By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Time for Republicans to debate whether Democrats are at fault for everything wicked
If there’s one thing politicians have proven adept at doing, over and over again, it’s identifying and then articulating problems whether they’re real or imaginary.
Lawmakers from both major American parties fill their media appearances with synopses of what’s wrong in the country, with the faction in power typically suggesting that everything is peachy keen and the group not controlling the levers customarily taking a glass half-empty view on current events.
But recently, a decided turn to the worse has overtaken political discourse. Perhaps last month’s State of the Union Address illustrated the schism most vividly, as Democrats – the party on the outs in terms of making decisions – refused to stand and applaud for many of the things President Donald Trump mentioned in his oration.
Democrats even sat firm when Trump asked for support for the notion of protecting Americans’ lives over those of illegal aliens. It was an astonishing display of political standoffishness. Pardon the pun.
Because of the static situation, the blame game is being played at new levels of frustration. Who deserves credit for the good things… and liability for the actual problems of the nation?
In a fascinatingly right-on-point opinion piece titled, “What If Democrats Are Responsible for Everything Bad That Happens?”, longtime conservative observer Daniel Oliver wrote recently at American Greatness:
“In response to a recent column, a reader writes, ‘I know that the Democrats are responsible for everything bad in the world. How else could it be?’ Some readers are amazingly perspicacious, unless—gads!—he’s being facetious. Nevertheless, wittingly or unwittingly, he’s onto something. In recent memory, Democrats have been doing awful things, as any fair-minded person, even a hardened Democrat, should be able to recognize.
“How have they misbehaved? Channeling our inner Elizabeth Barrett Browning, let us count the ways—or some of them…
“Democrats may not be responsible for everything bad in the world, but they are certainly responsible for a lot of it. How else could it be? It could be entirely different if Democrats weren’t afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome. At this writing, however, there is no cure for TDS.”
No, there isn’t. And unlike TB (tuberculosis), TDS will not lay dormant in a respiratory system for decades (in most cases) and not cause infections or even be detectable to carriers.
Oliver’s entire column (found here) merits a thorough rehashing for the growing number of conservatives who’ve reached similar conclusions regarding Democrat motives.
Trump Derangement Syndrome’s symptoms include: fibbing profusely, frequent verbal outbursts, finger-pointing, championing the delusional, pretending there’s such thing as more than two genders and looking the other way at the ill societal effects of abortion and illegal immigration, all evidence be disregarded.
This is a short list of outwards signs of affliction. Here’s thinking the Spanish Inquisition and Salem Witch Trials were earlier iterations of the same type of untreatable version of psychosis.
Most of today’s Democrats have the bug. Feel sorry for them. Just don’t give-in due to their ranting and raving.
I’ve discussed (not argued) with Democrat friends the issues that divide citizens of our country, with the conversations typically devolving (because of them, of course) into “whatabout-isms” and the inevitable default safety ledge for liberal-leaners – “both sides do it”.
Contrarians console themselves by asserting that they’re not alone in accusing their opponents of crimes that they themselves have no quarrel with committing personally. What does it matter if there are mutual transgressions when seeking the heart of truth?
And while I’ll be the first to humbly concede that neither side of the political spectrum is perfectly pure, there’s little doubt that the preponderance of the fault and blame resides in the Democrats’ camp. Nearly all Democrats – but for a token few exceptions (like Senator John Fetterman) – have allowed their blind hatred of Republicans to invade their brains and live there, impervious to reason and repeated attempts to allow them to see the light.
Or to ever admit they’re wrong. It’s like civil war soldiers hiding behind a stonewall and refusing to come out from their semi-permanent barrier at any provocation whatsoever.
It’s not just Donald Trump that has forced Democrats to “lose it” when it comes to politics, though the unbending nature of Trump’s bravado together with his slightly spotty personal history has motivated them to kick their hatred up a notch. Democrats weren’t great admirers of George W. Bush either, yet their animus reached its peak when Trump occupied the center lectern at the first Republican presidential candidates’ debate and hasn’t abated ever since.
If anything, Trump-hating has gotten even worse. These people can’t be reformed or persuaded to change their minds or opinions. The recent military excursion in Iran has only helped them pile another rock or two behind that self-protective stone wall to bolster their feelings.
These are the hardcore leftist opposition, the roughly one-third of poll or survey participants who constitute the solid foundation of Trump disapproval. They’re the ones who wear white suits to State of the Union addresses or see racism in every action of a white male regardless of said individual’s paucity of pecuniary savings or spending power.
These leftists probably think white homeless men are racists because they occupy tent spaces that minorities or gay/transgender humans could otherwise inhabit. Facts and common sense have no seat at the table in their mental dining rooms.
Democrats are not responsible for all our problems, but they are to blame for the worry/anger-related health issues of individuals who can’t/won’t tolerate the irrational expositions they see on the evening news – or MSNBC – every day. Or, tuning in to the hags on “The View”, who seemingly wallow in being outspoken and ignorant on a regular basis.
For his part, for all the flack he receives from mainstream establishment news outlets and Democrats, Donald Trump doesn’t take offense at people disagreeing with him. Trump will show up at perfunctory presidential events prepared to say what he intended to say and isn’t the least bit bothered by unhinged fools making public displays of political intolerance towards him.
In boxing parlance, Trump can take a punch. Democrats are the ones with the glass jaws.
Trump believes his policies, if passed into laws, will end up benefitting all American citizens, even the ones who despise him. Democrats don’t share a similar forward-looking orientation, and their policy agenda is intended only to help their favored friends and constituents.
Democrats feel fixing classes of victims will not only benefit them politically, it will act to exclude others from something that could work to their betterment. That’s the reason why they try so hard to shield criminals and illegal aliens – it’s all about the votes. The true targets of violent perpetrators get the short shrift.
So yes, in this sense, Democrats are very much to blame for whatever bad happens.
In his article, Oliver offered the “Russia, Russia, Russia” collusion farce as a prime example of Democrats being responsible for the first Trump term being severely curtailed due to the need to defend against baseless accusations. How much money was spent to ward off bad things from the infamous phone call Trump had with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy all those years ago?
It seems like a different world now, doesn’t it?
The nonstop bad publicity from the first impeachment together with the exaggerated threat from COVID cost Trump a second term. Add in the very credible claims of vote counting shenanigans because of mail-in ballots and Democrats deserve blame for more unfortunate outcomes.
As if it weren’t already bad enough, Democrats must own their championing of expanding government and the vastly bloated bureaucracy that makes bad things happen. A virtually endless supply of paper-shufflers and regulators with nothing better to do than delve into private business practices can’t lead to positive results.
Blame, blame, blame. How could any rational soul figure otherwise?
To conclude, it’s not fair to say Democrats are at fault for everything bad that happens. Republicans commit plenty of unforced errors on their own, and if they took on themselves in a tennis match, they may end up losing simply because they’d double-fault the contest into a forfeit. But Democrats have no such justifications for the intentional blunders they commit.
To prevail in November, Republicans must do a better job convincing the “winnable” voters that their policies will bring real benefits to people. Time is running short. Who’s to blame?
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .