*Foul language warning*
You fascist! You Nazi! You bigot! You transphobe! You piece of sh!t! You. Are. GARBAGE!
The above are insults that've been hurled at me over the past five years. The most malicious choice of words was yelled from the bottom of the steps of a football stadium while I sat at a track meet with hundreds of other fans, including my teen daughter and 75-year-old dad.
There's a reason God didn't let you have kids!
The disparager, a middle-aged, vagina-hat wearing attendee of the 2017 Women's March in Washington, DC, wanted to make sure every local in the stands knew that I was a dangerous person, unworthy of the tolerance so liberally trumpeted by people on the left.
If you are a conservative, chances are you've recently been there, too. Your broadminded chums have disparaged your reputation, questioned your intellect, and dismissed you as a heartless Neanderthal. Perhaps--horror of horrors--these progressive thinkers have even unfriended you on Facebook.
My fellow Tuckers and Bens, Danas and Marthas, you are not alone.
And now many of us, with a landslide conservative victory under our belts, are tempted to grow complacent. Surely the next four years of common sense governing will win over the leftists. Surely we can stop playing defense, put our feet up, and enjoy our country's return to prosperity?
Ummmm, no.
Many on the left are wildly dedicated to their cause. In protest of election results, women have shaved their heads and vowed celibacy. Prominent personalities have temporarily relocated. And individuals like AOC, Joy Reid, and the women of The View continue to assert that conservatives will strip Americans of their rights and transform the country into a neo-Nazi Germany.
I've scratched my head at these labels tossed around like an innocuous hacky sack by CNN et al. Do their press room writers know anything about fascism? Or Nazism? Or contemporary history? The media's insistence that my people are Hitler reincarnated has provided many sleepless nights (From the bottom of my coal-black heart, thank you). In truth, journalistic attempts to demonize the right by endlessly spouting these negative epithets have effectively trivialized the experiences of the Holocaust victims who lived and died under fascism's ugly thumb.
Folks on the left have been duped by nearly a decade of propaganda courtesy of the legacy media.
While the following quote is attributed to Nazi propogandist, Joseph Goebbels, the original description of The Big Lie appears in Hitler's Mein Kampf.
If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself!
According to The Jewish Virtual Library, the World War II U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) created a psychological profile of Hitler that detailed his use of the big lie:
His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
Does any of the above sound hauntingly familiar?
Hitler never allowed the public to cool off.
He dehumanized the Jewish people by calling them rats, lice, foxes, cockroaches, and vultures. Jews were represented as being incapable of human feeling.
Leftists provoke public outrage by dehumanizing conservatives through labels such as Nazi, Fascist, bigot, and extremist. Other labels, such as transphobe and misogynist, assert that people on the right are devoid of human emotion.
Hitler demanded total obedience to his agenda.
Leftists mandate the same through the silencing of conservative voices on social media and the elevation of majority left-wing influencers in the legacy media, as well as in Hollywood and pop culture. The message is clear: March in lockstep with the government as it relates to Covid mandates, immigration, abortion, defunding the police, transgender ideology, etc., or we will destroy your reputation and your livelihood.
Hitler never admitted a fault or a wrong.
Even after proof of four years of failed policy, including soaring inflation, rampant crime in cities, and identity politics that have pitted Americans against each other, Kamala Harris stated that she could not think of one thing she would do differently if she were elected president.
Hitler concentrated on one enemy.
He blamed the Jews for Germany's World War I loss and the resulting hyperinflation, political instability, widespread unemployment, and social unrest which accompanied it.
This parallel is so obvious it seems superfluous to point out (but I will). Leftists concentrate on one enemy--Trump and the MAGAs--and, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, continue to warn of a totalitarian takeover instead of locking arms with others to work toward sound policy in the middle ground. It's a game plan taken straight from Hitler's playbook, which might beg the question: Who is behaving more like a fascist? Pot, may I introduce you to the kettle?
The reality is that, as conservatives, our mission is far from accomplished. Four years of disastrous policy cannot be easily undone. We must continue to defend the truth lest it be crushed by the hammer of a hostile press or drowned out by the left's anxious and misguided devotees.
5 Steps for Defending the Truth & Dismantling the Lies
When we find ourselves with an opportunity to engage people on the left, we must do so civilly and in the following ways:
Ask "What is a Nazi?" (Or a fascist, misogynist, totalitarian, etc.)
When democrats make such outlandish claims, the burden of proof is upon them, not us. Ask them to show you how conservatives are behaving like the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini. Are we singling out people for deportation to concentration camps? Are we forcing people to work until they die from exhaustion and malnutrition? Are we starving our countrymen? Are we performing experiments on vulnerable populations? Are we shooting dissenters in the streets? Are we forcing women to carry children of a desirable race?
Ask "What policies would you like to see promoted for the common good?"
The conservative wins this election cycle were not based on one person's charisma, but on one party's sound policy platform. A secure border, safer cities, a strong economy, the free exercise of speech and religion, a smaller government that adheres to the principle of "Live and let live", the protection of children, the American ideal not of guaranteed outcomes but of equal opportunity. Policy talk can be productive and result in compromise.
If we can't find common ground discussing these widely accepted values, our friends on the left likely have an altogether different vision of America than our founders intended. Consequently, is it any wonder that the conservative viewpoint won the day?
Familiarize yourself with the left's talking points and language gymnastics. Here are a few:
Reproductive healthcare = Taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, cross-sex hormones and life-altering surgery for minors.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion = Government-mandated intersectional policies that pursue the worthy goal of ending discrimination but do so by promoting racism, sexism, misogyny, and misandry.
Sanctuary cities/states = Areas where mayors and governors defy federal law, thereby attracting a criminal element which makes their residents less safe.
Name calling - See number 1, above. If a person resorts to calling their fellow American names, they have lost the fight. (Don't bother engaging with name callers. They have no interest in solving problems nor finding middle ground.)
Outright lies - Where to begin? The left's insistence that WOMEN WILL DIE as a result of pro-life laws , OUR BORDER IS SECURE, and THE VACCINE IS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE are great examples of lies that have been swallowed hook, line, and sinker.
Identify the toxic empathy and encourage empathy for those who've been excluded from the discussion.
We all must empathize with one another, conservatives and liberals alike. However, much of the current discussion about elevating the marginalized actually degrades the rights of others by, for example...
Lauding trans rights at the expense of women's and children's safety
"Centering" BIPOC rights while demonizing white people, especially males
Glorifying the plight of illegal immigrants over the rights of American citizens' to live in decent housing and safe communities
Idolizing the right to bodily autonomy over the right of every person to live
Placing extreme environmental policies in place to the detriment of human flourishing.
For more on toxic empathy, read Allie Beth Stuckey's book.
Study history and share your enlightenment with others.
The destruction of America rides on the wings of identity politics and the denigration of the U.S. Constitution. Implementation of similar socialist ideologies have been tried worldwide over and over again at the expense of much human suffering.
Our country was founded on principles of meritocracy, not on a welfare state of entitlement based on intersectionality and victimhood.
The preamble to the Declaration of Independence reminds us:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Sadly, many have forgotten from whence they came and, thus, misuse their time disparaging the very country which has assured their right to protest. Living in a land of plenty built on the backs of people of all walks of life, they screech about entitlements while millions around the world beg for a daily crust of bread.
Yes, conservative leadership shows great promise in restoring America and ensuring its progress into the future. However, we--the average American citizens--must accept our responsibility for dismantling lies and defending our country's historical ideals. The last decade has taught us that silence for the sake of keeping the peace is no longer a tenable option. We can never again revere people's opinions of us over the importance of declaring timeless truth.
Respectfully and with grace, we the people must find the courage to speak up.
Until next time.
Your courage cheerleader,
Sarah 📣