Democrats’ (phony) dark vision of America

There was a lot of hoping at the Democratic National (virtual) Convention.  It is understandable – at least for Democrat leaders and those who follow their lead.  That is because hope is something we employ when we wish for something better – when we are in a jam or believe we are in a dark situation.

We can hope for a new car or a new job.  We can hope that our child returns home safely from war.  We can hope that that pain in our chest is just indigestion from that football-sized burrito we had for lunch.  Or we can hope for rescue from the darkness of calamity.

The Democrat convention based its dark, dark vision of America on a lot of anecdotal stories of individuals who are genuinely suffering from hardship and tragedy.  They are heart-wrenching stories,  but they are the exceptions –not the rule.

Oh, we may not have everything we desire – and we may have to endure difficulties – but for most of us, it is nothing beyond the vicissitudes of being human and alive.  Most of us are living a damn good life – better than 90 percent of the peoples of the world.

The dark portrayals the Democrats presented during their virtual convention were never intended to give us an accurate picture of our contemporary society and culture.  No.  No.  No.  The cataclysmic messaging from the Democrats was a hyperbolically dark portrayal of America.  If their vision was published in a book, it would be catalogued under fiction.

The dark vision of America was underscored in bold strokes by former Vice President Joe Biden’s acceptance speech. He claimed to be the candidate of light in the face of darkness (plagiarizing Jesus?) – a darkness of his own rhetorical making.

The reason that the Democrat convention planners placed so much emphasis on hope versus some dark Draconian disaster that is rolling over America is that they want us to see America as tragic, endangered and even evil.  They see their darkness emanating from the many of us they disdain and berate as evil.

They see we the people as a “basket of deplorables.”  Oh, they do not use that horrible phrase anymore, but they say it many other ways.  We are systemically racist.  John Heilemann, of MSNBC, even put a number on it, saying that there is no other conclusion than the “fact” – as he puts it – that one-third (110 million Americans) are irreconcilable racists.  This despite the “fact” that we the people elected AND accepted the first Black President in American history.  There was no resistance movement in response to the Obama election.

Democrats declare America to be a fundamentally sexist nation, in which women are oppressed and subjected to innumerable proverbial “glass ceilings.”  That is the ironic message we hear from scores of millionaire women who are the talking heads on the major news networks.  We are a sexist nation even though more women than men graduate from law school – the most politically powerful profession – and journalism school – the second most powerful profession.  Even though women receive exceptional privilege in courts and jobs – and receive special protection in the form of so-called “hate crimes” – we are still said to be a sexist nation.

They say we are a homophobic nation even though gay citizens and couples live freely and openly throughout society.  Urban neighborhood areas designated in their honor – and civic parades celebrate their lifestyle.  Under our rule-of-law, they have all the rights of every other citizen – including the right to be married.  They appear on television and in movies as actors and positive characters.  They openly run for public office – including President of the United States – and often get elected, like Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago and those two current members of the Senate from the middle-America states of Wisconsin and Arizona.  There are currently seven openly gay members of the House – and more than a dozen who have served in the past.

As Democrats look around America, they offer up a vision of massive suffering and hardship.  They articulate a vision of the vast majority of Americans suffering from the ravages of Covid-19.  It is a bad disease, but while the vast majority of Americans may fear the disease, only 1.5 percent of us have contracted Covid-19 – and of those who have, approximately 80 percent of them will have mild or no symptoms.  They will not even require medical intervention.  Perhaps that is the reason why so many Americans are not responding to the more Draconian warnings and precautions.

In response to the worldwide pandemic, American leaders shut down a soaring economy.  It has caused millions of businesses to close or cut back – costing millions of workers their jobs.  Yet amazingly, the unemployment figures leveled off at approximately 10 percent – a figure very close to the unemployment high rate during the 2008 recession– and far lower than the Great Depression.

Yet, Democrats are calling the current situation a Depression.  On the day President Trump was elected, the Dow Jones Average stood at 17,930.67.  Prior to the planned shutdown of the economy, the Dow Jones Average had risen to a record-breaking 29,232.19.  In one month at the onset of the shutdown, it dropped to 19,173.98. Today is back in record-breaking territory of 27,844.91.

To bolster the economy, Uncle Sam sent us more than $3 trillion, which included $1200 stimulus checks and an additional $600 per week in unemployment compensation.  The effect of these moves – and the fact that the vast majority of Americans had not lost their jobs and were not negatively impacted economically – has been to keep consumer purchases strong and the housing market vibrant.

Democrats have embraced the Green New Deal with the suggestion by the radical left that we are facing a catastrophic extinction-level disaster in just 12 years.  It is nothing less than a doomsday scenario.  Those who disagree are accused of being a bunch of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals.  (Personal prediction.  In 12 years, we will be looking back at these fearmongering claims much like we now look at the failed claims the environmental extremists made in the past.)

Yes, there are a lot of people suffering hardship, crises and tragedies.  We have all been there on occasion – some more than others, to be sure.  And yes, we are a rich enough and compassion enough people to care for those in need.  In fact, we are among the best on earth in doing so.

They say we are living in the greatest threat to the Republic since its founding.  I seem to recall a War of 1812 – when the British made a second attempt to regain the colonies –and a Civil War.  But since the left is obsessed with canceling American history, we cannot expect them to know it.  Democrats claim that our Republic is on the precipice of extinction – and the only salvation is to grant them universal power.

If you recall from the movie “The Music Man,” Professor Henry Hill, a musical instrument and band uniform salesman, came to the happy town of River City and instilled fear in the local residents that they had a dangerous problem.  He made them believe that their young boys were being swept away into the valley of delinquency by the game of pool.  He painted a dark future for the people of River City if they did not recognize and fix their terrible problem – a problem they did not know they had.  But he, and he alone, had the solution.  He gave them hope for a better future based on the creation of a boys’ band for which he could supply the instruments and uniforms.

It was a variation of the old snake oil sales technique.  A huckster’s false promise of a remedy to conditions that did not exist.  It was the same thing we saw served up for four days by the Democrats. Dark images of our nation from which we can only escape by electing them.  Will they – like Henry Hill and those snake oil peddlers — make suckers out of we the people with their phony self-serving pitch?  At this moment, we can only HOPE they do not.

So, there ‘tis.