Are we as stupid as politicians think we are?

It was recently reported that during a closed-door meeting of House Democrats following the Memorial Day weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed concern that "the public still doesn't understand how the process of impeachment would play out." This was in the context of House Democrats spitballing offenses that could ostensibly justify proceeding with impeachment against President Donald Trump.

Now, it's long been the practice of the political class to frame their mission as beyond the understanding of the average voter. It's not, of course; this viewpoint has been advanced in order to exalt the role of politicians and to ensure that voters defer to those pols' whims, as opposed to their own better judgment.

Then, there's the belief on the part of progressive leaders that people in general are too stupid to govern themselves in the fashion our founders intended; thus the rationale for advancing socialism in the first place. I'll elaborate on that in a moment.

Finally, there's the fact that many Americans really don't understand the machinations of politics and governance. My parents' generation and those preceding them were required to know the fundamentals of American governance, as were those in the process of becoming naturalized citizens. Over the last 60 years or so, progressives in government and the educational system phased out the study of Civics in order to bring about the very conditions that currently exist. At the same time, politicians have also fostered a level of intellectual indolence on the part of the public, which further reinforces their dependence on the "wisdom" of elected officials.

So, the stupidity leftist politicians cite (usually in private) is really far more ignorance than stupidity.

TRENDING: Schools purging all books from before 2008 to guarantee 'inclusivity'

Even amongst those Americans who deeply respect our Constitution and our system of governance, there are probably very few who appreciate how unique and distinctive these truly are. Prior to 1776, people were ruled by monarchs and oligarchs. Applying ancient wisdom – some of which was biblical – the founders of this nation sought to create a form of government that might receive the stamp of approval from the Creator. They knew that flawed human beings would only be able to get so close to this ideal, but that didn't stop them from trying.

In 1776, the idea of citizens governing themselves was a radical one, but the results of the American experiment became so favored that European nations (from which much of our society and culture sprang) gave over to democratic republican governance in fairly short order. Even today, few who take the time to really acquaint themselves with the elegance and inspired vision of our founders as represented in our founding documents are not moved to deep emotion.

The process was difficult. Anyone who has studied the period of America's founding and the correspondence between our founders finds themselves in awe of the fact that America was founded at all. America's subsequent successes and its role as a force for good in the world speak for themselves.

While it is something of an oversimplification, this is how it all came under the gun, as it were: In the beginning of the last century, would-be oligarchs in the emergent political class and their industrialist cronies began to see themselves as effective heirs to the rulers of centuries past. Part of this was due to a deep conceit, although it also is an unfortunate component of human nature that in looking to the future, we often seek to abandon things of the past, even if they have served us well.

With the advent of socialism, communism and secularized worldviews, it was only natural that an assortment of scoundrels who craved power, though they had nothing whatsoever to contribute to society, insinuated themselves into positions of power. Encouraging ignorance with regard to the mechanics of governance set the stage for selling citizens this "new" system of socialism as a panacea for the world's ills. Demonizing capitalism, our system of governance and our founders themselves as retrograde and iniquitous was necessary as part of this process.

The leftist radicals of the 1960s – whose vision is being sloppily if ruthlessly implemented at present – did have a point in their argument that our government had come to serve itself and far too many powerful interests at the expense of the people. Their solution however, was to become the government and to occupy other positions of power, and this they achieved largely through socialist rhetoric.

In truth, it is socialism in its various incarnations (communism, liberalism, progressivism) that is retrograde, because it relegates self-governance to the dustbin of history whilst handing political power back to the oligarchs. The most dynamic and terrifying efforts we are currently seeing toward bringing this about are obviously coming from the far left wing of the Democrat Party, although closeted progressives among Republican leaders are equally to blame.

While a majority of Americans remain blissfully unaware of what is at stake by design, the fact is that we are at war. Some of the clearest evidence of this involves the criminal cabal that's attempting to oust a duly-elected president who does understand what's at stake. Their efforts toward removing him, the incomprehensibly perilous policies they advocate, their duplicity to date and the atrocities of their political forebears necessitate decisive and potent action against them on a scale that is likely to challenge Americans' sensibilities.

Look to the wretchedness of any nation or region that has implemented socialistic public policy – whether Venezuela, Europe or Scandinavia – and it quickly becomes apparent that there is nothing we ought not consider to entirely and permanently neutralize this scourge.