The Arrogance of the Left: Always Certain, Usually Wrong
(This article first appeared in Broad+Liberty)
There’s so much that is so wrong about the cult that is the Left. Demonstrably wrong.
Most troubling is their arrogance. It dictates not only what they say; but also, how they “govern” and how they deal with anyone who has questions or disagrees.
They’re always 100 percent sure they’re correct and 100 percent sure those opposing them are wrong. And they’re not content with feeling right: they want to make sure that anyone opposing them is silenced, blocked, hidden or canceled, lest “misinformation” spread.
You’ve got to hand it to “progressives.” They’ve taken over the Democrat Party. They’ve partnered with many colleges, the legacy media, and much of social media to elevate their ideology, state theories as facts — despite being obviously wrong even to neutral observers — and ignore or mock those who raise questions.
Common sense and obvious failed outcomes be damned.
It’s why they engage in cancel culture, personal attacks, and shaming. It’s why they demand that news stations, newspapers and social media platforms only promote what the Left “knows” to be “right.” And why they so loudly, forcefully and often violently demand that anyone opposing them be silenced — or “corrected” with editor’s notes.
It’s why they don’t debate.
It’s why they govern by executive orders, regulation and mandates. It’s why they never run out of levels of government, government agencies or governments across the globe to turn to enforce their cult-like views on citizens.
Can’t get congress to ban fossil fuels? Then head off to state capitols, or local towns. If a local town won’t comply with micromanaging its residents, then off to the state capitol or DC.
Can’t get congress to end gas-powered cars? Then rush to the White House and the EPA and issue regulations or mandates.
If Congress won’t pass a law “canceling student loans” — which as most folks with common sense know is actually transferring debt from the people who took out the loans to the people who didn’t get the education? Just issue an executive order. The Supreme Court be damned!
During 2020 through 2022, the nation got to see what being run by “elites” looks like — government officials empowered with the absolute “knowledge” that they are right and that the rest of us must comply. Executive orders. Mandates. Lock-downs. Walmart can be open, but your neighborhood hardware store must be closed. One can fly on an airplane, but not get your haircut. Girls can play softball, but wear a mask.
Why? Because “they” said so, and they’re smart and always right. “Do you disagree?! What, do you want people to die?!” Moreover, they know “justice:” they know what’s right and what’s wrong.
If you disagree, you’re a fascist, a bigot, a science denier, climate denier, or just plain selfish.
Did you want to discuss reasonable limits during Covid? Suggest that citizens be given information and to make their own decisions? Nope! Mandates. Lockdowns. And, you lose your job — or your child gets kicked out of school — if you don’t comply.
No legislation was passed. No citizen input was welcomed. And, if you tried to post information on Facebook—ha! It’s “misinformation” and was hidden.
Do you want your children to have the option to drive gas-powered cars? Not so fast: Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom issue executive orders with the ease and pace of kids asking for cookies at the supermarket. No more gas powered cars after 2025, or 2030 or 2035. They just wake-up, decide it’s an emergency and impose their will on taxpayers, consumers and factory workers. As if car manufacturers, their suppliers, their creditors and their dealerships — and the electric grids! — can just adapt and re-adapt overnight.
No legislation. No debate. No discussion. It shall be done. Why? Because they’ve decided there’s a crisis — or they’ve been pressured into saying it — and we must comply.
Remember on October 4, 2021, when Attorney General Garland sent out a directive warning that the FBI might have to attend school board meetings if parents didn’t settle down?
Remember in 2022, when Biden’s Department of Homeland Security created the “Disinformation Governance Board” to monitor our emails and social media postings to make sure that “disinformation” wasn’t being spread across the nation? Thankfully, the public outcry caused it to be dismantled — or, so we hope.
A government run by executive order, mandates, and severe consequences.
Fanatical, arrogant elites looking to towns, state capitals, or the EPA, or DHS — or the UN or WHO — to impose their will through mandates, executive orders, regulations or “compacts.”
But it doesn’t end there. Because, not only does the Left want to rule by mandate, they do not want any questions, any opposition or anything slowing them down.
They turn to their allies (partners) in the various media platforms. In 2020, a New York Times editor was forced to resign for publishing a guest column from — horrors of horrors — a United States Senator. (Tom Cotton is not only Republican; he’s conservative!)
In the last few days, NBC’s Chuck Todd and Joe and Mika and all the other members of the “news” department at NBC/MSNBC threw public temper tantrums because NBC hired former RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. (If they allow a Republican to talk about politics on an opinion show, who knows what happens.)
College campuses cancel conservative speakers because their views are “offensive,” “hurtful” or “hateful.” Or they’re canceled because campus security “cannot guarantee” the safety of the speaker or attendees. (Heck, Riley Gaines is really intimidating: after all, she’s an athlete.) By the way, the added message sent passively across campus is that conservatives or libertarians or anyone asking questions is dangerous.
They govern by executive order, mandates or regulation. Legislators are apparently not necessary, move too slowly, or don’t understand the gravity of the “emergency” or obvious correctness of the Left’s view of the world. Worse, the public should never be consulted.
They use the federal government to limit speech or intimidate anyone questioning the mandates. Their allies running legacy media and universities use the same tactics: silence and shame.
The added irony is that the Left and their allies claim that Republicans, conservatives, libertarians or anyone questioning their mandates are “threats to democracy, or “threats to America” — a nation founded on free speech, separation of powers, and debate.
(By the way, for those that skipped American government classes, the United States is actually a constitutional democratic republic. We are governed by the Constitution. There are, in fact, certain universal rules and protected personal liberties. And we elect legislators to govern, and are allowed to lobby or challenge them, and elect or defeat them at the polls. We do not live under mob rule, where the whim of the moment changes everything. Least of all, we are not subject to whims issued by executives acting like kings, or worse: nameless, faceless bureaucrats.)
Mandates. Executive Orders. Government by regulation. Silencing and threatening opponents.
For elites who are so certain that they’re right for America and Americans, they sure don’t want Americans to debate or have input. Wonder why?
Guy Ciarrocchi is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation. He writes for Broad + Liberty and RealClear Pennsylvania. Follow Guy at @PaSuburbsGuy
