Right On: Democratic rage leading nowhere

Composite stock images, St. George News

OPINION — Where are Democrats headed? What policies do they want followed? What legislation do they want enacted? Post-Hillary Democrats have not answered these questions.

Instead, Democrats have become “The Resistance,” opposing Trump at every turn. Opposition without meaningful alternatives is a political dead end.

Democratic resistance has gone off the tracks. Is Trump a fascist? The liberal Washington Post headlined an editorial with the words, “Donald Trump is actually a fascist.”

Liberals need to look in the mirror before using this epithet. Stanley Payne in his book “A History of Fascism” wrote, “Fascism emphasizes direct action, including supporting the legitimacy of political violence, as a core part of its politics.”

Leftist mobs have used political violence as a core part of their politics since Nov. 8, 2016.

In Portland, Oregon, 26 anti-Trump protesters were arrested after setting fires and smashing store and car windows. In Oakland, California, 30 protesters were arrested after spray painting buildings, smashing windows and throwing rocks and bottles at police. In Los Angeles, California, five people were arrested for vandalism and 200 more for blocking a freeway entrance.

Trump supporters have been ridiculed, mocked, spit on and beaten. School classes have been canceled to allow students to join protest marches. College classes are being taught on how to resist Trump. Liberal protesters are being bussed to Republican town hall meetings.

Since all this “direct action” gets headlines, Democrats see this as confirming their anti-Trump resistance. But current academic research shows that anti-Trump protests with their hateful signs and vulgar hats are counterproductive, driving many in the middle into the Trump camp. Conservatives should hope it continues.

Is the Democratic Party so bankrupt that resistance is all they have to offer? On national television, Tom Brokaw told his fellow Democrats, “Rage is not a policy.” He went on to say:

Democrats have a lot of reconstruction to do of their own party and that’s what they ought to be thinking about and that’s what they should be getting — they ought to be out in the middle of America saying what do we need to know from you rather than sitting in Washington, reelecting Nancy Pelosi after they lost the House three different times.

Democrats rage at losing an election they thought they had in the bag. Republicans were upset about Obama’s 2012 re-election. Dennis Prager explains the difference between how liberals and conservatives reacted:

Unlike much of the left, most conservatives handle despair like mature adults. Most obviously, we didn’t riot. In fact, in America, rioting — not to mention shutting down highways and airports, taking over college offices and protesting at peoples’ homes — is a monopoly of the left.

We didn’t allow our conservative children to take a day off from school to demonstrate. Nor did conservative teachers preach opposition to Obama in their classrooms. Nor did we print posters with the words ‘Not My President.’

Democratic leaders express hope that protests represent a new wave of liberal activism that can be harnessed into their version of the Tea Party. But the Tea Party coalesced around opposition to Obamacare, something specific that could — and will be — acted upon. Today’s Democratic mobs have no program, no way forward, only anger.

Remember “Occupy Wall Street,” a former darling of the liberal media? If you had forgotten them, that’s understandable. It was an unfocused liberal mob with no direction, no positive agenda and as a result, no lasting accomplishment. It’s in the “dustbin of history,” soon to be joined by today’s #notmypresident protesters.

As the minority party in Congress, Democrats have a distinct advantage that Republicans did not have. The mainstream media characterized Republicans as the “party of no” and ignored or ridiculed serious legislative proposals vetoed by Obama. Democrats have the mainstream media (minus Tom Brokaw apparently) in their pockets and could get a lot of favorable coverage for their alternatives, if they have any.

Is it possible that Democratic direction will come from last year’s Democratic primaries and Bernie Sanders? If so, the party could be ready to veer even farther left. Sen. Sanders proposed an annual $1.8 trillion (yes, trillion) tax increase. That number alone indicates where he and the 43 percent of Democrats who voted for him would like to go. Does that sound like a winning strategy?

With Hillary Clinton’s defeat, ultraliberal Sens. Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have become the Democrat’s leading figures. We might have expected Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to assume that role, but a far left mob invaded his office in November (more fascist tactics), calling him a Wall Street Democrat who failed them. If folks like these get their way, Democrats can expect a long slog as the minority party.

Republicans have their own problems and lots of them. Trump does his party no favors with careless remarks that produce negative reactions from Democrats and some Republicans. Along with many conservatives, I have mixed emotions about Trump. But without focus on where they want to go and how to reach disaffected voters, Democrats will find themselves no better off after the 2018 elections.

Howard Sierer is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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12 Comments

  • Pheo February 23, 2017 at 8:48 am

    The media is liberal, yet here you are every week. Fox News is on half of the TV screens at the gym, at Culver’s, and in the gastroenterologists waiting room. Stop crying that your voice is being stifled by those mean ultraliberals. It’s kind of pathetic.

  • comments February 23, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    The democrats as they are now only represent corporatists and wallstreet financial oligarchs. They are completely out of touch and a failure. Obama spent most of his 8 years getting the gays married and men into the ladies’ room, purely a distraction from commonsense economic and finance system reforms–corrupt to the core, same as republicans.

    • Utahguns February 23, 2017 at 9:40 pm

      Democrats aren’t only the “Corporists and WS oligarchs”.
      Democrats consist of the radical liberals, the “occupy Wallstreet”, the “Black LIves Matter”, “The Code Pink” and the anarchist cells, affinity groups, student consortiums, left-wing bookstores, propaganda distribution outlets, anti-American websites, hacker collectives, and other leftist groups on the shadowy edge of the worldwide radical movement that sees Trump’s political victory as the main barrier to their goal of fundamentally transforming the world.

      • comments February 24, 2017 at 12:03 pm

        And guess what, the republicans barely even opposed their leftist agenda until Trump came along. Those republicans are just as much open borders globalists as the dems. Why? because they all work only for the rich, and chasing money is their prime motive. They could care less for the working man. The repubs are being forced to change only bc of Trump.

      • LocalTourist February 24, 2017 at 3:47 pm

        Wow… I could’ve sworn the Kochs gave their money to the party of the giant Cheeto. Same with the Waltons. But if it makes to feel good (rather than senile) to think that, carry on.
        But try…just try… to consider that Obama took the reins at the beginning of the worst recession in recent memory, and left President Cheeto with a Dow just under 20,000. And your house is worth more than it was when Bush left office. It also seems odd everyone is angry with the news media outing Cheeto’s coziness with Putin, but no one minds that Chaffetz is more concerned with a mailbox Bryce Canyon Nat Park tweeted about than getting to the bottom of Russia’s admitted interfering with the election process.
        But like I said, carry on with your concerns about who pees where.

  • Proud Rebel February 23, 2017 at 12:03 pm

    Face the facts here folks. If the Democrats had run a viable candidate, Trump would never have been elected! But given the choice, many folks realized that it was the “lesser of two evils.”
    It is a sad state of affairs, when a country the size of the USA cannot find reasonable candidates for both sides. We have slid downhill so far, that I fear there will be no recovery possible. It terrifies me to think what is ahead for my grandkids and great grandkids.

  • comments February 23, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    And not a single 1 of the financial oligarchs was ever punished under Obongo’s reign for the ’08 collapse. So was the ’08 collapse cause by “socialism” or was it caused by totally unregulated oligarchic hyper-capitalism and greed? The wall street democrats never supported the ‘occupy wall street’ thing at all–they helped kill it, and fast.

  • kjtrent February 23, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    Howard, great article! Glad to know I’m not the only one that thinks these demonstrators are acting immature. http://utah.gop/ has posted the Democrat’s handbook that echoes what you claim they are doing in your article. The source is https://www.indivisibleguide.com/. Astonishingly, the “Indivisible” handbook holds up the Tea Party as an example of a successful grass roots movement worthy of emulation by the left. They post the Tea Party’s handbook on attending Town Halls but apparently didn’t read or ignored the “Don’t carry on and make a scene” part of the handbook. Without that, the objectors delegitimize themselves and look like infantile hysterics unworthy of serious consideration.

    Really, it is a shame they aren’t presenting their side with more decorum. Trump needs a reasonable opposition to his more outlandish comments and actions. When there is no nuance to the reaction and it’s always portrayed as the end of the world then when it is serious, wolf has been cried too many times.

  • dodgers February 23, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    Good points Howard. The sour-grapes angry in the Democratic Party are doing long-term damage to their cause…..whatever that may be.

  • commonsense February 24, 2017 at 7:04 am

    Right on Howard. The last election was a mandate on 8 years of bad policy. Trump and the Republicans exposed the Democrat’s failure to govern. Obama spent six of these years blaming Bush.
    Now all the Democrats have is protest, hate, name calling? Where is the proposed legislation to correct serious issues?
    In one month Trump has infused Wall Street, deregulated the coal industry, returned military pride, enforced immigration laws, returned jobs to the USA and promised reform of taxes, health insurance, education, over-regulation and more.
    What have the flailing Democrats done? Blocked, delayed, obstructed, labeled, protested, defamed
    and whined. My guess, if the election was held again today Trump support would be even greater
    and Republicans would win in even greater numbers at national, state and local levels.

    • comments February 24, 2017 at 11:56 am

      No president in history has been better for wall street than Obongo. And you think that the oligarchs sucking up more of the nation’s wealth benefits you? You think deregulating high finance is gonna make the system work better for you? your naive…

  • LocalTourist February 24, 2017 at 10:00 am

    Howard, I’m a registered Republican, and I believe you have forgotten plenty over the past few months. There are a few things I’d like to bring up as you take an air swing at Democrats–

    Reading your opinion, a reader would get the idea that Republicans are not violent? Baloney— have you forgotten about a man wearing a “Republicans against Trump” shirt was beaten at a rally? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/06/trump-protester-i-was-beaten-for-holding-a-republicans-against-trump-sign It happens more often than you want to admit.

    Then you act disgusted when liberal parents kept their kids home from school in protest. To that I say, it’s hard for you conservatives to keep your children home from school in protest, when you’re home schooling your children…or should I say, home indoctrinating?

    Then there’s the whining over the stall tactics of Democratic minority in congress. You act like Republicans have never ever stalled congress, but you’d be wrong…or you have selective memory…. Think back to when GOPs in Congress stalled ambassador choices– http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/gop-senate-barack-obama-cotton-214700

    And then, remember when GOP reps whined about the attorney general? Hmmm, Yeah, what about AG Loretta Lynch’s nomination being stalled? https://www.rt.com/usa/251381-obama-nominees-stalled-lynch-vote/

    You say the left has a monopoly on riots and property damage. Perhaps the Tea Party should look back to their namesake, when rioters threw crates of tea into Boston Harbor. I’m not condoning violence and property damage, but our country started off with an act of property destruction.

    Selective memory seems to occur a lot in Washington County, and much of the rest of Utah. before you point fingers, consider your party’s own recent behavior. Then we can talk.

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