The 'Domestic Extremists' Boogeyman
Boogeyman (noun): an imaginary evil spirit or being, used to frighten children.
As I read Heather Mac Donald's recent column on the anniversary of the Capitol Riot[1], I was reminded of the Left's obsession with "domestic extremism." They, of course, mean "white supremacy" when they say "domestic extremism," and they (and the Department of Homeland Security) assert that the biggest terror threat the nation faces today is from white supremacists.
In a nation of 330 million, it is and forever will be possible that one or a handful of psychopaths can do something horrific, with underlying political intent. But, an average-joe who hasn’t been inculcated with this narrative is more likely to expect and fear violence born of the Left’s race-agitation than that of right-wing extremists.
Indeed, a mere seven weeks ago, a man named Darrell Brooks, Jr. drove his SUV into a Christmas parade, killing six and injuring dozens. Brooks offered no overt declaration of purpose for his attack, but his social media record offers us some evidence of racist intent. Brooks, to no one's surprise, has fallen out of the news cycle, and again to no one's surprise, is never mentioned in the context of domestic terrorism.
Meanwhile, the likes of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, whose record on race and bigotry speaks for itself, and similar-minded race-agitators continue to press the white supremacy trope while ignoring inconvenient massacres. MSNBC malcontent Joy Reid (who may soon be defenestrated by her leftist bosses) warns us of "MAGA insurrectionists" infiltrating school boards, perpetuating the progressive premise that parents have no business deciding what their kids should be taught.
A perlustration of the political panorama might lead the peruser to ponder the possibility of psychological projection at play herein.
Radical revision and retconning of American history. Re-definition of gender, to to the point of total obfuscation. A drastic alteration of the domestic energy economy. Confiscatory taxation of a small minority of job and wealth creators. Hyper-regulation of every sector of the economy. Packing the Supreme Court in order to bring it to political heel. Unilateral imposition of trillions in spending and regulation. A federal takeover of the voting process. The overt teaching of racism to children. Subordination of the citizens' economic well-being to unions and other special interests. Coercive vaccination. Abandonment of the premise of law enforcement and protection of citizens' rights and safety. Abandonment of the premise of a secure or controlled border. Stoking, rather than remediating, race- and class-based conflicts.
I'm not a conservative, and I have many differences in policy viewpoints with conservatives, but it is beyond absurd, upon review of political plans and aspirations, to emblazon the label of "domestic extremism" on them. Trumpism is unhealthy, both in adulation of the man and embrace of his nativist tendencies, but the dominant agenda today is a form of leftism that is both authoritarian and anarchic.
The administration, the Democrats, the Left, and their media lapdogs are fear-mongering the public with a caricature of a right-wing-supremacist boogeyman. Hiding behind this bugbear is a no-need-to-caricature radical agenda that is *far* more deserving of the "domestic extremism" label.
Barry Goldwater told us that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice." Extremism for the advancement of authoritarianism is, however, an atrocity, an inevitable disaster, and utterly contrary to the nation's founding principles.
Which is, of course, the point. Critical Race Theory guru Richard Delgado has told us so.
It's a safe bet that, if people scream loudly and repeatedly about others' bad behavior, real or imagined, it's behavior of which they themselves are guilty.