What is Going on Here?

By
Matt “DiGi” DiGiallonardo
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Seriously.

What is going on here?

This country has gone insane. No matter what part of the political spectrum you fall on, it seems like you are absolutely mad on at least half of the major topics and issues in American life. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Democrat, Republican, independent, Green, or Libertarian, you honestly sound crazy at least half of the time you opine on a subject. Long gone are the days when curious people would listen to experts from differing viewpoints debate topics while utilizing facts that we can all agree on. Now, it seems like everyone has an opinion on everything, regardless of whether they’ve read a sentence or written a thesis.

It’s because we’re becoming entirely emotional about everything. What happened to really understanding a few topics and being passionate about them? Why do so many people treat each and every topic like it’s life and death? When this happens, our attention is spread too thin to be able to focus on the central issue that we are confronting: We are in an ongoing culture war that seeks to homogenize our society.

Leftists should not get too excited: This is not only an attack piece on Trump or his followers. They will get it first.

What happened to the days of the free speech left being fervently anti-war and passionately outspoken when injustice – of any sort – is committed? Their unwillingness to speak up about Obama’s foreign policy only helped keep the defense budget bloated and caused the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people. I left the Democratic Party after giving President Obama chance upon chance to reclaim the people’s civil liberties and put a stop to wasteful conflicts, but he even failed to do those things during his lame duck years, let alone reschedule cannabis which would have been the single greatest act of criminal justice reform in our lifetimes.

The left’s fear of criticizing the first black president kept him from enacting the reforms that would have secured his place in history as much more than he will be remembered for. I won’t be one of the people who says he accomplished nothing, as the DREAM Act and opening up relations with Cuba were valuable, as well as the mandatory minimum reduction for crack cocaine. But for people who are still proudly liberal, he didn’t do much. Had the left challenged Obama when necessary, the general population might believe they have a leg to stand on as they make perfectly reasonable arguments against Trump. But they lost credibility. Along with our intelligence agencies, leftists have created the “boy who cried wolf” scenario we are currently facing, and they need to own that.

Their part in the culture war are their attempts to homogenize our language and to remove laughter from society. This is a component of what fuels the madness of the modern right. The left used to be the ones who told jokes and could laugh at the darker aspects of our society, and now they chastise the comedic arts and seek to end the career of any person who says something they disagree with. Instead of just changing the channel or shutting off a device, they insist on trying to mold every corner of entertainment to their liking. The left has created a far broader right-wing than would ever have existed if they didn’t try to frame anything that doesn’t fit their ideological framework as right-wing.

Eventually, people will just accept that they’re not welcome, and they’ll join the other people. The left’s unwillingness to accept some semblance of a middle ground has created this binary divide. To unwind this, the left must come back to the roots of liberalism and embrace individuality in all its forms, and they must once again embrace free speech. This side of actual racists chanting nationalist slogans, the left really needs to chill out, or their legitimate anger against those types of people will be drowned out by whatever dozen things they choose to be offended by that week.

People are flawed. They make mistakes. Leftists must quit thinking that they’re perfect.

What in God’s name has happened to the right, however?

Barry Goldwater once said:

“If and when these preachers get control of the Republican Party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise, but these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.”

Politics shouldn’t be mixed with religion, and vice-versa. The culmination of this disastrous endeavor is Donald Trump, the man who has gotten conservatives to accept populist policies and religious people to accept a draft-dodging philanderer as a patriot sent by God to save the republic.

Why do they not realize the craziness of this?

After eight years of the most baseless conspiracies regarding President Obama, at a time when the debate could have been purely about policy and the direction of our country, the right decided to throw all their chips in on a guy who has more skeletons in his closet than a Halloween thrift store. From accusations of sexual assault to payments to a porn star as hush money, Donald Trump has not lived his life as a Christian. When asked to cite a Bible verse, he couldn’t do it. When faced with a humanitarian crisis, he does everything except what Jesus would do. He casts anger at his opponents and spreads lies. This is indicative of the love of Christ? It’s no shock that non-believers are growing in numbers considering the hypocrisy of the modern Christian church. From blasphemers like Joel Osteen to the children of Graham and Falwell praising a man who is as gluttonous and immoral as they come, modern Christianity has no moral compass. The moral majority sold out any remaining credibility they had to a man who commits at least one of the seven deadly sins on a weekly basis. The least they could do is to not soil their faith by associating it with such an immoral leader.

Not only have the faithful sold out for a loud-mouthed narcissist, but once reliable conservatives have as well.

Those who used to embrace free trade and decried labor Democrat policies seeking to severely restrict immigration, are now parroting those same ignorant policies and have abandoned free trade as a way to create peace and economic growth. Gone are the days of seeking balanced budgets and spending cuts, giving way to incredible pork barrel spending, record defense budgets, and deeper debt and deficit. The tide of fiscal conservatives, which regained the GOP following George W Bush, have now decided that spending doesn’t matter, and the only thing which matters is not crossing President Trump. After five years of Benghazi hearings and the most absurd accusations, we are now left with complaints over a two year investigation that concluded Trump could be indicted on obstruction charges should he not be in office. That’s right. The Mueller report said that, and Mueller said that in congressional testimony. The only reason Trump wasn’t indicted, is because there is no precedent for indicting a sitting president. The process for such a crime is impeachment, removal, indictment, and criminal trial. That is the process. This is how the rule of law works in our nation, no matter how Tucker Carlson decided to spin it so the right could sleep easier at night.

To top all of this off, we have to debate whether there is Russian influence in our government. It just so happens that Michael Flynn is a bit of an arrogant dolt. Stevie Wonder knew what was going on when Flynn was spotted at a Russian state dinner. Then, right next door, we have the Ukraine debacle, where Trump cohort, Paul Manafort, was already caught with his pants down, and we’re to believe that there was no extortion or bribery attempt by Trump on the Ukrainian President?

There cannot be this many convenient coincidences in global politics. It just doesn’t happen. And sure, members of the Biden family are involved there and the international community forced Ukraine’s hand, too. If we are to believe that it is a principled argument, then disqualify them both from the presidency. Democrats can dump Biden from the ballot and Republicans can dump Trump.

It is their decision to abide by such madness. Those of us outside the major parties are forced to deal with their moral compromises and lack of humility to the point that our life expectancy is declining, and our farms are going under. We can rarely have a conversation about any political or economic topic without some person blaming Hispanic immigrants. Enough is enough. Do your part, grow a pair, and help us save the republic from an unhinged populist.

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Matt “DiGi” DiGiallonardo

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