Biden Ups the Rhetoric Against Republicans
Mark Hendrickson
President Joe Biden crossed a line of sorts last week when he
characterized the philosophy of Donald Trump and his supporters as
“semi-fascism.”
“Fascism,” of course, is the verbal f-bomb of politics. As it’s
most commonly used today, it’s an inflammatory insult, a rhetorical
flame-thrower’s delight. It’s a virtual knee to the groin, a condem-
natory epithet, the ultimate slur, shorthand for “You are a subhuman
cretin who is beneath contempt.”
The word “fascism” once had a reasonably objective definition
(more on that below) but it has been used so often as an emotive vil-
ification that few people have a clear sense of what fascism origin-
ally meant. In his comprehensive description of the sadistic labor
camps in the USSR, “The Gulag Archipelago,” Alexander Solzhenitsyn
explained the historical corruption of the word.
Solzhenitsyn tells us that “fascist” first became a pejorative
term in the Soviet Union. The Communist Party branded everyone a
"fascist” who wasn’t on board with Comrade Stalin’s plan for global
socialism under the control of the Soviet Politiburo. This started
with the true fascists, such as Hitler and Mussolini, who were
condemned for favoring national socialism over global socialism,
and for clinging to the un-communist notion of national indepen-
dence. But then the word became a term of scorn for all the oppo-
nents of worldwide communism, even individuals whose values and
policies had little in common with the Fuhrer and Il Duce. Thus,
everyone from the pope to atheists like Ayn Rand, American politi-
cal leaders ranging from George McGovern on the left to Ronald
Ronald Reagan on the right, and mortal enemies like the president
of Israel and the ayatollahs of Iran, have been lumped together
under the denunciatory label “fascist.”
In short, “fascist” means “non-communist.” What does that say
about Joe Biden now that he has taken to using the political f-bomb
to malign his political opposition? Of course, Biden left himself
some wiggle room by saying “semi-fascism.” (Maybe Hillary Clinton
should have said “semi-deplorables” when she felt like doing some
venting several years ago.) Now Biden can say that he didn’t really
cal Trump’s supporters “fascists,” but I suspect he hopes that the
stench and stigma of that ugly word will cling to Republicans.
Now let’s look at the word fascism more objectively. Merriam-Web-
ster defines fascism as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime
… that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that
stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictator-
rial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible
suppression of opposition.”
Which of our two main political parties comes closer to meeting
this definition?
In the ongoing battle between the collective (the “nation” as per
Merriam-Webster) versus the individual, it has been the American pol-
itical left—progressives and Democrats—who, in the name of “social
justice,” push collectivist master plans like the Green New Deal (a
blueprint for a command economy, i.e., for “severe economic and
social regimentation”). It has been the conservatives and Republicans
seeking to preserve the traditional individualistic ideal of a free
market economy based on companies competing to meet the wants of the
sovereign consumer instead of producing according to the dictates of
a political elite.
In regard to race, it’s the Democrats and progressives who are more
in favor of teaching critical race theory, which exalts racial above
individual identity. Republicans reject such blatant racism. It has
been mainly Democratic policies that have harmed black Americans
while Trump’s tax reforms led to record levels of employment and
income among black Americans.
When it comes to a “forcible suppression of opposition,” it’s Biden
and his party that have tried to intimidate Americans into silence
by characterizing parents who object to public school policies as
"domestic terrorists.” It’s Biden’s party that has leaned on the
social media companies to silence debate on vital issues like climate
change
and COVID-19 vaccinations, and often succeeding in censoring those
those who dissent from the progressive agenda. It’s the left that
has sought to “cancel” conservatives and turn them into what were
known as "non-persons” in the Soviet Union.
In amplifying on his charge that Republicans are fascists, and
therefore hateful, Biden ignored the flagrantly hate-filled rhetoric
of so many on the left. From calls to “guillotine the rich” to
vicious comments from recent years, it’s clear that the left has not
shunned hatred.
In short, Biden’s attempt to verbally tar-and-feather MAGA conser-
vatives and populists with the “fascism” slander seems to be a case
of projecting his party’s own tendencies onto his political oppo-
nents. I suppose one could retort to Biden’s baseless “semi-fascist”
mudslinging by saying that since it has been communists who have led
the way in using “fascist” as a term of disgrace and disdain for
their opponents, then maybe Biden is a semi-communist. But let’s not
go there. Let’s break away from any disgusting contest to see who
ca administer the most hurtful or damning verbal insult to politi-
cal opponents. We need to ratchet down the corrosive emotionality
in our political dialog.
The way I prefer to look at the contest between Biden and pro-
gressives on the one side and Trump and MAGA Americans on the other
is this: The most important political question is whether government
policies protect or suppress liberty. All anti-liberty ideologies
and movements—communism, socialism, fascism, progressivism, environ-
mentalism—are opposed to liberty; therefore, they are literally
illiberal. Let’s all forswear the use (actually, the misuse) of the
political f-bomb. Let’s have a grownup conversation about whether
governments are protecting the rights of all impartially, or instead
suppressing them via illiberal policies.
Mark Hendrickson
In recent days Biden has also referred to Conservatives as Maga-
Republicans. The problem with that is similar to the liberal way
they refer to ANTIFA or QAnon without a clue as to what they are
talking about.
QAnon is a made-up, completely unfounded theory that Trump was
waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshiping pedophiles in
government. Somehow liberals got their own made-up ideas of what it
is even though it does not exist. If true, it would be a worthy
cause.
ANTIFA is actually a group who originally were Charlottesville
residents, peace advocates, Black Lives Matter activists, and self-
styled anti-fascists who call themselves "ANTIFAS". That would
easily be translated as Liberals or in many cases Democrats.
Every American should be proud to call themselves MAGA supporters.
MAGA is an American movement that simply translates exactly like its
acronym says "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN". If Democrats want to make
that to be a bad thing, I suggest they leave because if a citizen of
this country opposes making us better it makes it clear that they do
not belong here.
So Joe is piling on the level of hatred in an effort to cover up
his incompetence. He continues to fabricate lies to demean those of
us that want to save the US from a total collapse of our economy.
Only God can rescue our land from the evil, amoral, faithless,
and unethical party that has lost total contact with honesty, truth,
and facts that ALL of America should share.
Conservatively,
John
Conservativelyjohn.com 