The progressive media is making every effort to support the Democrat Congressional push to see President Trump removed from office based on his alleged role in fanning the flames of violence.
President Trump, however, has repeatedly called for non-violence.
In a message from the White House on January 13, the president said:
In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You.
It doesn’t take much effort looking around the Internet to find that passions are inflamed on both sides, with progressives aligned with Democrats in (un)righteous fury at conservatives, and conservatives believing that they are being unfairly, unjustly, and dangerously marginalized.
It does appear, in fact, that the embers of anger and hatred are being fanned on purpose across both sides in an attempt to divide the nation and engender violence.
To those on both sides of the divide: Stop it now.
There will be no good outcome for either side, or for those who are apolitical, as a result of any further troubles. The only conceivable outcomes go from bad to worse.
Let’s consider: The Founding Fathers created a system of government comprised of checks and balances. This is basic American civics. Without getting into the details, those checks and balances make it difficult or impossible for fanatical factions to take control and force the entire nation to bend to their will. Among these checks and balances are the divisions between the branches of government and, importantly, the Bill of Rights.
The latter, in particular, is most at risk during times of trouble. Media-based and some other progressives today call for the First Amendment to be curtailed or overthrown because they don’t like conservative speech. But they call for this at their own peril. If the First Amendment is eradicated, conservative speech and progressive speech alike will be eliminated. The resulting tyranny will not just affect one side of the aisle.
This goes for the entire Bill of Rights. Once it is destroyed, there will be no going back for anyone. Pandora’s Box will be opened.
Violence is the key that opens that box.
Let’s look at what we have to lose. Since 1776, the United States, despite its flaws and problems, has been without question the world’s leading nation, by every indicator. The citizens of the United States have enjoyed more freedom, more opportunity, more safety, better health, and generally better well-being than the people of any other nation.
As a result, the country became a beacon of light in a world beset by disease, famine, poverty, hunger, and tyranny. This has long been a point of justifiable pride for all Americans.
Moreover, again despite its flaws, America has been the preeminent example of a properly governed and run nation, from the local level right to the federal level. The principles of federalism, the ideas of good citizenship, and the respect for law and order all made America the most fundamentally sound of nations. And, all of that started with each American citizen who understood their civic duty and lived that duty.
America was good because Americans were good. This doesn’t mean there haven’t been disagreements and challenges and problems. But, in general, Americans historically worked out problems within the framework of the laws of the nation. And that’s the right way to do it.
Now, it’s all been put at risk.
Here’s what’s at stake: the very soul and concept of civilization.
Why? The American system of government, its founding principles, and its Constitution and Bill of Rights does not exist anywhere else in the world. If both sides of the political spectrum are lured into hatred and violence such that this system is mortally wounded and destroyed, it will disappear forever.
There will be no recovery.
Look, for instance, to the end of Roman Republic. It, too, was imperfect, but it had its own intrinsic means of segmenting powers, limiting the impact of factions and maintaining freedom. It endured for many centuries before it succumbed to problems not unlike our own today. But once it succumbed, the very idea of freedom was nearly erased from the civilization of Western Europe. Some of its forms persisted in the rudimentary practice of the northern barbarians, fortunately. But these did not reemerge in significant, civilizational fashion for hundreds of years after Rome fell.
We face this same outcome today.
Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, do not give in to suspicion, hatred, and violence. That way is the end; that way is darkness.
Instead, stand up for peace, the Bill of Rights, and American civilization.
Generations to come will thank you for it.
