Whether your head is smashed with a bike lock, or stomped by a thousand tiny legs in skin tight jeans, or you’re hit with a car – you’ll notice in modern politics the responsible “side” is always quiet. What is it that drives ordinary people to look the other way when a heinous act is inspired by political vitriol?
Why has it come to be, that the two-party system is offering safe refuge to and fostering extremist ideas? I believe what we’re seeing to be the inevitable result of a political duopoly.
On August 12th, 2017, havoc broke out in Charlottesville during a “Unite the Right” rally that ended with one death and several injuries. Pictures and video were uploaded online showing Nazi flags and salutes versus Antifa in Black Bloc.
If not for the massive video coverage and fanfare one might see the images and think they were in Weimar Germany in the 1930’s.
Consistently the likes of the KKK and Richard Spencer align themselves with the right and the right is silent, the right does not distance itself from the ilk of Richard Spencer because in a two-party system – you can’t.
Extremists will only align themselves with groups by which they can gain power. Therefore, the right is failing when it refuses to specifically call out white supremacists and their incarnate. There is no political party for people to flee to and still have a voice. This is why the duopoly is on fire, and we must let it burn.
On January 21st, 2017, the “Women’s March” was held, mostly commandeered by talking heads on the left.
You’ll remember this day as the day in which the streets of Washington were flooded with political signs ranging from women’s rights, gay rights, and the environment, all of which were cast adrift in a sea of vagina shaped hats.
One of the heads of the Women’s March was none other than activist Linda Sarsour.
Sarsour’s prominence and leadership in this Women’s March can be used to pinpoint exactly why so many people find the left hypocritical.
A controversial figure, Sarsour, in a now deleted tweet, targeted atheist and ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a victim of female genital mutilation and torture, by saying she wished she could “take her vagina away”. Sarsour, who once called Sharia Law “reasonable”, has also given praise to her mentor Imar Siraj Wahhaj an unindicted coconspirator in the World Trade Center bombings. Imar Siraj Wahhaj is also known for his fierce hatred of the LGBTQ community, including calling homosexuality a “disease”.
Most rational people would take the above information and see that Linda Sarsour is antithetical to everything the Women’s March supposedly stood for. However, the left doesn’t, it remains silent refusing to distance itself from the bigotry and hatred they’ve been ever so critical of the right about.
Why then do both sides seem complicit in ignoring what should be a huge red flag to their respective movements? I believe they are held hostage by the fact that this political atmosphere has turned away from being a realm of a debate and into a total war.
There is no longer compromise, no longer any critical thinking offered by Democrats or Republicans as a group. It is groupthink and collectivism at its absolute worst. Democrats and Republicans now offer only silence and prefer to look away as their houses catch flame.
As Libertarians we can offer something better – we can offer critical thought and reasonable debate as well as refusal to remain silent as opportunists stand amongst us.
With figureheads such as Sarsour and Spencer finding safe havens amongst the duopoly it’s no surprise each proverbial house is on fire sending its rational members fleeing wherever they can go.
As Libertarians I hope that we can expect them to look our direction as a sane, rational, political party that is antithetical to current red-blue duopoly we’re facing. Along the way we must take care and remain critical of our own speakers as well as ensure the flood of political refugees do not bring their baggage with them and further set our house alight too.
* Richard D. Sherley is an ex-Democrat turned Libertarian who works in law enforcement. He enjoys discussing politics, religion, history and playing Devil’s Advocate.
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