America’s fractured population can’t seem to find a common path to have a less contentious conversation. There is a reason for that.
The traditional divide, Democrats and liberals versus Republicans and conservatives, has been replaced by a new gap, pitting those who choose realism against those whose perception of actual facts has been overshadowed by their biases. The lines aren’t always along party affiliation, as witnessed by the fights within the Democratic Party of realists such as Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema against Joe Biden and the Progressive caucus.
The fever pitch among realists against the progressive’s immigration, spending, defense, crime and education policies is fueled by what they perceive, correctly, as being the latter’s disregard for the truth. The Biden administration’s misstatements about Afghanistan; the nonsensical statement that spending $3.5 trillion won’t cost anything and the taxes that support it will not touch the middle class; the claim that “the border is under control” are examples of blatant falsehoods that many believe are arrogant insults to the general citizenry.
Underlying much of the Left’s views on the economy is a refusal to acknowledge the history of socialist societies, which for more than a century have failed to produce desirable results. Their belief that currency can be infinitely printed without consequences, in defiance of historical examples such as Germany’s hyper-inflation in the early years of the 20th century, is leading to disaster. America is already close to $29 trillion in debt, amounting to $220,000 per household. Adding more is irresponsible. President Biden insistence that spending trillions will have a “zero price tag,” and foolish statements from progressives such as U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) that spending $3.5 trillion would be only a “modest investment” defy logic.
The Pentagon was left out of the Biden’s proposed spending spree. He sent a package for defense to Congress that, accounting for inflation, resulted in a cut of 2.6%. That figure utterly ignored the massive threats from China’s largest in the world navy, Russia’s globe-leading nuclear arsenal, North Korea’s atomic belligerence, the growing power of terrorist forces and Iran’s impending weapons of mass destruction breakout. The White House preferred to ignore major dangers abroad in order to divert funds towards its gargantuan social spending programs. Pretending those threats do not exist is a disservice to the nation and an extraordinary exercise of foolishness.
Several Republican senators warn that “President Biden’s budget proposal cuts defense spending, sending a terrible signal not only to our adversaries in Beijing and Moscow, but also to our allies and partners.”
Add to all that, the White House’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which it insists was a success, inflames realists who can easily see through the blatant falsehood.
Similarly, the lack of candor about the southern border and the nearly unchecked flood of illegal immigration has captured the attention and sparked the anger of realists. Similar to the Afghanistan mess, Biden has not only failed to accede to the reality of his failed policy but has bizarrely called it a success, despite the enormous evidence to the contrary.
Mark Morgan, former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, recently wrote in Imprimis “In just a few short months, the Biden Administration has created a disaster on the southern border of the United States. It did so by methodically—and by all indications intentionally—undoing every meaningful border security measure that had been in place. As a result, we have had five straight months of over 170,000 illegal immigrants apprehended at the border. The number in June was the highest in over 20 years. And Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been effectively shut down. Our national discussion of border security is generally misleading, and it is designed to be misleading by those who favor open borders.”
“Intentionally misleading” may well be the mantra of the delusionists who have created so much anger and pain throughout the U.S.A.
