We've heard a lot of talk lately, but no actual communication — no debate, no exchange of ideas. It's been mostly name-calling — the sort of thing that nearly led to President Trump's assassination, and got Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk murdered.
The idea of resorting to name-calling your opponent and his supporters took root with President Obama, when he dismissed small-town "flyover country" conservatives.
"It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," he claimed.
But it really took off in 2016, when then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton put half of her Republican opponent’s supporters into what she called her "basket of deplorables."
She explained that Donald Trump followers were "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it."
Two years later she told CNN that Democrats had to keep up the pressure.
"You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about," Clinton told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "That’s why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and or the Senate, that's when civility can start again. But until then, the only thing that the Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength."
They've won both chambers of Congress several times since then, but nothing has changed. In fact, it's gotten worse.
Today, Republican candidates are typically called fascist or dictator, and compared to Hitler, Stalin, or Mussolini.
If you repeatedly call someone Hitler long enough, someone will eventually decide to save the world and kill Hitler.
One would think that after an attempted assassination, the country would take a step back and reconsider what they’re doing. But it's been the exact opposite, according to Chuck DeVore, of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF).
"Since @realDonaldTrump was almost assassinated in Butler, incendiary rhetoric linking Trump to fascism has skyrocketed more than 2,500%," he said, referring to a TPPF report.
"It's as if, with impeachments and lawfare unsuccessful in stopping Trump, Trump's opponents turned to dehumanizing words to rationalize his killing."
DeVore added that "Charlie Kirk was victim of this trend as well," and referred to a report that he’d authored for The Federalist.
And two weeks ago, Clinton appeared on MSNBC to rail against conservatives again.
She claimed that conservatives "want to turn the clock back" to a darker era, and targeted straight, white, conservative, Christian men as the cause of the nation's problems.
"Let's say it: white men of a certain persuasion, a certain religion, a certain point of view, a certain ideology, it's just doing such damage to what we should be aiming for.”
Over the weekend, The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh posted this recap of recent events:
"-Democrat-appointed parole board releases a homicidal maniac who murdered a 6 year old boy by stabbing him in the head.
"-Democrat-appointed judge gives just 8 years in prison to a tranny who tried to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh.
"-Democrat attorney general candidate openly fantasizes about murdering his political opponents and their children."
He added this clincher, "That’s just over the past three days. When I say they want us dead, it’s because they really do want us dead."
It’s not just straight, conservative Christians they're targeting.
Jews are also under attack.
A young Jewish couple was murdered recently in front of the Washington, D.C. Holocaust Museum, and a visiting Harvard Law professor shot up a synagogue with a pellet gun on Yom Kippur, claiming he was "hunting rats."
Federal officers are also being targeted — especially those from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It wasn't that long ago when America was an idyllic "Ozzie and Harriet" place to live and raise a family.
It was a time and a place free of envy or resentment.
Each time someone achieved success, the whole neighborhood celebrated and shared the success.
It was also an era marked by compassion. If a neighbor fell on hard times, the community pitched in and offered their support without asking.
It was an age when our parents were called "the greatest generation" — a generation that went to war, returned home, innovated new products, new industries, and turned America into the world leader it is today.
We achieved that ideal before.
We can do it again.
But we have to stop hating and start seeing others for who they are — people just like us, who want to get through life with as few scars as possible, and enjoy their brief time on Earth.
Let's get busy.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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