Terminus Part 3b: Hurry, Hurry, Hurry

Permit me to speak in abstractions for a moment.

Imagine that the Wazznians have been eyeing the possibility of invading
neighboring Brux, toppling its regime, and seizing its lands. Imagine
further that the rulers of Wazznia -- nasty fellows, really -- have
harbored this ambition for some time, and are passionately dedicated to
it. Finally, imagine that, though Wazznia's military strength vis-a-vis
Brux has been growing, it's not yet decisively greater; moreover, it's
highly unlikely to grow any further, even shows signs of waning.

Given all those postulates, what decision would you expect the rulers of
Wazznia to make? Would they simply abandon their ambitions of a Greater
Wazznia at Brux's expense, or would they say to one another, "there'll
never be a better time to strike," and cast the military die?

I won't say that every autocrat, presented with those circumstances,
would choose to strike, but I will say that some will -- and perhaps a
majority, at that.

Now let's talk about politics.

Since World War II, the nation has surrendered, incrementally, to two
polemic tactics wielded most skillfully by the Democrat Party: the
imposition of unearned guilt, and the evocation of unwarranted
compassion. The unearned guilt is, of course, about America's long-dead
practice of slavery; the unwarranted compassion is for groups nominated
as "helpless" or "downtrodden," whether their plight came about by
chance or by deliberate action. The national response to these tactics
has been most gratifying to the Democrats, who owe much of their
political ascendancy to them.

But both tactics are waning in force. The attempt to evoke guilt over
race relations, most particularly by accusing anyone who dissents from
the Democrats' claims and policy preferences of "racism," has begun to
backfire more often than not. The attempt to make ordinary Americans
feel responsible for succoring the Democrats' various victim-groups also
appears to have crested, and is facing a sharp reduction in
effectiveness. Yet these are the principal political weapons in the
Left's arsenal.

I speak here of tactics rather than values. No sane man, viewing the
national tableau, could dispute that the law has done more than it
should in its attempts to compensate for America's historical injustices
toward Negroes. No sane man, aware of the size of the nation's
aggregated "welfare" efforts, could argue that our governments should be
given still more power and money with which to "help the needy." The
hardest of hard-core left-liberals could never make an objective case
for either proposition. Yet they continue to press it, using the
emotional pistons of guilt and compassion.

Now that those tactics are losing their power, what ought we to expect
from the Left?

My assessment is that it's even money, if not more likely, that we'll
see the Left marshal its allies -- the media, the special-interest
groups, corporate cronies, and racialists and victimists of every stripe
-- and attempt to galvanize them into maximum militancy.

The George Zimmerman / Trayvon Martin affair is one weathervane. The
Left has done everything but a rain dance in the attempt to whip up
public fury over this incident, and to make Republicans and
conservatives its targets. Consider the bounty the New Black Panthers
have placed on the head of George Zimmerman. Consider the threats of an
outright "race war" -- a foolish notion, considering that American
Negroes make up a mere 13% of the population, and the less wealthy, less
well armed portion at that -- should "justice" not be done. Consider
that no prominent Democrat, whether he holds public office or not, has
spoken against this tide.

The "war on women" theme is another indicator. For daring to suggest
that ObamaCare's requirement that Catholic institutions must insure
their employees' purchases of contraceptives and abortifacients is a
violation of First Amendment protections, Republicans and conservatives
are being assailed furiously as enemies of women. The facts of the
matter are plain enough. Catholics' reactions are plain enough. The
degree of inter-creedal support for the Church's position is impressive
enough. Yet the Left continues to press this theme, knowing that it must
break through now, on this front, or lose its opportunity for the
foreseeable future.

Finally we have the "Occupy" madness. Masses of lawless vandals in city
after city have effectively seized public property and taken it private
-- and for what? To scream for more free stuff from the government! Yet
the Democrats are, if not vociferously, at least tacitly in support of
this insurrection. For them, it's strike now, while the iron is at least
warm, or strike never.

We are in danger of a change so large as to dwarf any event in American
political history except the Civil War. Race, creed, gender, ethnicity,
and relative financial standing are all being harnessed to the Left's
war chariot. Yet supposedly intelligent conservatives are still trying
to placate blood enemies: power-seekers who would commit any crime,
perpetrate any fraud, and sacrifice any value, to attain total hegemony
over these United States.

How do you plan to respond? What are you willing to say, in public where
everyone can hear, in defense of freedom, equality before the law, and
Constitutional rule? Should there be insufficient non-violent pushback
to quell the forces being mobilized against them, where will you stand?

"Let us not speak falsely now; the hour is getting late." -- Robert
Zimmerman / "Bob Dylan"