An Appeal For Intellectual Honesty From A Political Party I Used To Support
I measure a person’s intellectual honesty by their ability to give the opposing side credit when they get something right, and by their willingness to admit when they themselves got something wrong. I also measure it by their intellectual humility, their ability to admit they do not have all the answers and willingness to honestly listen to the ideas of others.
I’m afraid I can’t judge those who call themselves Democrats very highly on any of this. In fact, I judge them so poorly I no longer identify as a Democrat.
Oh, I know, the automatic impulse of those who call themselves Democrats is to say “Oh yeah? What about the Republicans?” Yes, the Republicans score poorly on this as well. So what?
If your doctor told you you had a deadly disease would your response be: “Who cares? The Republicans have it way worse than I do?” No, you would not. You would understand you have something inside of you that is going to kill you if you don’t do everything in your power to combat it. The Democratic Party is a death cult, just like the Republican Party is. It is a kindler, gentler, more inclusive death cult. It may promise salvation to its flock, but it is leading it to ruin.
Anyway, it is debatable what side is more infected. The worst of the Republicans, the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, and Lauren Boebarts are truly shocking examples of arrogance born of stupidity. But some of the better Republicans are capable not only of thoughts that transcend groupthink, some are even capable of self-reflection. I don’t see that among Democrats. Even the best of them. Bernie Sanders, may I remind you, is not a Democrat. The squad is capable of such hypocrisy that I don’t see how anyone is not capable of looking past skin color and gender to see it. I don’t say this gladly. I once viewed them as part of a movement for genuine change. I don’t like that they’ve been a major disappointment. I wish they hadn’t been. But if I am to be intellectually honest, I have to say they have been an utter failure. And I think that intellectual honesty is important, nay, vital.
AOC has moved from the promise to raise a ruckus to raising funds for establishment Democrats. She’s gone from being a supposed weapon against the establishment to being its tool. She’s gone from being a protector of the underclass to one who’s always complaining about being under attack. If you put yourself in the position of fighting for others, you have to expect to be attacked. Shoulder the burden you have assumed or pass it along to someone more willing to suffer the slings and arrows that come with the territory.
Democrats have the attitude that they are above criticism. They can only imagine that the only critiques of Democrats or the Democratic Party come from Republicans and Russian trolls. Their only response to honest criticism is to call you a Republican or a Putin puppet. Their inability for self-reflection is stunning. I never imagined I would see the likes of it. Their unwillingness to admit when they’ve made a mistake is comparable to Donald Trump’s, but it is accompanied by an anger and outrage and a self-righteousness that makes Trump himself appear sometimes more moderate. You cannot question their motives, and you dare not point out that what they said yesterday is entirely in contradiction to what they are saying today.
I don’t want to be right on this. I want someone to prove me wrong. I want someone within the Democratic camp to demonstrate intellectual integrity by admitting to something the Democratic establishment has been dead wrong about. I want them to admit one thing a Republican was right about. I just want them to exhibit the sort of intellectual honesty I grew up believing they possessed.
Here’s something they can own up to: How about Hunter Biden’s laptop? Is anyone willing to say that yes, you got the story wrong, that you owe an apology to the New York Post because you blasted their reporting on it? Are you willing to admit that it wasn’t Russian propaganda and that at least in this one instance, you owe Vladimir Putin an apology? Would you be willing to admit that you have been a little too trusting in our intelligence agencies that were aware that the laptop story was indeed legit and yet approached social media companies, telling them it was further Russian meddling in our otherwise pristine elections?
It would go a long way towards healing the division in our country if you were to do so. It would demonstrate real courage and a refreshing dash of honesty. I guarantee you it would boost your popularity and the popularity of the party you are loyal to. People on the Left AND the Right of you will say that perhaps the Democratic Party is not as irredeemably corrupt as they had believed.
That is, until the Democratic Party and its media minions get to work attacking you. Because the first time you step out of line and speak as if you had any kind of personal agency, the establishment will do whatever is necessary to destroy you. It’s probably best if you just tweet about Trump instead. You don’t want to know what it feels like not merely to step outside the safety of the herd but to have it turn on you as well.