedom as government sees fit.
They mean liberty for the individual as they determine necessary or earned.
They mean what George Orwell of “1984” fame wrote: “Freedom is slavery.”
The proof is in their actions. The proof is in their picks for president and vice president — two of the most leftist-leaning politicians in the party with clear voting backgrounds that scream anything but freedom.
“Walz Praised Chinese Communism,” John Locke Foundation wrote.
“Kamala Harris is extremely liberal — and the numbers prove it,” The Hill wrote.
Freedom to Democrats is not free.
• 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 and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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