A year ago this month, Donald Trump did the unthinkable and beat the anointed one and was elected president of the United States. Of course, many on the left predicted that the world would soon come to an end -- not unlike what the prognosticators on the right did when Obama was elected.
Now, a year later, the economy is strong, the Dow Jones is hitting record highs, unemployment is declining (using the same indicators the liberals used while Obama was in office), and the world is once again respecting our might as a nation. Obviously, not everything is rosy, but it's definitely not the Armageddon predicted by many liberals.
But, in their mind, things are so bad they held an event to protest Trump's election. Last Wednesday liberals banded together across the country to "scream helplessly at the sky" to "express (their) anger at the current state of democracy."
I don't know how many people did it, but I know that I didn't hear anyone howling at the moon in despair. But this is how the "enlightened liberals" in our country determined would be the best manner to express their disbelief in the state of our nation. And you really have to ask why they lost the election?
I guess this is what happens when someone doesn't get their participation trophy for just showing up -- throw a tantrum and scream at the sky. When our kids were young, if they had done such a thing, they would have had a real reason to be howling. But this is 2017 and many lefties think that this is an adult reaction to losing. Enough said.
This is nonsensical but, if it makes some on the left happy and occupies them, I hope they don't hurt their voices screaming. But, what isn't funny are the real nutbags behind the Antifa protest movement.
In case you haven't heard this term, let me explain it to you. One author described the movement in this way: "Simply, Antifa aims to deny fascists the opportunity to promote their oppressive politics and to protect tolerant communities from acts of violence promulgated by fascists."
In simpler words, they promote drowning out any speech they feel is offensive by any means they feel are necessary. They say violence is warranted because they cannot allow "hateful" speech to exist. Of course, they are the ones who determine what is hateful and what is offensive. So, in essence, they become the fascists that they are trying to stop. Kind of ironic isn't it?
So is this what we have become in this country -- stopping free speech that the radical lefties think is offensive because that speech is against their beliefs? Is this America and what we are fighting to preserve? Do these extremists even know what the First Amendment is and understand that it is the foundation of our country? Apparently not.
The Antifa's seek to brand conservatives "fascists" and their speech as hateful and offensive and to justify their violence as being necessary to prevent hate from spreading. If anyone believes this garbage, then please don't even think about trying to convince me you are right -- especially since we just honored the veterans who swore an oath to defend the Constitution which includes the right for someone to be offensive in their speech.
Last week, I wrote that we need to denounce hate that occurs on both sides of the political spectrum but, apparently, the radical lefties think that hate only goes one direction. I do not agree with the message of the white supremacists, but it is not my right to infringe on their free-speech rights and I sure don't turn that responsibility over to a far-left, radical Antifa group to make that decision either.
At some point in time, the radical lefties need to stop howling at the moon and acting like 6-year-olds and start acknowledging that they don't have all the answers and they are not always right. I know a lot of people said a lot of hateful things about Obama, but I don't remember a time when conservatives made a concentrated effort to stop the liberals among our nation from espousing their beliefs.
At some point in time, people are going to have to quit behaving like spoiled brats and start acting like adults. They aren't Peter Pan and they don't live in Neverland, so it's time for everyone (and I mean everyone) to quit throwing tantrums and start acting like they care about this country.
Kevin Wilson is a former state representative who was born in Goodman and now lives in Neosho. Opinions are those of the author.
Editorial on 11/16/2017