Have you ever wondered what it would look like if Chicken Little ran a commune? I suspect it would look like this collectivist freak-out of a response by the left-wing blogosphere to an op-ed by actor/martial artist/pitchman Chuck Norris.
Yes, that Chuck Norris.
Norris wrote an op-ed column on WorldNetDaily — generally regarded by most as a sort of politically-themed, right-wing National Enquirer — called “I may run for president of Texas.” Here’s a sample containing what appears to be the most inflammatory content, but read the whole thing.
Anyone who has been around Texas for any length of time knows exactly what we’d do if the going got rough in America. Let there be no doubt about that. As Sam Houston once said, “Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.”
Just last Friday, the Alamo celebrated its 173rd commemoration, when on March 6, 1836, Texans under Col. William B. Travis were overcome by the Mexican army after a two-week siege at the Alamo in San Antonio. But they didn’t go down without a hell of a fight. Roughly 145 Texans fought to their dying breaths against more than 2,000 Mexican forces under Gen. Santa Anna. (Casualties in the battle were 189 Texans vs. about 1,600 Mexicans.) They lost that battle, but would provide the inspiration to win the war. Their fighting spirit rallied the new-found republic, and still does to this day. So when you think all is lost in America, remember the Alamo!
For those losing hope, and others wanting to rekindle the patriotic fires of early America, I encourage you to join Fox News’ Glenn Beck, me, and millions of people across the country in the live telecast, “We Surround Them,” on Friday afternoon (March 13 at 5 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. CT and 2 p.m. PST). Thousands of cell groups will be united around the country over the concerns for our nation. You can host or attend a viewing party by going to Glenn’s website. My wife Gena and I will be hosting one from our Texas ranch, where we’ve invited many family members, friends, and law enforcement officials to join us. It’s our way of saying “We’re united, we’re tired of the corruption, and we’re not going to take it anymore!”
Again, Sam Houston put it well when he gave the marching orders: “We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid: None is at hand. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father’s name.”
The sheep are predictably bleating in protest about the Walker, Texas Ranger star’s rhetoric. Norris claims that “if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state,” then he and others may be forced to rise up against tyranny. He then cites selected passages from the Founders that (of course) support his point of view, and he cites a passage from the Declaration of Independence.
Indeed, the Founders certainly felt strongly that it is within our natural rights to revolt against a destructive government as a last resort. But Norris’ critics seem eager to selectively ignore the all-important conditions that would have to exist to justify such an extraordinary action. Norris’ entire argument is that if our government becomes totalitarian, making us subjects instead of citizens, then the people have a natural right to “rise up,” a philosophy enshrined in the Declaration of Independence as a right existing in natural law. It was, after all, the justification for our own Revolutionary War.
The left-wing blogosphere preferred not to address the weightier issue of what constitutes a totalitarian government in Norris’ article. Nor did they seek to offer an alternative redress for the apparently sizable minority of the population that is presently feeling disenfranchised. Instead, they predictably went for the lowest of low-hanging fruit, hammering Norris — and justifiably so — for the wince-worthy use of the phrase “thousands of cell groups” to describe viewing parties being organized to watch a special episode of Glenn Beck’s television show.
Instead of addressing the concerns of those Americans disturbed with the direction of our country or confining their criticism to the author of this commentary, liberal bloggers such as ataturk at Firedoglake instead attacked their fellow citizens. He deemed those who would watch Beck’s show at one of these viewing parties as “a plethora of “Tim McVeigh brigades.”
Perhaps a decision to tie legitimate concerns over our children’s future to domestic terrorism was decided upon at the collectivists’ 8:45 call where the echo chamber is formed.
The Kossacks certainly seem eager to join in with the “concern equals terrorism” smear, while another liberal blog attempts to sell the fiction that left-wingers are non-violent. Apparently Andrew Mickel, an IndyMedia contributor who is now sitting on death row for executing a police officer in hopes of spurring a left-wing civil war, could not be reached for comment. Nor could Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. Their Weather Underground terrorist group attempted no less than three mass murders. They also coolly suggested the genocide of what they estimated to be 25 million Americans in their declared war against the United States, just 15 years before they befriended a like-minded radical community organizer, who began his assent through politics to the presidency from their living room.
So Norris deserves to be chided for the language he decided to use to promote viewing parties for a television show, and for comments that can be read as the glorification of desperate acts of the past as the way out of an uncomfortable present. However, those on the political left in this country — from the president down through Congress to these left-wing bloggers — are continuing to contribute to the very frustration that is spurring the formation of these groups. They are sowing discontent with a dismissive “we won” attitude, a punishing political agenda, and a policy of the White House itself aggressively attacking critics. Dissent, it seems, was only patriotic until January 20, 2009.
Those on the left now seem to demand conformity, instead of trying to explain why we should trust them when they represent nothing more than a quickening of the corruption, greed, self-centeredness, and bloat of an increasingly insufferable government. Or perhaps they simply lack the ability to justify what they intend to do “for our own good.”
In any event, the increasingly transparent tactic of attacking critics, instead of explaining why their own ideas and policies are the correct prescription, is only going to alienate more Americans and lead to greater discontent, potentially sowing the seeds of their own downfall.
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