All that said, the “America First” movement seems to be suffering a great deal from what has hobbled most of the political movements on the right since at least the so-called “Gingrich Revolution” in 1994 (unless you want to go another decade back to Regan) – a lack of committed focus on the goal. The way this typically manifests is through an unhealthy and unnecessary focus on personalities that distracts from what should be the sole goal of the movement – moving the America First agenda forward.
Now, I completely understand that there is no single “America First” agenda and that the “America First” movement is likely never going to be able to settle on a solid bulleted list of concrete items. The cause for this however comes from the strength of the America First agenda itself. The America First agenda is not a top-down, elitist-driven platform of ready-to-go policies and neither are the people who support it. This contrasts starkly with the top-down, elitist-driven policies and supporters of the globalist-left, who are only too happy to get their marching-orders from TV, media, Facebook, Twitter etc. and trust the alpha-and-omega of their ideology, government, to implement them.
Because of the depraved weaknesses at the base of their stated message, the utter lack of success anywhere it’s been attempted, and the inherent contradictions in the message itself, the globalist-left relies on a monopoly of messaging delivery systems. The regressive left desperately needs to control the flow of information to people in order to perpetuate the illusion that The Emperor is clothed. Hence…
- The hyperbolic response to the repeal of Net Neutrality
- The fetish-like push for the Fairness Doctrine
- The vitriolic opposition to home-schooling or any K-12 education outside of the public monopoly
- The iron-fisted control of higher-education and rabid opposition to “for-profit” and “non-traditional” alternatives
- The complete control of print and electronic media of all forms (movies, TV, music, social media, etc.)
- And I can go on.
Those of us who do not prescribe to the agenda of the globalist-left are nonetheless inundated by it daily, everywhere, all the time. It is almost impossible to get away from the noise of their incessant browbeating of their opponents, deification of their “saints”, and evidence-free support for their agenda. There is no place to hide. And yet, the globalist-left is on the run, losing everywhere, and is therefore lashing out through there paramilitary wings of Antifa, BLM and La Raza, among others.
In other words, the combined media/academic/government assets of the globalist left have been, of late, unable to match the messaging and power of talk radio, President Trump’s Twitter Feed, and (sometimes) Fox News.
The weakness of the globalist-left agenda is obvious to any not inside the media bubble they’ve created. They claim to be the “Reality Based Community” who is, in fact, seeing the world only through the controlled and regulated lens of the media created for them and utterly detached from actual reality. They oppose border walls and individual gun ownership while their open-borders message is crafted from behind walls by people surrounded by armed private security. They preach the gospel of “Man-Made Climate Change” while their high-priests of the church of climatology fly around in private jets.
Yet in spite of all of this, the march of the left continues unabated. Their loses are never permanent, they continue to control the media, academia, government infrastructure at all levels. In contrast, our victories come always with a price, are never permanent and often reversed only a short time later. In spite of the nominally center-right political party in the USA controlling…
- The White House
- The Congress
- The overwhelming majority of state governorships
- The overwhelming majority of state legislative seats and chambers
… the march of the left in the USA continues unabated. So it seems that even when the supporters of the America First agenda score political victories, and lots of them, the failed, discredited agenda of the globalist left perpetuates and even at times gains momentum.
So while many of us have been justifiably mocking pussy-hat wearing betas and gammas who are screaming at the clouds at the election of Donald Trump, the paramilitary wings of the globalist-left are consolidating power in their bases and recruiting (potentially) powerful elected officials to their cause. They are resorting to lawfare in their preferred venue (courts filled with unelected and unaccountable black-robed elitists) to advance their agenda even after suffering one electoral defeat after another. And as soon as the electoral victories start to come again, they immediately claim the mantle of “power of the people” to support what is an unsupportable agenda.
All this brings me to the point – which is that until and unless the supporters of the America First movement demonstrates the commitment of the supporters of the globalist-left we are forever doomed to be playing catch-up as our country slowly slides into EUropistan. Say what you will about the vagina-costumed, nose-ringed supporters of the globalist-left, but they are completely committed to their cause. They are willing to put their lives on hold for weeks, months, even years. They are willing to give all they have. Sure, that may not be much; freedom after all is just a word for “nothing left to lose”. And I’ve heard many a supporter of America First over the years excuse their lack of activism to our cause as “having too much to do” or “I have to support my family”, etc. Looking at a mirror and declaring myself Guilty as charged. Ask yourself what is the last thing you sacrificed in order to advance the America First agenda – the answer in my own case was a stark, flat-out “NOTHING”.
Case in point, I work for a foreign company whose operations in the US are based in the heart of New England moonbat territory. I’m surrounded daily by proggies and leftards; people who have no fear or issue with getting in my face and telling me how #WRONG I am about all things political. Yet, my attitude is “Head Down. Mouth Shut. Do Your Fvcking Job.” Why? Well I have a family to support. I have a mortgage to pay. I have obligations.
To be fair, I did spend almost 20-years active politically in many unpopular ways. I was a GOP activist in southern New England throughout the 90’s, so I did the stand-outs, the door-to-door campaigning, the letters to the editor (when they used to have to be typed and mailed and not emailed!) – all of the ugly, joyless activities you would expect of campaigners of the “out” party. I was a state Libertarian Party officer for 3-years until I found them to be spectacularly unserious about anything other than pot-legalization, and found myself a chairman of the GOP town committee in a D+12 congressional district. Even managed to get elected to town-level office a couple of times. I left the GOPe for good in May 2011 after spending the previous couple of months getting Scott Brown elected – only to have the GOPe utterly cave to President FourPutt on, well, everything.
I have, throughout my political life, put my faith in people and that is I believe where I have been completely wrong. People are going to let us down from time to time, it’s one of the joys of being human. My reason for writing this is that I see a whoooooole lot of this very thing going on with many who claim to be a part of America First – usually centered on people like President Trump and Steve Bannon.
Let me say up front I have serious doubts that Bannon actually said the things he’s been attributed to saying to Chuck Ross. But that’s part of the problem – what the heck is Bannon doing talking with this known fabulist in the first place? However, all of this is beside the point – Bannon isn’t the problem. The problem is that people supposedly on the same side of the America First agenda are now squaring-off and taking sides between Bannon and Trump (mostly supporting the President). We need to stop focusing on the personalities and people involved. When was the last time you saw the globalists in such a tizzy over a he-said-he-said kerfuffle?
And sure, the President doesn’t help matters by so forcefully tossing his one-time advisor under the speeding bus. But that’s who Donald Trump is, if anyone hasn’t figured that out by now. Much like his tweeting, he is often helping himself and will occasionally say something stupid because social media is NOBODY’S friend. Still, this is the world we live in and this is who we elected. One thing I admire about PDJT is that he truly seems to be a “what you see is what you get” sort, which is refreshing.
But ALL OF THIS is a distraction. The reason the left continues to win even when losing is that they are only too happy to jettison people who have become a burden to them (COUGHfrankenCOUGHconyersCOUGH) so long as the narrative, message and agenda keep moving forward. I cannot help but conclude the reason for this is that the political leadership knows they have a rabid bunch of animals in their paramilitary wing who will string them up if they stray too far. It keeps them, let’s just say, focused on the agenda. That individuals are utterly expendable to the globalists is a feature, not a bug.
Now, am I suggesting that the American First movement needs a paramilitary wing or rabid animals who will not only crack-down on “heretics” in their own power centers but will keep their own political leadership in line? No, I’m not. The America First message is sufficiently strong, sound and powerful and I don’t believe we need violence to enforce it (though should it come to violence given the relative memberships of the America Firsters vs. Antifa teams I feel pretty good about the chances of Team America First coming out on top, bigly).
However, I’m afraid that even what little is being asked of the supporters of the America First agenda is a bridge to far for many. How many of us are willing to travel to a nearby competitive state to help drive votes by offering rides to the polls? How many of us are willing to try to turn our blue states purple through retail politicking? How many of us are willing to call-out overtly globalist-leftist policies at work as creating a “hostile work environment” for people who believe in America First? How many of us are willing to put our lives on hold for even a day to advance the America First agenda?
Our actions in the weeks and months ahead will determine the future direction of our country and the world. May those of us who support America First choose wisely.