Totalitarianism has crossed over from theoretical to daily life
Exclusive: Sean Harshey remembers the days when 'leftist bullying' meant mere 'smug judgment'
By Sean HarsheyPublished May 27, 2020 at 7:29pm
Something has changed in America since the Great Coronavirus Panic of 2020 began.
Something is different.
Worse than previous political disagreements, but hard to define.
The tyranny of the left has transitioned from theoretical or intangible into the physical world.
Life in the 21st century has devolved into a series of outrages in Western nations.
Perhaps aided by 24/7 connectivity, even the most local matter in a small community can turn into a viral video or international incident provoking outraged political debates on cable news and social media platforms.
One would think a global pandemic should be something about which everyone can agree to put aside differences and work together.
Instead, it has become the most divisive issue in generations.
How can a medical matter be so sharply partisan?
The same way watching a football game has become political.
The same way women's bathrooms have become political.
The same way a fast-food chicken sandwich is political.
Movies, education, music, marriage, the nightly news – liberals inject politics into everything, forcing everyone to either agree with them or be guilty of some alleged evil motive.
With coronavirus, the demand is to shut down our economy and allow government to control or prohibit activities.
The excuse is medical safety, and they claim their demands are based in science – but they are unable to explain the scientific basis for many of their restrictions, like how COVID-19 will infect someone at a small business, but not at big-box store, or why exceptions are granted for their political interests.
Abortion clinics and marijuana shops are mostly open, for instance, while churches and Trump rallies are closed.
It is more apparent by the day that the real interest of liberals is to expand their control and provoke the same partisan divisions Americans are already exhausted from in every other area of life.
While the hyper-partisanship of the past few years has forced Americans to lurch from one political outrage to the next, the debates have largely been confined to social media or an occasional terse exchange with family members running afoul of the "no politics" rule at holidays.
The never-ending string of angry debates has been limited to opinions about some philosophical or theoretical question.
Should football players kneel during the national anthem?
Were Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown victims of racism? Should a county clerk be forced to issue a marriage license to homosexual couples?
These questions divided Americans largely on political lines, but were not likely to come up in most people's lives.
Coronavirus changed all that.
The opinions of the left crossed over from intangible words and judgment into reality as people began facing censorship on social media and speech codes at school or work.
With COVID-19, leftist politics expanded into the physical world as governments physically confine innocent Americans in our homes, order businesses closed and restrict our movement.
The debate is now personal and real for most.
The Constitution effectively is suspended.
Something else has changed, too.
The left has enlisted their base as enforcers with authority to compel coronavirus restrictions.
Several recent viral videos show people confronting others for not wearing masks over their faces or otherwise violating orders or recommendations.
Some liberal authorities have called on their supporters to act as informers on their fellow citizens.
In New Jersey, authorities shut off utilities to the Atilis Gym and harassed, cited and arrested their customers without any explanation for the scientific basis requiring gyms to be closed while other businesses are permitted to remain open.
In California, the governor is permitting beachgoers to swim in the ocean but not hang out on the beach.
New York's mayor, on the other hand, is allowing people to use the beaches but threatened that authorities would physically pull swimmers out of the water.
In Chicago, police raided a church holding worship service without permission.
The face-mask "recommendation" is so unevenly applied from place to place and by type, it is apparent the mask is now more a symbol of acquiescence to liberal authorities.
Actress Alyssa Milano drew laughter recently for posting a selfie wearing a crocheted mask.
Her defenders on social media insisted that all that mattered is showing that she cares.
In other words, virtue signaling.
Rush Limbaugh recently said masks are a symbol of fear.
He is correct.
It is how you can show others you will comply, no matter how absurd the demand.
But it also serves another purpose.
It is a visible outward way of marking those who agree with the left and those who do not.
The liberal hate mobs do the rest.
If you are a member of a neighborhood or local social media page, you may have noticed a familiar party line split, with liberals making their usual wild accusations against conservatives such as they are uncaring, cruel, unintelligent or selfish for wanting to return to work.
These pages have been turned into leftist tools for snitching and shaming noncompliant neighbors.
The left has stayed true to the words of Rahm Emanuel and not let the COVID-19 panic go to waste.
Liberals seized the initiative while conservatives dithered, going along with the insanity at first and then only gradually restoring freedom in tiny increments, leaders terrified to appear they are not taking the illness seriously.
Where are federal authorities to intervene in the madness of patchwork coronavirus orders to protect Americans' freedoms?
Leftist bullying gradually moved from smug judgment to imposing speech codes to liberal hate mobs antagonizing Americans refusing to be controlled, police closing businesses, arresting customers and raiding churches … for no reason other than liberal government officials order it.
The totalitarianism of the left has crossed over from words and intangible judging into the physical world.
Without strong federal leadership to restore order, continuing down this path may lead to violence.
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