John Kass Contact ReporterChicago Tribune
Just what will the rage-filled American political left and their Democratic Party handmaidens do when they take power?
Given their recent calls to mob action, harassing Republicans and their families out of restaurants and movie theaters, spittle flying from angry mouths, America is right to wonder what will happen when the left holds the federal hammer in its hands.
The end of Donald Trump is a dream they chase, just as they chased White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family from the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va., a few days ago.
But just about the last thing any American wants to dream about is the rat cage strapped to your face before a thorough confession of political sins. Then come the other rituals, from the shaving of heads to the public walks of atonement, with Maxine Waters cackling and shrieking in the background.
Oh, pardon me. I’m sorry. Did I just type “rat cage”? What was I thinking?
With all the easy references in media to “Nazis” these days, a dehumanizing term applied to Americans who dare believe their country should have secure borders, I thought perhaps a small mention of “rat cage” might be acceptable, too.
I apologize. My hyperbole is wantonly irresponsible. And what makes my sin worse is that now we’re being told by the voices of reason to take a step back and remember a time of gentle civility in America, before Trump and his brutish, vulgar ways.
So, let’s remember those civilized times, shall we?
It seems almost quaint to remember Hillary Clinton kicking more than 60 million people to the margins of American culture. She sentenced them to eternal limbo in her “basket of deplorables.” Remember?
Her audience tittered and giggled. A few wise Democrats saw this instantly as a horrible mistake, just as Chicago Democrat David Axelrod now understands that the ugly sounds coming out of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters’ mouth — and the larger Democratic orgy of public shaming of Republicans — are terrible political mistakes.
Chicago is a practical town. A crooked, violent town, yes, and broke, but practical in some things. Wise Chicago Democrats could see the chaos Clinton unleashed with her “deplorables” remark.
But by then it was too late. America heard her words. And more than 60 million of them voted for Trump.
It wasn’t the only reason she lost the election. It wasn’t the Russians. Clinton was the dowager empress of a discredited Washington establishment. 2016 was the year of insurgency. And her “deplorables” comment became a rallying cry.
Shaming is a goad. It keeps people in line, lest they stray and are devoured on social media as a lesson to others.
Americans aren’t big on shaming. They don’t like it when it comes from the Twitter feed of some anonymous troll with a cartoon head.
They like shaming even less when they envision themselves as the next target, up close, their families surrounded, the screamers in their faces, flecks of spittle flying. What comes after shaming? Pain.
READ MORE: Tribune columnist Eric Zorn makes the case against civility in the battle against Trump »
But the left loves to publicly shame those who challenge them. The left’s attacks on conservative speakers at college campuses was but a precursor to what’s happening now.
Americans don’t mind debate. What they do mind is picturing themselves ordering a chicken dinner and being told to leave because of their politics, as happened to Sanders.
Or shouted at in a restaurant, and outside her home, as is happening to Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security.
Or being yelled at and allegedly spat on as was Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at a theater where she hoped to watch the documentary on the gentle Mister Rogers.
Spittle, hate, shaming and Mister Rogers?
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Waters, the Los Angeles Democrat considered a hero and wise woman to some, argued publicly that those loyal to President Trump should be hounded, publicly.
“And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” Waters said at a rally the other day. “And you push back on them.”
This is exceedingly dangerous. It begs violence. And if it happens, it will rightly be put in the lap of the Democrats.
Because Waters is a Democrat, and what she calls for is mob action and vengeance. The mob lunges forward, filled with self-righteousness and seeks a dehumanized enemy.
What adds to the danger is that Trump voters have already been dehumanized as “deplorables” and most recently and loudly as Nazis by many in media and the left, for daring to think America should have control over its borders.
Trump wouldn’t know civility if it bit him. He’s not an example of prudence and good manners. And he’s no Mister Rogers.
What he’s doing is making Waters the public face of his opposition. He won’t let it go. Her idiocy has great currency.
Some Democrats, like Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, properly admonished Waters. But unless Democrats censure her publicly in the House (and they wouldn’t dare), they’ll sidestep this and search for some new outrage to change the subject.
They are such expert dancers in Washington, as they must have been in their past lives, in the glittering French palace of Versailles, knowing just when to point the toe, and when to put their best foot forward, while stepping off to the side.
Listen to “The Chicago Way” podcast with John Kass and Jeff Carlin at http://wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/thechicagoway.
Twitter @John_Kass
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Maxine Waters is certainly not the first Democrat to stick her size 12's into her mouth. She's simply the latest Bolshevik tool to try and gain even more favor among her peers. Her actions are added to a cumulative hate pogrom foisted on Trump and his supporters, so trite, overused, and deadening. Her words ring in the ears of Americans for a few seconds, failure is assured, and the Dems move on to other lies, obfuscations, and distortions. As in, ho hum. She's done nothing that will remain in the Democratic party annals. She won't singlehandedly throw the '18 elections toward the Republicans exclusively, her clumsiness only works in selected neighborhoods. To think many/most of her supporters will merely shrug off this errant act of stupidity speaks to the shallowness of the American electorate. Propaganda is alive and well in America.
Prove it "worked". Prove people died in Annapolis. Prove Trump supports white supremacy. What constitutes "violence against the media"? Is it a viable concept? Does the media deserve a helluva shellacking for lies directed against all Americans? Did Trump order the "killer" to shoot and kill the reporters? Why a shotgun and not the infamous AR-15?
Let me make a guess. You vote Democratic and are mighty proud of that fact, aren't you?
No, no, no. Our Israeli bought and paid for Congress knows exactly what they are doing. They are trapped like rats, they did the deed, for money or other reason, and they are now trapped, fully knowing what they did and realizing there is a cost to everything. The ultimate realization remains that we have a problem with our representation of Americans in our bodies that supposedly are there to represent us and give us a fair shake. Drift back to 1913 and ponder whether or not America and Americans know exactly who owns America and who runs America. Hint. It isn't Americans. America is full of traitors, they took the bait and now WE pay.
Divide and Confuse is the Agenda. Splitting along Political concepts, along Religious Promotions, along Sex, along Color, along Age, along Education location, quantity, sources … until we are fragmented and squabbling like kids. Our leaders are puppets reading their scripts and acting their parts with little idea what they are doing. The largest influence in all our lives is the constant disinformation flooding our eyes and ears. The appropriate response from an American is closer to disgust than to anything productive. Many avoid the idea that we are actually under attack. This state of affairs can only be defined as an extremely well funded and populated incoming force. Avoid the temptation to give up and stop trying to see what you must eventually see. The enemy.
Where We Go One, We Go All. Forgive as necessary. Combine when possible. One Country. Indivisible.
Indeed. A Democrat who calls for peaceful protests is far more dangerous than Drumpf's white supremacists calling for violence against the media. It worked and people died.