By Peter Chidichimo
When Biden was still in the race for re-election, there was intense discussion that the American electorate should disregard the personhood of President Biden and focus on his accomplishments, policies and vision for America. That request on behalf of the Democratic Party sounded reasonable given the intense publicity over Biden’s mental confusion and apparent physical decline, especially after his debate with Donald Trump. And had Biden continued in the race for President, the same could have applied to his Republican challenger, in the person of Donald Trump, to concentrate on his past presidency and vision for America, not his legal woes and personality deficits.
Now that Biden has dropped out, the above argument is just as valid, if not more so. Since Trump’s campaign does not know officially who will replace Biden on the ticket, at least for now, they will be forced to campaign on the issues, not the candidate. To do that, an assessment of the issues seems appropriate, beginning with where things stand right now in our great Nation.
To begin with, the majority of America’s institutions of higher learning, especially Ivy League colleges and universities, are left leaning, if not full-blown liberal. This is a huge advantage for Democrats and liberals, since college students often emulate their professors, becoming liberal as well. To illustrate this, look at the riot-like demonstrations and vandalism that broke out on multiple college campuses, including Columbia and Harvard, over Israel’s response after Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7. Not only were Jewish students on campus harassed and bullied, but professors often took place in the carnage as well. Many Jewish students felt openly threatened and unsupported by the administrations in charge of security and safety. At the Republican National Convention, a Jewish student who attended Harvard to study religion, spoke passionately about an unwelcomed environment. Former Harvard student Shabbos Kestenbaumisa is now suing the university over antisemitism claims.
Aside from the left-leaning institutions of higher learning, we have the entertainment industry, or what many conservatives refer to as “liberal Hollywood.” Some high-profile outspokenly liberal celebrities include George Clooney, Barbara Streisand, Susan Sarandon, Steven Spielberg, and Robert De Niro, but it’s somewhat challenging to name conservatives in the same circle. That is because conservatives in the entertainment industry are often blacklisted for their views, making it nearly impossible to achieve or maintain success. This shouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t be such a big deal, but these famous people command a lot of attention, as was the case when De Niro held a press conference outside court during Trump’s documents case in Manhattan. Well-known actor Tim Allen once joked to Jimmy Kimmel that being a conservative in Hollywood wasn’t easy.
“You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody believes. This is like ’30s Germany,” the veteran comic commented. ABC canceled Allen’s popular show, Last Man Standing, less than two months later despite hearty ratings.
It has also become common practice in many states, including New York, to undermine parents when it comes to gender identity. It seems that the NYS Education Department feels it’s in the students’ best interest to hide gender conflict from students’ parents. The NYS Education Department has a thirty-eight-page document on its website, a blueprint for affirming rights for transgender and gender-conflicted students, but in reality, the policy tends to undermine the roles of parents and guardians to manage personal issues at home, not at school. The trend has taken hold in many other liberal states.
It’s also become accepted in many jurisdictions for men, even at six feet tall and 250 lbs., to undergo gender transformation care, and then qualify to compete in women’s sports, as well as utilize women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities. This is becoming common practice in many states, and NYS is seeking to enshrine gender transformation into the State Constitution, under the guise of combatting discrimination. This practice totally disrupts the rights of biological women to compete openly and fairly against other biological women.
Even Christian businesses and religious organizations have felt the raft of anti-religious fanatics, in the form of plaintiffs seeking to undermine religious rights. Two examples include the baker in Colorado, who, on religious grounds, refused to prepare a cake for a gay couple, and the Little Sisters of the Poor, who refused to provide contraception to their employees. The Little Sisters have spent nearly a decade locked in a battle for religious liberty, with money that could have been spent helping those in need. Winning recently in the Supreme Court, the victory might not be the end of the Little Sisters legals assaults.
And finally, there is the border issue. Within minutes of Donald Trump completing his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination for President, some media outlets were calling Trump’s comments on illegal border crossings “extreme.” The facts are that millions of immigrants and migrants have crossed the border illegally and are now embedded in the country. And these millions of immigrants are straining state budgets, which are allocating billions of dollars for housing, medical care, welfare, education, and in some case even college tuition. In New York, the current state budget has allocated over $2 billion to support illegal immigrants, money that could be used to lower the cost of living, especially on Long Island. Is it extreme for Trump to consider deporting these immigrants for the common good? Should we just accept open borders and forget it? And should these non-citizens be given privileges that are usually reserved for U.S. citizens, such as the right to work, receive benefits, vote, hold a driver’s license?
To be fair, there is one institution which remains conservative, the Supreme Court. As was his responsibility and right, President Trump nominated three justices who shared his conversative views, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, who were confirmed by the U.S. Senate. However, some Democrats in Congress are now proposing to reform the Supreme Court, because they don’t agree with some of the decisions recently handed down, yet they call Republicans radical.
The current state of affairs in this country seems to have Republicans on their heels. When they speak up for parental rights, fairness in women’s sports, school choice, and illegal immigration, they are called “extreme,” if not worse. In reality, they are fighting for what they believe is just and fair. Now that Donald Trump has made “fight, fight, fight” his rallying cry, we’ll have to see if the electorate agrees whether these issues are worth fighting for. Based on where things stand right now, it will be an uphill battle. Come November, we’ll see how many Americans decide to fight with him.
