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The Left Made a God of Their Politics, and Now We See It
The picture to the right was the front page of the widely unread Irish magazine The Village this week. The left wing liberal magazine that generally focuses on current affairs and politics in Ireland, this week turned its attention to hypothesizing the wrongs and rights of murdering the President of the United States Donald John Trump. As an Irishman and a conservative I am deeply ashamed of the photo as are many of countrymen and women who know of it. Its an outrage that sane men or women could publish such nonsense. What’s worse however then the deafening silence of the usual suspects in the media to such distaste, or the quietness of many of Ireland’s political leaders and politicians is that an editorial panel actually approved of the text and the image. It is appalling.
Nevertheless the cover whilst disgusting also represents something far worse for liberals. It shows they are afraid. For nearly a generation liberals have believed that society is marching in their direction, it was becoming more inclined to how they saw the world. From gay rights to abortion, from entitlements to multiculturalism; the far left and liberals believed that they were directing through their political policies and “progressive” opinions society away from the right and into a new secular liberal dawn. They were on the right side of history – code for them winning most of the battles. Sure there were losses but these were temporary. Their victory was in sight.
The last few years however have deeply unnerved them. From Brexit to the ascendancy of Donald Trump to the American presidency and the end of liberal domination in American politics, from the rise of the populist right across the globe to the cultural victories of gamergate and the resistance of small down trodden conservatives to gender ideology, mass immigration and insufferable political correctness has awoken the left to the idea that they are in trouble. To many conservatives and libertarians the above might sound laughable. After all for them its obvious the left and the far left still have control over the arts, Hollywood, media, campuses and many other faculties. and their domination is not nearly threatened. But this is to ignore the central view of the new left. For the left politics is a bee and end all, the rest are simply a tool of it. Politics is everything. Politics is their god, and they are losing.
It is a god for them, period. Liberalism and its policies are its doctrines. Left wingers are its disciples. Left wing parties and its leaders are its apostles. And anyone who does not believe is either a heretic, uneducated, brainwashed or worse a fallen angel who must be opposed with every fibre of their being. These fallen, the rules do not apply to them. The law doesn’t apply to them. Decency doesnt apply to them. This is what the above photo represents. And its not just those left wing liberals in Ireland either.
In the USA this week we saw at Berkeley university what happened to Breitbart writer Milo when he tried to give a talk, not a campaign speech, on something many liberals and the far left consider blasphemous. They rioted not because of the topic but to stop a gay right wing Catholic (a heretic in their radical minds) from spouting the wrong opinions in an area they regard as sacred ground. It doesn’t get more religious than that. In Britain a far more secular and debased country, we saw grown men and women marching in protest at a fictional Muslim ban in another country that has nothing to do with them. The very same week when multiple Islamic men were convicted by a court of raping teenagers and children, the media and the left insisted on not covering this but the former. Talk about priorities. Finally we see a German magazine der Spiegel with an image of Trump with a knife holding a cut off head from the Statue of Liberty – the message being that Trump is a violent fascist who hates immigrants. Of course Germany has seen plenty of violent fascists in its past and some relatively new. Some who share such a passion for knives and heads too. Alas this the German media refuses to cover. Which is why hundreds of women were assaulted last year and nothing was written in same German papers for fear of reporting anything bad done by its Muslim “guests” and the charge of racism.
The left has been here before of course. In 1989 when communism fell many lefties lost the god of Marx. Somehow they managed to recover sadly. Yet this time feels different. This time the craziness of the left in the West seems much more powerful and worse like a wounded animal, it can be deadly and lash out. The next few years will only tell. God help us.
Published in General
Well:
I think we in the United States have our road map for pushing back against progressivism. Let them freely exercise their religion, but it cannot be permitted to be established.
Seawriter
As ever, chillingly on-the-mark, Paddy…Well-done! Especially in re: the theological nature of all this. In their minds, it can’t be contradicted…Thanks, once again!
I added more to the piece as I wanted to give it my all.
Feel free to give it a like too.
So now the left is in favor of hate speech and hate crime. Or maybe it has always been in favor.
Brilliantly observed and accurate. I know some Jonah Goldberg makes many of his same points in his recent G-file. To the surprise of no one, Eugene Robinson now likes obstructionism because it benefits the democrats and Jonah charitably interprets his double standard as being unknown in the conscience mind of Eugene Robinson. As Jonah put it, “By all means, opinion journalists such as Eugene Robinson are allowed to be partisans. But it would be nice if more of them admitted that is what they are.”
I must say the media freak out was amusing from far away but when I press the flesh with people with are genuinely OK with assassinating an elected U.S. President in the name of democracy, it gets really creepy.
What I notice also, are that words and concepts get to mean whatever leftists feel at the time. As Jonah Goldberg put it more succinctly than myself,
When I talked to a lady about the first amendment I had a hard time because I was actually talking about the first amendment and it’s limitations on Congress to pass laws restricting freedom of speech. Freedom of assembly lets employers and Presidents and generals establish speech for the people that they employ in matters of their employment but not their private life. She was talking about whatever she felt about the first amendment at the time.
So if you feel like Trump is Hitler than he is Hitler. Facts don’t really matter.
The left has always been in favor of hate speech and hate crime; they just don’t consider it to be so when they agree with the cause.
Confucius was asked by a Lord how he could get his ministers to be honest. Confucius responded that he first had to be honest himself and from his honesty he could make his other ministers honest. He did not get that job because it was hard to be an honest Lord at that time. People instinctively reject double standards since the time they were toddlers until they die.
I’m not sure that’s true. The left is able to somehow contain double standards in their minds without explosions.
… the rules do not apply to them. The law doesn’t apply to them. Decency doesnt apply to them
Exactly right. If we said or did the things the Left does, it would be “hate speech” and “fascism.” That magazine cover is so despicable I have no words. It’s a perfect example of “decency doesn’t apply to them.” I agree with you that this time, there’s something different about their shenanigans. It’s all being orchestrated and funded behind the scenes on a larger level than ever before, and I don’t like it one bit.
To themselves yes. But I think the people in the middle can smell it a mile away. The Left deep down believes that the Left can advance the human race no matter what. Every other standard is set to that end.
Circumstances after the election were very revealing of the lack of devotion by many to the provisions of the Constitution to be used in electing a POTUS. Not all that surprising in many ways since it is well known that there is little bother to educate the young regarding these matters. Part of that education, were it to happen, would be to instill understanding of why the United States is not a democracy to be ruled a majority. We are seeing the very best example of why this is true. During the transition, I was sometimes amused and thought things would settle down after Trump was in office. It seems that is not true. The case to support him must be stepped up and to me this is a time of testing for all who do understand how our federal government is to work. Trump is not the enemy.
A big part of me wants to support Trump because his enemies are so dumb and vicious but I don’t think that’s the way to go. Trump is not an avatar of liberal democracy in its more virtuous form. Rather than a man, we ought to devote ourselves to the spirit of individual freedom and the process of limited government. Trump may or may not be an ally of those things but regardless of where he stands, principled republican government is where we should stand. Though I must admit, I dearly hope Trump stands with us.
The point I was trying to make is that we need to support the legitimacy of the Trump presidency which the Left continues to try undermining and is the example in the OP. The Left is the enemy.
When you see coverage like this of Trump, like with the Der Spiegel cover with Trump holding a severed head of Lady Liberty, it doesn’t seem so unreasonable for him (and objective observers) to view certain media outlets as adversarial and the “enemy” as I think someone affiliated with Trump’s administration mentioned. Yes, there are issues with Trump but to borrow a phrase… are we going to “normalize” this sort of journalism where it’s acceptable to indicate that assassination is okay. This type of coverage just further entrenches people and seems to advocate more violence and disruption as entirely legitimate.
Le Pen is right: the battle now is not between liberals and conservatives, Left and Right
it’s between globalist and patriots.
It comes down to whether you believe there should be nations or not. Trump has focused on our nation, throughout the campaign and in these first two weeks. That is a threat to globalists everywhere. If it can happen here,it can happen anywhere!
We have been experiencing the Global village phenonenon, the whole world knows, and feels entitled to comment upon, every country s business.
And now, we’re at the mercy of Global Village IDIOTS.
The lads and lasses of Eire have returned to their pagan roots. What else is new?
Outrageous and frightening
It never sunk in until the pussy marches and campus meltdowns. The left’s rhetoric in recent years typically includes the word “Fight”. Hillary is fighting for you, we’ve fought so hard, etc. Tim Kaine advocates to keep fighting. It is becoming clearer and clearer, they’ve been fighting me as well as the prominent political and cultural right leaders. David Stove wrote something like the most dangerous thing for a democracy was benevolence. The left considers itself benevolent. We are the enemy they are fighting and will continue to fight. It is kind of scary to think about, and makes sense why they seem to be going hysterical. Obama lulled them into believing the war was about over. It was more figurative, but like all abusers, when talking doesn’t work, you punch. I did not vote for Trump, but find myself instinctively defensive of him.
There are those on the right – a minority, all outside the mainstream – said ugly things about Obama during his term. Rightly so, they were denounced.
This goes to a whole new level. And these aren’t crackpots on the interwebs. It isn’t even Michael Moore and Code Pink. These are mainstays of the left that have gone around the bend. How will they ever be able to criticize the ugly when power flips again (as it inevitably will)? How can the American people expect to take them seriously?
This is the point right here. They are afraid. Their behavior, designed to bring down the chastisement of the Almighty, shows how far along they thought they were. The root must be excised…ground out…lest sprouts proliferate and fool the weak into thinking they are as powerful as they thought they were. Spray the weed field with Roundup.
I once read Milo discussing confession. Ribald doesn’t begin to describe it.
My favorite county commissioner, a conservative Republican who had made his conservatism count for us, uses the word fight on his campaign yard signs.
“Its an outrage that sane men or women could publish such nonsense. What’s worse however then the deafening silence of the usual suspects in the media to such distaste, or the quietness of many of Ireland’s political leaders and politicians is that an editorial panel actually approved of the text and the image. It is appalling.”
No, it is not. You want to know what is appalling? It is that this free magazine is being bullied into self-censorship. The cover is distasteful, sure, but living in a free society includes being offended every now and then. So move on and don’t buy the magazine. That’s the right response.
By the way, they make the case AGAINST. The Why Not on the cover is without a question mark. It’s provocative and gave them some free publicity. It’s a business, you know.
It is not just the left. Wake up and smell the coffee. Half the GOP would easily prefer someone else. So that’s three quarters of the country.
Entirely depends on who is being hated.
A salient point, however; how many people will buy the magazine and read it’s contents as compared to those who will see the cover on a magazine stand and/or posted on a website and get the wrong message? I’d say it’s orders of magnitude. So even if it’s just done to increase sales the societal damage done is horrendous. That makes it imperative for decent folks to stand up against this kind of thing IMO. They have a right to publish but that doesn’t make what they have published right. Since it is destructive of Civil Society those who cherish Civilization have a duty to expose their folly.
I would argue that yelling “the emperor has no clothes” is an important part of preserving civilization, even when not always justified.
Fight back is probably more appropriate. I listened to George Will give a speech on religious liberty a few years back, and an audience member asked him a question about the political activism of the religious right. Will replied it was in response to attacks from the left, a defensive movement, not an offensive one. If you are a conservative today, you are pushing back against a movement that started a century ago.
More important to get after judges who don’t follow the Constitution than speech.
I think everyone is making domestic politics into a religion. The left has had a head start, but the right will catch up eventually.
If I told people that a Congressman had been caught molesting children and I laid out the evidence, how many people would want to know the political affiliation before passing judgment? If I say I misstated the affiliation and it was the other way around, how many people would reverse their opinions? The truth can bend to politics like light to a black hole.
Maybe it’s wired into human nature.