There is no moral high ground that can be claimed by a political party that advocates for a “deprogramming” of half of the citizens in this country.

No morality for those who decide that a riot on Capitol Hill is a day that will live in infamy, but the months’ long destruction of American cities is justified.

No sympathy for the people that decide that despite losing an election, and plenty of supporters, that Donald Trump deserves a second impeachment, much less one that was more rushed than the first.

So spare me the lectures about how conservatives should get on board with the Biden administration despite an obvious distaste for how we voted. As recent events have shown, the Democratic party is not who they have led us to believe. They wish to silence, deprogram and purge the United States of diverse thought. 

The biggest story to emerge from the past few weeks was the event that took place on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. What I must make clear is that I do not condone violence, nor do I support what those marching on the Capitol decided to do that day.

But to equate that day to events like Pearl Harbor or 9/11 is a gross misrepresentation of facts. The rioters that day had the intention of overturning the certification of the election results in the hope that Donald Trump might remain president, a foolish goal in my opinion.

In following the sage wisdom of former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, Rahm Emaunel, the Democrats did not let “a serious crisis go to waste.” Many were quick to assert that if those rioters had been BLM activists, they would have been treated to a deadly onslaught from the Capitol police.

In making that assumption, they were all too quick to gloss over the 116 arrests, the use of physical force against rioters and the fact that a woman lost her life at the hands of a law enforcement officer. This form of mental gymnastics is required when you lecture about acceptance, tolerance, peace and civility, but you decide to take any opportunity to stoke racial divisions and demonize half of the United States. 

Under Trump’s presidency, the term fascist has made a quick climb back to popularity. The roots of the word can be traced back to Europe in the early 20th century, and most notably took a grip over the continent under the control of leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini. The hallmark of fascism is the forcible suppression of opposition and is characterized by dictatorial leadership.

So if that is the definition of the word, why on earth would it be used to describe the political landscape in the United States, the land of the free? It’s risen to prominence as an attack from those on the left to describe how Trump has dealt with his enemies. And without a true understanding of the word, many have placed themselves against fascism, and rightly so. But in doing so, many anti-fascists have found themselves between a rock and a hard place.

As this past summer has shown, the left will stop at nothing to make their voices heard, and violence is never off of the table. This theme has been played out across the news recently, with many leading lights calling for a “deprogramming.”

Most notably are Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and cult expert Steve Hassan on CNN. Both went on live television and called for a radical “deprogramming” initiative of all Trump supporters with some Democrats such as North Carolina’s own Moe Davis calling for a war on domestic terrorism to take place. This open distaste and subsequent suppression of millions of Americans is hardly emblematic of a loving and healing attitude. 

It is important to separate Joe Biden from the people that I have listed above. It would be unfair for me to group him in with others on the left. But while Biden could offer a full-throated denouncement of these “deprogramming” initiatives, he has been reluctant to and has even doubled down on that theme. One particular part of Biden’s inauguration speech stuck out to me, and it is very hard to disagree with:

“On this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation, and I ask every American to join me in this cause…With unity, we can do great things, important things.” 

That is a message to which I can give my full support. Unity is exactly what America has been longing for and what will be required if we wish to restore our union. But there was a catch, as there always is, because unity has conditions according to Biden. Despite possessing passports or birth certificates, some Americans fall short of this unity initiative and are effectively domestic hostiles. 

“A rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat,” Biden said..

White supremacy, political violence and domestic terrorism are wrong,and deserve to be condemned whole-heartedly. Many Americans are unequivocally opposed to the threats that Biden laid out, but it begs the question about what it means to wage war against this. This is not a question of semantics, but you may be surprised to learn just how broad the definition of, for example, white supremacy has become.

White supremacy, as defined by Oxford dictionary, is the belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups, in particular black or Jewish people. But whether through a lack of understanding, or a blatant departure in definition, the expression white supremacy has taken on a new meaning.

Bloomberg News has described the wall along our Southern border as, “a Monument to White Supremacy.” Colin Kaepernick equated the Fourth of July as an example of white supremacy. The U.S. Army Equity and Inclusion Agency circulated a handout devoted to identifying what white supremacy is and isn’t. Among these signs is the celebration of Columbus day, using the phrase “American exceptionalism,” supporting any form of border security and using the statement “There is only one human race.”

Say you don’t buy into the definitions and guidelines listed above, and you don’t experience white privilege in your day-to-day life, you are still considered a white supremacist, as the denial of white privilege is in and of itself an offense. 

In allowing the definition of a word to stray from its literal meaning, the word becomes bastardized. In this case, words such as white supremacy and domestic terrorism have become a way to send your opponent into shock. When the local librarian and the head of the KKK can be characterized by the same term, that term has lost its power, and we are no longer able to separate what is good from what is evil.

Now that the Biden administration has declared a war on white supremacy, it’s important for all of us to do some self-examination, as I would suspect many Americans are guilty of breaking the guidelines listed above. Is it possible that the majority, or anything more than a slim minority of Americans, are white supremacists at heart?

No, it isn’t possible. It’s fanatical, and those who hurl these attacks know that. But it is far easier to slander and denigrate your opponents, rather than defend yourself with facts and logic. 

I would like to believe that the Biden administration truly means to heal the nation as I know that it is the first step to moving forward. But in characterizing half of the population as “domestic terrorists,” suppressing opposing thought and showing a disdain for their fellow Americans, the Biden administration could not be more divisive in how they wish to effect change.

If President Biden and the Democratic party want their proposals to be taken seriously, their actions must remain in lockstep with their words.

By: Johnathan Austin, News Editor