When Muslim martyrs die, they spend eternity in heavenly bliss with 72 sexy, gorgeous virgins. (Among many other perks and goodies.) But after Saint Peter — one of the greatest Christian martyrs — was crucified upside-down, he somehow ended up manning the Pearly Gates’ admissions desk ‘til the end of time.
It’s an interesting contrast: Would you rather spend eternity in a never-ending ménage-à-many, or stamping hands, working for the admissions office?
Cultural interpretations reveal more than you think.
Obviously, the implication of Saint Peter’s vocational fate (in popular culture, at least) is that it’s a divine honor to welcome new arrivals into Heaven. It’s not a punishment, but an extra-special blessing for an extra-special saint.
And I agree: All groups — whether they’re heavenly, earthly, or anything else — must have a system for separating the wheat from the chaff. It’s even inscribed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Freedom of association necessarily implies the freedom to disassociate, too.
But before we delve into the heart of our essay, let’s take a brief detour: Do you realize how close President George W. Bush came to giving the Democrats our entire country?
Forget about the Iraq War: THIS was President Bush’s greatest mistake, because the Iraq War was recoverable. Had the Democrats stayed unified, it would’ve been game, set, and match for our two-party system.
The Democrats, you see, came within a whisker of a permanent monopoly in 2007. It was all within their grasp — and then it slipped through their fingers because they got too damn greedy.
Republicans should consider it a cautionary tale.
President George W. Bush pushed hard for comprehensive immigration reform. So, in the final years of his presidency, he offered America’s 12 million illegal aliens a clean, open path to U.S. citizenship.
Which would mean, of course, 12 million new Democratic voters.
President Bush’s only preconditions were a series of “triggers” designed to close the border first. After that, the 12 million illegals “living in the shadows” would be as American as you and me.
The immigration reform bill needed to reach the 60-vote threshold in the Senate to end debate. The closest they got was 46-53.
Amazingly, 16 Democrats voted AGAINST the bill. Had they stayed unified, the bill would’ve passed.
And today, since the southern border is now closed (we just hit a six-month streak of zero illegal crossings), all those millions of foreigners would be U.S. citizens. All the Democrats had to do was keep their mouths shut and not obstruct!
But they couldn’t resist, because the bill didn’t give them EVERYTHING on their wish list. For example, President Bush wanted to cap the “family reunification limit” to the illegal alien’s nuclear family; ultra-liberal senators demanded that their extended family — all the cousins, nephews, and in-laws — gain U.S. residency/citizenship rights, too.
If their amendment (sponsored by Democrats Chris Dodd and Robert Menendez) to expand family reunification had passed, more Democrats would’ve undoubtedly voted yes.
Fortunately, it failed.
When Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) explained why he voted no, he specifically cited the bill’s prioritization of skilled workers over unskilled “family preferences”:
[T] the current Senate bill dramatically changes more than 40 years of family-based legal immigration by eliminating existing family preferences in favor of well-educated, higher-income workers — workers who would provide even further competition for American jobs. Under this provision, it is entirely possible that my mother would have been prevented from immigrating to this country.
Keep in mind, Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by less than 2.3 million votes. If Sen. Harken and the rest of the Dems valued victory over “legislative perfection” (or platitudes about dear ol’ mom), the bill would’ve passed with a whopping 62 votes — and President Bush would’ve signed it into law.
And Kamala Harris would be president today.
Most of the time in politics, you’re not gonna get everything you want. The entire process was designed to be slow, grinding, and inefficient. You’ve gotta be smart enough to take the win, even if the win isn’t 100% perfect.
It’s called “The Art of the Deal.”
Which is why it’s absolutely critical for political parties — and political movements — to act like Saint Peter and exercise their freedom of disassociation, excising and disregarding the demands of the dopes, morons, nutjobs, and absolutists.
An example of a GOP absolutist is Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). He’s more concerned with performative perfection than advancing the football.
That doesn’t work in legislative bodies like the House or the Senate, because nothing moves forward without partisan teamwork.
Related: PR Jiu Jitsu: Agree to a Full, Independent Investigation of the Boat Strike — But With One Condition
Normally, I love nutjobs. Always have: If there are two guys sitting at the bar, and one of ‘em is in a business suit, reading the Wall Street Journal, and the other is missing six fingers, wearing an eyepatch, and downing shots, I’m gonna sit next to the guy in the eyepatch, ‘cause he has AT LEAST one really good story to tell.
Some of my best friends are nutjobs. (They’re good people.)
But for the love of God, you can’t put them in charge of your movement. They’re designed for entertainment — not leadership positions.
Even worse are the nutjobs who want to hijack your political party to advance their own agenda. Because they don’t care about your political party; they only care about what your political party can do for them. They’re not in it for the same reasons as you and me.
For them, it’s a means to an end — and the end of our party.
Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson’s favorite neo-Nazi, is quite candid about his strategy: Infiltrate conservative groups, attack ‘em from the right, and turn white nationalism into a mainstream Republican issue.
He’s openly telling you what his game is:
This is why we need to be negative. This is why we need to threaten to withhold our support. This is why we need to make it unignorable and visible. Because if we do, then Trump will be forced to pander to us.
[…]
How do you get the politicians to do what you want them to do? Threaten to withhold support. Critique them, attack them, do it from the right. It doesn’t matter if you do it from the left. The left is already the enemy. Do it from inside, do it from within the right wing. That’s what they’re worried about. And that’s the model. [emphasis added]
Their goal is division. (And they’re really good at it.)
The GOP better wake the hell up and realize that the Carlson/Fuentes path is political suicide: Donald Trump won 55% of the white vote in 2024, plus record-setting numbers of minorities.
Those were the ingredients of his landslide victory in the Electoral College.
But if we lose all minority support by becoming a party of white nationalists, even if our 2028 nominee gains an incredible 75% of the white vote… he’d still lose by 12 points.
The math doesn’t work. Stop listening to the nutjobs!
Sigh. Where’s Saint Peter when you need him?
One Last Thing: The Democrats are on the ropes, but make no mistake: The donkeys are still dangerous. We need your help to succeed!
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