Beware of Clever Rhetoric, especially on Brett Kavanaugh

Beware of Clever Rhetoric, Especially on Brett Kavanaugh
The View from the Middle

You’ve probably heard the old joke, “How do you know when politicians are lying? When their lips move!” These people will say anything to get their way and to eventually get re-elected. Consequently, we must be vigilant to sort through the mountains of their BS to glean the tiny particles of truth hidden underneath.

“But” you say to me, “this duplicity goes on every day. What set you off?” The other day I heard the Representative from Texas, Henry Cuellar, try to defend his lack of support for enhanced security on our southern border. He said that a wall is a, “14th century solution to a 21st century problem.” Now, I thought, that sounds clever, and if you don’t scratch at all below the surface, you might accept his implication that walls don’t work because they are an old idea. The problem for Representative Cuellar is that neither one of these insinuations are correct.

Some very old ideas are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. The wheel, for example, was invented more than 5,000 years ago and is still working just fine today. Anyone want to get rid of all of our wheels today? The door lock was invented over 6,000 years ago. How many locks are on your house today?

The wall was actually used for the first time over 4,000 years ago, so let that be the first correction to Mr. Cuellar bogus statement. And, look around you. Count how many walls or fences or barriers you see today. Why are we still using them? Because they work. Just ask Israel or San Diego where walls delivered a 90% reduction in illegal crossings. And just consider the effectiveness of the Berlin wall. Of course, we were all appalled by its purpose, but no one can argue against its effectiveness. Don’t believe the bombast. Walls work!!

Here are some more contradicting terms that may sound good to you until you unpack their true meaning. Safe spaces. Safe for whom? Remember the University of Missouri professor who had conservatives threatened physically for entering her “safe zone”. Pro Choice. Again, for whom? Certainly not for the baby in its mother’s womb. That new person has “no voice” and “no choice”. This should be called the “No Choice” movement.

And what about the claim to “go high when they go low”. This statement couldn’t be more ludicrous and ridiculous. So now the definition of “going high” is to call anyone who disagrees with you a Nazi. Now, they have defined “going high” as screaming in Pam Bondi’s face (Florida AG) so fiercely and so closely that they actually spit in her face. Then they taunted and threatened her date, and to add a touch of irony to this disgusting scene, they did this after Ms. Bondi and her date attended a movie about Mr. Rogers called, “Won’t You be My Neighbor”. So, I guess Maxine Waters is the new face of “the high road”. If that doesn’t give you a chill, nothing will.

The other way they mislead and divide us at the same time is through the constant use of hyperbole. Remember Nancy Pelosi suggesting that President Trump’s tax cuts would lead to “Armageddon”. It also seems like Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” statement just doesn’t go far enough these days. Now, if you support increased border security or, heaven forbid, voted for Donald Trump, you are a Nazi. Worse yet, you are Hitler himself. Wow, do you think we actually have 60+ million Hitlers in this country? This rhetoric is an insult to Jews, Catholics and the entire gay community who were prime targets of the real Hitler and his Nazi party. This drivel is not only absolutely false and divisive, it is an insult to history.

And just to make sure these over exaggerations are still the accepted practice, the Left has now suggested that the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to The Supreme Court would cause, “the death of our democracy as we know it” and that, “thousands of women will die”. Really? Brett Kavanaugh is a Yale Law School grad who was hired by Elena Kagan to teach at Harvard. He has worked on The DC Circuit Court for a dozen years, written over 300 opinions and his decisions have been upheld by the Supreme Court a dozen times. This man will be “the death of our democracy”? This man will kill thousands of women? By the way, he reveres his mother and his wife and coaches his daughter’s basketball team. Far from a threat, I see him as a blessing to our country.

When will we learn? We, as a people, need to not only disregard this bizarre, hypocritical, divisive rhetoric, we need to punish it. And our only recourse is to use our votes wisely. But, before you vote, do as Professor Harold Hill pleaded in “The Music Man”. “Think, men. Think!”