The French Revolution
The President is a clever one. In his final State of the Union address, he said this:
America has been through big changes before – wars and depression, the influx of immigrants, workers fighting for a fair deal, and movements to expand civil rights. Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears. We did not, in the words of Lincoln, adhere to the “dogmas of the quiet past.”
Who wants to be one of those knuckle draggers who “adhere to the quiet past?” No one! David French extrapolates:
Concerned that the sexual revolution is destroying the family and fraying the fabric of society? You fear love. Concerned that mass numbers of low-skill immigrants are decreasing wages, increasing crime, and overwhelming social services? You fear people who look different from you. Are you demanding that the Obama administration step up its war against ISIS? You’re too fearful and ignorant to realize that, as the New York Times helpfully reminded readers this week, your bathtub is more dangerous than Muslim terrorists.
His rhetoric perfectly set up his emotional plea:
Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, and turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can do together?
But this misses the point altogether. As French writes, “Americans aren’t fearful, they’re angry.”
The entire alphabet soup of federal agencies has not only failed the American people, they’ve often turned against the very citizens and Constitution they’re required to serve. The IRS attacks the conservative movement. The VA leaves veterans to die. The EPA lawlessly expands its power until it regulates and restricts vast sectors of the American economy. HHS attacks religious liberty. The Department of Education wages war on due process and free speech. The list could go on and on.
We’re tired of a government that targets and harasses us, yet refuses to protect us. And anger, sometimes, is warranted and profitable.
French continues:
Anger can be a virtue — even Jesus got angry — and in this moment of American history, properly channeled anger might be the very thing that restores American strength abroad and begins to correct injustice and rampant abuses of power here at home. Indeed, without anger, we may not have the fortitude to change. To those crying out for “sunnier,” more pleasant politicians, ask yourself if these people have the strength of will to confront entrenched, malignant ideologues in the IRS, DOJ, EPA, BLM, VA, and every other leftist enclave in American government. Ask yourselves if they’re prepared to confront ISIS, Iran, and Russia.
Read the rest of his piece on National Review.
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