Erik Rush
Disenfranchising the majority
By Erik Rush
If you haven't noticed as yet, you will; I've become convinced that one of the most important undertakings someone in my position (or one possessing greater influence) can assume is bringing and sustaining "top of mind awareness" (as they say in sales and advertising) to the fact that the majority of Americans, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, liberal or conservative, embrace stunningly similar core values. This was most recently illustrated by the grass-roots efforts to kill the Senate immigration bill and a handful of somewhat less vigorously-reported news items.
The common ground we share however, has become difficult to distinguish over the years thanks to subversive fringe interests operating in the United States; namely, inordinately influential and strident far-Left elements in the congressional leadership, major media outlets and certain career "civil rights" activists. Thus, when this concurrence of ideals is discovered by individual Americans, it often comes as quite a shock.
All of the aforementioned extremists either possess an outright antipathy for this country and/or our way of life, or perceive sociopolitical issues through such a hypnotic kaleidoscope of surrealistic theoreticism that their paradigm of reality cannot be trusted; each of their votes is like a poisoned pill force-fed to the collective body of our nation.
In short, and to be absolutely clear: This "majority" of which I speak does not consist of white, wealthy Christian Republicans; it consists of predominantly middle class Americans encompassing a cross-section of economic strata, ethnicities, spiritual and political creeds who desire similar things. This would be lest I wax clichι the American Dream, as it were: Opportunity, liberty, relative safety and quality education for future generations.
This majority is most of us. Properly mobilized, I believe this majority and it is a true majority could ameliorate some of the most fundamental and compromising issues America faces today in fairly short order.
Unfortunately, the propaganda promulgated by the far Left has by design divided Americans ideologically and obscured the common ground we share. Political moderates are by nature noncommittal and have had little sway, while conservative leaders have been playing the same indecisive and conciliatory games with liberal leaders that the latter have been playing with our foreign enemies for decades.
All save the far-Left, the dead, and those on heavy antipsychotic drugs can see where those games have gotten us, from Jimmy Carter on.
These fringe elements are concerned with demography, and their political power has been accumulated by attrition, often through the advantage of geographic proximity. To simplify: If most of these ideologically marginal elements are concentrated in large urban areas, for example, so the print and broadcast media there naturally reflect their views, making it extremely difficult to dwell in such a place for any significant length of time (or worse, to be raised there) without these ideas influencing one's belief system.
Last week, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle was excoriated for remarks he made on July 21, 2007 pertaining to an epidemic of male homosexuals having sex in public bathrooms. Even his very reference to gays as "homosexuals" was criticized. A town meeting was held, partly serious and partly for a show of solidarity and power amongst Fort Lauderdale's gay community. They did everything but burn the mayor in effigy.
Given that to Florida's gays, Fort Lauderdale might be considered analogous to what Little Italy is to New Yorkers of Italian descent, Mayor Naugle's remarks may have been politically imprudent. Nevertheless, I do commend him for his frankness and honesty. The majority of gays in America don't want Main Street to look like a 365 day-a-year Gay Pride parade any more than does the average American.
The rub with the Naugle flap is the same as with every other left-leaning activist group: "Cry homophobia!" (in this case, as opposed to racism, sexism, etc.) As usual, the fracas has less to do with anything Naugle said than with the duplicitous "winning of hearts and minds." Never mind that Naugle cited a gay activist who deferred to the idea that common sense decency ought to apply to gays which tends to negate their "right" to have sex in public bathrooms. Never mind that there's a website that advises gay men of the best venues in the city for this sort of activity, thus encouraging them and increasing their risk of spreading or contracting something funky (or downright deadly). Never mind that Fort Lauderdale has suddenly become the first-ranking city in the U.S. for male-to-male transmission of the AIDS virus. Never mind that the issue was raised by Naugle as one of public health, that he was bringing to light the same sort of behavior that caused AIDS to explode in San Francisco during the 'Eighties. All of this was ignored for the sake of opportunism and the social agenda. Add to that the mayor being an unapologetic Christian, and he might as well be walking around in a brownshirt and swastika armbands.
The ultimate hazard lies with the intention of the far Left to implement these culturally corrosive sentiments, policies and finally, conventions across America, starting with areas in which they already possess a majority or at least ample political power. Being a destructive minority (such as, say certain militias, communes, cults and supremacist organizations), the only prudent measure is for the majority us to completely disenfranchise them politically (as has been done with far Right fringe groups) and forge ahead toward that common ground.
This will require more massive grass-roots mobilization, more petitions, letters, emails, more shutting down of Capitol Hill switchboards and servers and more skin thickening, because our enemies are going to ( are you ready?) ...call us bad names.
I pray that America is up to it, because this course of action isn't only prudent it's an imperative.
© Erik Rush
If you haven't noticed as yet, you will; I've become convinced that one of the most important undertakings someone in my position (or one possessing greater influence) can assume is bringing and sustaining "top of mind awareness" (as they say in sales and advertising) to the fact that the majority of Americans, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, liberal or conservative, embrace stunningly similar core values. This was most recently illustrated by the grass-roots efforts to kill the Senate immigration bill and a handful of somewhat less vigorously-reported news items.
The common ground we share however, has become difficult to distinguish over the years thanks to subversive fringe interests operating in the United States; namely, inordinately influential and strident far-Left elements in the congressional leadership, major media outlets and certain career "civil rights" activists. Thus, when this concurrence of ideals is discovered by individual Americans, it often comes as quite a shock.
All of the aforementioned extremists either possess an outright antipathy for this country and/or our way of life, or perceive sociopolitical issues through such a hypnotic kaleidoscope of surrealistic theoreticism that their paradigm of reality cannot be trusted; each of their votes is like a poisoned pill force-fed to the collective body of our nation.
In short, and to be absolutely clear: This "majority" of which I speak does not consist of white, wealthy Christian Republicans; it consists of predominantly middle class Americans encompassing a cross-section of economic strata, ethnicities, spiritual and political creeds who desire similar things. This would be lest I wax clichι the American Dream, as it were: Opportunity, liberty, relative safety and quality education for future generations.
This majority is most of us. Properly mobilized, I believe this majority and it is a true majority could ameliorate some of the most fundamental and compromising issues America faces today in fairly short order.
Unfortunately, the propaganda promulgated by the far Left has by design divided Americans ideologically and obscured the common ground we share. Political moderates are by nature noncommittal and have had little sway, while conservative leaders have been playing the same indecisive and conciliatory games with liberal leaders that the latter have been playing with our foreign enemies for decades.
All save the far-Left, the dead, and those on heavy antipsychotic drugs can see where those games have gotten us, from Jimmy Carter on.
These fringe elements are concerned with demography, and their political power has been accumulated by attrition, often through the advantage of geographic proximity. To simplify: If most of these ideologically marginal elements are concentrated in large urban areas, for example, so the print and broadcast media there naturally reflect their views, making it extremely difficult to dwell in such a place for any significant length of time (or worse, to be raised there) without these ideas influencing one's belief system.
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From The Thomas More Law Center: "Montgomery County Public Schools Say Yes to Anal Sex, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, and Transvestitism," Wednesday, August 1, 2007
"ANN ARBOR, MI A public school district's program promoting anal sex, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transvestitism as normal sexual variations was recently approved by the Maryland State Board of Education despite strenuous opposition from several pro-family groups. Montgomery County Public School's controversial sexuality curriculum for eighth and tenth grade students is the result of pressure by homosexual advocacy groups."
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"The pro-family groups [against the Maryland State Board of Education's decision] oppose the sex program on several grounds: (1) it teaches students that homosexuality is 'innate,' which is an unproven theory; (2) it teaches students that anal sex is just another sexual option without warning students of the increased HIV/AIDS risk of anal sex, even with a condom; (3) it labels as 'homophobic' children who hold traditional religious or moral beliefs about homosexuality; and (4) it teaches students that transgenderism is just another 'sexual orientation,' even though transgenderism has been classified as a mental disorder."
From The Thomas More Law Center article, Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Last week, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle was excoriated for remarks he made on July 21, 2007 pertaining to an epidemic of male homosexuals having sex in public bathrooms. Even his very reference to gays as "homosexuals" was criticized. A town meeting was held, partly serious and partly for a show of solidarity and power amongst Fort Lauderdale's gay community. They did everything but burn the mayor in effigy.
Given that to Florida's gays, Fort Lauderdale might be considered analogous to what Little Italy is to New Yorkers of Italian descent, Mayor Naugle's remarks may have been politically imprudent. Nevertheless, I do commend him for his frankness and honesty. The majority of gays in America don't want Main Street to look like a 365 day-a-year Gay Pride parade any more than does the average American.
The rub with the Naugle flap is the same as with every other left-leaning activist group: "Cry homophobia!" (in this case, as opposed to racism, sexism, etc.) As usual, the fracas has less to do with anything Naugle said than with the duplicitous "winning of hearts and minds." Never mind that Naugle cited a gay activist who deferred to the idea that common sense decency ought to apply to gays which tends to negate their "right" to have sex in public bathrooms. Never mind that there's a website that advises gay men of the best venues in the city for this sort of activity, thus encouraging them and increasing their risk of spreading or contracting something funky (or downright deadly). Never mind that Fort Lauderdale has suddenly become the first-ranking city in the U.S. for male-to-male transmission of the AIDS virus. Never mind that the issue was raised by Naugle as one of public health, that he was bringing to light the same sort of behavior that caused AIDS to explode in San Francisco during the 'Eighties. All of this was ignored for the sake of opportunism and the social agenda. Add to that the mayor being an unapologetic Christian, and he might as well be walking around in a brownshirt and swastika armbands.
The ultimate hazard lies with the intention of the far Left to implement these culturally corrosive sentiments, policies and finally, conventions across America, starting with areas in which they already possess a majority or at least ample political power. Being a destructive minority (such as, say certain militias, communes, cults and supremacist organizations), the only prudent measure is for the majority us to completely disenfranchise them politically (as has been done with far Right fringe groups) and forge ahead toward that common ground.
This will require more massive grass-roots mobilization, more petitions, letters, emails, more shutting down of Capitol Hill switchboards and servers and more skin thickening, because our enemies are going to ( are you ready?) ...call us bad names.
I pray that America is up to it, because this course of action isn't only prudent it's an imperative.
© Erik Rush
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