US Left Following Israeli Left to Long-Term Opposition

 

Leftist lunacies are luxuries for people in safe spaces. Israel is in the Middle East. Not surprisingly, Israelis have elected a Prime Minister from the Labour party just twice in the past twelve elections over 38 years. Voters evicted the Left’s last PM, Ehud Barak, fourteen years ago in an unprecedented landslide. The Left looks unlikely to regain the voters’ trust any time soon. I don’t know how much the Left cares. They continue to bask in their cultural, intellectual, and moral superiority. They pride themselves on how loudly they broadcast their own country’s shortcomings. They see their minority status as further proof of their countrymen’s backwardness and their own superiority. What they don’t realize is that the universities, the media, the judiciaries, the bureaucracies, and various other seats of unelected power are are largely legacies. If the Left remains despised they will lose those power centers too.

Is the same happening in the US? Michael Barone points out how 2016 resembles 1968 when Republicans began dominating presidential elections. He suggests we may repeat that. I suggest that he understates the case.

Republicans go into 2016 far stronger at congressional, state, and local levels. The world has gotten scarier, which moves voters away from the Left. And Democrats are off the deep end on too many issues:

  • Gender radicalism, ranging from shaming people for traditional masculinity and femininity to granting biological males full access to girls’ locker rooms.
  • Racial radicalism, including blaming everything on the legacy of white supremacy and calling for reparations.
  • Environmental radicalism, including the rejection of the Keystone pipeline.
  • Open borders radicalism, whether through Mexico or by actively bringing people from the Middle East.
  • Speech control radicalism, trying to advance radical ideas by controlling speech and education. Refusing to call things what they are, indoctrinating students with all of the craziness mentioned above, and “protecting” students from competing thoughts. The applause Trump gets when he says he has no time for political correctness highlights voters’ hatred of the Left in this area.

Few on the Left realize the oblivion to which they’re headed. They see the political landscape through the looking glass, the same way they see everything else. They think they have an emerging permanent majority because the demographic groups that currently support them are growing.

The demographic groups that support the Left are always growing. But when groups grow, while the radicals among them are always the loudest, others in those groups stop feeling like marginalized minorities. They realize that their groups are among the most hurt by Leftism: the poor students denied voucher programs to better schools; the Asian-Americans suffering from affirmative action; the inner-city residents terrorized by those who scared away the police.

The Right always responds by welcoming those who share our values. Catholics, Italians, and Irish were once Leftist demographics. They’re not anymore. Republicans were once the party of the Protestants. We ran a Mormon and a Catholic last presidential election. Republicans are allegedly the party of white supremacist xenophobes and immigrant-haters. Our 2016 nomination battle will likely be between two children of Cuban immigrants.

Many from the Left’s “emerging demographic majority” will outgrow the Left. The Right’s big challenge today is, as it has often been, welcoming in all those who share our values. We’ve succeeded in the past, and we are doing so again.

Demographics are not destiny. Ideas and values are. As in Israel, the Left in the United States has focused on their nation’s alleged moral shortcomings. They’ve separated themselves from Western Civilization and Judeo-Christian values. They’ve separated themselves from the electorate.

It will take them many years to recover.

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  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Gil Reich: And Democrats are off the deep end on too many issues:

    I’m wondering if this is why Obama is suddenly getting pushback from some of the Dem Senators. Perhaps some of them see the cliff after all.

    • #1
  2. Gil Reich Member
    Gil Reich
    @GilReich

    Arahant:

    Gil Reich: And Democrats are off the deep end on too many issues:

    I’m wondering if this is why Obama is suddenly getting pushback from some of the Dem Senators. Perhaps some of them see the cliff after all.

    Could be. Mother Jones and The Fix just ran pieces telling the Dems to stop being so obnoxious on the refugee issue. www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/11/liberals-should-knock-mockery-over-calls-limit-syrian-refugees

    • #2
  3. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    I would love to believe this. As and when a national figure successfully slams the ongoing campus nonsense, I’ll start to allow myself to have hope.

    • #3
  4. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Also remember that the Left in Israel is not (because of reasons not transferable to the US) the party of unlimited welfare – while the Democrats in the US keep making endless Santa Claus promises to all voters.

    People do not vote against Santa Claus.

    • #4
  5. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    Gil, this is my favorite post on this topic so far. I love it because you express my own thoughts so beautifully, but also because it gives me hope.  Who knew such silly people could prove to be so dangerous. Here’s to their hastened oblivion.

    • #5
  6. Gil Reich Member
    Gil Reich
    @GilReich

    RightAngles:Gil, this is my favorite post on this topic so far. I love it because you express my own thoughts so beautifully, but also because it gives me hope. Who knew such silly people could prove to be so dangerous. Here’s to their hastened oblivion.

    Thanks!

    • #6
  7. Gil Reich Member
    Gil Reich
    @GilReich

    iWe:Also remember that the Left in Israel is not (because of reasons not transferable to the US) the party of unlimited welfare – while the Democrats in the US keep making endless Santa Claus promises to all voters.

    People do not vote against Santa Claus.

    Good points. But under Netanyahu, the Likud did become the low taxes & fewer benefits & regulations party. And Labour did start championing the little guy against the evil corporations. And the Likud is doing quite well. But agreed, the economic part is different in the two countries.

    • #7
  8. Freesmith Member
    Freesmith
    @

    You may want to reconsider your thesis in light of a few contrary facts.

    First, the Left may be separating itself from the electorate you knew, but it is busy establishing a new electorate. Sixty million current Americans were not born in this country, the highest percentage since the 1890s. They didn’t grow up listening to the Beach Boys and joining Junior Achievement.

    Ann Coulter has pointed out that conservatives in the future are going to find themselves continually surprised by the results of elections in the new America, much like “expert” Michael Barone himself was surprised by Mitt Romney’s defeat in 2012. Don’t be one of those soon-to-be-befuddled conservatives.

    Parts of that earlier great wave of immigration may be conservative now, but that’s after they gave us 20 years of Democratic rule – 1933 to 1953 – and the New Deal. (And after a 40 year immigration moratorium kept the wave from refreshing itself.) What does the new great wave have in store for us? Obama may only be the beginning.

    Finally, the Irish and Italians may have drifted away from the Left, but Jews, Puerto Ricans, American Indians, Asians, Mexicans and blacks show no signs of abandoning it, even after decades. The states of Hawaii, California, New Mexico and North Carolina argue against a trend toward conservatism in a time of mass immigration and elite disdain for traditional values. New York City does likewise, doesn’t it?

    If you want to stop Leftism, actively push for a moratorium on ALL immigration and an end to ALL affirmative action in hiring and college admissions.

    ACT boldly and resolutely. Don’t expect things to just work out – because they won’t.

    • #8
  9. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Freesmith:You may want to reconsider your thesis in light of a few contrary facts.

    First, the Left may be separating itself from the electorate you knew, but it is busy establishing a new electorate. Sixty million current Americans were not born in this country, the highest percentage since the 1890s. They didn’t grow up listening to the Beach Boys and joining Junior Achievement.

    Don’t forget dead voters and those who show up to vote registered voters who don’t have I.Ds, many times in many places.

    • #9
  10. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    I Walton:

    Don’t forget dead voters and those who show up to vote registered voters who don’t have I.Ds, many times in many places.

    Chicago, Chicago my home town.

    • #10
  11. The Question Inactive
    The Question
    @TheQuestion

    Speech control radicalism, don’t forget that the Democrats wanted to repeal the First Amendment.  They think you don’t have a right to make a movie (or anything else that costs money) criticizing a political candidate.  We need to say, “Democrats want to take away your right to make a movie critical of them!”  It’s the truth.  Ted Cruz was eloquent on this, which is why he’s my favorite candidate.

    Of all the many reasons to oppose Democrats, their opposition to free speech is the number one reason, as far as I’m concerned.

    • #11
  12. Roadrunner Member
    Roadrunner
    @

    The Question: Speech control radicalism, don’t forget that the Democrats wanted to repeal the First Amendment.

    Not only wanted to but were one Supreme Court Justice away from doing so.  Gil’s very optimistic outlook on the demographic changes in the United States are not based on any facts.  Those demographic changes will give them the one Justice and more.  After that we will look a little like Venezuela where the opposition is pretty limited and can count on being hassled by the government.  The IRS did its deal to the Tea Party before the election with little to no complaint from the Latin American, Indian American and Chinese American communities.  To them it seemed like business as usual, maybe gentler than what they were used to.

    • #12
  13. Al Sparks Coolidge
    Al Sparks
    @AlSparks

    Just remember that Michael Barone predicted a massive defeat for Barack Obama in the 2012 election.

    Doesn’t make him wrong this time, but…

    • #13
  14. Nick Stuart Inactive
    Nick Stuart
    @NickStuart

    Gil Reich: Is the same happening in the US? Michael Barone points out how 2016 resembles 1968 when Republicans began dominating presidential elections. He suggests we may repeat that. I suggest that he understates the case. Republicans go into 2016 far stronger at congressional, state, and local levels. The world has gotten scarier, which moves voters away from the Left. And Democrats are off the deep end on too many issues:

    Official prayer of the Republican Party:

    Lord, give us control of the White House, the House and Senate. We promise we won’t p*ss it away again this time.

    • #14
  15. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    Al Sparks:Just remember that Michael Barone predicted a massive defeat for Barack Obama in the 2012 election.

    Doesn’t make him wrong this time, but…

    Oh. but I think he was right, and so was Dick Morris. I don’t believe for one minute Obama won last time.

    • #15
  16. The Question Inactive
    The Question
    @TheQuestion

    I tend to agree with John Podhoretz that Obama is really good at getting himself elected, and not much else.  He seems to be immune to political fallout from his actions, but other Democrats are not.  Gil pointed out, Democrat have lost badly in almost most elections except for the White House.  I’d like to think that Obama is like the Mule from the Foundation series.  He has a profound influence based on his cult of personality, but it’s all based on his person and once he’s gone it falls apart.  Hillary doesn’t have the personality to do what Obama has done.  I don’t know that this is true, but I hope it is.

    Donald Trump scares me, since he seems like a disruptive force similar to Obama.  I think he might make things better in the long run, but he might make things much worse, particularly if he’s actually nominated.

    • #16
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