Just yesterday, one day only, there was a violent and destructive riot at the University of California at Berkeley to prevent speech with which the protesters disagreed, a leak of the contents of private talks between President Trump and the prime minister of Australia, a possible leak of the contents of a similar call between Trump and the president of Mexico, an attempt to block progress in two congressional committees by the Democrats boycotting the sessions where votes would be taken that they would surely lose, stories about federal employees contacting Obama political appointees who recently left office for instructions as to how to stymie the Trump administration, and the usual mainstream media attacks on President Trump and everything and anything he does. As I said, that was just one day.
So what does America think of all this? Does the average American approve of violence to prevent someone from speaking? The person who was supposed to speak is Milo Yiannopoulos, an rather provocative editor of Breitbart News. The protesters call him a fascist, but they are the ones who use fascist tactics to stop him from speaking. The protesters say he is a Nazi, but actually he's a gay, half-Jewish, foreigner who hardly qualifies to join the Nazis. The truth is that he is someone who denounces political correctness and the entire holier than thou enterprise of the far left. He uses humor to tweak them constantly. For example, he helped establish "white privilege grants" which are small scholarships limited to only white males. The moron protesters call that support for white supremacy rather than seeing it as the dig at them that it really is. Giving away $2500 in scholarship funds to a handful of white males is hardly going to move society towards white supremacy, but the crazy reaction to it makes a much bigger point about political correctness. Most Americans agree that Milo has the same right to speak as anyone else. This constant attack by the left on free speech will not help them win over new converts to their cause, and it might lose them a bunch. Throw in the unacceptable violence which is anathema to millions of Americans, and last night's riot is a big negative for the left and the Democrats.
And what about the leak of the transcripts, the congressional boycott, and the insurrection by federal employees? Again, it is something that may make part of the Democrats' base happy, but it will only hurt that party with the average American. So long as President Trump can stay firm but low key in his responses, the whole scene looks to most people like the media and the Democrats throwing a temper tantrum. That is hardly something likely to attract most voters to them.
It's a difficult problem for the Democrats. Their most strident base wants constant confrontation with the GOP and Trump. There can be no cooperation, no negotiation, nothing. To the crazy base, Trump and the Republicans are, indeed, just a basket of deplorables. The base, however, will never be enough to elect Democrats back to a majority in Congress. The last election surely should tell the party that. But it doesn't seem to matter. Right now, the Democrats are seriously considering choosing as their next chairman a former supporter of the Black Muslims, a racial and religious hate group.
We will have to wait and see how this plays out. America could decide that the chaos is just Trump's fault, but I think this is unlikely. Trump didn't boycott the hearings; the Democrats did. Trump didn't stop free speech, the leftist crazies at Berkeley did. Trump didn't try to undermine the government; the federal employees did. On the other hand, America could decide that the Democrats and the media are captives to the leftist crazies. If that view prevails, all of this mess will be tuned out. Of course, that will also mean that most of the Democrats are tuned out (of office) in 2018.
So what does America think of all this? Does the average American approve of violence to prevent someone from speaking? The person who was supposed to speak is Milo Yiannopoulos, an rather provocative editor of Breitbart News. The protesters call him a fascist, but they are the ones who use fascist tactics to stop him from speaking. The protesters say he is a Nazi, but actually he's a gay, half-Jewish, foreigner who hardly qualifies to join the Nazis. The truth is that he is someone who denounces political correctness and the entire holier than thou enterprise of the far left. He uses humor to tweak them constantly. For example, he helped establish "white privilege grants" which are small scholarships limited to only white males. The moron protesters call that support for white supremacy rather than seeing it as the dig at them that it really is. Giving away $2500 in scholarship funds to a handful of white males is hardly going to move society towards white supremacy, but the crazy reaction to it makes a much bigger point about political correctness. Most Americans agree that Milo has the same right to speak as anyone else. This constant attack by the left on free speech will not help them win over new converts to their cause, and it might lose them a bunch. Throw in the unacceptable violence which is anathema to millions of Americans, and last night's riot is a big negative for the left and the Democrats.
And what about the leak of the transcripts, the congressional boycott, and the insurrection by federal employees? Again, it is something that may make part of the Democrats' base happy, but it will only hurt that party with the average American. So long as President Trump can stay firm but low key in his responses, the whole scene looks to most people like the media and the Democrats throwing a temper tantrum. That is hardly something likely to attract most voters to them.
It's a difficult problem for the Democrats. Their most strident base wants constant confrontation with the GOP and Trump. There can be no cooperation, no negotiation, nothing. To the crazy base, Trump and the Republicans are, indeed, just a basket of deplorables. The base, however, will never be enough to elect Democrats back to a majority in Congress. The last election surely should tell the party that. But it doesn't seem to matter. Right now, the Democrats are seriously considering choosing as their next chairman a former supporter of the Black Muslims, a racial and religious hate group.
We will have to wait and see how this plays out. America could decide that the chaos is just Trump's fault, but I think this is unlikely. Trump didn't boycott the hearings; the Democrats did. Trump didn't stop free speech, the leftist crazies at Berkeley did. Trump didn't try to undermine the government; the federal employees did. On the other hand, America could decide that the Democrats and the media are captives to the leftist crazies. If that view prevails, all of this mess will be tuned out. Of course, that will also mean that most of the Democrats are tuned out (of office) in 2018.
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