The Squeaky Wheel

Last week we saw the Fourth of July.  The day we former colonists celebrate our independence from tyranny, while at the exact same time some Americans are embracing it.  I'm sure you're just as tired as I am of the vitriol being spewed by so many these days.  The differences in political opinions were always there for the most part, with a couple notable exceptions I'll get to later, but the volume of the discourse has risen to intolerable levels.  And that volume is disturbing the peace, infringing on rights, and interrupting daily life.  People aren’t playing nice and their volume is drowning out other voices.

I belong to a fraternal organization that has rules in place during meetings to prevent certain potential negative situations.  The annual budget items and elections slate must be published a month in advance.  This gives everyone ample notice to carefully weigh the budget items, and make plans to participate in an election- keeping pet projects and problem candidates at arms length.  

There are no such rules though when it comes to political discourse these days.  While social norms keep most people within the boundaries of proper behavior, we’ve recently seen the complete opposite in the news.  You probably heard how DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was confronted by a bunch of protesters over dinner in a DC restaurant a couple weeks ago.  They chanted/shouted “Shame” like something out of Game of Thrones, accusing her of hypocrisy over her choice of a Mexican meal, while at the same time she was enforcing our laws by deporting criminals at the border.  

The deplorable part of this is the fact that these protesters had zero concern for rest of the people in the restaurant.  The yelling and chanting wasn't some brief intrusion either.  It went on for well over 10 minutes, disrupting the restaurant, the workers, the other diners, etc.  The same type of incident happened a day or two later with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.  It wasn't initially an planned protest, but the owner of the restaurant asked her and her family to leave.  However, when the Sanders family went across the street to another establishment, it didn't end.  

"The owner of the Red Hen -- nobody's told this -- then followed them across the street, called people and organized a protest yelling and screaming at them from outside the other restaurant and creating this scene."  Mike Huckabee on the Laura Ingraham Show.

Adding to the cacophony was California Congressperson (and certifiable nutcase), Maxine Waters who called for the harassment of Trump and levied additional hyperbole to "take Trump out."  She then doubled down on her rhetoric when called out by her fellow Dems by denying she said "harass" and that Shumer and Pelosi were only motivated by a desire to stay in power.  Those on the far left truly believe the ends justify their means, even if they have to lie, trespass on private property, disturb the peace, sign up illegal voters, destroy evidence, lay false charges, stuff ballot boxes and other fraudulent election activities.  All the while accusing the other side of doing exactly what they themselves are doing.  And terms like Resist Trump, and Soros-backed Occupy and Anti-fa movements just exacerbate the problem.  These groups truly are the Brownshirts of today.

Conservatives and Liberals, Dems and Republicans- we're different, I get that.  I have no problem with that.  We're supposed to have different political leanings and opinions.  That's perfectly fine, and often keeps us relatively centered.  Most people get along perfectly well with those they disagree with.  However, we respectfully disagree, and politely converse, if given the chance, to discuss a particular issue and attempt to sway one's opinion, or at least understand the other's.  Unfortunately, the civility isn't typical behavior for some these days.  It's not just the protesting that shows a lack of civility, but it's the dearth of an independent and neutral press, and the almost overwhelming and ever present desire to lie or obfuscate the facts, both for their policies, and to subvert their opponent's.  These acts show a complete lack of awareness that there are different and perfectly valid points of view.  They believe their view is the only correct one, and they can't comprehend that anyone would believe something different.

Another instance is over the Supreme Court's ruling on Janus v. American Federation.  The Supes ruled that compelled support to labor unions, for those in public service who choose not to join and pay said union, was in violation of the First Amendment.   It was really a strike against the growing power of these unions; power essentially bought by donations to political candidates and parties.  What I saw following the decision was a bunch of seemingly canned memes and pro-worker propaganda claiming that people will lose jobs, that unions may collapse, and workers will be fired for joining a union.  Complete sky is falling BS.  The Unions know that the only thing affected is their bottom line (and power to influence), and the left just keeps spouting the lies.

Care for some more lies that I alluded to in the opening paragraph?

But Trump is the racist.

How do Trump and Obama Compare?  Pretty close apparently.  Where were the haters in 2014?  Where were the calls to resist Obama for having the exact same stance other than a border wall?  Why are we seeing sanctuary cities when Obama wanted the same violent criminals deported?

It's because of hate.  Not for the message, but for the man.  So much for tolerance.

The hypocrisy in those videos and among the left is deafening.  In our society, it was never supposed to be the loudest voice that gets to advance an agenda- it was the one that was most salient, the one that was backed by facts identified after careful scrutiny and debate.  Now?  The left and the media are able to bypass scrutiny because of a lazy and "easy-media" dependent public.  People don't read in-depth articles anymore, they just read twitter, watch the Daily Show, or get other 20 second soundbites to help them decide the course of our nation. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but that wheel is now a loud, arrogant, uncivil group that owns the narrative.

At least they think they do.