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ALPERN AT LARGE - I’ve always considered myself to be a moderate to conservative Republican, both moderate enough to recognize and appreciate all sides of an argument, but conservative enough to recognize and appreciate the following as well:
Modern-day conservatives disagree with, and resent modern-day liberal dogma, and seek to debate alternative and pragmatic points of view; however, too many modern-day liberals just HATE modern-day conservatives, and want to shut them up, shut them down, and maybe put them all in prison unless they do and say the “right” things.
Which means that many folks reading this are moderate to liberal in their own right, because they’re liberals who respect and appreciate the conservatives among them (even if they disagree with them).
However, there are liberals and there are Leftists—and I mean Far-Leftists—and they’ve taken control of too much of media and Democratic Party discussion and policy. And for those of you in that group reading this (and you know who you are) well, those dogs you’ve been sicking on the U.S. of A may not be hunting anymore.
(We saw this happen with the Christian Right pulling the GOP too far to the Right during the 1980’s, and it backfired over the next 30 or so years.)
Enter 2024, where after years to decades of calling Bush, Romney, Trump and the tens of millions voting for them as Nazis, and screaming in their collective face, and telling them they’re “partisan”, the Leftists have taken political correctness to a point where debate is stifled, and free speech is absolutely demonized. (True partisanism)
As in…offend a Leftist/Far-Left Liberal then it’s “How DARE You?”
Offend a Conservative, then it’s telling “truth to power”, and they’re probably just a “bunch of closed-minded Christians” who need to be limit-set.
To repeat: Enter 2024, and President Trump just survived an assassination attempt, followed by President Biden doing a pretty excellent impromptu speech recommending we all dial down the rhetoric and eschew political violence.
Forget the debate and Stephanopoulos interview, because Biden’s speech was heartfelt and excellent.
Now that we have the images of Donald Trump raising a bloody fist in defiance, with blood dripping down his face, and Joe Biden speaking presidentially for the first time in quite a few months to years…we now should rely on the following:
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden WILL be the two main contenders of the 2024 election cycle, and most likely it will be based on POLICY.
The New York judge overseeing the “Stormy Daniels trial” will NOT send Trump to jail, and those howling for Biden to be replaced by Vice President Harris or some Democratic Governor will be silenced.
At least those two realities SHOULD occur.
But to the Left, who dismisses (arrogantly and ignorantly, to be frank), the question of WHY so many (including non-White) Americans would support Trump (you know the “threat to democracy” that President Biden recently described as someone we needed to place a “bullseye” on)…
…the answers are pretty straightforward:
Because so many Conservatives (and even Independents) fear a Democratic Party yanked to the Socialist Left as more “Nazi-esque” than Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement ever were, or could be.
Because when the Mainstream Print and Social Media appear to be in unshakeable cahoots with the Democratic Party, images and memories of the Soviet Union arise.
Because when Americans (including and especially Black Americans) decry letting in 15 million illegal immigrants and flooding open the borders to let in both Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere illegal immigrants (think China and every pro-terrorist and anti-American nation on Earth), they’re sick of being told they’re “Racist”.
Because we were energy-independent during President Trump’s term, and now American energy production is thrashed, and with an explosion of inflation and an enrichening of Russia and Iran, Americans are sick of being told they’re “trying to kill the Earth” or “they don’t understand science” by opposing unsustainable energy policy.
Because when Americans scream that inflation is preventing them from eating, paying rent, and not relying on their credit cards for their day-to-day existence, they ‘re sick of being told “things are OK and getting better”.
Because when Main Street America is working harder than ever to survive, and Wall Street is going up (favoring the uber-wealthy over the middle-class), and Americans complain of “Bidenomics” destroying them, they’re sick of being told that “Biden gets sh-t done”.
(I suppose that the Biden Administration has done…well…whatever.)
Because when “pro-Palestinian” and Black Lives Matter riots cause damage, chaos, injury, and sometimes death, those hooligans get a pass, but the full stories of the Russia hoax, the Charlottesville hoax (yes, even Snopes now admits that), and the incomplete truth-finding of January 6th, 2021, are ignored, many Americans get pissed.
And the list goes on and on and on…many Americans are pissed, and many others are happily sheltered from what’s pissing them off. Unfortunately, the latter has no clue or empathy as to WHY those many Americans are pissed, and why Trump has done such a good job of tapping into that collective anger.
So to those who demand “No Justice, No Peace” and “Get in Their Faces”, and attack Republicans and White people and many other individuals who have as much right to exist free of threats and violence as Democrats (even peaceful Leftists) and non-White people…
GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE and take the high road that former First Lady Michelle Obama…because CONSERVATIVES AND OTHER AMERICANS FEAR THE LEFT WING AS NAZIS, NOT THE RIGHT.
And for those who keep citing the blathering repetitious trash talk that President Trump has used (yes, he’s a lout), remember his seething fury mirrors that of tens of millions of Americans who are much, much kind(er) and thoughtful than the dismissive “deplorable” label that ended Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.
On a final note, consider the following:
Were Americans’ right of free speech against Trump shut down during the Trump Administration? Did the press get shut down and not be allowed to ask questions?
Did colleges and K-12 schools continue the age-old “learn both sides of a debate” paradigm once considered best practices in our education systems, or did it lean anti-Right, anti-Trump, and even anti-America…all during the “Nazi” Trump Administration?
Finally, when we consider WHO has the guns in this nation, and the support of Law Enforcement and the Armed Forces for Trump, if there was going to be a forceable takeover by the Right…WOULDN’T WE HAVE SEEN IT BY NOW?
So, while I wish that FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP WOULD LEARN WHEN TO SHUT HIS MOUTH AND SPEAK ONLY IN A PRESIDENTIAL MANNER, the “Hiding Biden”, the very real “Deep State”, and the one-party Democratic cities and states of our nation should start the civility they claim that the Right is already employing.
Because that the usual American on the Right (or is Center-Right) HAS been civil, and quiet, and overall shut their mouths and kept their heads down during the Trump Administration, lest they get screamed at, physically assaulted, fired, and otherwise canceled.
So, when President Biden and the Left want civility, I agree: YOU FIRST!
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
