Two weeks ago, a bit of a controversy erupted over a billboard on Interstate 40 in Texas that suggested liberals keep driving until they leave the state. The billboard was subsequently removed after the party who had paid for the sign asked for it to be taken down, not having anticipated how controversial it would become.
Last week, a new billboard was erected in Amarillo, Texas, by another party in response to the earlier sign. The new sign reads: "Texas is for everyone, not for bigotry. Welcome, y'all."
It's a nice sentiment, but it got me to thinking: I don't necessarily see a desire to encourage liberals to leave a particular locale as bigotry at all.
I see it as prudence.
After all, excepting those who self-identify as liberals (but who often demonstrate a preponderance of conservative core values) simply because they've bought into the idea that liberals are nice and conservatives are big fat meanies, haven't liberals pretty much established that they're subversive, dishonorable, foul-mouthed, duplicitous swine? I can't see why any thinking person with a healthy sense of self-interest or self-preservation would want too many dedicated, politically active liberals around them at all.
I belong to a few non-political organizations, which have many liberals amongst their membership. I take great care never to engage these folks in discussions around culture or politics due to liberals' proclivity for summarily denying fundamental truths and for their summary acceptance of harmful, abject falsehoods. I do this because to do otherwise would only invite disharmony within these organizations.
It is worth mentioning that I've also found liberals to be far more likely than non-liberals to attempt to politicize affairs within such organizations if given the slightest opportunity. Further, as with anyone else, it is inescapable that liberals' beliefs necessarily bleed over into their general deportment and the way they interact with others, whether in relationships, the workplace, or in casual settings.
Recently in this space, I addressed Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters' advocacy of mob violence against officials in the administration of President Donald Trump. This was only one of many recent instances of outrageous and incendiary behavior on the part of liberals since Trump's election.
Last week, Fox News' Brit Hume penned a column admonishing people like Rep. Waters to refrain from such incendiary rhetoric, but added that we all need to do so as well. This is sound advice, but Hume's piece overlooks one salient fact: "We all" aren't the ones advocating mob violence, nor do we need anyone to inform us that such action is antisocial.
Additionally, there is simply no comparison between the sheer volume and vitriol vis-Ã -vis the rhetoric of the left versus that of their counterparts. When conservatives hear President Trump deliver a coarse retort following an attacker's bombardment, they squirm a little but tend to keep quiet because they're glad to see someone defending himself against these scum. Conversely, as far as the left is concerned, calumnies, expletives and expressed wishes for death and dismemberment are the norm; they're encouraged, and anyone they don't like is fair game.
Hume pointed out that one of the chief offenders of late has been President Trump himself, who "has certainly contributed heavily to the current poisonous atmosphere, speaking of his opponents in the crudest language and finding no slight too minor to merit a bruising response."
While it's true that President Trump does give as good as he gets with regard to scathing attacks, the truth is that the tone of political discourse became exponentially more volatile during the Obama administration. While Obama may not have used expletives, he was very calculated in his rhetoric and quite adept at pushing just the right buttons, as it were, of the right demographics to bring about the maximum emotional response in his target audience.
Case in point: There is simply no denying that race relations deteriorated significantly during the Obama years, and that was primarily due to his use of the bully pulpit in this regard.
Speaking further to the aforementioned low character of liberals in this vein, in addition to the caustic language being proffered, there have been other, even more untoward and dangerous behaviors in which those on the left have engaged. The utterly baseless investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russian operatives in order to gain an advantage in the 2016 general election not only revealed that it was the camp of Hillary Clinton and other Democrats who engaged in such collusion, but that parties in the FBI at various levels conspired to protect Hillary Clinton during the investigation into her illegal email server, as well as conspiring to keep Trump from getting elected.
Following the decline in civility catalyzed by Obama and his surrogates, it was the election of Donald Trump that caused the left to go completely off the rails, but nothing can excuse their marked descent into rhetorical depravity and criminality over the last couple of years. The advent of the #Walkaway movement, in which some liberals have advocated abandoning liberalism and the Democratic Party, certainly evidences how bad affairs have become.
All things considered, while some might argue that rank-and-file voting liberals ought not be ostracized, marginalized, or politely asked to leave the state of Texas, until they start widely condemning leftist orthodoxy or change their voting habits, I will continue to avoid them and advocate for their political disenfranchisement.