Friends, leftists are smart, as they never tire of reminding us. They're very good at achieving their aims, and by no means is the ballot box the primary means they employ. They have our education system, the media, Hollywood/popular culture, the courts, and very often corporate leaders on their side. How did we go from a nation that wouldn't tolerate "gay marriage" and which consistently voted against it, to one in which gay marriage is the law of the land and the media won't even dignify opposition to it as a defensible position? It wasn't "democracy". It was a subtle and gradual recasting of the issue in the media, and a steady erosion of support for traditional marriage in corporate America and the courts. Drip, drip, drip -- and, before you know it, everything has changed. The lesson is simple: we cannot assume that, just because Republicans win elections, the left has been contained. Far from it.
On the question of gun rights, Tucker Carlson has exposed yet another leftist tactic to undermine the 2nd Amendment. He's right -- denying loans to companies that manufacture guns may in the end prove more destructive to your gun rights than any incremental change in the law ever could be. Corporations, including banks, are led by men (and very occasionally women) who often share a social/cultural worldview with liberal elitists. In addition, corporations are scared of liberal activitsts, who use assorted bullying tactics, including social media campaigns, street protests, and boycotts, to pressure them to tow the line. Don't underestimate the power and importance of these tactics! If conservatives don't learn that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," then they better get used to losing, because that's what will happen.
Here's what Tucker had to say:
http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/04/12/tucker-carlson-monologue-companies-vs-gun-rights-danger-corporate-power
I saw that last night, his guest was clueless and trying to talk around Tucker. Tucker held his own, he usually does. I wish the Republicans would get their acts together.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: I read the article summarizing Tucker's remarks. What comes to my mind immediately is NRA. I'm completely confident in their ability and willingness to stand against this current onslaught. I'll bet NRA membership has climbed recently; it always does in such times. I always suggest to gun owning friends that if they join NRA they will have done the single most effective thing any of us can do to protect the rights which the coastal elitists yearn to deny us. In my opinion, yes, we must bustle but it should be in the form of support for the organization which has proven itself on our behalf so many times. Tomorrow I'm going to a local gun show to be with the people with whom I feel most comfortable and to look at some guns. The real America will be there and it will be refreshing and redeeming. Charles Schumer and Andrew Cuomo would have nervous breakdowns in such a common and popular setting.
ReplyDeleteJack, would you be surprised to know Schumer was at my college graduation this past May? He went to shake my hand when I exited off the stage, "No thank you," is what I said. I'm told he visits Alfred State alot.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thanks Jack for the fitS of giggle on that thought in reference to Cuomo and Schumer.
The irony is that Cuomo and Schumer are constantly protected by heavily armed men! Perhaps that explains their cavalier attitude about gun rights -- THEY don't need guns, so why should rubes like us have them?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the NRA can be very effective on many levels, but I'm not sure it has great pull in popular culture or corporate America. Those are fronts where grassroots action, perhaps organized by the NRA, could make a difference.
Schumer is a regular on the commencement address circuit. He's a glib fellow and knows how to work a room. Personally, I've always found him smarmy.
Dr. Waddy, your thoughts are straight on correct. smiles
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: I agree with you on Schumer; he's obnoxious, he's always sneering. NRA is so successful in political combat that I am confident it could increase its influence in corporate America if it chose to do so, as it should. The left obviously loathes NRA and the real America it so successfully represents but it must reckon with it nonetheless. Ask Al Gore, Slick Willie and Hillary about that! Corporate America is in my opinion a positive force in our culture, polity and economy (obviously the latter)and need not be similarly confronted; perhaps through skillful PR it can be shown that we have substantial common interests. Though corporate executives might not be at ease at a gun show their skin would crawl at gatherings of people who would hang them had they the power to do so. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" can be a powerful maxim. Linda: Thanx for showing Schumer his place; he avoids those who disdain him and expects not to meet them at college graduations even in our county. I'd dare him to show up at a meeting of the Allegany County Sportsman's Association (the body which includes reps from all the rod and gun clubs in the county). He'd be howled right out of the parking lot. He needs continued doses of reality and you gave him one.
ReplyDeleteSounds like we all agree that Schumer shouldn't be named Man of the Year... Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda!
Jack, I'm not sure I see corporate America in the same light. They enjoy the tax cuts that Republicans give them, but many corporate leaders are Democrats, and most of them are quite willing to prostrate themselves before the altar of political correctness. Above all, companies dislike bad publicity, and they will usually preemptively cave to leftist demands for affirmative action, environmental protection, and now shunning of oil companies, gun manufacturers, the NRA, etc. It's a short list of companies that have a truly conservative corporate culture, and many of the most powerful modern companies (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, etc.) are unabashedly leftist. This is why, in my opinion, we need to keep squawking and remind the corporate suits that there are consequences for disrespecting traditional American values.
Exhibit B:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/03/22/citigroup-requires-business-partners-restrict-gun-sales/449181002/
Dr. Waddy: Your opinion of corporate America is better argued than mine was and has much more merit. I saw plenty of that caving to "politically correct" pressure rather than standing on principle in state gov't management too. So many of those executives (certainly not all)were like water - they always took the path of least resistance. Corporate America being that way, it does make much sense to bring such pressure upon them that riling us will NOT be the path of least resistance. That the squeaky wheel gets the grease has been proven so many times in our democracy that I should have seen it.
ReplyDeleteJack, you're not wrong that corporate America is replete with plenty of decent folk, and if nothing else it keeps the flame of capitalism/competition burning, but I think a survey of corporate bigwigs would indicate that many of them could benefit from some timely reminders that conservatives vote, spend money, and generally don't appreciate being marginalized. Ideally, we would flood every cultural and economic arena with legions of fresh young patriots -- but the education establishment is doing its best to make that strategy infeasible...
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: Ditto on all you said. I'd also like to remind them of what Lenin said about capitalists providing the rope to be used to hang them. They probably wouldn't see the connection.
ReplyDeleteProbably not -- and keep in mind that quite a few corporations are enriched rather than impoverished by the sort of "state capitalism" practiced by liberals. One might say that deviance from the party line is harshly punished -- but compliance can earn one rich rewards...
ReplyDelete