Posted on 11/11/2020 4:26:39 AM PST by Kaslin
On Saturday evening, presidential frontrunner Joe Biden -- who doesn't actually become president-elect until vote counts are certified -- gave a preliminary victory address. In that address, he spoke of his mandate to govern: a mandate, he said, that extended to marshalling the "forces of decency ... fairness ... science ... hope." Which is a pretty vague mandate, as it turns out.
But there was another overarching mandate Biden expressed: a mandate to come together, to unify as Americans. "To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy," Biden said. "We are not enemies. We are Americans."
All of that is nice. Who wouldn't like a country in which we could enjoy cultural events together without being lectured about the alleged evils of the country, in which we could attend family events without being castigated as bigots, in which we could disagree and still enjoy one another? Who wouldn't like an America in which our neighbors no longer see us as cancel-culture targets, in which we no longer have to fear our compatriots rioting and looting over supposed systemic injustices, in which our social interactions are not limited by our voter registration?
But.
Americans are right to have some rather serious trust issues with calls for unity in our polarized time. After all, former President Barack Obama pledged American reunification right up until he began treating tea partyers as unspeakable threats and political opponents as crypto-racists. Everything was hopey and changey right up until the time ... it wasn't.
So, in order to earn our trust, Joe Biden would have to call his own side out for raising the temperature. And he has steadfastly refused to do so. He hasn't called out Black Lives Matter for the suggestion that America is systemically racist; he has cheered it on. He hasn't condemned antifa; he has deemed it a philosophy rather than a dangerous movement. And he certainly hasn't said a word about the continuing attacks on Trump supporters.
We will wait in vain for Biden to chide former first lady Michelle Obama for declaring that 70 million Americans "voted for the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division." Our bones will likely bleach before Biden tells Hillary Clinton that Trump supporters aren't deplorables.
No, "unity" in the Biden formulation isn't a recognition of what we have in common; it's a demand that we silence ourselves in order to mirror Biden's priorities. Unity, you see, can be achieved one of two ways: through recognition of the other, through a determination to understand those who think differently than we do; or through ideological domination. It's rather obvious which pathway Democrats will choose. After all, social ostracization is one of their most powerful tools. Why disarm now?
Americans can only come together when we share a common philosophy, history and culture. Democrats have spent years attempting to tear away those commonalities in favor of coalitional interest-group politics. They've declared American philosophy racist from inception; they've declared American history a litany of brutalities; they've declared American culture bigotry embodied. Now they want unity -- the unity of absolute victory.
Ironically, it's that very desire -- the desire for monolithic control -- that will be their undoing. Unless Biden is serious about unity -- unless he's willing to cross the aisle and recognize the humanity of those with whom he disagrees, and to call out those on his own side who won't -- Biden's term is likely to be contentious, polarizing and ultimately unsuccessful.
Great read!
I wish I could write like that :-)
This idea that we are a democracy is perpetrated as a good thing in leftist government schools and promotes the idea of majority and unity. It is a thing of popular junior high school girls that bully their perceived lessors. Unity is a slogan of the left and found all over in socialism and especially communism. Leftists are junior high school bullies that never grew up.
A core trait of being American is individualism. That is antithetical to unity. Now I think we can all come together and agree on that. (That should be tagged for the slow people, but I just don't feel like.)
By the way, I will never unify with Democrats. They are a domestic enemy and forever will be.
Time for us to heel. Heel like a dog.
Yup. Liberal definition of “unity” means agree or else.
Its shut up or go to room 101.
Come together, right now . . . over me.
The dems are borrowing from their Islamic breathren, ‘Peace is submission’.
It was designed that way. The second word of the Declaration of Independence is “unanimous.” Therein were the principles that could be agreed to by ALL. It’s the rejection of those principles by the “I hate America Marxists” that will return this great country back to civil war.
I think it’s perfectly fine to disagree with Democrats...and leave it at the door, outside of our social and cultural life.
The problem is that the left no longer sees things as legitimate differences, and it also never sees anything as non-political. If you disagree with them, you are personally evil and must be destroyed.
Biden is not sincere, but if he were, he should be talking to his own party, not to the rest of us.
Isn’t this the same Ben Shapiro who right after the “election” said Trump should accept the results? Or, something like that...
Ben, can’t you just get with the truth from the beginning for once instead of playing catch-up???
Ben’s support for Trump has always been lackluster. I don’t think he’s ever been able to say anything remotely positive without also virtue-signaling his deep concern for Trump’s rudeness, his inappropriate use of Twitter, and his demeaning of the office of the president.
I have no use for Ben. He’s not committed to the cause. He wants both sides to like him. That doesn’t work these days.
Sort of like, you have a choice ..you can choose to do what we say or we will make life very miserable for you.
Talking right back is a good thing because they know you will not accept being pushed around.
Translation: We ARE PLAYING MIND GAMES with you.
If Biden steals this the I see a lot of ad hoc militias being born/formed. With ranks, uniforms etc.. Kinda like Beirut 1980’s style
The left loves to play games.
Oh yes and ready to take America back.
I’ll see you all in the FEMA “camp”!
Point of fact in American history: Roughly two thirds of the people were not behind the revolution. One third didn't care and just wanted to go on with their lives. Another one third sided with the King. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were unanimous in the contents of the document - and that took some doing as well. Very little in our history has been unanimous. I am fine with that.
The Declaration of Independence isn't the design of our nation. It is part bill of complaints and part vision. Our founding fathers didn't get the Articles of Confederation right, and they knew they wouldn't get the Constitution right. That is why there is an amendment process. Our system of government with it's checks and balances is not designed for unity, but for disagreement. However, the founders could agree one thing - primarily to disagree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.