Tag: Left vs. Right

Thank You Bari Weiss

America, Headlines, Media, Reason, Values

I’ve been saying for some time now that the Left will eventually implode on itself. Optimist that I am, my view has been that Right (.sic) will prevail over wrong (Left) as Americans eschew the nonsense that fills the airwaves and either: a) by example prove that the virtues of our country embodied in the ideology of the Right are, while of course not perfect, the best way to achieve the most prosperity for all and/or b) vote to support political candidates, imperfect as they too are, who support TRUE American values rather than the necrotizing vacuousness of the Left.

I sincerely believe, and I’m prayerfully hopeful I’m right, that that which fills our television screens, computer monitors and reading material these days represents the death throes of the evil hydra that seeks to gain ultimate power over our people. I used to believe that the Left was comprised of a benign, warm and fuzzyy people who just wished we “could all get along;” who believed that equality of opportunity needed to be preserved (rather than equality of outcomes). What has become obvious is that the Left truly is bent on dominating the minds and will of mankind by marshaling the forces of the Have-Nots against the Haves. In case this struggle sounds familiar, it is the essence of Karl Marx. It is war of Winners against Losers. I don’t mean winners at any cost, or losers who are such because of circumstances truly beyond their control. I refer to those who live by traditional principles like hard work and meritocracy, self-reliance and societal virtue, law and order, etc. fighting against those who don’t have the self-discipline or strength of character to adhere to these winning principles but rather envy these Winners and simply want to suck from them the fruits of their labor, their honor, their prosperity, alleging “unfairness” and all the other arguments advanced by Marx and his Leftist disciples and progeny.

And while I happen to agree with those who condemn crony-capitalism, a “the ends justify the means” approach to policy and a “winner take all” attitude towards the distribution of both resources and opportunities in our country, having lived and traveled extensively around the world I can state with unequivocal certainty that America, democracy and capitalism have done more for the advancement of humankind than any other country, form of government or economic framework in world history.

The amplifying megaphone that the internet has given to the Leftist hydra has all but drowned out voices of reason, honest debate or any view which opposes the hydra orthodoxy. Thinking people know this of course, but Bari Weiss’ scathing confirmation in her July 14, 2020 resignation letter from the New York Times corroborates and vindicates this understanding. It’s a shame. When I used to live in Los Angeles in the 1970’s I couldn’t bear to read the L.A. Times because of its Leftward inbrededness . Rather, I’d obtain copies of and/or read the New York Times because I felt, at the time, it was more balanced and much less biased.

The New York Times, of course, has become what the L.A. Times always was: a completely biased, nay, militant mouthpiece for every Leftist crackpot idea extant. Nowadays, the term is “woke”. To quote Bari, up until yesterday the Opinion Editor of the Times,

“But the truth is that intellectual curiosity—let alone risk-taking—is now a liability at The Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? And so self-censorship has become the norm.

What rules that remain at The Times are applied with extreme selectivity. If a person’s ideology is in keeping with the new orthodoxy, they and their work remain unscrutinized. Everyone else lives in fear of the digital thunderdome. Online venom is excused so long as it is directed at the proper targets.”

And there you have it. It’s worth reading the entire letter which can be found here.

It takes courage to so openly and transparently swim against the Tsunami. I commend Ms. Weiss and hope her valiance will serve as an example for others oppressed by the Hydra and yearning to share what they know to be true in their hearts.

Perception

America, Politics, Society & Culture, Values

I’ve written about this before, but it’s plain to see that two halves of our population can look at the exact same set of facts and firmly believe positions that are 180 degrees apart. But it is astounding that ANYONE in this country can look at the Democrats’ impeachment antics as credible, or the horrifying (to those of us with brains who are paying attention) stupidity coming out of the mouths of the Democrat candidates for President as believable, yet there are many, even if not 50% of the population, who do. THAT’s what’s scary about what we’re witnessing…that ostensibly ‘normal’ people could buy the nonsense the Left is peddling.

Don’t they get it? How is it that they can’t see how perniciously calculating, conniving, dishonest and hypocritical the Left is?

I have a theory. It goes back to the basic principle that our perception is based on our experience (see my post (https://grumpsreport.com/?s=Briggs). In my opinion, the experiences of half the country have consisted of Leftist indoctrination, read brainwashing.

The Left is brilliant at manipulation, false-impression-creation, misrepresentation, and above all, in knowing how to play on human emotions. They cannot appeal to peoples’ left brains so they go after the right hemisphere and heart strings. Play the right music in the background and a horror film becomes a comedy. Set the lights just right and the ugly can appear beautiful. Put just the right amount of quiver in your voice and twist the story line and you can make anyone a victim. Celebrating losers and victims is their stock-in-trade. Disagree with that and you’re a racist, bigot, heartless, entitled, privileged old white person the product of a discriminatory society bent on crushing the less fortunate.  

Hollywood is of course the crucible in which all the leftist soup is created. The world’s greatest experts in deception and heart-string manipulation, Hollywood has fed generation after generation since the Greatest Generation with emotional drivel which, while entertaining, is taken as reality. It is THIS emotional drivel that has been the diet of those, in my opinion, who believe what the Left is saying and doing.

It’s no wonder therefore that the EXPERIENCE of half the country…the half that have swallowed the drivel with little to no critical thinking, are empty vessels into which the current Leftist nonsense can be easily poured. It fills their souls with emotional satisfaction to hear concepts like “Medicare for All” and Welcoming (i.e. ‘Open’) Borders. And it’s what allows them to believe the lies about children in cages and every other lie put forth by the Left.

It’s not FAKE NEWS, it’s blatant indoctrination, messaging with an agenda, subjective twisting of facts, figures, data to push a narrative that anyone with a functional LEFT brain sees as destructive to mankind and the world. The “Media” is just a court jester, pandering to whomever will buy their verbal diarrhea for the highest amount.

Follow the money. Always. The self-righteous and hyper-hypocritical Left will do whatever maximizes the cash in their pockets, and the quickest way to undeservedly do so is to amass and exercise POWER.

To be fair, there are plenty on the RIGHT who subscribe to this strategy and who take advantage of it. But like so many other things, IT’S A QUESTION OF DEGREE. The Left is guilty of lying, cheating, and indiscriminately acting in ways that benefit themselves thousands of times more frequently than the Right.

Not until the weak-minded and gullible face REAL reality ( I can’t believe I’ve had to use such a term ) or have their heart strings pulled by Goodness, Grace, God or the Holy Spirit, or whatever universal positive Force you subscribe to, or, alternatively, have an experience or experiences that wake them up to the real world, will they make their way back to the realm of the grounded human race with traditional values and practices, and will our Country revert to its position as Light Shining on the Hill.

The Ten-Meter Platform

Society & Culture, Uncategorized, Values

If our goal is X, we need to aim for X+Y. If we fall short, we may still get close to X. This principle is just another way of saying we must lengthen our strides as we climb back up the slippery slope. 

Many years ago I helped run a summer Scout camp in the Catskill Mountains. A few days before camp started the camp counselors, who were drawn from the older, higher ranking and more accomplished Scouts, arrived for several days of training. One of days always consisted of a team building/bonding activity. And one year we were fortunate and privileged to be able to arrange to take the counselors to West Point (The U.S. Military Academy) where the boys received scuba and riflery instruction. The counselors also had some free time to use the pool, including the diving platform and boards.

It was very interesting to see how some of the boys went straight to the top of the 10-meter platform. The more courageous (or reckless) ones didn’t hesitate to run right off the edge. Others were hesitant, and some had to steel their nerves as they looked down from way up there.

Many, if not most of the boys scurried to the other jump levels: a 5-meter platform, a 3-meter diving board and a 1-meter diving board. Not surprisingly, the boys who started at the bottom eventually worked their way up the heights, from unhesitatingly bouncing off the 1-meter board, to more hesitant jumps off the 3-meter, to very hesitant jumps off the 5-meter platform. Some of this group, when they reached the top of the 10-meter platform, simply but understandably chickened out and climbed back down. Others overcame their fear and took the plunge, emerging afterwards from the depths of the pool spluttering but victorious.

But what was notable was how the boys who had started with the 10-meter platform easily and unhesitatingly jumped or dived off the successively lower boards. Even those who hesitated at the top of the 10-meter platform behaved as if the 5, 3 and 1 were just no big deal.

What we adults observed and concluded was that the boys who initially set their sights at the most challenging and difficult goal, once achieved, found attainment of the less ambitious goals easy by comparison. Those who worked their way up from the bottom had a much tougher time of it.

The Left are very skilled at employing this principle. They know very well that a single-payer, Medicare-for-all, government-run healthcare system is a bridge too far, but if such a system represents the 10-meter platform, having for years set their sights on this their highest goal, look how readily they were able to achieve the intermediary goal represented by Obamacare. Similarly, the decibel level and sheer outrageousness of the Left’s rhetoric on so many other issues, amplified by the media megaphone, now make Bernie Sanders appear the moderate!

Today the Left is touting the Green New Deal. It is audacious beyond reason, no, beyond sanity, but they know that if they fall short, they will nevertheless hit intermediate targets that, figuratively, will ‘move the ball forward.’

Examples of their success are all around us. Look what’s happened to education, to law, to morality, to art, to just about every aspect of society. The setting of X+Y goals together with a relentless, ends-justify-the-means attitude has indeed fundamentally transformed our country.

We Traditionalists need to do the same. But once again, it’s difficult for us to adopt the same tactics as the Left. We’re too busy working hard, caring for our families, running Scout camps or coaching soccer teams, attending church functions, volunteering in our communities… to coalesce like the Leftist mob and “protest” and “resist”. But the thousand cuts we’re receiving are turning into a hemorrhage, and it takes an organized, determined force to stem the bleeding and heal.

We need 10-meter platforms of our own, and need to overcome our fear and be just as determined as the Left. We must change the meaning of “progressive” to what it should be, not how the Left is defining it. We’ve got to stop and reverse this ‘fundamental transformation’ before it really is too late.

We must speak up. We must speak out. We need to gather with others who feel as we do and become “community organizers” ourselves. Except our “community” is comprised of those who are extremely uncomfortable at organizing in this way. But it may be the only way we can lay the groundwork for a better path for our children and grandchildren than the one the Left has us on now.

Copyright © 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 - All rights reserved - Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy