OPINION:
In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump came the predictable calls for unity — mostly from people who have spent decades demonizing their opponents.
In another of his mind-numbing addresses from the Oval Office, President Biden urged us to tone down our rhetoric, which is like a pyromaniac telling you to stay away from gasoline and matches.
Mr. Biden has spent his entire presidency slandering MAGA Republicans as Christian nationalists, insurrectionists and racists. He’ll say anything to draw attention away from his dismal record.
The president has called Mr. Trump a “puppet” of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and an “existential threat to democracy” — which suggests that if the former president is elected in November, he’ll abolish the Constitution and govern by fiat. Funny how he never thought of doing that in his first term in office.
This dire warning comes from the Democratic Party leader, who tells us that if it doesn’t get the decisions it wants, it will emasculate the Supreme Court — a sovereign branch of government — with court-packing or term limits for justices.
Democrats regularly revile conservatives as bitter clingers, deplorables, misogynists and White supremacists. Dispassionate rhetoric for me, but not for thee.
Calls for unity really mean you need to pull your punches and stop saying mean things about us, even if they’re demonstrably true, while we continue to bludgeon you, turn the justice system against you and refuse to punish those who violate your rights.
Some deal.
What’s so great about national unity, anyway?
Dividing people is the essence of politics in a free society. Conflicting agendas, forcefully articulated, give voters a real choice. You’ll find unanimity of opinion only in totalitarian states.
In this election, voters are asked to choose between radically different future visions. There’s never been a time when the major parties were further apart or when the choices were more stark.
One side advocates endless government expansion regardless of taxes, inflation or the national debt. The other wants to curb the welfare state.
One side wants a free-market economy. The other believes economic decisions should be made by politicians and bureaucrats who have never worked in the private sector.
One side believes in national security, the other thinks foreign threats are illusory (except for Russia) and China is a partner rather than an enemy committed to our destruction.
One side believes that the road to prosperity is paved with tax cuts, deregulation and energy independence. The other wants to build a four-lane highway to perpetual dependence and poverty — which we’ll be forced to drive on with electric vehicles.
One side believes in science. The other thinks that biology is optional and you can choose your gender.
One side thinks we’re killing ourselves by doing nothing to stop the flow of drugs, terrorists and gang members across our unguarded border. The other believes borders are racist.
One side believes in merit. The other is committed to checking the right boxes.
Republicans started as the party of limited government and small-town America. Now, they’re also the party of blue-collar workers and decent people of all races.
The Democrats were once the party of old-fashioned liberalism, which believed in free speech and national defense — the party of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy.
Now they’re the party of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — the party that claims it doesn’t know what a woman is and that riots that go on for months are “mostly peaceful” protests. Still, parents who complain about the indoctrination of their children at school board meetings are domestic terrorists.
Vice President Kamala Harris says demonstrators calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza — which would reward rape, torture and murder — are “showing exactly what human emotion should be.” Republicans support Israel’s war for survival.
I’m not concerned about heated rhetoric. I welcome it. What worries me are attempts to gloss over our differences and stifle debate.
Calls for unity demand that we march in lockstep toward a future in which ordinary Americans will have increasingly less control over their lives.
In political campaigns, ad hominem arguments should be avoided, and the focus should be on issues whenever possible.
But career politicians who have been in office seemingly forever — whose policies have brought disaster time and again — must be held accountable.
Damn the hypocritical calls for unity. Full speed ahead with a spirited, no-holds-barred debate.
• Don Feder is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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