Most people go through day-to-day life without being consumed by politics. Politics is an afterthought. That’s kind of the way it should be and is perhaps the best argument for the smallest-possible government. Led by the cancel-culture-implementing outrage mob, unfortunately, the institutional, socialism-supporting left in America seemingly wants to politicize everything and disrupt the country’s cohesion.
When left alone by the SJWs, Americans generally have a live-and-let-live approach to life. Apparently that’s no longer good enough among those inappropriately named “progressives” intent on manufacturing one crisis after another.
Whether it involves the Democrat-media complex, Hollywood and the entertainment industry generally, academia, woke social media platforms, corporate virtue signalers, plus Never Trumper Republicans, the dreary, destructive and manipulative agenda is pretty much the same.
For the hypocritical left, the ends justifies the means. That includes weaponizing politics through character assassination, abuse of the court system, and fear mongering. It also constitutes shameless projection.
[Note: This post has been updated.]
In a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, former GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal wrote, in part…
“Politicians like to warn voters that the current election is the most important one in their lifetimes. Though politicians—and some used car salesmen—can be forgiven for their over-the-top sales antics, many candidates actually believe their elections are critical to the fate of the republic, and that their opponents must lose for humanity to continue flourishing…Invoking a historic sense of urgency isn’t limited to election cycles. Progressives seem to be in a constant state of frenzy about the crisis of the hour…
About the parliamentary election in Israel that may result in another impasse between the right and the “center”-left, historian David Hazony opines about politics that “Given the choice, [Israelis] much rather build companies and go shopping and try new restaurants, travel to Europe and beyond, and make families.”
Red Alert for the Orange Man
Bias and double standards have been in play for decades, of course, but as alluded to above, these fundamentals have taken on a new dimension since President Donald Trump took office.
You may like or dislike Trump on the basis of his personality, his hair, his spray tan, or more substantively his agenda, even though the latter is delivering “bigly” results for the country. As Will Chamberlain of Human Events once noted, Trump oversimplifies and exaggerates. Despite the opposition from the media, Democrats, the Deep State federal bureaucracy, and some Republicans, Trump is also delivering on his campaign promises like no other president in recent memory.
With that in mind, any reasonable person would have to admit that the standards for what is acceptable vs. unacceptable in the Trump era have become — to borrow a term from an entirely different context — fluid.
The media gives virtually every story the most anti-Trump spin possible and rushes out “bombshells” that fit a narrative that nonetheless fizzle out in a few days or hours. Negative stories are typically pushed in the same news cycle that the Trump administration achieves a significant domestic or international accomplishment.
It’s almost too obvious to even mention anymore in this upside-down environment that those who preach tolerance yet seek to politicize the whole ball of wax are the most intolerant.
As FNC’s Tucker Carlson has observed about the sanctimonious modern left, “whatever they are accusing you of doing, they’re doing themselves, but more enthusiastically.”
Shifting Standards of Acceptability
In no particular order, here are some of the gaslighting techniques that the selectively outraged liberal/far-left political/media establishment has improbably and unaccountably foisted on the American people.
Acceptable
Unacceptable
Crass and crude liberal media anti-Trump rhetoric that is divisive
President Trump’s sometimes crass and crude rhetoric considered divisive
24/7 media criticism of Trump
Trump criticism of the media
Democrats accused of sexual harassment, if reported at all, are presumed innocent
Republicans accused of sexual harassment are presumed innocent
Not mentioning party affiliation when a Democrat is caught up in scandal
Not mentioning party affiliation in the first paragraph when a Republican is caught up in scandal
Kids in cages and separating families at the border during the Obama administration
Kids in cages and separating families at the border during the Trump administration
Obama parties with celebrities
Trump occasionally meets with celebrities
Claiming there are more than two genders
Raising good-faith questions about the safety of some vaccines
Mocking Fox News as state-run TV (even as FNC moves liberal)
Mocking MSNBC or the CNN as Democrat propaganda networks
Left-wing media outlets pushing hoax conspiracy theories and fake news
Right-wing media outlets pushing hoax conspiracy theories and fake news
Left-wing protesters who engage in fascist-like tactics, including doxing and physical violence against Trump supporters and free-speech advocates
Peaceful rallies by Trump supporters and free speech advocates (who are accused of being fascists)
Blacklisting conservatives in contemporary Hollywood
Blacklisting leftists in Hollywood circa 1950s
Censorship of right-leaning personalities and Internet sites for alleged hate speech and vague terms-of-service violations
Non-censorship of left-leaning personalities and Internet sites for actual hate speech or actual terms-of-service violations
Racist, homophobic, or threatening comments made by liberals
Racist, homophobic, or threatening comments made by conservatives
Condemning Trump for allegedly undermining and delegitimizing America’s institutions incl. the Constitution
Questioning leftists who are actually undermining and delegitimizing America’s institutions incl. the Constitution
Citing sh*thole conditions as a justification for mass immigration
Trump allegedly describing some countries overrun by poverty, corruption, and violence as sh*tholes
Revolving door between the Bill Clinton or Obama administration and the media
Revolving door between the Trump administration and the media
Actually using bots to artificially promote left-wing causes on social media
Allegedly using bots to artificially promote right-wing causes on social media
Artificially trending or boosting anti-Trump Twitter hashtags
Not shadow-banning and/or suppressing pro-Trump hashtags
Misleading, distorted, petty, and/or far-fetched anti-Trump headlines and Deep State leaks
Trump exaggerates, tells jokes/trolls, or gets some details wrong
Obama administration scandals and lies about substantive issues
See above
Describing hard-core liberals as non-partisan
Describing hard-core liberals as hard-core liberals
Security walls and gated communities where celebrities, politicians, and other elitists live
Border wall between U.S. and Mexico
Armed bodyguards for politicians and celebrities
Gun rights for ordinary, law-abiding citizens
Making wild assumptions about Donald Trump’s health
Raising questions about Hillary Clinton’s health even after she fainted at the 9/11 ceremony or her repeated coughing fits
Engaging in endless overseas wars
Trump administration attempts to broker peace, e.g. with North Korea or the Taliban
Accusing Trump of either being a warmonger or an appeaser
See above
Obama gives $150 billion to the Iranian dictators
See above
Obama restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba
Trump trying to restore diplomatic relations with North Korea
Big money or “dark” money campaign contributions to Democrats from liberal millionaires and billionaires
Big money or “dark money” campaign contributions to Republicans from conservative millionaires and billionaires
Democrats calling for the firing of FBI Director James Comey
Trump firing FBI Director James Comey
Nonstop coverage of nonexistent collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign
Any coverage of actual collusion between Obama and/or Clinton with Russia or other countries
Election meddling by Silicon Valley or by other countries
Election meddling by Russia
Putting global interests first
Putting America first
Socialism, crony capitalism, corporatism
Free-market, fair-trade economics
Potentially confiscating millions of guns from law-abiding citizens
Potentially deporting millions of illegal aliens (or at least a subset of those who are violent felons)
Defying federal law by establishing sanctuary cities
Defying any other federal law, especially involving social issues
Demonizing certain ethnic groups and/or white males
100 percent non-discrimination practices
Climate change activists flying around the world in private jets, riding in gas-guzzling SUVs, etc.
Climate change skepticism
Photo ID required for a multitude of daily transactions plus gaining entry to Obama’s Justice Department, the Democrat National Convention, and to vote in union elections
Photo ID required to vote in federal and state elections
Diversity in the Democrat Party
Diversity in the Republican Party
Unearthing offensive tweets by right-wingers
Unearthing offensive tweets by liberal journalists
Joe Biden allegedly involved in corruption in Ukraine
Democrats asking Ukraine to dig up dirt on Trump
Obama ordering raid on Al Qaeda leader
Illegal aliens voting in U.S. elections
Trump allegedly making a phone call to Ukraine
Trump trying to stop Ukraine corruption
Trump ordering raid on ISIS leader or the Iran general
Alleged foreign interference in U.S. elections
Challenging election results if a Republican is elected
Challenging election results if a Democrat is elected
Expressing skepticism about intelligence agencies pre-Trump
Expressing skepticism about intelligence agencies post-Trump
Trashing the Constitution
Praising the Constitution in the context of impeaching Trump
Social media harassment of anyone perceived as conservative
Social media harassment, or alleged harassment, of any liberal especially a liberal journalist
This list will be updated. How could it not be?
The Sun Also Rises
The same hysterical cohort acted like the world was coming to an end when Trump actually followed up on campaign promises.
This includes the net neutrality repeal, withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Iran Nuclear Deal, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and so on, all of which would end life on Earth as we know it.
Add two Supreme Court appointments, deregulation, the tax cuts, meeting with Kim Jong un to discuss de-nuclearization, telling NATO to pay up, and imposing tariffs on China, etc., into the mix.
Yet the sun, so far, keeps coming up every morning.
[Featured image credit: StockSnap/Pixabay]
