In a recent speech, Joe Biden described "MAGA" Republicans as threatening "the very foundations of our republic" and stated that they espouse "extreme ideology."  He differentiated between mainstream Republicans (with whom he says he can work) and "MAGA Republicans," who are "a threat to this country."  In a more recent speech, he used the term "Mega MAGA Republicans."  I guess that refers to those of us who really, really, really want to make America great again.  You say it like it's a bad thing...

A MAGA Republican is not a member of some esoteric cult.  MAGA Republicans are not members of a secret society, meeting by candlelight in the basement of an imposing Gothic structure plotting the demise of innocent victims.

When Donald Trump began campaigning for the 2016 election, he used the slogan "Make America Great Again" to announce that he believed some important aspects of our government, our society, and, indeed, our whole country had become too disengaged from the principles that made this country great, and that he would work to reestablish those principles.  That seemed to resonate with people — not just a small fraction of people, but many.  That was obviously the reason he was elected.

From his recent speech, however, it seems Joe Biden would have us believe MAGA Republicans are a splinter group, ideologically possessed and willing to engage in any form of confrontation and violence to advance their agenda.  He wants us to believe that MAGA is "code" for wreaking destruction on anyone who disagrees.  He wants us to believe that they are Alt-Right activists, criminally associated purveyors of mayhem.

They are not.

Even from the actual words in the acronym, MAGA Republicans want to "Make America Great Again."  That doesn't seem like an evil thing to do — not for those who love our country.  Actually, it seems like a very good thing to do, given our current state of affairs.

Does the desire for adherence to the U.S. Constitution, for small government, individual freedom, a strong economy, energy independence, safe cities, secure border, strong military, and fair trade relations sound like extreme ideology?  Do people who wish for these things threaten our country?  In what universe does that make even a shred of sense?  Indeed, the only threat they may pose is to the ongoing political careers of those who wish to retain the levers of power and control.  If they are voted out of office, they may feel the threat of having to find a way to make a living doing real work in some field of endeavor, and, in fairness, that may scare them beyond the capacity for rational thought.

While I am sure that the current administration and the Democrat party in general want the very best for our country and all of its citizens (really?), I believe we could do better.  Despite recent policy and political decisions that would indicate intentions to the contrary, they certainly don't want to turn us into a Marxist regime...do they?  They don't want us to become a socialist/communist country with ubiquitous and necessary draconian enforcement measures.  Do they?

Thomas Jefferson stated in a 1788 document to Edward Carrington that "the natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground."  The Swiss political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau warned that there is a strong tendency for members of the government to usurp the sovereign power in order to pursue their own private interests, leading to tyranny.

It would be absurd to suggest that our country is edging precipitously close to tyranny, wouldn't it?  Absurd, but not out of the question — not if we consider connections to China, Russia, and Ukraine, which have purportedly enriched several individuals with familial connections to those at the highest levels of power.

Rather than focusing on that, Mr. Biden would have us think about his political rivals not as those espousing differing political views, but as an evil group.  As such, they can be vilified, reviled, and ostracized from our society.  He has attempted to hoodwink us all into believing that this straw man that he has identified as MAGA Republicans (now "Mega MAGA Republicans") needs to be purged.  In reality, it is simply one of the favorite tools used by the politically progressive left: objectification.  It is a tool they hope we will not recognize for what it is, thereby allowing them to use it again and again.

It has long been understood that one of the processes by which psychopathic individuals are so easily able to enact pain, heartache, and destruction upon others is objectification.  If one can view others as mere objects, hurting, hating, abusing, and killing them isn't an issue; they are only objects.  This may be stretching things a bit, but it almost seems that Biden would have us consider those who truly wish to make America great again as political objects, worthy of hatred from us all — objects of scorn.

I will not be cast as a pariah on society simply because I believe in the freedom described so eloquently in our Constitution.  If any should be considered a pariah, it is they who wish to subjugate us all for their favorite political whimsy.  It is they we should consider threats to democracy, and hopefully they who should soon be working on tuning up their résumés as they seek (for once) to make an honest living.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.