“In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin supposedly claimed. This famed line has been comedically ad-libbed and amended to fit a range of circumstances in American society. As a fan of the Green Bay Packers, my favorite spoof on this line is a Tweet reading: “Death. Taxes. The ineptitude of the Chicago Bears.”
Historic rivalries aside, it strikes me that no other political application of this phrase is more appropriate to the current American state of affairs than “death, taxes and the elite snobbery of the Democratic Party.”
No greater sign of recent left-wing condescension exists than President Biden’s blanket pardoning of his son, Hunter. However immoral or shady Biden’s action may have been – and setting aside the feasibility of forgiveness and parental oversight that I may be able to understand from a Christian perspective – the fact that the president all but promised not to pardon his son not long ago, and then just … did … tells you the only thing you need to know about contemporary progressive politicians: they think you are stupid.
The other night, I listened to the “Daily Wire Backstage” podcast show, where the hosts discussed several other courses Biden could’ve pursued to make the pardon more palatable. One option was pardoning both Trump and Hunter simultaneously, thus balancing the corruption of the act with a stroke of bipartisanship, which, while still possibly a cynical play, would’ve still shown some respect for Americans’ judgment of right and wrong.
But, nope, Biden just issued a blanket pardon.
Further illustrating the almost humorous condescension of the executive act, the timeframe of the pardon just coincidentally begins around the time Hunter began work at Burisma – as if nobody would notice that for what it is: a political covering of the rear and implied admission of guilt.
But that’s what the hosts of “Daily Wire Backstage” missed when offering ways in which Biden could’ve saved face and his son at the same time: that Biden and his co-partisans actually operate on the assumption that Americans won’t notice.
I can’t blame them for this calculated assumption. Why would Americans notice when the media and education swiftly hide the story? And if Americans do stumble upon the news of Democratic wrongdoing, those same institutions will just craft some high-flung rationality to defend it.
Lest you think I’m crafting a narrative out of one isolated event, I’ll offer other revealing actions taken by left-wing partisans.
President Obama ran in 2008 partially on the claim that he personally opposed same-sex marriage, citing his Christian beliefs as his reasoning. White House adviser David Axelrod upheld that belief of the president not long after. In both cases, Obama remained loose on his stance on the legality of gay marriage but personally stood against it, holding that marriage was between one man, one woman, and God. Yet Obama’s White House was set aglow with the colors of the rainbow flag in June 2015, just five years later. Indeed, Obama’s defense of evolving on the issue was refuted by Axelrod himself, who claimed that Obama lied for political gain – again, hoping those dumb voters wouldn’t notice.
And, for the most part, they didn’t.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton hurled attack after attack on then-candidate Trump for allegations of sexual assault and impropriety, as if Americans were born the night before and wouldn’t remember those similar allegations against her own husband, which she may have helped cover-up.
As an aside – Trump actually called her out for this on the debate stage, going around the media and directly to the American people, giving them the opportunity to see through the Democratic political blinders and observe their dishonesty. Trump’s revolutionary habit of doing so, in the face of the Democrats pursuing that habit consistently, is certainly part and parcel of his historic success this year. Americans across the social and political spectrum are tired of being assumed stupid and treated as if they cannot observe what is happening in front of their own eyes. (Another example of this is the Biden administration’s attempts to divert blame or neglect the reality of price inflation when Americans clearly see the numbers on the receipt growing and their accounts dwindling.)
This frustration among Americans over being spoken down to and treated as simple-minded by the Democratic elite that has a cultural stranglehold is something I witnessed personally this week. During a presentation I was giving for a class on my selected topic of the importance of Christian biblical teachings in the American system of government, I referenced prominent conservative Ben Shapiro – not even as a referenced source, but as an example of a political phenomenon – ironically the phenomenon of conservatives feeling marginalized or hated on college campuses for their religious and political beliefs. A student later messaged me, trying to reassure me after he heard the professor “audibly scoff/chuckle” at my mention of Shapiro. The professor subsequently fired passionate questions at me, which didn’t really stir me up at the time – maybe because I’m used to that treatment. The student, however, said: “As a liberal, that’s what pisses me off so much about the Democratic Party. Talking over your voter base and sneering your nose at moderate/conservative voters makes your causes infinitely less appealing.” This year’s election results are evidence of that loss of appeal.
Don’t let them get away with assuming your stupidity. Do what Trump finally did and start showing with your vote and your voice that you see through the crap.
Biden and the professor’s actions show they have no intention of changing course and hearing out the cries of the common citizen. Show them again in 2026, 2028 and on. Do so until they at least attempt to respond to the American sense of right and wrong and enter back into reality. Until then, they don’t deserve a single vote.
Carter Ashcraft is a 21-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who is majoring in political science at the University of Alabama. You can contact him at carterashcraft12@gmail.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
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