OPINION:
For all their cluck-clucking about blazing “a new path forward,” Democrats are using a deceptive playbook that dates back at least a century.
The “new path forward” people — including Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — are employing old Bolshevik, Stalinist, Soviet and Maoist tactics to burnish their message.
Beware, their latest slogan, “Strength Through Joy,” is the exact slogan used by a 1933 National Socialist (Nazi) program to build support for the Nazi regime and control workers.
Ms. Harris’ repeated use of the word “joy” might be the most clever contemporary gaslighting strategy employed by the left. She has ditched the Kamala cackle for a broad smile and repeated references to “fun” in the campaign. But more than 90% of her staff has left since her elevation to vice president, illustrating that their propaganda “joy” actually means grief for all.
Remember when Antifa terrified citizens and burned our communities to the ground, causing billions in damage to our cities and businesses? Antifa takes its name from Antifaschistische Aktion — a phrase employed by the Stalinist Communist Party in Germany in 1932.
Like the tyrants they emulate, Democratic leaders and their “joyful” and “forgiving” mainstream media called the Antifa riots “mostly peaceful demonstrations,” deceiving the world with lies. Mr. Walz waited days to bring in the National Guard, invigorating criminals to burn down a Minneapolis police precinct.
Mr. Walz emboldened these criminals. Ms. Harris raised money so they wouldn’t have to face consequences. Their allegiance is obvious.
And the left’s constant “gaslighting” — the use of psychological manipulation to convince people that lies are truth and truths are lies — comes right out of Lenin’s playbook. He used so much of this propaganda that he empowered the Bolsheviks to rule through terror.
Embracing slogans and practices of evil people from generations past is a lot of things, but it is expressly not “fresh air for the future,” “strength” or “joy.” It’s a wicked ideology that needs rapid deconstruction.
Like Mao Zedong and the Bolsheviks, Mr. Walz imposed snitching. He told Minnesotans to report their neighbors for not following “social distancing” rules. Those accused could face a citation, $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail. Truly despotic.
Democratic tyranny dates back decades. Bill Clinton’s aide Rahm Emanuel said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Hillary Clinton said the same thing. That’s — word for word — one of the six principles of propaganda Lenin used to consolidate power and destroy liberty.
Mr. Emanuel later became mayor of Chicago, which has become a war zone under Democrats, while they spread disinformation that it’s “mostly peaceful.”
Why are Democratic leaders and the mainstream media mirroring the deceptive language and behaviors of infamous despots? Because both have been captured by communists.
The 45 goals of the Communist Party — to destroy our American republic — were read into the Congressional Record on Jan. 10, 1963.
Goal No. 15: “Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.”
Goal No. 20: “Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.”
There you have it.
Another disturbing example of the communist takeover is how ably Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz have embraced and promoted the communist goals to destroy America’s families.
Goal No. 17: “Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.”
Goal No. 40: “Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.”
And the deeply disturbing Goal No. 41: “Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.”
All of this is designed to make our children uneducated and immoral and to separate them from their families. Tyrants know they cannot dominate when people are well-educated, moral and whole.
Communists have been successful in achieving their goals. Now, not even half of American students can read or perform math at a dumbed-down grade level, and 65 million Americans are functionally illiterate. Our children are sexualized at school. And the divorce rate for first-time marriages is 43%, and as high as 73% for subsequent marriages.
Utilizing propaganda, dumbing down the population, sexualizing kids, and breaking up the family has been a boon for communists masquerading as American politicians. But their evil successes are devastating for our republic, which will not survive if we don’t stop these tyrants immediately.
But also take heart. Sinister but extremely well-financed people with ulterior motives have spent decades trying to tear down American institutions. Their efforts have indeed done great injury to the republic but the republic still stands, and the people living in it still have a chance to right the ship.
• Rebecca Friedrichs is the founder of For Kids and Country, the author of “Standing Up to Goliath” and a 28-year public school teacher who was lead plaintiff in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.