PrintApril 17, 2010
Time to Change the Rules of Engagement
Anyone who possesses a modicum of historical knowledge understands the inevitable ramifications of the recent government takeover of health care. It has left so many of us wondering how we could have possibly gotten here and if there is anything we can do to prevent the gradual onslaught of progressivism/socialism. It would seem that no matter how hard we fight, the progressive agenda creeps forward like a choking weed that will not die.
We could blame it on the inexorable weakness of human nature and the hospitable environment that it provides for the pernicious virus of progressivism. To some extent, that is certainly true. We must admit, however, that we have largely failed to stem the deliberate deterioration of core American values. It's not for lack of trying. I believe that it is due to the fact that we have been allowing the left to dictate the rules of engagement.
Quite simply, the so-called progressives have been able to gradually push their agenda forward because they have controlled the terms of the debate. By "terms" I mean both the rules and the language. The most potent weapon in their arsenal has been propaganda in the form of political correctness. They have wielded it with deadly accuracy for years, and it is even more potent now that we have a president who identifies himself as a racial minority. However, in reality, political correctness is less about race than it is about controlling public perception.
At the heart of political correctness is the idea that the left can promote any agenda as long as they camouflage it with a name that is acceptable to a majority of the population. It is through this technique that the leftists are able to make even the most contemptible ideas seem noble. They mask their true intentions and then set up camp behind what appear to be noble causes: health care for all, helping the poor, defending oppressed minorities, educating children, comforting the elderly, protecting the planet, etc. From there, they may safely assail their opponents without fear of reprisal.
But behind every well-named liberal cause, there lurks an insidious utopian agenda that requires the sacrifice of untold numbers of human lives upon the altar of progressivism. The agenda is hidden under so many layers of well-manicured but false humanitarian imagery that only the most discerning eyes may see behind the façade. Unfortunately, in today's culture, a majority of the public seems to find such in-depth discernment mundane and tiresome. We prefer spoon-sized tidbits of more palatable pop-culture pabulum. With the help of their Hollywood image machine, the spin-doctors of the left have become masters of creating tantalizing little morsels of leftist propaganda, sugar-coated with seemingly harmless palliatives.
Taking their cue from Hollywood, the ruling leftist elites deliberately view and project conservatives through a lens that distorts reality and turns us all into one of several ridiculously simplistic and/or insultingly stereotypical caricatures. Here are just a few of their favorites:
1. Old, white, fat-cat, cigar-chomping, alligator boot-wearing capitalist robber barons
2. Bible-thumping, fundamentalist, white Christian wacko Jesus-freaks
3. Ignorant, inbred, racist, morbidly obese, middle-American white Wal-Mart patrons
4. War-mongering, gun-toting, white neo-Nazi Fascists
The desired effect is to evoke imagery of social pariahs -- political lepers, so to speak. Of course, those who happen to be members of a racial minority and also espouse conservative principles, well, they are afforded a special category all their own. They are set apart by leftists for the highest level of scorn and hatred. Just ask that misogynistic, perverted "Uncle Tom" also known as Clarence Thomas.
It goes without saying that the news media are complicit in promoting these stereotypes. We've all seen and heard the disparaging depictions of "teabaggers." Such nomenclature is obviously a profane slight that the MSM use to marginalize the Tea Party movement in the minds of other Americans. Since that approach was ineffective, the MSM are now depicting Tea Party attendees as hateful bigots who shout racial epithets at members of the Congressional Black Caucus and hurl bricks through windows. There is no solid evidence of such accusations. It's all about creating "reasonable doubt" in the minds of the general public, regardless of the accuracy of the charge. In the progressive playbook, perception always trumps reality, to the point where apparently, liberals are not humanly capable of racism.
Most of us are all familiar enough with Saul Alinsky's playbook by now to know that his philosophy relies heavily on the technique of marginalizing the legitimacy of one's opponent. Since our current president is an Alinsky disciple, we are experiencing unprecedented levels of blatant stereotyping of conservatives. The worst of it originates from the Obama administration itself, which is intentionally fostering a tone that equates conservative views with terrorism. Obama himself labeled his own grandmother a "typical white person." One must assume that he did not intend this as a compliment. Nor was he attempting to flatter when he described "bitter" Americans who "cling to guns or religion."
This tactic is obviously carefully calculated and pre-meditated. The intention is to marginalize any and all who pose a threat to the left's power structure. The most prominent example is the debate over global warmi -- excuse me, climate change. To disagree with the canon of leftist environmentalism is tantamount to admitting to being an enemy of the planet, and, by default, all of humanity. This technique is doubly clever, since it instills fear of a nebulous peril while simultaneously casting progressives as the only heroes who are able to save us from impending doom. And they're scaring the hell out of our children in the process.
It would be hypocritical to make the claim that all liberals are intent on skewing the truth to promote their ideology. Many are good people with good intentions -- naïve, perhaps, but still decent human beings. This is not about the average liberal voter; it is about the ruling elite class of progressives and those who willfully support their sinister agenda.
In order to get elected, progressives must campaign as something that they are not. They must hide the true nature of their agenda. They must lull the people into a false sense of security in order to create dependency. They exploit the idealistic mindset of so many of their followers. A grand utopian agenda cannot be achieved under the auspices of a truly free system that allows individuals to flourish. Communism (which is progressivism in its fully matured form) by definition requires that the individual submit to the collective, at the behest of the ruling elite class. History has proven over and over again that the only way to attempt such governance is through duplicity and, eventually, forced compliance.
It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
